If AI Can Replace Workers, Why Is It Hiring Consultants?

From Seattle Data Guy

2026-06-13 18:04 · Open original ↗

Last week, I noticed that Anthropic was hiring for a partner success manager. The very first line of the description was: Consulting and systems integration firms are racing to build Claude practices. From there, the posting went on to explain how important it is for Anthropic to support consultancies, systems integrators, and implementation partners as they bring Claude into the enterprise. And all I could think was: Wait. If the AI is good enough to replace engineers, why does it need a small army of consultants to help companies use it? On one hand, we keep hearing that AI is going to automate software engineering, data work, analytics, customer support, operations, and almost every other form of knowledge work. It will end work as we know it! And yet, every major AI company seems to be investing in partner ecosystems, systems integrators, implementation teams, enterprise success teams, and consultants in one way or another. I had a similar thought about Salesforce recently. If your AI is so good, why do companies still spend millions of dollars paying consultants to set up Salesforce, customize workflows, clean up CRM data, integrate systems, train teams, and keep the whole thing from becoming a very expensive mess? Shouldn’t AI be able to just… do that? But of course, anyone who has worked inside a real company knows the answer. The hard part is rarely clicking the buttons. The hard part is understanding the business, the process, the edge cases, the incentives, the data, the politics, and the mess that already exists. So why? Why do the LLM labs want to partner with consultancies? My thought? AI is powerful enough to change work, but not simple enough to magically reorganize companies by itself. If you enjoyed this video, check out some of my other top videos. If you enjoyed this video, check out some of my other top videos. Common Data Pipeline Patterns You’ll See in the Real World - Types Of Data Pipelines You'll Build https://youtu.be/htAipJ6yYFs What Is BigQuery - Breaking Down What BigQuery Is And Diving Into A Hands On Walkthrough https://youtu.be/pud-vuNE15g If you're looking for help ingesting your data in batch or real time, then you need to check out Estuary - https://bit.ly/4eQC3oQ If you'd like to read up on my updates about the data field, then you can sign up for our newsletter here. https://seattledataguy.substack.com/​​ Or check out my blog https://www.theseattledataguy.com/ And if you want to support the channel, then you can become a paid member of my newsletter https://seattledataguy.substack.com/subscribe Tags: Data engineering projects, Data engineer project ideas, data project sources, data analytics project sources, data project portfolio _____________________________________________________________ Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmLGJ3VYBcfRaWbP6JLJcpA?sub_confirmation=1 _____________________________________________________________ About me: I have spent my career focused on all forms of data. I have focused on developing algorithms to detect fraud, reduce patient readmission and redesign insurance provider policy to help reduce the overall cost of healthcare. I have also helped develop analytics for marketing and IT operations in order to optimize limited resources such as employees and budget. I privately consult on data science and engineering problems both solo as well as with a company called Acheron Analytics. I have experience both working hands-on with technical problems as well as helping leadership teams develop strategies to maximize their data. *I do participate in affiliate programs, if a link has an "*" by it, then I may receive a small portion of the proceeds at no extra cost to you.

Last week, I noticed that Anthropic was hiring for a partner success manager. The very first line of the description was: Consulting and systems integration firms are racing to build Claude practices. From there, the posting went on to explain how important it is for Anthropic to support consultancies, systems integrators, and implementation partners as they bring Claude into the enterprise. And all I could think was: Wait. If the AI is good enough to replace engineers, why does it need a small army of consultants to help companies use it? On one hand, we keep hearing that AI is going to automate software engineering, data work, analytics, customer support, operations, and almost every other form of knowledge work. It will end work as we know it! And yet, every major AI company seems to be investing in partner ecosystems, systems integrators, implementation teams, enterprise success teams, and consultants in one way or another. I had a similar thought about Salesforce recently. If your AI is so good, why do companies still spend millions of dollars paying consultants to set up Salesforce, customize workflows, clean up CRM data, integrate systems, train teams, and keep the whole thing from becoming a very expensive mess? Shouldn’t AI be able to just… do that? But of course, anyone who has worked inside a real company knows the answer. The hard part is rarely clicking the buttons. The hard part is understanding the business, the process, the edge cases, the incentives, the data, the politics, and the mess that already exists. So why? Why do the LLM labs want to partner with consultancies? My thought? AI is powerful enough to change work, but not simple enough to magically reorganize companies by itself. If you enjoyed this video, check out some of my other top videos. If you enjoyed this video, check out some of my other top videos. Common Data Pipeline Patterns You’ll See in the Real World - Types Of Data Pipelines You'll Build https://youtu.be/htAipJ6yYFs What Is BigQuery - Breaking Down What BigQuery Is And Diving Into A Hands On Walkthrough https://youtu.be/pud-vuNE15g If you're looking for help ingesting your data in batch or real time, then you need to check out Estuary - https://bit.ly/4eQC3oQ If you'd like to read up on my updates about the data field, then you can sign up for our newsletter here. https://seattledataguy.substack.com/​​ Or check out my blog https://www.theseattledataguy.com/ And if you want to support the channel, then you can become a paid member of my newsletter https://seattledataguy.substack.com/subscribe Tags: Data engineering projects, Data engineer project ideas, data project sources, data analytics project sources, data project portfolio _____________________________________________________________ Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmLGJ3VYBcfRaWbP6JLJcpA?sub_confirmation=1 _____________________________________________________________ About me: I have spent my career focused on all forms of data. I have focused on developing algorithms to detect fraud, reduce patient readmission and redesign insurance provider policy to help reduce the overall cost of healthcare. I have also helped develop analytics for marketing and IT operations in order to optimize limited resources such as employees and budget. I privately consult on data science and engineering problems both solo as well as with a company called Acheron Analytics. I have experience both working hands-on with technical problems as well as helping leadership teams develop strategies to maximize their data. *I do participate in affiliate programs, if a link has an "*" by it, then I may receive a small portion of the proceeds at no extra cost to you.