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AI projects fail because leadership assumes deploying the tool is the finish line.

In this episode, Dr. Anja Konhaeuser, Co-Founder and Partner at OMMAX, explains why AI transformation cannot be treated like a traditional technology rollout.

The real challenge starts once the solution is live: employees need to trust outputs, workflows need to change, roles need to be redefined, and leadership needs to actively model the new behavior. Drawing from OMMAX’s work with clients across AI, data, and digital transformation, Anja shows why the old 80/20 logic has flipped: AI may now be 20% technology and 80% organization. For consulting leaders, this episode offers a clear view of where AI projects really succeed or stall: not in the technical build, but in whether people, processes, and leadership behavior change after implementation.

You’ll learn:

1. Why AI adoption requires more than technical deployment
2. How leaders misread AI when they treat it like an IT rollout
3. What employee groups need different adoption strategies
4. Why visible leadership behavior determines trust in AI
5. How consulting delivery changes when adoption becomes the real work

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Dr. Anja Konhaeuser is open to connecting about AI transformation, adoption, and organizational change. If you would like to exchange perspectives, reach out on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-anja-konh%C3%A4user-28282297/

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Anja’s recommendations:
You Are the Placebo | https://www.amazon.de/-/en/You-Are-Placebo-Making-Matter/dp/1781802572/r

Why We Sleep | https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Why-We-Sleep-Unlocking-Dreams/dp/1501144324/

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Sammy and SAWOO offer a B2B community-building service that establishes you as a thought leader in your industry and helps you build genuine, human-to-human relationships with your dream clients. Get in touch with Sammy Gebele on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammygebele/

For more perspectives on how leaders are navigating topics like this, follow the LEADERS IN CONSULTING Community on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/leadersinconsulting-en

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When AI commoditizes delivery work, consulting firms have to prove where their real value lives.

Olly Purnell, Managing Partner and co-founder of Q5, argues that consulting is being pushed back toward a more precise advisory model: specialist expertise, clear scope, and judgment clients cannot easily replicate.

As AI makes research, benchmarking, reporting, and analysis faster and cheaper, firms built around scaled delivery and broad service portfolios face a harder question. What are they truly known for? Olly shares why Q5 has operated more like an architect’s practice since 2009, why fixed-fee, fixed-scope work can create sharper client value, and why future-ready consulting firms still need to invest in young talent.

You’ll learn:

1. Why AI weakens the economics of large delivery teams
2. How specialist firms can create advantage in uncertain markets
3. What makes generalist positioning increasingly vulnerable
4. Why fixed-scope advisory changes the client relationship
5. How future talent keeps expertise from becoming outdated

Olly Purnell is open to connecting about specialist advisory, AI, and the future consulting model.

If you would like to exchange perspectives, reach out on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olly-purnell-organization-health/

Sarah Edwards is Chief Product Officer at Kantata and has spent over 30 years helping professional services firms scale, transform, and deliver measurable business value across the US and Europe. She is passionate about how AI is reshaping the consulting industry, from how firms win work and deliver outcomes to how they empower talent and strengthen client relationships.


Get in touch with Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahedwards3/

More episodes and insights: https://www.leadersinconsulting.com/podcast

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The next consulting advantage is not account-led or expert-led. It is a combination of the two.

Dr. Karsten Ballüder, Partner at Deloitte and leader of the firm’s European Application Modernization practice, joins David to discuss how consulting firms can stay differentiated when AI makes generic knowledge and polished output easier to produce.

Karsten argues that relationships still open doors, but they are no longer enough on their own. In complex, mission-critical work, clients need confidence that the people in the room have seen the problem before, know where it tends to break, and can bring expertise that is not simply available to everyone through AI. This conversation explores the tension between account-led growth and expert-led credibility, why internal incentives can block real collaboration, and what consulting leaders need to build if they want trust and expertise to reinforce each other.

You’ll learn:

1. Why generic consulting output is becoming harder to defend
2. How account leaders and experts create value together
3. Why lived delivery experience matters more in the AI era
4. How internal incentives can keep the right expertise out of the room
5. What experts must do to become commercially visible inside the firm

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Dr. Karsten Ballüder is open to connecting about consulting growth, expert leadership, AI-driven commoditization, and the relationship between trust and expertise.

If you would like to exchange perspectives, reach out on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karsten-ballueder/
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Karsten’s reading recommendation:
Getting Things Done | https://www.amazon.de/dp/0143126563

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David is a Partner at entero and has extensive experience in Salesforce consulting, particularly in advising consulting firms on the optimization and digitalization of their processes. Over the past ten years, he has led teams, managed complex client relationships, and implemented digital solutions that improve operational efficiency. His passion lies in helping companies use technology to drive growth and transformation, ensuring they remain competitive in an increasingly digital world.

Simply write to David by email at david.anheier@entero.de

or connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danheier/

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For more perspectives on how leaders are navigating topics like this, follow the LEADERS IN CONSULTING Community on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/leadersinconsulting-en/