We are witnessing the slow death of the prestige career | Alice Lassman
TL;DR
Alice Lassman argues that AI is breaking the old elite consulting bargain: two brutal years at McKinsey, Bain or BCG used to buy graduates a credible path into top-tier careers. Junior analysts now learn less by owning messy work themselves, because internal tools such as BCG Deckster, Bain Sage and McKinsey Lilli can draft research, decks and synthesis faster.
Nauti's Take
The article hits the real nerve: prestige was never just salary, it was compressed training. Heavy pressure, fast feedback, client exposure, then better options.
When AI takes over the messy execution, the mess that taught people also disappears. The faster-ladder narrative sounds like partner PR if the actual junior role becomes output pipeline, quality control and weaker exits.
Graduates should treat prestige less like a brand and ask harder questions: where will I build judgment, customer understanding and real technical leverage?
Briefingshow
The issue is not only job loss, but a broken training model. If entry-level roles shrink into prompting, factchecking and recycling old firm knowledge, juniors lose the practice field where judgment used to form. That matters beyond consulting, because every company automating junior work still expects experienced people later.
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