WSJ Tech News Briefing

Episode Summary: Consultants Are Cashing in on the AI Boom

Date: March 10, 2026
Host: Isabel Busquette, The Wall Street Journal
Key Guests: Alexandre Bruel (WSJ Media Reporter), Allison Poley (WSJ Business Reporter)

Episode Overview

This episode explores two sectors deeply affected by artificial intelligence (AI): local newsrooms and the consulting industry. The show first investigates how AI, often seen as a threat to journalism, is now serving as a major asset for local news operations. The discussion then pivots to the management consulting world, highlighting how AI's complexities are fueling unprecedented demand—and lucrative opportunities—for major consulting firms, despite initial fears that AI would automate consulting work itself.

AI in Local News: From Disruption to Empowerment

Main Points:

• AI as a Tool, Not a Threat: Contrary to prior concerns, AI is bolstering local news coverage by automating routine reporting and administrative tasks ([00:19–03:12]).
• Efficiency Leads to Depth: Journalists, especially in understaffed newsrooms, are saving significant time using AI for tasks like monitoring police scanners and drafting stories.
  • Quote: “I talked to one reporter at Axios who covers Des Moines and is looking forward to the time that it's saving her so that she can go out and do more investigative work on water quality issues in the state.” — Alexandre Bruel [02:27]
• Example of Scale: Newsquest, owned by USA Today, used AI to draft a quarter of its 60,000 articles in January, with stories still human-edited before publication.
  • Quote: “They said in January they used AI to draft a quarter of the 60,000 stories...this is going to lead to the potential hiring this year of more reporters.” — Alexandre Bruel [02:55]
• Risks and Concerns: Potential pitfalls include content errors from AI, fear of overusing AI for “slop” or meaningless volume, and the risk of AI-generated content undermining journalism quality.
  • Quote: “There's a fear there in over relying on AI...some of the time saved could be used for more AI slop...as opposed to a means to good journalism.” — Alexandre Bruel [03:38]

Notable Experiment:

• Company Spotlight – Nota: Nota is running a unique experiment by creating local news websites managed by minimal human staff, leveraging AI to generate timely, relevant stories.
  • Quote: “They've built 11 new sites around the country...two part time bilingual editors...collect and curate data and very quickly turn this data into story drafts and publish...” — Alexandre Bruel [04:32]
• Goal: Show that AI can fund deeper journalism in the future, with revenues from traffic, ads, and licensing supporting investigative work.

AI and Consulting: The Unexpected Gold Rush

Main Points:

• AI Needs a Translator: Despite their advanced technology, AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic lack sufficient manpower and industry relationships; leading consulting firms are filling that gap ([06:50–10:13]).
  • Quote: “They have the tech, but they don't have enough engineers or enough people to explain how it works and to get it into all of these companies.” — Allison Poley [07:37]
• Why the Partnerships Matter: Consulting firms bring established client relationships and industry expertise, making it easier for AI companies to integrate their solutions into complex business workflows.
  • Quote: “What the McKinsey's and BCGs provide is those client relationships where they've already been working with a ton of companies...able to then bring the tech into those companies.” — Allison Poley [07:49]
• Changing Billing Models: AI consulting deals now often rely on outcomes-based pricing rather than traditional billable hours.
  • Quote: “A lot of the pricing is done based on outcomes; the firm gets paid partly based on whether there's a specified result.” — Allison Poley [08:37]
• Reality Check: Value Not Yet Delivered: Many firms haven't seen measurable ROI from AI projects, even with consultants. Some clients think consultants are still "learning on the job."
  • Quote: “A lot of clients were not really pleased with the results...more direct relationship...will be working right alongside the consultants to troubleshoot in real time.” — Allison Poley [09:24]
• The Future of Consulting: Consulting firms will need to own strategy and execution, proving results and potentially reducing the number of lower-level consultant roles.
  • Quote: “Now the clients need to see results in order to justify the expense...there will be a shrinking of the industry where there won't be as many junior consultants...” — Allison Poley [10:33]

Key Quotes & Memorable Moments

• AI in Newsrooms:

  • “This enables to do better coverage, to write about communities that have long gone uncovered, to potentially do more investigative reporting.” — Alexandre Bruel [01:57]
  • “There's a fear there in over relying on AI to do the drafting of stories...also a fear that some of the time saved could be used for more AI slop...” — Alexandre Bruel [03:32]

• AI and Consulting Firms:

  • “They have the tech, but they don't have enough engineers or enough people to explain how it works and to get it into all of these companies.” — Allison Poley [07:37]
  • “A lot of companies haven't yet seen the returns on AI, including from their work with the consulting firms.” — Allison Poley [09:22]
  • “Now the clients need to see results in order to justify the expense.” — Allison Poley [10:31]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• AI Boosts Local News Reporting — [00:19–05:48]
  • Case studies, process changes, and risks
  • Feature: Nota’s AI-powered local news experiments
• AI's Management Consulting Boom — [06:50–11:08]
  • Partnerships between AI labs and consultancies
  • New business models, industry challenges, and future outlook

Tone and Closing Thoughts

The episode balances optimism about how AI is empowering smaller newsrooms and evolving the consulting business model, with realism about the risks and the need for tangible value. Both guests highlight the transitional nature of AI adoption: while tools are making powerful contributions, there's still much to navigate in terms of outcomes, business models, and the future shape of traditionally human-centric industries.

Produced by Julie Chang; hosted by Isabel Busquette for The Wall Street Journal.