Deloitte’s AI scandal shows consultants need a new strategy

The saga also raises existential questions: for consultants, AI is both a major opportunity and a threat that directly undermines their premium fees.

Deloitte has been under pressure over its botched AI report. Bethany Rae

Edmund TadrosProfessional services editor

Updated Oct 10, 2025 – 9.06pm, first published at 3.41pm

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For many professionals, this week has felt a tiny bit like 2023. A big consulting firm is once again in the headlines for the wrong reasons, under mounting pressure to explain its actions, and politicians such as senators Deborah O’Neill and Barbara Pocock are issuing excoriations from Canberra. “This would be laughable if it wasn’t so lamentable,” O’Neill said this week.

This time, the target is Deloitte, not PwC, and the scandal is the firm’s use of artificial intelligence, not the leaking of intelligence.

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Edmund TadrosProfessional services editorEdmund Tadros leads our coverage of the professional services sector. He is based in our Sydney newsroom.