Large consulting firms are currently reshaping their business model: moving away from billing by the hour, toward implementation and measurable outcomes. The driver is generative AI, which automates a growing share of classic analytical work. For any business, the implication is the same: whoever keeps making marketing and sales decisions once a year and then leaves them untouched will fall behind.

According to an analysis by Forbes, large consulting firms are facing a structural shift: generative AI is automating exactly the analytical work that used to be billed by the hour. The consequence doesn't stop at consultants — it affects any company that sets its marketing and sales priorities once a year and then simply follows the plan.

The numbers behind the shift

According to Forbes, three figures show how fast the industry is moving:

100,000+

ChatGPT Enterprise licenses purchased by PwC for its US and UK staff

Forbes, 2026
40%

of work hours could be affected by generative AI, per Accenture's estimate

Forbes, 2026
2% → 10%

share of AI projects in Accenture's new orders, 2023 vs. Q1 2026

Forbes, 2026

This shift isn't happening gradually and invisibly — it's playing out in concrete, publicly visible moves, and that's exactly what reveals its pace.

What's actually happening: from analysis to implementation

According to Forbes, a new pattern has taken hold over the past few years: AI developers are forming direct alliances with established consulting firms, rather than simply selling them software.

In this context, Forbes also points to the term "Forward-Deployed Engineers" (FDE) — AI engineers who combine technical skill directly with classic consulting expertise, instead of handing off recommendations for someone else to implement. Pricing is shifting accordingly: away from hourly rates, toward subscriptions and outcomes-based models.

For the Russian-speaking market, Forbes points to a different dynamic: rather than relying on Western vendors, local ecosystems are developing on their own — for example, Yandex with its AI Studio platform, or Sberbank with GigaChat and an updated partner model.

What this means for your marketing

At its core, the Forbes analysis isn't really about consulting — it's about speed: technology, competition, and customer expectations are changing faster than classic planning cycles account for. That applies to consulting contracts just as much as to marketing and sales decisions in any company.

Concretely, that means businesses need to move to shorter decision cycles and regularly reassess priorities — in both marketing and sales — instead of setting them once a year and following the plan unchanged. A business that doesn't keep pace with rapid technological change gradually falls behind its competitors.

A practical example: a marketing plan written in January based on the Google rankings that applied at the time usually doesn't account for the fact that a growing share of customers now ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI Overviews for recommendations — not classic search. If that channel only gets added at the next annual planning cycle, several quarters of visibility have already been given away.

Putting shorter cycles into practice: what it means for GEO/AEO

The shift from rigid annual plans to continuous adaptation shows up especially clearly in AI-search visibility. GEO/AEO optimization (Generative Engine Optimization / Answer Engine Optimization) isn't a one-time project — it's a process that has to keep adapting to new AI models, changing crawler rules, and new competitors.

This is exactly where ClientFlow24 operates: instead of a rigid annual plan, we work with regular reporting that shows what's actually changed — in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Google AI, just as much as in Meta Ads and Google Ads. That makes it possible to adjust priorities before a competitor takes the lead.

Check how current your marketing priorities really are

ClientFlow24 – Deutsche Digitale Marketingagentur, Düsseldorf shows you, in a free First Look, exactly where your company stands in AI search today — and what's changed since your last marketing plan.

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