If your business model is built on selling insight, market analysis, or strategic advice, you may want to buckle up. Entire swaths of the knowledge economy — technology analysts, management consultants, even boutique advisory shops — are staring down the same existential question: What happens when AI can do most of what you do, faster, cheaper and on demand?

In this new series, I’ll examine which industries and models are most at risk from disruptive forces — particularly artificial intelligence. In Part 1, we start with advisory services, from IT analyst giants like Gartner and Forrester, to management consulting powerhouses like McKinsey, Accenture and the Big Four (Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG).

A Universal Disruption Pattern

For decades, these firms have thrived by monetizing access to “exclusive” research, deep expertise and structured frameworks for decision-making. Their value rested on scarcity: They had the data, the experience, the methodologies. Clients didn’t.

Now? AI is democratizing all three. 

• Data – Publicly available datasets, plus increasingly affordable access to proprietary market data.
  
• Experience – AI models trained on millions of case studies, reports and industry examples.
  
• Methodology – LLMs can now generate custom frameworks, implementation plans and market analyses in seconds.
  

It’s not that the AI tools built by Gartner, Accenture, McKinsey or Deloitte are cannibalizing their own businesses. The bigger problem is that their customers are using AI themselves — often without needing the firm at all.

Case in Point: Technology Analysts Under Pressure

Let’s start with two of the tech analyst heavyweights:

• Forrester’s Q2 2025 revenue fell to $111.7 million, down from $121.8 million a year earlier — about an 8% drop — with contract value sliding 7%. That’s ten straight quarters of research revenue decline.
  
• Gartner’s Q2 2025 results show slowing growth and diminishing impact in influence measures.
  

Both are making big bets on proprietary AI tools—Forrester’s Izola and similar efforts at Gartner—to package their own data in AI-accessible formats. But the larger truth is this: Many clients are bypassing them entirely, using AI to produce comparable analyses in minutes.

The Consulting Giants Aren’t Immune

If you think this is just a “tech analyst problem,” think again. The McKinseys, Accentures and Big Fours of the world are built on the same foundation: selling high-value strategic insight.

These firms have already faced criticism for recycling similar decks, frameworks and playbooks across clients. Now, LLMs can replicate much of that work — complete with industry-specific data, scenario modeling and even slide decks — without the seven-figure retainer.

We’re seeing early signs:

• Clients using AI to generate first drafts of strategy reports before engaging consultants, reducing project scope (and billables).
  
• Mid-tier firms arming themselves with AI research capabilities, undercutting the big names on price while matching perceived value.
  
• Internal corporate strategy teams using AI to handle work they used to outsource.
  

When a CEO can type “Give me a three-year digital transformation roadmap for a mid-market manufacturer” into an AI system and get a coherent answer, the burden on a consultant to prove their unique value skyrockets.

It’s Not Just AI

Even without AI, cracks were showing in both the analyst and management consulting worlds:

• Client fatigue – The frameworks start to look the same, the deliverables feel templated and the “insight” becomes predictable.
  
• Loss of star power – In the analyst space, the John Pescatores and John Kindervags have faded. In fact, many advisory firms have deemphasized the personalities, opting for generic analysts that can be plugged in and out. In consulting, the iconic thought leaders are fewer and further between.
  
• Price pressure – In a budget-constrained environment, high retainers and expensive subscriptions are easier to cut.
  
• Credibility gaps – More clients are questioning whether the recommendations are truly independent — or subtly influenced by who’s paying for what.
  

Is Shimmy Just Knocking the Competition?

Some will wonder: Isn’t Shimmy now part of an advisory firm through The Futurum Group? Isn’t this just a little industry sniping?

Let me put it plainly. I saw this coming since my days as a startup vendor — before founding Techstrong. Back then, I questioned whether the massive checks to analysts or consultants were really worth it, or if they served mainly as a checkbox for due diligence.

So when the chance came to integrate Techstrong into Futurum, it wasn’t about joining the old guard. It was about positioning with a model built for the market that’s emerging — not the one that’s fading.

Why Techstrong Chose Futurum

Here’s why that choice made sense, and why Futurum breaks the mold compared to traditional players in both the analyst and consulting worlds:

1. No Conflicted Incentives

Futurum doesn’t juggle vendor and client payments for the same recommendation. The lack of “both sides of the street” conflicts builds trust that’s hard to find elsewhere.

2. Media-First Approach

Instead of hiding insight behind expensive gates, Futurum puts much of its thought leadership into the open — through social media, broadcast, streaming and live events. The reach is wider, the impact faster.

3. The “Avis Factor”

Smaller, scrappier firms can pivot faster. They hustle harder. They fight for every win — something that often fades in large, entrenched organizations.

4. Tech-Forward Operations

From leveraging AI and crowdsourced intelligence to integrating video as a primary distribution channel, Futurum operates in the mediums and tools clients already use daily.

5. Media + Advisory Integration

Through brands like Techstrong, Tech Field Day and 65Media, Futurum blends the depth of analyst research with the reach of modern media. It’s advisory built to be consumed, not shelved.

6. The Futurum Intelligence Platform

This platform combines Futurum’s research library with continuously updated public data gathered by agentic AI. The recent partnership with G2 enriches it further with millions of verified customer insights — creating a living intelligence source clients can query directly.

Futurum’s Daniel Newman I think, said it best in this article, and in this Bloomberg post, (behind paywall, so if you don’t have a Bloomberg sub, you won’t be able to read it).

Will the Old Guard Survive?

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Gartner, Accenture, McKinsey, Deloitte and their peers aren’t going to disappear next quarter. They have deep reserves — financial, reputational and relational — that will keep them afloat.

The question is whether they can evolve fast enough. Will they find ways to integrate AI without eroding their premium positioning? Will they deliver insight in forms and at speeds that match how clients now work? Or will the market, at some point, swing back to valuing their traditional model?

That story’s not finished.

Looking Ahead

In Part 2 of this series, we’ll examine another area ripe for AI-driven disruption: Crowdsourced technology solutions — where the wisdom of the crowd, coupled with AI aggregation, could completely rewire how organizations choose and implement technology.

For now, if your business model is based on selling “knowledge scarcity,” you need to ask: What happens when your customers no longer see that scarcity? Because in the age of AI, the competition isn’t just the firm down the street — it’s the laptop on your desk.