How BCG is revolutionizing consulting with AI: A case study

In a world where AI is transforming every sector, businesses are constantly looking for ways to gain a competitive advantage. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is leading the way by embracing artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI, to transform its internal operations and consulting services. Let’s take a closer look at how BCG is leveraging AI to transform its business processes and the entire consulting industry.

The Strategic Importance of AI at BCG

AI is not just a buzzword for BCG, it is a fundamental element of their strategy. Vlad Lukic, Managing Director and Senior Partner at BCG, emphasized the importance of AI, saying, “AI is at the heart of business and will be a fundamental part of our toolkit and skillset.” AI acts as an assistant, empowering BCG consultants to work at unprecedented speed, generating insights faster and delivering impactful results for clients.

BCG’s Real-World Applications of AI

1. Processing and analysis of interviews:

Lukic recalls that during a summer internship, he was tasked with interviewing 30 engineers about materials science in three days, transcribing the conversations, extracting insights, and creating slides—a labor-intensive process that took two weeks. In contrast, a consultant recently used BCG’s Enterprise GPT to perform a similar task. “By day three, the slides and insights were ready,” Lukic marvels. The AI ​​tool transcribed the interviews, highlighted key themes, and generated a draft presentation in minutes, shortening a two-week process to two to three days.

2. Gene: BCG’s revolutionary conversational AI:

Another notable example of AI’s impact at BCG is the development of Gene, a conversational AI designed to engage with humans and create audio experiences. Initially conceived as a co-host of BCG’s future podcast, “Imagine This,” Gene has evolved into a multipurpose tool for client engagement and content creation.

BCG Editor-in-Chief Paul Michelman explains, “Gene was born for a specific job, really one job, and his original training was to be a podcast co-host.” But Gene’s potential quickly became apparent, and his uses expanded: Gene now appears at live events with clients and other audiences for conversations about the future of AI and thought leadership.

Enterprise GPT: A Game Changer

BCG’s Enterprise GPT is the linchpin of the company’s AI strategy. Deployed to all employees, the tool puts all data under BCG’s control. Consultants can also build their own GPTs for specific jobs to drive innovation and efficiency. More than 3,000 GPTs have been created, covering a range of tasks from document summarization to administrative functions. Lukic highlights the impact on productivity, saying, “It’s really helped us take our speed to a whole new level.”

Evolving Roles and Skills in the AI ​​Era

As AI takes over day-to-day tasks, the role of consultants is evolving. Lukic emphasizes that deliberate effort and sanity checks are needed to ensure junior consultants have the requisite skills. “We force those conversations with our team members so that we’re building their skills along the way,” he explains. This includes teaching consultants how to effectively leverage AI tools so they can provide accurate and reliable insights.

Gene’s development has also prompted new considerations in the deployment of AI. Bill Moore of BCG Design Studios, which developed Gene, explains the difficulty of balancing autonomy with control: “We tune and we adjust and fine-tune the temperature, turning it all the way down to zero if we want a really precise response.”

Measuring the impact of AI

BCG conducted a scientific experiment with 750 employees to measure the impact of generative AI on performance and efficiency. The results were compelling: for simple tasks, new hires were 30-40% more productive, while experienced consultants were 20-30% more productive. For complex tasks, however, the difficulty of debugging AI-generated output sometimes led to reduced productivity. The experiment highlighted the importance of understanding where AI can be most effective and implementing appropriate guardrails to ensure accuracy.

Insights from BCG’s GenAI experiment

BCG’s extensive research on generative AI revealed important insights about its value and potential pitfalls. The study found that when using GenAI for creative ideation, nearly 90% of participants performed better. However, when applied to solving business problems that were outside the tool’s current capabilities, many participants trusted misleading outputs and performed 23% worse than participants who did not use the tool. This highlights the need for proper training and understanding of the limitations of AI tools.

Ensure accuracy and reduce risk

To mitigate the risks associated with AI, BCG has put several guardrails in place: AI-generated insights are reviewed by human experts, and workflows are designed to ensure continuous monitoring. Additionally, BCG fine-tunes its models based on usage and feedback to reduce the chance of errors.

In the case of Jean, transparency and ethical considerations are paramount. “We think it’s very important to be completely clear when using technology, and secondly, to avoid anthropomorphization,” emphasizes Paul Michelman. This approach also applies to Jean’s voice, which is deliberately androgynous and somewhat robotic in order to clearly distinguish it from a human.

AI Governance and Strategic Implementation

BCG is taking a two-pronged approach to implementing AI: A top-down effort identifies key workflows that could benefit from AI, but grassroots innovation is also encouraged. A senior task force focuses on internal support functions and consulting cohorts to identify where AI can remove bottlenecks and improve productivity.

The future of consulting in the age of AI

Looking ahead, AI will revolutionize the consulting industry: Lukic predicts that within 10 years, 50% of current tasks will be automated by AI, freeing up consultants to focus more on change management and driving adoption within client organizations.

Bill Moore envisions a future in which conversational interfaces like Gene become a new layer of interaction with technology, potentially revolutionizing accessibility and user experience.

Strategies for successful AI adoption

For CEOs considering adopting AI, Lukic has two key pieces of advice: First, don’t wait. Start addressing friction and building the necessary governance structures now. Second, get your organization involved. Avoid outsourcing AI implementations entirely and instead focus on building in-house capabilities.

Transforming Consulting with AI

BCG’s strategic application of AI, particularly generative and conversational AI like Gene, demonstrates how adopting technology can revolutionize internal processes and improve customer service. By leveraging AI tools like Enterprise GPT and Gene, BCG is increasing productivity, driving innovation, and preparing its workforce for the future. As AI continues to evolve, BCG’s proactive approach serves as a valuable blueprint for other organizations looking to harness the power of AI in their own operations.