---
id: "quote-pyramid-collapse"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ How the Pyramid Is Crumbling"]
tags: ["automation", "industry-disruption"]
related: ["claim-pyramid-collapse", "concept-consulting-pyramid"]
speaker: "David S. Duncan, Tyler Anderson and Jeffrey Saviano"
speakers: ["David S. Duncan", "Tyler Anderson", "Jeffrey Saviano"]
sources: ["reskilling"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-reskilling"
originDay: 10
articleStem: "hbr-edu-44-ai-changing-consulting-structure"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/09/ai-is-changing-the-structure-of-consulting-firms"
sourceTitle: "AI Is Changing the Structure of Consulting Firms"
---
# The Collapse of the Pyramid

> "If AI takes over work that used to justify thousands of billable junior hours, the pyramid will collapse under its own weight."

— [[entity-david-s-duncan]], [[entity-tyler-anderson]], and [[entity-jeffrey-saviano]]

The article's most compressed statement of [[claim-pyramid-collapse]]: the economic logic of the [[concept-consulting-pyramid]] depends on billable junior hours, so automating that work removes the load-bearing base. Enrichment counterpoint: many experts read this as *reshaping* (diamond/network/platform) rather than literal collapse — see [[concept-alternative-firm-geometries]].