McKinsey is deploying 12,000 AI agents while its workforce shrunk from 45,000 to 40,000 employees, as the consulting firm confronts AI’s potential to automate core functions. Senior partner Kate Smaje acknowledged AI poses an existential threat to consulting, while global managing partner Bob Sternfels envisions one AI agent per employee. The firm’s AI tools write documents, summarize materials, create PowerPoints, and check consultants’ logic, while McKinsey generates 40% of its $16 billion revenue from AI consulting services. However, experts warn AI’s reliability issues, including hallucinations, could prove problematic, as seen with lawyers’ blunders using AI-generated documents. Competitors suggest the industry must pivot toward human-centered collaboration, with clients no longer wanting “a suit with PowerPoint” but direct team collaboration.