Host: Bernhard Kerres | Guest: David Martin Holte (Strategy&) | Duration: ~48 minutes

Three weeks ago, an AI agent hacked McKinsey's internal platform in two hours.

46 million chat messages. 728,000 files. The system prompts were writable.

The vulnerability? A bug from the 1990s.

THE QUESTION THAT OPENS EVERYTHING:

"Which LLM did you use to prepare for our interview today?"

David's answer: "I switched to Claude. But then I thought—let's just have a nice talk with Bernhard."

He couldn't send an AI avatar. He had to show up.

THE INDUSTRY EARTHQUAKE:

McKinsey launched the Amazon McKinsey Group—fees tied to billion-dollar outcomes, not hours.

Deloitte merged 16 EMEA firms into a €20 billion structure. €1.5 billion committed to AI.

BCG has consultants coding AI tools directly on client projects.

"And then McKinsey's own AI platform got hacked with a thirty-year-old exploit."

THE PARADOX:

David is a strategy consultant at Strategy&. He has frameworks, data, AI tools that generate analysis faster than any human team.

So what did he invest in? A coaching course.

"What is something AI can't substitute in the long run? Giving 100% focus to another human from another human."

"My job is first to ask the right questions and then to communicate the content. Not just the pure content—it has to reach you."

THE €500,000 QUESTION:

"You ask Claude Pro a simple question for which the company earned half a million euros a couple of years ago. And Claude gives you the better answer in 10 minutes."

"It was the first time I really had the feeling the job I'm doing right now will look absolutely different in two or three years."

THREE SKILLS EVERY CONSULTANT NOW NEEDS:

1. Technical AI skills — Building agents, understanding the technology
2. Problem-solving — The classic consulting capability. Hasn't changed.
3. Coaching skills — Presence, awareness, focus on the other person

"It seems paradox. On the one hand, so much speed and tech. On the other hand, skills that are 100% the opposite. You have to just sit down and listen."

INFORMATION vs. KNOWLEDGE:

David uploaded a professor's book to AI after five years on his shelf. Got answers to his specific questions in 15 minutes.

"But of course I didn't understand it in detail. I had to take the book and read—what did the AI mean by this?"

Information: Available to everyone. Zero value.

Knowledge: Connecting dots through experience and wisdom.

"Should we just share information? This you can do with your bot. It has no meaning. Maybe we can stop sharing information and start sharing deep insights."

The book: The History of Experience by Wolfgang Leidhold.

WILL CONSULTING SURVIVE?

"I hope so. Not 100% sure, to be very honest."

Phase 1: Efficiency boost—AI makes consultants faster. "No one really knows you're using the tool."

Phase 2: Helping clients adapt—building AI agents together, developing capabilities.

Phase 3: Agentic—machine talking to machine. "The client AI is asking questions to our AI."

"In one possible scenario, humans have almost no role."

THE HOPE:

"I really have the hope that AI helps us become more human again. To lose some of these machine-like features which defined our success in the last years."

"If the AI isn't taking over fully, there will still be humans making decisions. And hopefully this interaction can be way more slow, meaningful, deep, more human."

THE TAKEAWAY:

"Probably it will change. But it has always changed. I just can sit back, relax, enjoy the show, use it in a way it makes fun. And then you have energy to really be curious, innovative, creative."

"These skills—creativity, innovation—are needed right now and in the future."

LINKS:www.bernhardkerres.com | www.roleplays.ai

David Martin Holte: www.linkedin.com/in/davidmholte/

Book: The History of Experience by Wolfgang Leidhold

#AI #Consulting #Coaching #Leadership #StrategyAnd #FutureOfWork