According to a new article, there’s a new by-product of AI. Consultants are sending junior staff back to the office more frequently. Seriously!

As discussed by Christine Lambert on Project Counsel Media (Junior consultants and others are being called back to the office as firms realize AI increases the need for human skills, available here), consulting executives are ordering junior staff back to the office more frequently to sharpen their human skills as AI takes over a growing proportion of their technical work.

The article contains the logo for “Back to the Future”, which is a nice and appropriate touch. 😊

Executives at some of the largest consulting firms in the U.S. and across Europe say AI had made interpersonal skills increasingly valuable – competencies they argued must be developed in-office.

For example, this is what the head of consulting at Big Four firm EY had to say:

“This change we’ve seen in the last few years where people have set up their lives to be at home a lot is just not the route to success in the world of AI. We’re facing a position where we’re going to have to reduce flexibility, but in order to help the human skills.

AI will increasingly help with routine consulting work, while human consultants will have to be good at what we’re really good at, which is to be human. We have to be face to face once the agents are remote”.

Great Scott! 😉

He also said that forcing employees who had “set up their lives” around remote work to come to the office more regularly would be a “real leadership challenge”. Gee, you think?

His comments reflect a broader shift in thinking across all white-collar industries. After several years of investment in AI tools and defending hybrid working, some employers have concluded that the technology has made “in-person, on-site” collaboration crucial. Examples:

• Microsoft last year told staff they must come to the office three days a week, with chief executive Satya Nadella saying that in-person working is “even more important” in an age of AI.
• JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon has repeatedly argued that younger bankers need to be in the office to learn professional judgment.

Consulting relies on an apprenticeship model in which junior staff observe how senior colleagues handle clients and discuss meetings afterwards.

Not to pull the “that’s how we did it in my day” card, but that’s what I did when I was working at a Big 4, er Big 6, er Big 8 consulting firm back in that day (yes, I’m that old). Those years in the trenches were so valuable to my development. While I suspect those junior staff may grumble about it, I think it will be for them as well.

My density has brought me to you (it’s technically true!). 🤣

Regardless, this may be an unexpected new by-product of AI and the taking over of technical tasks. More human interaction! Who could have guessed?

I could say more, but I’m here at the Nashville airport after an exhausting (but fun and fascinating) ILTACON. Check out Christine’s article here for more on this unexpected new by-product of AI!

So, what do you think? Is your organization sending people into the office more because of AI? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Image created using ChatGPT, using the term “robot consultants heading back into the office with their heads hanging down”. Well, they’re heading the wrong way, but you get the idea. 😉

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