We are witnessing the slow death of the prestige career | Alice Lassman
TL;DR
Alice Lassman argues in the Guardian that AI is weakening the old consulting bargain: two brutal years at McKinsey, Bain or BCG used to buy graduates elite training, status and strong exit options. Internal GenAI tools such as McKinsey’s Lilli, BCG’s Deckster and Bain’s Sage now absorb much of the execution work. Junior roles shift toward factchecking, prompting and policing polished AI output.
Nauti's Take
The sharp point here is that AI does not only automate work; it also weakens the rituals people used to pass through to prove they were good. A junior consultant who mostly produces and checks AI decks builds a different muscle than someone who owns a model, tests a thesis and takes heat from a client.
For graduates, the logo on the CV is less protective than it used to be. The stronger bet is visible proof of judgment, technical range and real execution, not an inherited prestige stamp.
Briefingshow
This is bigger than consulting. Many professional careers rely on an apprenticeship model: juniors do hard execution work, build judgment and later trade that proof for better roles. If AI removes the practice layer, firms may get faster output but weaker talent formation.
Prestige can stay visible while the actual learning curve moves somewhere else.
Sources