Much of the conversation around consulting in 2025 has focused on AI: what it can automate, what it might replace, and how it’s changing the expectations of clients. But quietly, in boardrooms and deal rooms across Europe and North America, a second force is converging with AI to reshape the industry from the outside in: private equity.
Private equity firms are pouring capital into mid-sized and large consultancies, not just to fuel growth, but to fundamentally restructure how these firms make money. Outcome-based pricing, recurring revenue models, vertical integration, and even software acquisitions are now central to the new playbook.
And this isn’t just a big-firm story. These changes are creating a ripple effect that smaller firms, especially those that are focused, tech-savvy, and client-responsive, can benefit from directly.
Traditionally, consulting firms have thrived on people-hours. Sell the time, mark it up, deliver the expertise. But PE-backed rollups are pushing something different: recurring revenue, platform-based delivery, and IP-backed advisory.
In practice, that means firms are:
This shift is especially visible in firms targeting operational improvement, digital transformation, and AI integration. A consulting firm that once sold slide decks is now expected to deliver dashboards. A digital workshop is now bundled with proprietary automation templates. And results aren’t just tracked, they’re contracted.
For many firms, this transition is unfamiliar terrain. But for smaller teams with product-thinking DNA and technical fluency, it’s a window of opportunity.
What’s happening right now is a structural reshaping, and small firms are well positioned to help others navigate it.
Private equity investors aren’t just buying consulting firms. They’re buying outcomes. Which means that when those firms need to modernize, whether through AI, productization, or delivery model overhaul, they often look outside for help.
Smaller consultancies, especially those already working with digital-native clients or delivering work through platforms, can step in as high-trust, high-speed partners. You don’t need to own a product or operate at scale. You just need to understand how to blend AI integration with delivery design, and show clients how to do more than write strategy: to operationalize it.
This is especially true in PE-owned environments, where timelines are tight, accountability is high, and complexity needs to be reduced, not added to. A lean, focused consultancy that can help a newly acquired firm build out AI workflows, install client-facing automation, or even package recurring service tiers becomes incredibly valuable.
There’s also a growing opening in transaction-adjacent advisory. As consulting firms themselves get acquired or consolidated under PE umbrellas, they often need support navigating the transition: new tooling, new org design, new go-to-market motions, even integration with other portfolio companies.
Historically, this was a space dominated by large accounting-advisory hybrids. But now, nimble teams are moving in with fast, productized advisory sprints designed to guide newly acquired firms through 30, 60, 90-day post-close initiatives. From internal data clean-ups to process audits to service-line rationalization, the need is growing, and the delivery model is shifting.
For a small firm that understands operations, automation, and change management, this is fertile ground. It doesn’t require deep specialization in private equity. It requires fluency in speed, focus, and value visibility, traits that many boutique firms already operate on.
As if the pressure from private equity wasn’t enough, AI is turning up the temperature.
PE-backed consulting groups are now expected to deliver faster and cheaper, and AI is seen as a way to make that possible. But many firms, even tech-forward ones, don’t have internal capability to design and implement AI workflows. They might have chatbots or dashboards, but not decision logic, workflow automation, or tool integration that actually supports daily work.
This is where smaller, specialist firms can carve out repeatable offerings. Things like:
And because the demand is new, there’s no legacy competition. You’re not competing against 100 firms for a mature RFP. You’re showing up early, with a clear offer, and helping firms evolve under pressure, in ways they can’t yet do alone.
If your firm isn’t backed by private equity, and doesn’t plan to build a SaaS product, that’s okay. The real opportunity here isn’t in becoming a tech company. It’s in adopting the thinking that’s reshaping the consulting model.
That might mean:
This is what buyers are being trained to expect by both their investors and their own clients. The firms that meet those expectations now will not only close more deals, they’ll position themselves as future-ready partners, in a market that’s shifting faster than ever.
Looking to future-proof your consulting firm with smarter delivery and built-in automation?
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