Last Updated:
AI is transforming consulting careers. Students can build a future-ready path by developing analytical, tech, and problem-solving skills to stay relevant in the evolving industry.
Consulting skills like adaptability and problem-solving are now essential for every professional.
By Dr C J Meadows
Consultants often get a bad reputation, yet there are more of them today than ever before. Between 2005 and 2025, the number of management consulting firms worldwide rose from 1.4 million to 3.6 million. The industry is now worth over USD 1 trillion and is projected to grow at an 8 percent CAGR through 2028.
Clearly, they must be doing something worth paying for.
But like every other sector, consulting is changing fast. Big firms now compete with boutique agencies, independent experts, AI-driven platforms, and digital ecosystems that enable gig-based consulting work. Traditional firms are hiring more selectively, with fewer entry-level roles, but the overall industry continues to expand. The skills that consultants build are increasingly the ones everyone needs for a future-ready career.
So, what are these skills? They can be grouped into five key areas.
Business Acumen: This includes industry and functional expertise, general management, strategic thinking, future visioning, and project management.
Digital Fluency and Working with AI: The next generation of consultants must combine human insight and creativity with AI’s analytical power and precision. Understanding what AI can and cannot do is vital.
Problem Solving and Innovation: Structured problem-solving remains the heart of consulting. It involves defining challenges, analysing data, generating insights, and designing solutions that can be tested and implemented. It also requires creative thinking and the courage to experiment.
Human Soft Skills: These are often harder to master than technical skills. Research from LinkedIn shows that eight of the ten most in-demand skills are soft skills, including communication, collaboration, leadership, stakeholder management, and adaptability.
Adaptability and Learning: Consultants thrive in ambiguity. Their work demands continuous learning, self-direction, resilience, and professionalism while providing new value quickly in unfamiliar environments.
According to LinkedIn, the ten most in-demand skills globally are communication, customer service, leadership, project management, management, analytics, teamwork, sales, problem-solving, and research. Adaptability has seen the sharpest rise in importance, a trait consultants rely on every day.
So how can one build these skills without joining a consulting firm?
Start Small: Volunteer for project-based work or pro bono consulting with NGOs or startups. Work on real-world problems that require gathering information, analysing data, and proposing solutions. Joining consulting clubs, taking on freelance projects, or participating in case competitions can also simulate the consulting experience and help develop professional behaviours such as structured thinking, collaboration, and client management.
Seek Mentorship: Surround yourself with experienced professionals who can offer feedback and guidance. Treat them like an informal advisory board for your career.
Use Digital Tools Wisely: AI is not just transforming work but also changing how we learn. Online platforms, case-study simulations, and AI tutors can now help you practice interviews, presentations, and problem-solving in realistic scenarios.
In short, you do not need to be an expert to begin consulting. You just need to start and keep growing.
Consultants provide value not only through the advice they offer but also through the example they set.
(The author is Professor and Head of MBA-Consulting Management at SPJ Global. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.)
A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses and information on college and school admissions, board and competitive exams, career options, topper interviews, job notifications, latest in …Read More
A team of reporters, writers and editors brings you news, analyses and information on college and school admissions, board and competitive exams, career options, topper interviews, job notifications, latest in … Read More
November 13, 2025, 13:59 IST
Read More
