TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT CONSULTING FIRMS AREN'T DEAD. BUT THEY ARE VERY UNWELL.

McKinsey lost major clients in recent months.

Not to Bain or EY.

To small, agile consultancies who are not household names.

The Big Management Consultancy model, consultancies like McKinsey, Bain, Deloitte, EY and BCG, is certainly breaking down. 

It's built on countless junior analysts, 800-page slide presentations and “we’ll-get-back-to-you-with-a-strategy-in 6-8 months” cycles. Not to mention huge fees to cover massive costs.

AI has commoditised this part. It's all now possible in hours and days, although we'd recommend taking a little time to think about a client’s business to formulate a relevant and achievable strategy, rather than fire from corporate hips.

Whilst it’s true that AI has eroded the main advantages of those big consultancies, they aren’t dead yet.

UNBOUND would love them to quit the arena but they aren’t stupid and are evolving.

So, are they dead? No.

They face more competition. Fees will come down. But clients who've been conditioned to believe "nobody got fired for hiring McKinsey" will keep them around a while yet.

The big firms are also incorporating AI into their work. Sometimes their own, sometimes not. Though they have leaned on a few AI hallucinations recently. (Oops.)

BUT Big Consultancies and AI don't know what data is important, relevant and useful. You need front-line business experience for that. In sales. In marketing. In operations. In finance.

UNBOUND uses AI for data analysis and competitive reviews. But we're experienced enough to spot made-up stats and don't get drunk on data, or paralysed by it.

AI can't understand people—their politics, ambitions, emotions, development needs, or red lines.

UNBOUND rolls up our sleeves and actually delivers.

That's the big difference.

We don't just develop strategies. We stay to implement them.

We're judged by agreed KPIs and market success, not slide count.

We're proven in business, not classrooms.

All of us are.

Anthony Barry Jeremy Deaner Natalia Arcila Barbour Michael Miley, Eleanor Thompson

McKinsey might have better slides. (They certainly have more of them.)

UNBOUND delivers better results—because we do the work.

We bring knowledge, not research reports.

We create practical strategies, not theoretical frameworks.

We move fast, because in a consumer-driven world, speed isn't just an advantage—it's survival.

The question isn't whether traditional consulting is dying.

The question is: Are you working with a firm that delivers slides—or results?