6 Consulting Trends to Watch in 2026

The year 2026 promises to be an exciting one for the consulting industry. Big technological changes and a growing number of startups in the space are expected to accompany a period of client recalibration. To succeed, consulting firms will need to be adaptable—and will need to stay on top of industry trends. Flexibility in how you operate and how you approach clients can open new sources of revenue. And by boosting your tech savviness, you can offer better solutions, which could increase repeat and referral business. Here’s a look at some of the most notable consulting trends that will impact the industry in the year to come. 1. Niche specialists will be in greater demand than generalists There’s a growing shift away from generalist consulting firms and a greater demand among clients for specialists, who focus on specific areas of expertise. The growing number of independent consultants is filling that demand, with detailed sector knowledge and a firm understanding of that area’s regulatory frameworks, ESG compliance, or sector-specific nuances. Those companies typically offer faster turnaround times on projects, better insights, and improved impacts for clients. “Clients prefer boutique firms offering regulatory expertise, sector specialization, and competitive pricing, driving growth in niche consulting segments,” says research firm StartUs Insights. 2. Expect more competition, but new avenues of revenue It’s not the news that some firms want to hear, but the hard truth is 2026 will see a much more crowded consulting landscape. Professionals who were let go in 2025 (and will be this year) are increasingly turning to consulting as the job market becomes leaner, often giving well-established companies more competition than they were counting on. At the same time, client budgets are likely to be leaner, which could impact the number of jobs they commission. That doesn’t mean the work won’t be there. Greaux Consulting says flexibility will be key, as clients could look for fractional or on-demand consulting help. And while big corporations could reduce budgets, there’s likely to be more demand from small and midsize businesses for consulting expertise. Expect “a growing demand for business consulting services for small businesses, as this provides small emerging companies access to skilled, high-level experts to consult on operations, financial planning and projections, and marketing strategy,” says the company, which specializes in business process documentation, operational transformation, and executive coaching. 3. Localization will become much more important With the emphasis from the White House and Congress on domestic workers, many companies are foregoing working with international consultants or opting to work with those who have strong local networks. That could present an opportunity. Additionally, while there’s a lot of volatility in the economy now, some areas, especially in the Southeast, are seeing expansion, which will create more demand for consultants who know those regions, their regulations, market conditions, and workforce dynamics. Companies that are looking to expand to those areas will need expert insight into how best to grow and succeed there. 4. AI expertise will be in demand It likely won’t come as a surprise to hear AI will play a bigger role in client operations in 2026. As companies depend on it to assist with everything from analytics to forecasting, consultants who are fluent in these tools will have a competitive advantage. And those who can offer the tools to clients could have an even bigger head start. “Organizations that hire consulting services or a national consulting practice will see meaningful benefits from AI-driven tools to improve operations, customer segmentation, supply chain, and financial planning,” says Greaux. 5. There will be an increased focus on automation With businesses becoming even more focused on optimization in 2026 (a trend that has been growing for the past several years), consultants who can help guide them through reworking manual processes into automated ones could be in a position to thrive. There’s a growing need to reduce costs, increase productivity, and enhance efficiency, which opens up a niche for consultants. StartUs Insights says “the digital transformation consulting market [will grow] from $268.46 billion in 2025 to $510.50 billion in 2034.” 6. Personalizing client services will boost revenues While a one-size-fits-all approach might have worked for consulting firms in years past, there’s a growing movement toward selecting firms that offer a methodology that’s tailored specifically to the client or its industry, addressing their unique issues with adaptive, data-driven solutions. McKinsey says consulting firms that focus on personalization typically see revenues that are 10 to 15 percent higher – and, in some cases, up to 25 percent. They also have a higher client retention level. BY CHRIS MORRIS @MORRISATLARGE

Apple’s Rumored AI Pin Forces a Simple Question: What Do People Actually Want?

