Consultants Are Cashing in on the AI Boom

2026-03-10 · Source: WSJ Tech News Briefing · Field: Business & Management — Consulting & Professional Services, Corporate Strategy & Leadership · Depth: Fundamental Awareness, medium

Summary

The Wall Street Journal's Tech News Briefing on March 10th explores how artificial intelligence is unexpectedly boosting two industries: local news and management consulting. Local newsrooms, often underfunded, are leveraging AI to automate tasks like monitoring police scanners and drafting initial story versions, freeing reporters for deeper investigative work. For instance, NewsQuest, owned by USA Today, used AI to draft a quarter of its 60,000 stories in January. Simultaneously, major AI developers like OpenAI and Anthropic are forming partnerships with consulting giants such as McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group. These collaborations address the AI companies' need for broader deployment capabilities and client relationships, with consulting firms shifting to outcome-based pricing models. While many companies haven't yet seen measurable value from AI projects, direct collaboration with AI engineers aims to improve implementation success.

Key takeaway

For Directors of AI/ML evaluating deployment strategies, direct collaboration with AI company engineers, not just consultants, can significantly improve implementation success and measurable value. Your teams should prioritize outcome-based contracts with consulting partners to ensure alignment on tangible results. Consider how AI can augment your existing workforce, automating routine tasks to free up skilled personnel for higher-value, investigative work.

Key insights

AI is proving to be a valuable tool for efficiency and expansion in both journalism and consulting, rather than solely a disruptive force.

Principles

• AI can augment human work, not just replace it.
• Successful AI deployment requires human expertise and client relationships.
• Outcome-based pricing aligns incentives for AI implementation.

Method

Local newsrooms use AI to monitor public records and draft initial articles, allowing human reporters to focus on investigative journalism and editing. Consulting firms partner with AI labs to deploy technology and develop implementation strategies.

In practice

• Automate routine data collection with AI in news.
• Shift consulting engagements to outcome-based models.
• Integrate AI company engineers directly into deployment teams.

Topics

• AI Consulting
• Local News Journalism
• AI Deployment Strategies
• Outcome-Based Pricing
• OpenAI Partnerships
• Newsroom Automation

Best for: Executive, Consultant, Director of AI/ML, Tech Journalist

Related on AIssential

• Which AI Consulting Service Provider Is Best For You? — Choosing an AI consulting provider requires matching specific business needs to a provider's specialized strengths beyond general capabilities.
• Microsoft, AWS deploy engineer armies to help make AI profitable — AI profitability demands embedded expertise and process re-engineering, not merely tool deployment, to overcome widespread lack of significant business benefits.
• AI agent-based pricing: will it become a reality? — AI agent count is an implementation choice, not a viable commercial pricing unit for outsourcing.
• Practical AI For Real Businesses — AI's power for business outcomes requires acknowledging its human-derived flaws and implementing it responsibly.
• Consulting Deliverables Are Now a Commodity — AI now commoditizes structured consulting deliverables, replicating complex frameworks and polished outputs across leading LLMs.
• OpenAI allies with 4 big consulting giants as the agentic enterprise battle heats up — Strategic consulting partnerships are key to scaling enterprise AI agent adoption and overcoming implementation barriers.

See Counsel's argued verdicts on the open AI decisions leaders are weighing →

Open in AIssential →

Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by WSJ Tech News Briefing.