Big Four consulting giants pivot to ‘high-growth verticals’ amid AI disruption
Following news of Deloitte’s latest expansion, experts predict a wave of restructuring and a “high-growth vertical” focus across the Big Four giants.
On Monday, Deloitte revealed its plans to launch a Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) firm, aiming to build a regional powerhouse that keeps pace with rapid technological change.
The new firm will include Austria, Central Europe, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal, Türkiye, Belgium, Central Mediterranean, Ireland, the Middle East, the Netherlands, the Nordics, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Spain.
The sector heavyweight claims the move to establish the new unit was to strengthen its ability to invest at scale across borders and accelerate innovation in areas that matter most to its clients.
Last year, EY pushed toward its “super regions” focus to further elevate its EY-Parthenon brand after its failed ‘Project Everest‘ split. From July, EY will be managed through 10 regions that will align and work together across its network.
This followed the merger of KPMG UK and KPMG Switzerland this year, creating a £3.6bn firm.
The strategy behind the moves is to create a ‘one-stop’ cross-border entity that can deploy new technology more easily. Martin White, principal consultant at Source Global Research, explained, “Firms want to better serve multinational clients that need projects delivered cross-border, and that want to receive a more seamless service across their different offices.”
“Firms may also see this type of integration as a way to make governance simpler and allow senior management to make changes more quickly and in a more consistent way across the region, and indeed globally,” White added.
However, as James Ransome, head of consulting at Patrick Morgan, noted, this integration does help the profit pool, as “broader integration can smooth performance across geographies and potentially enhance profit-sharing stability.”
But he added that despite the clear strategic advantages, these integration phases are rarely frictionless and often trigger significant short-term headwinds. He also noted in the short term, there can be “ambiguity around who ‘owns’ senior hiring budgets, or cultural recalibration”.
Grad programme under the scope
This move comes at a time when the entire job structure is in the spotlight following years of profitability problems and the effects of AI on businesses, putting the consultancy model under threat.
Ransome explained that entry-level career paths are narrowing as automation reduces the “pyramid” model, creating a “talent shock” where fewer juniors are hired to become future leaders.
“The Big Four are placing greater emphasis on tech-native, AI-fluent talent rather than purely traditional delivery profiles,” he explained.
But this isn’t unique to the Big Four, as it was revealed on Monday that Accenture employees may now need to prove they use AI in order to move up the ranks.
The Big Four giants are among the largest graduate employers in the UK, collectively hiring roughly 6,000 to 7,000 graduates and school-leavers annually. But this model is now under review.
The Big Four firms are currently reconsidering their graduate programme structures, not just in terms of headcount and intake numbers, but also in how the programmes operate as a whole. As AI is now taking on the jobs that a very junior grad would have traditionally held, firms are looking to elevate a smaller cohort of grads to a higher level much more quickly.
The pyramid model is shaping up to look more like a diamond.
However, Ransome added, in contrast, the merger-driven regional models are creating massive opportunities for partners and directors who can navigate complex, cross-border, tech-enabled transformations.
This comes as he claims professionals are increasingly exiting the Big Four for PE-backed platforms or nimble boutiques to escape structural friction and pursue faster decision-making and clearer equity upside.