TFS Gulf 
- I’m Alibek D., ex-McKinsey turned co-founder of Perceptis AI.
- At Perceptis, we raised $3.6M to bring MBB-grade” technology to boutique firms.
- Why? Because consulting is at an inflection point.
- For decades, the hierarchy was clear: at the top, McKinsey, BCG, and Bain; in the middle, the Big 4; and at the base, tens of thousands of boutiques.
- That pyramid is now collapsing, giving boutique firms a similar edge as the MBB giants.
From Big Tech to McKinsey
I started in Big Tech (Amazon + Google), and a few years later, in 2015, I pivoted to consulting with McKinsey.
I brought a tech-first mindset, but I was told more than once, “This is consulting, not Google. Leave your tech tricks behind.”
Fast forward to 2023, and McKinsey had gone all-in on technology, building advanced platforms to support clients and operations.
The realisation
Over my 6–7 years in consulting, I noticed a clear hierarchy:
- At the top sit the MBBs: McKinsey, BCG, Bain.
- In the middle: Big 4s and mid-sized advisory arms.
- At the base: Thousands of boutique consulting firms: small, hyper-specialised, nimble players.
For decades, that pyramid was stable. But the ground is shifting.
- While MBBs are growing 3–5% annually. Boutiques? Many are growing 2x, even 3x year-over-year!
- Across markets, more top-tier professionals are leaving big firms to launch their own specialised shops.
The client-side view explains why:
- Big-brand firms are still hired for influence and high-stakes projects.
- But when clients want sharp, tactical, niche expertise, they’re increasingly turning to boutiques. They’re faster, more focused, and often more cost-effective.
This is the future: highly specialised experts, powered by smarter tools, scaling knowledge beyond the old limits.
…suddenly the typical consulting pyramid looked fragile.
That shift made one thing clear to me: if boutiques had access to the same tech power, they could compete head-on with the incumbents.
I quit McKinsey
Later that year, I left McKinsey and co-founded Perceptis AI.
Our starting point was obvious: proposals. Perceptis plugs into a firm’s knowledge base, past proposals, case studies, and CVs and generates customised, client-ready decks in minutes.
But proposals are just the beginning. We’re now expanding into project delivery, faster slide-building, deep research, and knowledge management.
Our long-term goal? For Perceptis to become the operating system of modern consulting.
What next? Collapse of the pyramid
The big firms have their AI arsenals:
- McKinsey → Lilli / Quantum Black
- BCG → Dexter
- Big Four → their own internal platforms
And when that falls short, they can throw teams of analysts at the problem.
Boutiques don’t have that luxury. But with AI, they don’t need it.
A five-person firm can now deliver MBB-grade outputs without the overhead.
That’s why I don’t believe AI will “kill” consultants. Clients don’t hire us for slides—they hire us for judgment, trust, and expertise.
But AI will flatten the pyramid McKinsey and others have dominated for decades. The monopoly of scale is ending.
As for AI obliterating consulting altogether? Personally, I don’t see it.
The Next Era
Over the next few years, I predict:
Thousands of niche consulting firms will emerge, focussed on sectors, regions, or problems.
- AI-first boutiques will challenge traditional players and often win.
- Clients will have more choice than ever, forcing everyone to raise their game.
In this new world, the winners will be:
- Boutiques that move fast
- Experts who know their niches inside out
- Tech-forward consultancies willing to integrate AI into their workflows
An interesting POV
Consulting is increasingly becoming a technology industry. And in tech, leadership is never permanent.
IBM gave way to Microsoft. Yahoo was replaced by Google, which in turn is now challenged by TikTok and new platforms. In tech, the leader rarely stays on top for more than a decade.
Professional services, by contrast, have been far more stable: McKinsey has led for a century, Goldman Sachs for nearly 80 years.
But here’s the question: as consulting becomes more like tech, will it also inherit tech’s churn? Will the giants hold their dominance, or will a new wave of AI-powered boutiques reshape the landscape?
