Consulting used to reward the “smart generalist” — someone who could learn fast, structure ambiguity, and handle whatever problem a client tossed over the fence.
That model is now breaking.

AI erased the premium on breadth.
Clients are shifting their willingness to pay toward depth.

This is the specialization pivot.

Table of Contents

The Shallow End: The T-Shaped Generalist (The Old Model)

For years, consulting firms optimized for talent that “knows a little about a lot.”
The T-shaped consultant could:

learn fast
generalize across domains
structure problems
produce analysis quickly
create leverage for partners

This model worked when:

complexity lived in spreadsheets
synthesis required manual human effort
clients needed bright generalists to brute-force analysis

But generative AI collapsed this advantage.
AI can now:

research
synthesize
model
rewrite
generate deliverables
handle routine analysis

The generalist’s surface-level capability is no longer scarce.
Breadth has become a commodity.

The Deep End: The I-Shaped Specialist (The New Model)

What AI cannot replace easily is deep, domain-specific judgment.
The ability to:

understand regulatory nuance
know edge cases
map incentive structures
navigate organizational politics
diagnose complex systems
understand industry-specific failure modes

These capabilities require experience, not intelligence.
And experience compounds.

Thus, the industry is shifting from:
“Smart generalists who figure out any problem”
to
“Domain experts + AI who go deep on specifics.”

AI increases — not decreases — the value of specialists.
The model shifts from manual analysis to expert-guided orchestration.

Why the Shift Is Happening Now

Three forces converge:

AI handles the shallow work
The 0-5 year experience band is most automatable.
Clients are paying for precision, not exploration
The tolerance for “we’ll figure it out as we go” is evaporating.
Mid-career specialists outperform fresh grads in the AI era
They bring context, pattern recognition, and risk awareness — all amplified by AI.

The generalist advantage collapses because the machine can replicate the generalist’s toolkit.

What remains scarce is judgment.

The New Value Proposition

Old value prop:
“Smart generalists who can figure out any problem.”

New value prop:
“Deep domain experts augmented by AI go deeper, faster, and with fewer errors.”

The winning consultant is no longer the best case interviewer — it’s the person with the strongest domain stack layered on top of an AI-enabled workflow.

The Key Insight

Mid-career specialists outperform fresh generalists — structurally.

This changes:

hiring pipelines
promotion ladders
project staffing
client expectations
partner economics

The future consulting stack is not built on “high-IQ graduates learning on the job.”
It’s built on experienced operators + AI assistance, going deep from day one.