Paul Griggs has put partners at PricewaterhouseCoopers on notice. Anyone at the firm who believes they can opt out of artificial intelligence should start looking for the exit.
TLDR
PwC US CEO Paul Griggs has issued a stark warning: partners who aren't 'paranoid about being AI-first' will be replaced. As the firm launches PwC One and shifts to outcome-based pricing, the message is clear—adapt or leave.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The PwC US CEO told the Financial Times that senior staff "not paranoid about being AI-first" would probably be replaced by others ready to embrace the technology. His message was unambiguous: "I don't think anyone gets a free pass here. Anyone."
An employee who thinks they have the "opportunity to opt out" of AI is "not going to be here that long", Griggs added.
The ultimatum arrives as PwC launches PwC One, an AI platform that offers six automated services for clients. These range from M&A due diligence tools to sustainability data anomaly detection. Some of these services can be accessed "without a PwC person in the loop", according to Griggs.
The Business Model Shift
The traditional consulting model is under pressure. For decades, the Big Four firms (PwC, Deloitte, EY, and KPMG) have billed clients based on hours worked. That system depends on armies of junior staff performing research, analysis, and grunt work that can now be automated.
Griggs told the FT that PwC would convert some tax and consulting services into AI-powered automated tools available via annual subscription. The shift from hourly billing to outcome-based pricing reflects a broader reckoning: if AI does the work in seconds instead of weeks, clients won't pay for the hours.
"Over time, it will move more and more of our work to outcomes pricing, which I believe our clients will readily accept because, ultimately, the only thing our clients care about is the outcome delivered," Griggs said in PwC's press release announcing PwC One.
The firm is already adjusting its workforce. PwC cut 5,600 staff in the first half of 2025, bringing its global headcount below 365,000. Griggs confirmed that hiring patterns have shifted. PwC is recruiting fewer traditional accountants and consultants relative to engineers and data specialists.
"Am I recruiting the same number of accountants and traditional consultants vis-a-vis engineers, on a proportionate basis, that I was three years ago? No," he said.
AI as Threat and Opportunity
Consulting sits in a curious position. White-collar industries that rely on tasks like accounting, research, and business analysis are widely seen as vulnerable to AI automation. Yet data shows the Big Four are benefiting from the very disruption they face.
K2 Consulting Research reported that global consulting grew 5.5% in 2025, doubling the previous year's growth rate. Much of that expansion comes from clients seeking help implementing AI across their own businesses. Firms like PwC, Accenture, and McKinsey are positioning themselves as both adopters and advisers.
PwC One exemplifies this dual role. The platform combines PwC's proprietary methodologies, compliance frameworks, and domain expertise with advanced AI capabilities designed to surface patterns, test assumptions, and accelerate analysis. According to the firm's March 2026 press release, it's "tech that's personal, grounded in your business, and shaped by PwC's industry depth, embedding AI directly into our methodologies and professional workflows."
The platform is currently being introduced within select US teams and client engagements, spanning areas such as tax analysis, financial reporting, sustainability assurance, deal diligence, and operating model transformation.
No Room for Passengers
Griggs's language leaves little ambiguity about where the firm is heading. Partners who think they can coast while others integrate AI are mistaken. The ultimatum applies across all levels of seniority.
This is a calculated risk. Partnerships at Big Four firms are built on collegiality and shared economics. Telling partners they risk being pushed out if they don't keep pace with technology is a departure from the traditionally cautious messaging. It signals that Griggs and PwC's leadership see AI adoption as existential, not incremental.
The stakes are clear: firms that fail to adapt face margin compression, talent flight, and irrelevance. Clients expect faster, cheaper, better. AI offers a path to all three, but only if firms redesign how they work, price, and deliver value.
PwC is betting that forcing this transformation top-down, starting with partners, will give it a competitive edge over rivals who move more slowly.
The Bigger Picture
The consulting industry's golden era of exponential growth and high margins may be ending. AI automates the work that once justified armies of analysts and associates. That changes the economics. Firms can't simply hire more people to scale revenue if technology does the same work at lower cost.
Griggs took over as PwC US CEO in July 2024, inheriting a firm already deep into AI experimentation. Under his leadership, the firm has accelerated its push to make AI central to operations, not peripheral. PwC One is the most visible result, but the shift runs deeper. It's cultural.
The message to partners is blunt: either lead the change or get out of the way. For an industry built on selling expertise, that's a difficult pill to swallow. But Griggs appears to believe that clinging to old models is riskier than forcing uncomfortable transitions.
Consulting is about to find out if he's right.
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