Earlier this week, my co-host and I had a conversation on our podcast, Primary Technology, about the rumors that Apple is working on an AI pin. We don’t usually spend a lot of time on rumors—for a number of reasons I won’t get into here—but this one is particularly interesting considering that we’ve seen this before (AI pins, I mean), and they haven’t turned out especially well. According to a report from The Information this week, Apple is actively developing a wearable device—roughly the size of an AirTag—equipped with cameras and microphones but notably, lacking a display. The idea is that it would launch as early as 2027, powered by the kind of multimodal intelligence we expect to see in iOS 27. Since we recorded that episode, I’ve been thinking a lot about whether this makes any sense for Apple, and what exactly the ideal device is for AI. I’ve said in the past that I think that’s the Apple Watch, though a “pin” definitely has certain advantages (it has an outward-facing camera, for example). More importantly, I’ve been thinking about what the ideal AI device is based on what people actually want. The ideal form factor should be determined by the ideal use cases, not the other way around. I think the bar is pretty high. If I’m going to carry another device, or if I’m going to replace something like my iPhone, it has to be able to offer value I can’t get from what I already have. Generally, that falls into three buckets: Answers to questions The most obvious use case is what people already use AI tools for—getting information. Of course, this is admittedly a pretty broad category. There are a lot of different types of information that people might want. For example, they might want to ask simple questions like “who directed Star Wars: The Last Jedi?” But people also want to ask slightly more complicated questions (what’s the weather going to be like when my plane lands tomorrow?), as well as queries like “what’s this plant, and is it edible?” Those questions require a different kind of contextual awareness. Your AI assistant has to be able to see your calendar, find out flight information, and check the weather at your destination. Or, in the latter case, it has to be able to literally see what you’re talking about, identify the plant, and give you the information you’re looking for. This is where the form factor of a pin actually starts to make some sense. The primary limitation of Siri on your iPhone or Apple Watch is that it can’t see what you see. Sure, you can hold up your phone and point the camera at stuff, but that’s awkward. If Apple’s rumored device includes the dual-camera array mentioned in the reports, it changes Siri from being just a voice assistant to a multimodal source of information about the world. You aren’t just asking for information; you are asking for context about the physical world in front of you. Do things on their behalf Of course, getting information is great, but acting on it is even more useful. This is the “agent” concept we’ve heard so much about but haven’t really seen work in practice. It’s the promise that the Rabbit R1 made but couldn’t keep: the ability to interface with apps and services to actually get things done. The Rabbit R1 failed because it tried to simulate your interactions via a cloud-based “Large Action Model” that was clunky and unreliable. Apple has the potential to solve this for first-party apps like Calendar and Messages. It controls the entire software stack, meaning it can offer an experience that other devices couldn’t. And, with App Intents, Apple could solve the same problem for other apps if it could get third-party developers on board. I don’t just want to know that my flight is delayed; I want the device to rebook me on the next one and update my calendar. We’re a long way off from any device being able to do that, but it’s the promise that every company keeps making. If Apple can make it happen, it’ll immediately jump to the lead. Remember and prompt This is the “external brain” use case, and frankly, it’s the one a lot of people find most compelling. We all have those moments where we meet someone and can’t quite place them, or we have a brilliant idea while driving and lose it by the time we get home. An ideal AI device should be a passive observer that helps you connect the dots. It should be able to whisper in your ear, “That’s David; you met him at CES last year,” or remind you to pick up milk because it knows you’re near the grocery store. Of course, this is also the creepiest use case. It requires a level of always-on surveillance that most people are rightfully uncomfortable with. If Apple is going to ask us to wear a camera and microphone on our chests, they are going to have to lean incredibly hard on their privacy credentials. Trust is the only currency that matters here. The big risk Previous devices haven’t been much of a success. No one has figured this out yet. The Humane AI Pin was a disaster of overheating and poor battery life. The Rabbit R1 was barely functional. The history of wearable AI is short, but it is brutal. There are laws of physics that even Apple cannot ignore. Cameras and AI models generate heat and drain power. Putting that in a coin-sized aluminum disc without a massive battery pack is an engineering feat no one has cracked. There’s also the fact that wearable devices come with a very real stigma. Anything that isn’t a watch has to be exponentially more useful than the burden of wearing it. Google Glass failed partly because people simply didn’t want to talk to someone who had a camera pointed at their face. Meta has circumvented this slightly with Ray-Bans because they look like sunglasses. A shiny badge on your chest is a much bolder statement. Is that an argument for or against Apple trying? I’m not sure. But with reports that Jony Ive and OpenAI are building their own hardware, Apple may feel it cannot afford to cede the category. Even if, right now, it looks like a solution in search of a problem. EXPERT OPINION BY JASON ATEN, TECH COLUMNIST @JASONATEN

