Landmark change! McKinsey reforms campus recruitment, requiring graduates to use AI to complete case tests.
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Global top consulting firm McKinsey is piloting a recruitment process reform, requiring business school graduates to use its AI assistant Lilli to complete case analysis in interview tests. This change marks the deep penetration of artificial intelligence into workplace recruitment, as even the world’s most competitive recruitment processes are not spared.
According to the Financial Times on Thursday, sources revealed that candidates participating in the pilot must use the Lilli chatbot in the interview session to assist in analyzing case studies and refining their conclusions. Interviewers focus on how applicants prompt AI tools, and whether they have the "curiosity and judgment" to process and question AI outputs, as well as integrate them with clients’ specific needs.
If the pilot is successful, McKinsey plans to roll out this test for all junior recruitment in the coming months. The company’s CEO Bob Sternfels said this month that McKinsey currently has 20,000 AI agents working alongside 40,000 employees and plans to achieve the goal of "one agent per person" in the next 18 months.
This recruitment reform comes as the consulting industry is undergoing profound transformation. In 2024, McKinsey encouraged underperforming consultants to leave, and between 2023 and mid-last year, reduced its employee headcount by more than one-tenth. According to informed sources, the company also plans more layoffs, partly due to AI-driven efficiency improvements.
AI is reshaping consulting work models
McKinsey’s recruitment reform reflects a fundamental shift in work methods in the consulting industry. Sternfels said on Harvard Business Review’s IdeaCast podcast that the company is "rapidly moving from pure consulting to a more outcomes-based model." He noted that the work he did as an analyst 32 years ago is no longer considered now, as clients can do those tasks themselves.
According to the Financial Times, McKinsey has expanded the use of internal AI agents to 20,000, equivalent to half of its 40,000 employees. This number is expected to double in 18 months, reaching a one-to-one human-machine ratio. The company also plans to cut 10% of non-client-facing roles in the next two years, potentially affecting more than 1,000 jobs.
Mayank Gupta, CEO of CaseBasix, which trains McKinsey candidates, said that other top consulting firms like BCG and Bain may also incorporate AI into their interview processes. The consulting industry is buying or building AI capabilities, shifting more focus from traditional strategy advice to helping companies adopt new technologies. Last week, Accenture agreed to acquire Faculty for $1 billion to enhance its AI capabilities.
Hiring standards tilt toward liberal arts graduates
In addition to introducing AI tests, McKinsey has also adjusted several recruitment preferences to adapt to the skills needed in the AI era. Sternfels disclosed that the company will prioritize candidates who can learn from failures and increase the weight given to liberal arts graduates.
He said that liberal arts graduates "may have been deprioritized in the past," but they possess a "truly novel" way of thinking that can make up for the "discontinuous leaps" that some AI models cannot logically achieve. This shift means McKinsey is seeking the complementarity of human creativity and AI computational capability.
McKinsey has long been an industry pioneer in adapting to changes in consulting work. In 2018, the company took the lead in shifting from traditional exams to gamified problem-solving tests. Now, by integrating AI tools into the recruitment process, it once again secures its leadership in innovation in talent selection.
The industry faces structural adjustment
AI-driven change is now reaching even the world’s most competitive professions. McKinsey has long been a training ground for corporate executives, with CEOs such as Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, Citi Group’s Jane Fraser, and Lloyds Banking Group’s Charlie Nunn all coming from the company.
The traditional pyramid structure of the consulting industry—where a few senior consultants supervise many junior analysts—may be forced to transform. After peaking at 45,000 employees in 2023, McKinsey has sharply downsized due to the consulting slowdown. Reportedly, the company has set a target to cut 10% of non-client-facing roles in the next two years.
Sternfels emphasized that the company’s top priority is to "move toward more complex problems". As clients’ own capabilities improve and AI tools become widespread, traditional junior consulting work is disappearing, requiring consulting firms to redefine their value proposition and talent needs.
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