why is Accenture stock cratering?
11
Morale at McKinsey feels like it’s at an all-time low. Ongoing layoffs have gutted internal teams, leaving those who remain fully checked out. Senior leadership seems totally disconnected, asking for updates from teams that were eliminated months ago. Consultants are more stretched than ever, leaving less time to develop the judgment, client skills, and problem solving that once defined the firm. This place is quickly becoming a relic of the past
Accenture is winning more business, but the revenue per project won in the long term is projected to shrink. AI is creating outcome based pricing, which eats into the margins of hour based pricing. And the market is repricing professional services accordingly.
I’ve read that MBB is leaning more into AI services. It already accounts for about 40% of revenue to date. But if Accenture is repricing at the top of the market, trickle down effects are bound to happen.
Accenture chose technology, offshoring and outsourcing a long time ago and is now paying the price. Too many people, too commoditized, and a clueless leader who never ran a consulting engagement in her life.
It’s over. AI came for SaaS and ppl were laughing. Now it’s come for professional services.
I make decks all on my own, build and deploy my own demos .. all using Claude .. no one needs a heavy team of fresh college grads that have zero business context. This is unfortunately where the world is at irrespective of whether we like it or not. Personally, I don’t love it.. because what’s the new generation to do? What are they supposed to go to college for?
Outsourcing is dying?
Because consulting is dying
Do you think Accenture will cut over half of its employees now given the trajectory in which AI is heading towards with the firm having around 800,000 employees
Eventually they will have to, unless we can find new sources of growth.0
Ppl saying ai is eating consulting are junior or disconnected. It’s because a huge portion of accentures business is outsourcing/offshoring and work that is in fact being automated away. Consulting has always had value based pricing. That narrative is dumb as well. Cost projects have always had variable components.
Se also: Julie Sweet
This is a reset. Consulting will shrink but I think it will still be needed at lower pricing and scale.
Accentures primary business is outsourcing. That’s the easiest work to leverage AI. The rest is tech implementations. That’s not happening with interest rates. It’s doomed.
Because consulting is a dying business. No one wants those useless PPTs