Mark Cuban Just Made a Surprising Anti‑AI Investment. Experts Say It Could Define 2026

Mark Cuban’s enthusiasm for artificial intelligence is well-known. He has called the technology the “ultimate timesaving hack” and bluntly stated that if you’re not learning AI, “you’re f—ed.” But with his latest investment, the billionaire bypassed the plethora of AI startups and focused instead on something more human-centered. Cuban has invested an undisclosed amount in live events company Burwoodland, which produces nightlife experiences throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. The investment will make him a minority owner in the company. Founded in 2015 by Alex Badanes and Ethan Maccoby, the New York City-based company says it has sold more than 1.5 million tickets to live events like Emo Night Brooklyn, Gimme Gimme Disco, All Your Friends, and Broadway Rave, which center on DJ sets that are themed to a certain musical genre. “It’s time we all got off our asses, left the house, and had fun,” said Cuban in a statement. “Alex and Ethan know how to create amazing memories and experiences that people plan their weeks around. In an AI world, what you do is far more important than what you prompt.” That’s not the first time Cuban has touted the potential of real-world experiences in an increasingly AI-dominated environment. Last June, he took to social network Bluesky to write, “Within the next 3 years, there will be so much AI, in particular AI video, people won’t know if what they see or hear is real. Which will lead to an explosion of f2f engagement, events and jobs.” Burwoodland leans hard into that way of thinking, producing over 1,200 shows per year. Strategic partners of the company include music industry veterans Izzy Zivkovic (founder of artist management company Split Second, which counts Arcade Fire among its clients) and concert promoter Peter Shapiro. Klaf Companies, the investment and advisory platform founded by Justin Kalifowitz (who also created Downtown Music Holdings, which represents songwriting copyrights from John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Ray Davies, and One Direction), is also a partner. “Ethan and I started this company because we know firsthand how powerful it is to find your people through the music you love,” Badanes said in a statement. “That sense of community shaped our lives, and creating spaces where others can feel that connection has always been our purpose. Having the confidence of an investor as respected and accomplished as Mark is a tremendous honor.” With concert ticket prices continuing to escalate, Burwoodland keeps entry fees low, offering a low-cost live experience for music lovers. Tickets to its events generally run in the $20 to $40 range, though some events cost more. The company has already booked 2026 events in Milan, Brooklyn, Louisville, Nashville, and Antwerp—and later this month will host the Long Live Emo Fest at Brooklyn’s Paramount theater, which holds up to 2,700 patrons. The experiences have become popular enough that some of the artists being celebrated in the various genres Burwoodland focuses on have shown up at the events, with some even performing. Maccoby and Badanes didn’t plan to start a business. The two, who have been friends since childhood, began throwing house parties in college and kept up the practice afterward, when they lived in Brooklyn. When those soirees got too big for their apartment, they took over a nearby bar to host them and Burwoodland (named after an area in London where they grew up) was born. The duo quit their day jobs in 2022 to focus exclusively on the startup. There has been increasing interest in the live event space from investors lately. Last June, NYC-based Fever, a live-entertainment discovery platform, secured a $100 million investment from L Catterton and Point72 Private Investments. And in September, DJ/producer Kygo’s company Palm Tree Crew (which hosts music festivals) received a $20 million Series B investment led by WME Group, giving it a $215 million valuation. BY CHRIS MORRIS @MORRISATLARGE

