Aug 6, 2026 · 53 min · 11 segments
Boutiques are beating the big consulting firms - and the secret is in the niche. Found out exactly how boutiques are winning with Prof. Joe O'Mahoney (Equity Sherpa) & Christian Barnard (KUNGFU.AI) in…
Christian BarnardGuest
Joe O'MahoneyGuestBen EdwardsHost
You know, I think that the structural advantages that big firms have historically had and relied on for decades are eroding and it's changing simultaneously and faster than most of them expected.
And I think that's what one of the things that I want to dig into in this conversation is the operating model is fundamentally different.
And, you know, for example, McKinsey just cut roughly 5,000 jobs, 10,000 of their workforce.
The publicly stated reason was AI tools can do now in minutes what armies of junior consultants and analysts used to bill out across multiple people across multiple weeks.
Research, synthesis, strategies are all being compressed via time with the usage of AI tools.
The nimbleness of boutiques or small consulting firms is why you see the growth rate of boutiques growing while you see a lot of the large consultancies contracting.
I also think there's a bit of sort of bifurcation in the industry where these big firms, they need to transform their operating model and they're still scaling through acquisitions as they historically have while boutiques are, gaining a lot more traction through depth and agility and speed.
And those firms that are caught in the middle, they're not big enough to compete on scale, but they're also not specialized enough to compete on deep expertise, are facing an existential threat, an existential squeeze at the moment.
The other thing I think would be interesting to talk about is our buyers have changed.
Two years ago, I think client buying criteria was still heavily weighted towards brand and relationships.
And today clients more than ever want partners who can implement, not just advise.
So I think finally, the types of engagements that I see winning right now are the ones that map fees to measurable outcomes that also put senior consultants, senior people on the work and have the ability to go fast and iterate.
and they deliver something real and tangible that delivers roi and i think boutiques you know small nimble boutique firms are structurally better positioned to do all three of those things compared to the big firms
i agree with everything that christian has said smaller firms more nimble they're also cheaper and have been cheaper for a long time Boutique consultancy growth rates have exceeded those of the big four and MBB for over 20 years now.
And it's also due to consulting boutiques The successful boutiques, because a vast number of them die, focusing on a niche.
That message, I think, has very clearly got across in management education, that focusing on a niche and building up that expertise is almost your only chance of surviving against the big generalists.
Most buyers, the vast majority of buyers now, are using LLMs to help find the experts that they need, ironically.
You know, I think that the structural advantages that big firms have historically had and relied on for decades are eroding and it's changing simultaneously and faster than most of them expected.
And I think that's what one of the things that I want to dig into in this conversation is the operating model is fundamentally different.
And, you know, for example, McKinsey just cut roughly 5,000 jobs, 10,000 of their workforce.
The publicly stated reason was AI tools can do now in minutes what armies of junior consultants and analysts used to bill out across multiple people across multiple weeks.
Research, synthesis, strategies are all being compressed via time with the usage of AI tools.
The nimbleness of boutiques or small consulting firms is why you see the growth rate of boutiques growing while you see a lot of the large consultancies contracting.
I also think there's a bit of sort of bifurcation in the industry where these big firms, they need to transform their operating model and they're still scaling through acquisitions as they historically have while boutiques are, gaining a lot more traction through depth and agility and speed.
And those firms that are caught in the middle, they're not big enough to compete on scale, but they're also not specialized enough to compete on deep expertise, are facing an existential threat, an existential squeeze at the moment.
The other thing I think would be interesting to talk about is our buyers have changed.
Two years ago, I think client buying criteria was still heavily weighted towards brand and relationships.
And today clients more than ever want partners who can implement, not just advise.
So I think finally, the types of engagements that I see winning right now are the ones that map fees to measurable outcomes that also put senior consultants, senior people on the work and have the ability to go fast and iterate.
and they deliver something real and tangible that delivers roi and i think boutiques you know small nimble boutique firms are structurally better positioned to do all three of those things compared to the big firms
i agree with everything that christian has said smaller firms more nimble they're also cheaper and have been cheaper for a long time Boutique consultancy growth rates have exceeded those of the big four and MBB for over 20 years now.
And it's also due to consulting boutiques The successful boutiques, because a vast number of them die, focusing on a niche.
That message, I think, has very clearly got across in management education, that focusing on a niche and building up that expertise is almost your only chance of surviving against the big generalists.
Most buyers, the vast majority of buyers now, are using LLMs to help find the experts that they need, ironically.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.