Rethinking Competence Development in the Age of AI - An exploratory study of management consultants' experiences of AI and competence development

Sammanfattning

This study explores how management consultants experience the impact of AI on competence development. Drawing on 20 exploratory interviews with management consultants from Stockholm-based firms, the study examines how AI is used in everyday consulting work, how consultants perceive its influence on their competence development, and how they interpret changing competence requirements in the profession. While existing literature often discusses AI in terms of increased or decreased need for certain skills and productivity outcomes, less attention has been paid to how professionals experience these changes in everyday work. The findings show that consultants experience AI's impact on competence development as ambivalent. AI enables faster access to information and more efficient task execution, while simultaneously reducing direct engagement in analytical and production-oriented tasks that have traditionally been central to competence development. The findings further suggest that AI changes which competencies are perceived as important, increasing the emphasis on effective AI use, evaluation of AI-generated outputs, and relational capabilities. Beyond the individual level, AI may also reshape traditional development pathways by reducing the need for junior-level tasks. Overall, the study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of AI's role in competence development by showing how it reshapes the processes through which competence is developed, which competencies are considered most important, and how competence itself is understood in management consulting.