Amazon's cloud reboot shows the future of consulting in the AI era

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My youngest daughter, Tessa, just accepted an internship with PwC in San Francisco. We're overjoyed she'll be home for a few months after heartlessly leaving us 18 months ago to study accounting at Wake Forest in North Carolina.

What surprised me: her internship isn't until summer 2027. I had no idea these things were locked in so far ahead.

With AI reshaping so much, I can't help wondering what consulting will look like by the time she starts. This week brought some clues, via another megascoop from Business Insider's Eugene Kim.

He reported on ProServe, Amazon's in-house cloud consulting arm. The unit influences more than $10 billion in annual revenue for AWS. Read the full story, but here's the big takeaway: AI is driving radical change inside ProServe, offering a glimpse of where the broader consulting industry may be headed.

I asked Polly Thompson, who covers the Big Four at Business Insider, for her view:

• This confirms many trends I've heard from these firms. How to deliver value and how to charge for it in the AI era — that's the big question.
• ProServe focuses on technical consulting for AWS clients, while the Big Four span audit, tax, risk, and strategy. That diversification could make them more resilient. AI isn't the only force at work: global instability is increasing demand for complex risk consulting, for example.
• AI's ultimate impact on consulting remains unclear. Firms are embracing the technology and adapting their business models, but unevenly.
• Hiring shows the divide. McKinsey, Accenture, and PwC are reducing hiring. EY is generally increasing entry-level hiring. KPMG isn't making hiring changes.

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