The End of Consulting’s Leadership Dominance

Strategy consulting isn't just a service business.

It's something far more powerful:

A training ground for generations of corporate decision-makers and leaders.

The current model's pipeline:

→ MBB firms hired the top 1% of MBA graduates

→ Partners emerged through a "up-or-out" selection

→ Junior consultants gained accelerated experience

→ Alumni networks shaped global business leadership

The leadership impact:

→ 15%+ of F500 CEOs have consulting backgrounds

→ Alumni manage trillions in corporate assets

→ Ex-consultants dominate boards and startups

→ Created a common business language

This doesn't just disappear without consequences.

When AI eliminates the base of the pyramid:

→ Where will tomorrow's partners come from?

→ How will methodology transfer continue?

→ What new leadership training emerges?

→ Who maintains influential business networks?

New pathways are already emerging:

→ Expert networks rising in prominence

→ Growth in experienced hires vs. campus recruiting

→ McKinsey acquiring technical talent laterally

→ BCG's "expert track" hiring specialists instead of MBAs

→ Bain's "returnship" programs for former consultants

These strategies may preserve elements of the talent pipeline, but they can't prevent a more fundamental transformation.

Consulting hasn't just created business leaders; it has shaped business thinking itself, a monoculture maintained for generations.

For decades, one talent pipeline has defined what good leadership looks like. Its decline won't just change who leads; it will transform what leadership means.

As consulting's leadership monopoly fades, which industries or experiences will shape tomorrow's leaders?

Next week in this series: How AI is inverting the client-consultant power dynamic forever.