Around half of McKinsey's employees use ChatGPT

At McKinsey & Company, one of the world's largest management consulting firms, about half of its 30,000 employees now use ChatGPT or similar tools in their work.

Large consulting firms are increasingly embracing generative AI technology, such as ChatGPT and other similar services that allow users to create text, images, and even video based on text prompts. The consulting industry is in the process of adjusting their expectations for talent in the post-ChatGPT era.

“About half of [our employees] are using those services with McKinsey’s permission,” said Ben Ellencweig, senior partner at QuantumBlack, the firm’s AI consulting division, at a media event in New York on Tuesday.

Ellencweig adding that employees at McKinsey & Company “do not upload confidential information” to any generative artificial intelligence services.

Generative AI services, like ChatGPT, enable consultants to access a vast repository of knowledge instantly, making research more efficient. ChatGPT also has data analysis capabilities that can extract valuable insights, helping users with evidence-based decision-making. Incorporating generative AI can enhance efficiency, creativity, and client satisfaction, potentially giving a major competitive edge to the consulting firms that can best leverage the technology.

For example, OpenAI technologies have recently been leveraged by Bain & Company, one of McKinsey’s chief rivals. The firm’s consultants used OpenAI’s generative AI suite to help create a series of useful tools for retail giant Carrefour, including a shopping assistant chatbot for their website.

Other consulting firms have recently been making huge investments into AI research and development with the hopes of getting a foothold with the emerging technology and gaining an advantage in the long term. For example, Accenture invested $3 billion into their AI research capabilities and PwC invested $1 billion into a new partnership with Microsoft and OpenAI.