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PEAK CONSULTING?

After three decades of pretty constant growth, the consultancy boom just hit an AI-shaped wall

Accenture has a new deal with OpenAI — did ChatGPT’s launch top-tick consulting employment?

12/3/25 10:36AM

The age of consulting as we know it, when armies of associates mercilessly grind through endless slide decks and dashboards, is starting to give way to a new model: part human, part bot.

On Monday, Accenture announced a new partnership with OpenAI to roll out ChatGPT Enterprise for “tens of thousands of its professionals,” embedding the tool across consulting, operations, and delivery work. The company also said it will now have the “largest number of professionals upskilled through OpenAI Certifications.”

The collaboration follows Accenture’s $865 million restructuring plan unveiled in September, in which the company euphemistically disclosed that it’s been “exiting” employees who cannot be re-skilled for AI.

Peak consulting?

The partnership is good news for consultants looking to decorate their LinkedIn profiles with AI badges, but it also reflects a deep shift within the industry, as the traditional model built on adding more people to bill for long hours begins to unwind.

Consulting's 30-Year Climb Just Hit A Wall — Sherwood News

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, consulting’s share of total US employment has grown more than 4x since 1990, though it stopped rising around late 2022 — just as generative AI took off on the back of ChatGPT’s debut. The industry’s stall appears more pronounced than other white-collar jobs that hit their plateaus much earlier, from the dot-com crash in tech to the post-2008 slowdown in Wall Street, which have all recently been impacted by the AI boom in quite different ways.

And things could get even worse for the consulting industry before they get better. A new study from HFS Research and IBM found that nearly two-thirds (65%) of enterprise executives say traditional consulting models no longer deliver real value, while 83% say AI-powered consulting delivers more.

Claire Yubin Oh

Scentsible

15h

Estée Lauder’s Jo Malone is launching an “AI Scent Advisor” to convince people to buy perfumes without smelling them

Gen Z is driving a perfume and fragrance boom.

Max Knoblauch12/4/25

Netflix is down amid reports it’s leading the Warner Bros. bidding war as Paramount cries foul

Netflix’s charm offensive appears to be working.

Netflix is reportedly emerging as the leader in the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery after second-round bids this week, edging out entertainment juggernaut rivals Comcast and Paramount Skydance.

Investors don’t appear psyched by the streaming leader’s turn of fortune: the stock is down on Thursday morning, a day after closing down nearly 5% following reports that scooping up HBO Max wouldn’t necessarily result in a big market share boost.

Paramount, which has reportedly made five bids for Warner Bros. Discovery, doesn’t love the current state of play, either. The company sent WBD a letter questioning the “fairness and adequacy” of the process, highlighting reports that WBD’s board favors Netflix and is resisting Paramount.

Any offer would be subject to regulatory approval — a fact that may have weighed against Netflix’s offer given that cofounder Reed Hastings’ politics are vocally to the left, very much at odds with the current regulatory regime. Paramount seems confident in its ability to get approval, reportedly boosting its breakup fee to $5 billion should its potential acquisition fall apart in the regulatory process.

Paramount questions Warner Bros. Discovery on 'fairness and adequacy' of sale process: Read the full letter

Max Knoblauch12/3/25

Delta says the government shutdown will cost it $200 million in Q4

The 43-day government shutdown that ended last month will result in a $200 million ding for Delta Air Lines, the airline said in a filing on Wednesday.

That’s about $100,000 per shutdown-related canceled flight. (Delta previously said it canceled more than 2,000 flights due to FAA flight reductions.) When the company reports its fourth-quarter earnings, the shutdown will lop off about $0.25 per share.

Delta initially stayed calm about the shutdown, with CEO Ed Bastian stating in early October that the company was running smoothly and hadn’t seen any impacts at all. One historically long shutdown later, Delta wasn’t able to remain untouched.

The skies have since cleared, though, and Delta’s filing states that booking growth has “returned to initial expectations following a temporary softening in November.”

Delta’s shares were up over 2% as of Wednesday’s market open.

Delta Air Sees $200 Million Hit from Shutdown Fallout

The skies have since cleared, though, and Delta’s filing states that booking growth has “returned to initial expectations following a temporary softening in November.”

Delta’s shares were up over 2% as of Wednesday’s market open.

Tom Jones

amassed media

12/3/25

Netflix reportedly made a mostly cash offer for Warner Bros. Discovery over the weekend

The WBD bidding war is heating up — what will the winner get?

Claire Yubin Oh

Ready to pounce?

12/3/25

With Puma’s stock under pressure, Chinese giants are circling the storied brand

With 77 years of history behind the brand, 2025 might just be Puma’s worst, as losses have piled up over the last year. At least the company’s new elite running shoe is a winner.