Capability, not cash: why consultancies aren’t seeing AI ROI

One finding in this year’s Consultancy BenchPress data really jumped out at me.

When we asked consultancy leaders what was stopping them achieving a greater return from AI, budget didn’t come first. It didn’t even come second.

Concerns around risk and quality were the biggest barrier, cited by 44% of firms. A lack of in-house AI expertise followed at 43%. Budget came third, at 29%. For consultancies turning over more than £2.5m, half cite risk and quality as a major concern.

They have the tools. Their people are using them. But they are still working out how to use AI consistently, judge the quality of its output and manage the risks.

More budget isn’t the solution.

The question has moved on from adoption

Only 1% of firms in our research say they are not using AI. More than two-thirds are using it successfully in at least part of the business, although just 15% have deployed it across the whole firm.

That 15% is worth paying attention to. They are more than twice as likely to be achieving high growth and high profit, while firms still trialling AI are the least likely to have grown.

There is a big gap between trying AI and building the capability to use it properly.

We’ve all learnt how to generate a first draft or automate a basic task. That’s not the same as knowing what needs human review, whether the output is genuinely good, whether the time saved improves margin or capacity, and who is accountable when something goes wrong.

That’s the part that will unlock the commercial return.

Saving time isn’t the same as creating value

68% of firms expect AI to improve efficiency, 65% expect it to reduce delivery costs and 62% want it to help them deliver more value to clients.

We have no shortage of ideas to use AI, but how are we using that time saved?

Do you improve margin, increase capacity or give the client more value? Or does the time simply disappear into the working week?

Unless you make a deliberate decision, the productivity gain is easily lost.

The same applies to quality. Producing something faster is only valuable if it is accurate, relevant and useful.

Speed helps. Judgement creates the value.

What closing the capability gap looks like

You don’t need a huge transformation programme. Start with four practical steps.

Put quality assurance around your highest-risk uses first, particularly client recommendations, financial work and sensitive data.
Give one person clear accountability for AI output quality. They do not need to review everything, but they should own the standards.
Invest in expertise, not just tools. Lack of in-house expertise is the second-biggest barrier to ROI, yet only 41% of firms below £2.5m have run AI training.
Write down what you are trying to achieve. Set out the business outcome, priority use cases, measures, risks and owner. That is more useful than a broad ambition to “use more AI”.

There is no AI ROI without measurement

46% of consultancies say AI is having a positive financial impact. Yet only around 12% have measured it.

Without that information, firms risk spending more because AI feels useful rather than because they know what is working.

Pick one or two use cases and establish a baseline. How long did the task take before? How long does it take now? Has review time increased? Is quality as good? Has capacity or margin improved?

Make your existing investment work harder

Wider adoption is not the same as greater AI ROI.

The next gains will come from better-trained people, clearer accountability, stronger quality assurance and disciplined measurement.

Before buying another tool, ask a more useful question:

What is stopping us from getting a greater return from the tools we already have?

Read our article on how to build an AI-powered consultancy for more practical guidance.

TCGN members can also bring their specific challenges to one of our regular AI roundtables, where we openly discuss what’s working, what isn’t and where there is genuine commercial impact.

Not yet a member? Explore TCGN membership and discover how our community, experts and practical resources can help you make better decisions about the growth of your consultancy.