As AI Reshapes Consulting, Expertise and Execution Become the Differentiators

New research from The Deerborne Group examines how artificial intelligence is transforming management consulting and where clients are increasingly finding value

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Artificial intelligence is changing the economics of management consulting. Work that once required teams of analysts and weeks of research can increasingly be performed internally in hours or minutes. For precision diagnostics and life sciences companies, that raises a fundamental question: If analysis is faster and less expensive, where does consulting create value next?

For decades, traditional consulting firms have employed a leveraged model in which junior consultants conduct research and analysis to support senior partners. AI is changing that equation, letting experienced executives and smaller internal teams do more of that work themselves.

The Deerborne Group began its research with a pre-ASCO 2026 executive pulse survey, followed by qualitative interviews with senior diagnostics and life sciences executives at ASCO. The findings reveal a paradox: while 62% reported reduced analytical workload, 54% reported no meaningful improvement in decision quality.

The findings suggest that as AI reduces the cost and time required for analysis, consulting value is shifting toward domain expertise, judgment, and execution.

"AI isn't eliminating the need for consultants; it's changing where consultants can add value," said Jeffrey G. Jones, founder and managing partner of The Deerborne Group. "As analysis becomes faster and more accessible, clients increasingly need expertise, judgment, and people who know how to execute, not simply more analysis."

Since 2020, The Deerborne Group has operated an operator-led, network-based consulting model built around experienced industry executives and subject-matter experts rather than the traditional consulting pyramid.

That distinction matters in genomics and precision diagnostics, where commercialization and go-to-market decisions intersect with clinical evidence, regulatory strategy, reimbursement, market access, laboratory operations, and investor expectations. Analysis is one challenge; knowing what matters, and how to execute, is another.

AI will continue to make strategy faster. The opportunity for consulting firms lies less in producing analysis and more in providing what technology cannot easily replicate: deep domain expertise, judgment, and execution.

About The Deerborne Group

The Deerborne Group is an operator-led strategy and management consulting firm focused exclusively on genomics and precision diagnostics. Founded by diagnostics executive Jeffrey G. Jones, the firm advises Fortune 500 and emerging growth companies, boards, venture capital firms, and private equity investors on corporate and commercial strategy, clinical evidence, reimbursement and market access, operational execution, and investment diligence.

Media Contact:
Liz Dowling
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SOURCE The Deerborne Group