The consulting industry has been providing valuable consulting services for businesses for decades. Companies looking to better their operations, get into new markets, hire efficient workers, or even solve complex problems see consulting as an essential decision-making tool.
However, because of the expensive and time-consuming nature of traditional consulting, small businesses find it challenging to access this service. This gap is what artificial intelligence has come to fill.
AI continues to be an essential part of our daily lives. It is in everything we do, including how we interact, move from one place to another, search for information, and even do business.
The use of AI in business has now made AI consulting a service on its own, as consulting firms now help other businesses understand their problems and develop practical solutions using artificial intelligence.
As a result, AI is now used to streamline the business consulting process, making it faster and more accessible.
And there are now several AI consulting firms helping companies to have access to effective consulting services at lower costs and with improved accuracy to help their business succeed.
Leading this trend is Sobo, an on-demand consulting platform that uses AI technology to help businesses of all sizes get actionable insights to make data-driven decisions.
Sobo's platform offers verified consultant matching to help founders, leaders, managers, and employees get actionable insights and customized recommendations to improve and strengthen businesses.
With psychology and generative AI as its force multipliers, the company aims to help determined business owners build more profitable businesses.
"The gig economy is growing, thanks in part to the increasing demand for fractional consulting," says Robert Burke, founder and CEO of Sobo.
"While working for soulless corporate galaxies, they fantasize helping small and mid-sized companies scale and level up. The underdogs can’t afford to hire them full-time, but then again, they don’t need to. Our goal is to make fractional consulting more accessible and affordable for businesses of all sizes."
Streamlining Consulting Using AI Algorithms
Every AI consulting firm has its own way of using artificial intelligence to provide solutions to business challenges. While some firms in the industry use AI to automate repetitive tasks to save time, others use AI to examine problems and develop strategic solutions for businesses.
In fact, with the way people use chatbots like ChatGPT and Bing Chat to search for information, some AI consulting firms use chatbots as intelligent assistants to support or solve their client’s problems.
Sobo's platform takes a different approach to using AI to streamline consulting. The platform’s AI algorithms conduct a discovery phase to examine a business's data, operations, and market position while identifying its strengths and weaknesses.
Then, it matches the business with a verified consultant who has the right skills and experience to evaluate the available data, identify opportunities for improvement, and provide insights and recommendations that address the specific needs of the business.
The insights obtained from these verified consultants and generative AI are then applied to the business. Sobo’s approach seeks to eliminate the challenges associated with traditional consulting.
Benefits of AI-powered Consulting
Currently, AI-powered consulting offers several benefits that traditional consulting cannot provide. With the ability to analyze data, identify strengths and weaknesses, and provide recommendations, it can provide efficient solutions better than human consultants.
These are advantages that small and mid-sized businesses do not have easy access to. And Sobo’s platform offers some of these several benefits.
A major advantage is its ability to make building and scaling a business much easier. With its platform, Sobo aims to help founders identify weaknesses and get solutions so that they can easily build more profitable businesses.
Sobo’s service is also much more cost effective than traditional consulting services.
Instead of paying fractional consultants a huge amount of money to spend weeks assessing a business challenge and providing solutions, Sobo helps to provide insights in a matter of hours while saving money.
Likewise, Sobo’s AI-powered consulting can help businesses manage their time better. With fast diagnosis and prescription, the platform helps.
Emphasizing the time-saving benefits of AI-powered consulting, Burke said in an interview, "With AI-powered tools, we are taking the consulting process from weeks to minutes."
The Future of AI-Powered Consulting
Despite the numerous benefits attached to AI-powered consulting, there are still some potential challenges to this trend. AI cannot replace humans, and because of this, AI consulting cannot replace the human touch and creativity that traditional consulting offers.
As a result of this concern, AI consulting firms like Sobo combine verified consultants and generative AI to assess, recommend, and fix the problems of businesses without wasting time and resources.
Moreso, the chances of AI fully replacing traditional consulting is just 27%. To remain in the game, more consulting firms are seen building an AI ecosystem and incorporating it into their services.
Therefore, it's safe to say that AI consulting is here to stay, and all sizes of businesses are likely to have access to AI-powered solutions in the future.