AI is supposedly going to destroy consulting. But Accenture could make a killing from it.
Today, large AI models can write a chunk of code, put together a presentation, or extract conclusions from thousands of pages of documentation in a fraction of the time a junior consultant would need. This exact work—analysis, documentation, basic programming, and preparing materials—formed the entry point into consulting firms for decades, and at the same time a big part of their billable hours. If a machine can do the same thing faster and cheaper, it seems logical that demand for armies of junior consultants must fall, and with it the revenue of firms that built their business on these people's hourly rates.
Key points
In Q1 FY2026, Accenture stopped reporting AI bookings and revenue separately, precisely when they were growing the fastest.
The stock has lost roughly 40 percent of its value from its highs, and the P/E has dropped to 14x compared to a ten-year average of 26x.
A DCF model shows a fair value of $162 to $532 per share; the current price of $176 lies close to the pessimistic combination of scenarios.
Revenue per employee has improved over the last year to $91,500, following a slump in fiscal 2024.
The company laid off 11,000 people in 2025, yet its headcount has grown by 20,000 since August 2025 to 799,000.
At the same time, however, it remains true that no large corporation buys access to a model and has its transformation sorted the next day. Deploying AI into the real-world operations of a bank, a manufacturing business, or a state institution runs up against outdated systems, fragmented data, missing governance, and organizations that don't know exactly where to start. A paradoxical situation arises: a technology that is supposed to replace human labor is simultaneously creating huge demand for people who can embed it into companies, connect it to existing processes, and teach employees to use it.
This dual nature of AI – simultaneously a threat to the traditional model of billable hours and a source of new demand for implementation work – is currently deciding the fate of the entire consulting sector. Investors have to estimate which side of this equation individual firms actually stand on, and whether their growth in demand for AI transformation will last longer than the time it takes AI to erode their traditional business model.