By Vicky Sidler | Published 5 September 2025 at 12:00 GMT+2

If you paid McKinsey a fortune in the past to write a PowerPoint deck explaining why you should hire fewer people to write PowerPoint decks, you might want to sit down for this.

According to The Future of Everything newsletter by the Wall Street Journal, McKinsey has rolled out over 12,000 AI agents to do everything from taking notes to analysing research. Teams are smaller. Strategy advice alone isn’t enough. And more of their revenue now comes from doing the work, not just talking about it.

But here’s the twist. McKinsey isn’t thriving because of AI. It’s surviving in spite of it.

And for small business owners, the lesson isn’t “be like McKinsey and use more bots.” It’s “even the world’s top consultants can’t automate their way out of delivering real results.”

Let’s break down what’s happening—and what to learn from it.

TL;DR

• McKinsey is reshaping its business to include more hands-on delivery and AI tools

• About 40% of its revenue now comes from tech and AI-related projects

• Teams are smaller, bots handle support tasks, but human expertise still leads

• The firm is pushing outcome-based pricing instead of hourly advice

• This isn’t about replacing people—it’s about staying relevant when advice alone isn’t enough

• For small business owners, it’s a reminder to build clarity and value before layering on AI

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Table of Contents

McKinsey’s AI Makeover Is Less Glamorous Than It Sounds:

On paper, it sounds slick. McKinsey deploys thousands of bots to summarise meetings, draft reports, and assist consultants. Projects that once needed five humans now need two—and a few tireless AI helpers.

But behind the scenes, McKinsey is playing defence. Clients no longer want to pay premium rates for a slideshow. They want measurable outcomes. So McKinsey is shifting from “trusted advisor” to “accountable partner.” One in four projects is now tied to results.

That’s less about innovation, and more about survival.

And it should sound familiar to any small business owner who’s had a client ask, “But what am I actually getting for this?”

AI Is Supporting Consultants, Not Replacing Them:

Here’s where it gets practical.

McKinsey’s AI agents aren’t calling the shots. They’re summarising documents, building decks, and analysing data. The consultants still lead. The bots just handle the drudge work.

But the firm did trim staff. Not because AI made everyone redundant, but because clients are no longer paying for bloated teams. The pandemic hiring surge didn’t help either.

The takeaway for small businesses?

AI is useful for speeding up tasks—not for thinking through complex strategy or understanding messy client needs. If McKinsey still needs humans in the room to deliver results, so do you.

What This Means for Small Business Owners:

McKinsey’s pivot is less about AI replacing humans and more about reframing the value of human work. That’s the real insight here.

1. Selling Time Doesn’t Work Anymore:

Clients don’t care how long something takes. They care what it achieves. McKinsey is being pushed toward outcome-based pricing. You will be too.

👉 Move away from hourly rates. Package your services based on outcomes and impact.

2. Strategy Alone Is a Hard Sell:

You can’t just hand someone a plan and walk away. People want help implementing it—or they want someone who’s done it before.

👉 Don’t just advise. Execute. Or partner with someone who can.

3. Bots Don’t Understand Context:

McKinsey’s bots can summarise PDFs. But they can’t read the room, manage egos, or handle a client meltdown. That’s still human work.

👉 Let AI do admin. You handle relationships, judgment calls, and the grey areas.

4. Relevance > Efficiency:

Efficiency doesn’t matter if your offer no longer solves the right problem. McKinsey is adapting because its old offer stopped being relevant. It’s not about speed. It’s about being useful.

👉 Ask yourself: Is your business solving the right problem for the right people right now?

The Lazy Intern Problem:

I’ve had clients send me AI-generated copy they weren’t happy with and ask me to “fix it.” And honestly? I now charge more to fix AI content than to write it from scratch.

Because trying to turn that kind of output into something meaningful feels like cleaning up after a lazy intern who didn’t read the brief. It’s slower, harder, and way less satisfying than starting fresh with a clear purpose and real input.

While AI has come a long way, its output is only as good as the foundation it’s given. Pure AI-generated content—especially when pumped out as part of some automation funnel—is generic at best and flat-out wrong at worst.

And if you don’t believe me, open ChatGPT and ask it to write a blog about this McKinsey pivot. Then compare it to what you’re reading now. I’ll wait.

My guess? One of them feels human, insightful, and grounded in experience. The other sounds like a LinkedIn post that’s had its personality ironed out.

What Small Business Owners Should Actually Copy:

There’s a temptation to look at McKinsey and think, “I should automate more.” But the better takeaway is: “I should stay relevant.”

McKinsey isn’t betting everything on AI. It’s being forced to evolve. That includes:

• Getting paid for results, not PowerPoints

• Supporting experts with smart tools

• Trimming bloated systems that no longer serve

You don’t need a 12,000-bot army. You need a business that solves real problems, communicates clearly, and uses tech to enhance—not replace—your value.

Why This Comes Back to Message:

Clients don’t stop trusting you when AI shows up. They stop trusting you when you can’t explain what you do, who you help, and why it works.

Whether you’re selling consulting, coaching, plumbing, or software, your ability to survive disruption depends on how clearly and confidently you communicate value.

And if your current pitch needs a nap halfway through, it’s time to fix it.

That’s what the 5-Minute Marketing Fix is for. It’s a free guide that helps you write one clear sentence that becomes the foundation of your pitch, your posts, your website—everything.

👉 Download it for free here

Because AI is fast. But clarity is faster.

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FAQs on McKinsey’s AI Pivot and What It Means for Small Business

What is McKinsey doing with AI?

McKinsey has introduced around 12,000 AI agents to help its consultants work faster. These bots summarise documents, assist with research, take meeting notes, and build PowerPoint slides. It’s part of a larger shift where McKinsey is being paid for delivering results, not just giving advice.

Is McKinsey replacing its staff with AI?

Not officially. The company says it's not cutting jobs because of AI, but team sizes are getting smaller. Projects that once needed five people might now need two or three—plus a few bots. So while no one’s waving a pink slip around just yet, human roles are changing fast.

Why should small businesses care?

Because McKinsey’s pivot is a preview of what’s coming for everyone. If big clients no longer pay for advice without outcomes, your customers might feel the same. This shift affects how you package your services, price your work, and communicate your value.

Does this mean I should use AI in my business?

Maybe—but only if it makes things clearer, faster, or more consistent without lowering the quality. AI is great for support tasks like research, scheduling, or formatting. But for anything that needs judgment, emotional intelligence, or creativity, you still need a human.

What are the risks of using AI for content?

The biggest risk is assuming it’s correct when it’s not. AI often produces content that sounds helpful but misses context or misrepresents nuance. I now charge more to fix AI-written content than to write from scratch—because untangling generic or incorrect copy takes longer than doing it right the first time.

Should I trust AI to write my marketing content?

Not by itself. AI is useful for getting started or brainstorming, but your message needs to be sharp, specific, and built on a real understanding of your audience. Otherwise, it’s just noise. Use AI to help shape your ideas, not to replace your voice.

What’s a better starting point than AI?

Clarity. If your message is fuzzy, AI will only make it fuzzier. Start with a strong foundation: know your audience, understand their problem, and explain clearly how you solve it. The5-Minute Marketing Fix will help you do exactly that—with one sharp sentence that works everywhere.