Consultants head for an AI showdown — with their own clients

The FT argues that consultancies betting big on AI transformation are now competing with their own clients, who use AI tools to replace traditional advisory work. Firms like McKinsey and BCG sell AI deployment while facing budget cuts as clients adopt AI in-house. The article doesn't give specific layoff or revenue impact figures, but the direction is clear: the middleman role is getting squeezed from both sides.