Top Consultants Industry Series

3:45 PM | Arrival and Registration

4:15 PM - 4:25 PM | Lightning Presentation 1: The New Consulting Model: Outcome-Based, AI-Enabled, Future-Ready

Agentic AI is compressing decades of operational change into a few short years, compelling consulting firms to fundamentally rethink how they price, staff, and deliver work. In this session, Certinia Chief Business Officer Prasad Narasimhan Sulur will examine the structural forces reshaping the consulting business model, from the shift to outcome-based pricing to the disruption of the traditional workforce pyramid. Drawing on nearly two decades as a senior leader in Bain & Company's software and services practices, and his role as a key author of Bain's AI impacts on services perspectives, Prasad will outline the three main imperatives for success in this new era: effectively leveraging AI, managing profitability against customer price expectations, and establishing an 'AI-native' identity. He will offer a frank look at what firms need to get right—on AI governance, delivery model redesign, and talent strategy—to capture value on the other side of this platform shift.

Prasad Narasimhan Sulur, Chief Business Officer - Certinia

4:25 PM - 4:35 PM | Lightning Presentation 2: The External Storm: Advising Clients Through Geopolitical and Market Disruption

Not since the dawn of the Information Age have we faced an inflection point of this magnitude. While there are similarities, the velocity of change presents a distinct challenge. The multivariate external forces of deglobalization, geopolitical uncertainty, and economic complexity add to the disruptive force of AI. Clients are facing structural changes, not merely cyclical trends, and those changes require a modern approach to strategy focused on optionality and speed, allowing for a more dynamic way of thinking about external pressures. Former linear models will not suffice. These conditions open the door to an entirely new approach to strategy consulting.

Michael Valocchi, Senior Client Solutions Advisor - Toptal

4:35 PM - 4:45 PM | Lightning Presentation 3: Consulting in 2030: Three Scenarios

The rise of generative AI is fundamentally challenging the core value proposition of top-tier consulting: the arbitrage of scarce consolidated expertise — specialized knowledge, analytical horsepower, and structured problem-solving, billed on-demand by the hour or project. Generative AI now claims to replicate much of the human knowledge and delivery skill set - at a fraction of the cost/time. Does AI break the consulting model and what are the likely scenarios for 2030. Will consulting be as relevant in 2030 as it was in 2020? How will leading consulting firms adapt and deal with risk commoditization, margin compression, and displacement by leaner, AI-native competitors and empowered in-house client teams.

This presentation will explore three scenarios for the state of the consulting industry in 2030: a consolidation world where only the largest firms survive by scaling AI infrastructure, a reinvention world where human judgment and relationship capital become the premium product, and a disruption world where the traditional model collapses and gives way to entirely new advisory structures.

Igor Stenmark, Managing Director of MGI Research 

4:45 PM - 5:30 PM | Deep-Dive Panel Discussion: The Human Edge: Talent, Trust, and the Future Identity of the Consultant

To close the program, each of our three presenters will return for a dynamic panel discussion moderated by Consulting Magazine Director Michael Webb. This interactive session connects the dots between the various disruptive factors and how our industry can apply knowledge, awareness, and flexibility in operations while guiding clients through uncertain business conditions.

Michael A. Webb, Director - Consulting Magazine / U.S. Group Awards Director, Arc Network

5:30 PM - 6:00 PM | Program Ends / Pre-Networking Break

6:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Pre-Awards Dinner Cocktails

For registered awards dinner attendees*

7:00 PM - 9:30 PM | Awards Ceremony Dinner

For registered awards dinner attendees*

*For information on attending the Awards Dinner, please contact Eric Gordon at 917.685.2996 or email Eric.Gordon@arc-network.com.