The translators grappling with losing work to AI

As a rare Irish-language translator, Timothy McKeon enjoyed steady work for European Union institutions for years. But the rise of artificial intelligence tools that can translate text and, increasingly, speech nearly instantly has upended his livelihood and that of many others in his field. He says he lost about 70% of his income when the EU translation work dried up. Now, available work consists of polishing machine-generated translations, jobs he refuses “on principle” because they help train the software taking work away from human translators. When the edited text is fed back into the translation software, “it learns from your work.” “The more it learns, the more obsolete you become,” he said. “You’re essentially expected to dig your own professional grave.” While workers worldwide ponder how AI might affect their livelihoods – a topic on the agenda at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week – that question is no longer hypothetical in the translation industry. Apps like Google Translate already reduced the need for human translators, and increased adoption of generative AI has only accelerated that trend. A 2024 survey of writing professionals by the United Kingdom’s Society of Authors showed that more than a third of translators had lost work due to generative AI, which can create sophisticated text, as well as images and audio, from users’ prompts. And 43% of translators said their income had dropped because of the technology. In the United States, data from 2010-23 analyzed by Carl Frey and Pedro Llanos-Paredes at Oxford University showed that regions where Google Translate was in greater use saw slower growth in the number of translator jobs. Originally powered by statistical translation, Google Translate shifted to a technique called neural translation in 2016, resulting in more natural-sounding text and bringing it closer to today’s AI tools. “Our best baseline estimate is that roughly 28,000 more jobs for translators would’ve been added in the absence of machine translation,” Frey told CNN. “It’s not a story of mass displacement but I think that’s very likely to follow.” The story is similar globally, suggests McKeon: He is part of the Guerrilla Media Collective, an international group of translators and communications professionals, and says everyone in the collective supplements their income with other work due to the impact of AI. ‘The entire US is looking at Wisconsin’ Christina Green is president of Green Linguistics, a provider of language services, and a court interpreter in Wisconsin. She worries her court role could soon vanish because of a bill that would allow courts to use AI or other machine translation in civil or criminal proceedings, and in certain other cases. Green and other language professionals have been fighting the proposal since it was introduced in May. “The entire US is looking at Wisconsin” as a precedent, Green said, noting that the bill’s opponents had so far succeeded in stalling it. While Green still has her court job, her company recently lost a major Fortune 10 corporate client, which she said opted to use a company offering AI translation instead. The client accounted for such an outsized share of her company’s business that she had to make layoffs. “People and companies think they’re saving money with AI, but they have absolutely no clue what it is, how privacy is affected and what the ramifications are,” Green said. ‘Governments are not doing enough’ Fardous Bahbouh, based in London, is an Arabic-language translator and interpreter for international media organizations, including CNN. She has seen a considerable reduction in written work in recent years, which she attributes to technological developments and the financial pressures facing media outlets. Bahbouh is also studying for a PhD focusing on the translation industry. Her research shows that technology, including AI, is “hugely impacting” translators and interpreters. “I worry a great deal that governments are not doing enough to help them transition into other work, which could lead to greater inequality, in-work poverty and child poverty,” she told CNN. Many translators are indeed looking to retrain “because translation isn’t generating the income it previously did,” according to Ian Giles, a translator and chair of the Translators Association at the UK’s Society of Authors. The picture is similar in the United States: Many translators are leaving the profession, Andy Benzo, president of the American Translators Association, told CNN. And Kristalina Georgieva, the head of the International Monetary Fund, said in Davos Thursday that the number of translators and interpreters at the fund had gone down to 50 from 200 due to greater use of technology. Governments should also do more for those remaining in the translation industry, by introducing stronger labor protections, Bahbouh argued. Human professionals still needed Despite advances in machine translation and interpretation, technology can’t replace human language workers entirely just yet. While using AI tools for everyday tasks like finding directions is “low-risk,” human translators will likely need to be involved for the foreseeable future in diplomatic, legal, financial and medical contexts where the risks are “humungous,” according to Benzo. “I’m a translator and a lawyer and in both professions the nuance of each word is very specific and the (large language models powering AI tools) aren’t there yet, by far,” she said. Another field relatively untouched by machine translation tools is literary translation. Giles, who translates commercial fiction from Scandinavian languages into English, used to supplement his income with translation work from companies, but that has now disappeared. Meanwhile, literary commissions have continued to come in, he said. There’s also one key element of communication that AI can’t replace, according to Oxford University’s Frey: Human connection. “The fact that machine translation is pervasive doesn’t mean you can build a relationship with somebody in France without speaking a word of French,” he said. By Lianne Kolirin