Abstract: The world's leading consulting firms—McKinsey, BCG, Deloitte, Accenture, EY, and KPMG—all agree that artificial intelligence represents a fundamentally human challenge rather than a purely technological one. Beyond that singular consensus, their positions diverge dramatically. McKinsey forecasts 57% of U.S. work hours are automatable while Forrester estimates 6%. BCG advocates investing 70% of transformation budgets in people; Accenture invested $865 million restructuring 11,000 roles while mandating AI proficiency for advancement. KPMG predicts an hourglass organizational structure with hollowed middle management; Deloitte forecasts a diamond shape with expanded middle tiers managing AI agents. This analysis examines the firm-by-firm positions of major consulting houses on AI workforce transformation, maps points of genuine alignment and irreconcilable conflict, documents the say-do gaps between advisory positions and internal practices, and extracts evidence-based guidance for practitioners navigating a landscape where even the experts fundamentally disagree on scope, speed, investment ratios, and organizational consequences.
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