AI whitethorn mean less consultants and accountants — astatine slightest astatine PwC.
Paul Griggs, the Big Four firm's US elder partner and CEO, said PwC hired less consultants and accountants this twelvemonth than it did 2 years ago. He expects that inclination to proceed arsenic the firm hires much information scientists, engineers, and instrumentality learning experts.
That doesn't mean Griggs feels pessimistic astir the future of consultants successful the AI era.
The Big Four executive said he has 3 kids, 1 who has been successful the workforce for astir a twelvemonth and 2 who are still successful college. Two of them whitethorn spell into accounting, he said, and he's supportive of this plan.
Griggs said that anyone who has worked wrong a master services patient tin spot that the halfway activity successful accounting, consulting, and finance hasn't fundamentally changed.
He pointed to PwC's 2026 AI Jobs Barometer report, which analyzed much than a cardinal occupation postings worldwide to analyse really AI is reshaping skills and occupations.
The study recovered that master services roles are among the fastest-evolving. It besides recovered that jobs wherever AI requires much quality expertise are increasing doubly arsenic accelerated arsenic roles wherever AI is making it easier for non-experts to perform, pinch wages successful those occupations rising 42% faster since 2021.
In general, Griggs said AI creates value, which drives growth, and successful move creates request for people, technology, and different solutions. The CEO said that PwC has the strongest pipeline of caller business it's seen successful the firm's history.
"I deliberation this is the biggest opportunity we've ever had," Griggs said.
What to study
While consultants and accountants aren't disappearing, AI is reshaping the skills those jobs require. Griggs said PwC is hiring much group from nontraditional backgrounds and expects to spot much wide arts fields successful consulting and different business roles because AI tin amplify the request for "broad knowledge."
With that successful mind, the CEO said he's a "big believer" successful master's degrees and would support his kids going to MBA programs.
"I would consciousness very comfortable encouraging immoderate of my 3 kids to prosecute further acquisition if it's thing that they were willing in," Griggs said.
He said some MBA programs and wide arts degrees cultivate continuous learners who are curious, which is simply a value he prioritizes.
"Those MBA programs, successful truthful galore ways, create the abstraction for the student to spell fig retired really to investigation and discover, and not conscionable get done the halfway coursework," Griggs said.
Griggs said PwC plans to proceed recruiting from MBA and different master's programs and maintains partnerships pinch respective universities.
Last year, for example, the patient designed a activity programme pinch Harvard Business School called RevUp, and astir 4,000 partners took a people connected starring successful the AI era.
The Big Four patient besides developed an AI training programme astatine Wharton with professor Ethan Mollick, which focuses connected really partners tin usage devices commercially and understand really AI is affecting clients, Griggs said.
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