PwC's US CEO backs consulting careers for his kids even as AI reshapes hiring

Why PwC's US Chief Still Recommends Consulting as AI Reshapes Its Hiring

PwC's US arm is hiring fewer traditional consultants and auditors than it did two years ago, and CEO Paul Griggs expects that decline to continue. The Big Four firm is pivoting its recruiting toward data scientists, engineers and machine-learning specialists — a shift driven by artificial intelligence.

Griggs nonetheless says he fully supports the two of his three children who are considering careers in consulting. One of his children has been working for about a year, while the other two are still studying. The core tasks of accounting, consulting and finance have not fundamentally changed, he argues — AI is changing the skills attached to those roles, not erasing the professions themselves.

PwC's position is backed by its own research. The “AI Jobs Barometer” 2026, based on an analysis of more than one billion job advertisements worldwide, found that professional services roles are among those changing fastest. Job categories in which AI demands additional human expertise are growing twice as quickly as roles where AI merely assists generalist workers, and wages in those jobs have risen 42 percent faster since 2021.

Griggs described PwC's order intake as the strongest in the company's history and called the AI moment “the greatest opportunity we have ever had.” At the same time, PwC is training roughly 4,000 partners through the RevUp program developed with Harvard Business School and has built a separate AI-training curriculum with Wharton School professor Ethan Mollick.

What the AI Jobs Barometer Data Means for PwC — and Where It Comes Up Short

What the Hiring Shift Actually Means for PwC's Workforce

The move from traditional consultant and auditor hires toward data scientists, engineers and machine-learning specialists is a rebalancing of skills rather than a retreat from growth. Griggs says PwC's order intake is at a record level, which suggests demand for the firm's services is rising even as AI absorbs part of the routine analysis work that entry-level staff once handled. The likely result is a hiring profile in which statistical and technical skills increasingly sit alongside, rather than replace, consulting judgment.

What the AI Jobs Barometer Does and Does Not Prove

The headline figures are striking: roles requiring specialist human expertise on top of AI are growing twice as fast as those where AI simply assists generalists, and wages in the former category have risen 42 percent faster since 2021. The barometer is, however, PwC's own product, and its CEO has an interest in presenting AI as a net creator of demand for the profession. The direction is consistent with what other large firms are reporting — AI compresses routine tasks while raising the premium on judgment — but the specific numbers should be treated as company research rather than independent evidence.

Why Griggs Champions Humanities Graduates and MBAs

The most career-relevant part of the interview is Griggs's endorsement of liberal-arts and MBA graduates. He argues that both types of programs build curiosity and a willingness to keep learning — qualities he calls his highest hiring priority — and he expects more humanities graduates to enter consulting. For students, that suggests entry will depend less on the discipline studied and more on demonstrated adaptability plus enough technical fluency to work productively alongside AI tools.

The Big Four Race for Data and Machine-Learning Talent

PwC's growing demand for data scientists, engineers and machine-learning specialists puts it in direct competition with technology companies and rival professional services firms for the same scarce candidates. Retraining roughly 4,000 partners through the Harvard Business School-developed RevUp program and a Wharton-designed AI curriculum shows the effort to close the skills gap from within. Whether existing consultants can be moved up the learning curve fast enough — rather than being squeezed out as lower-level roles shrink — remains an open question.

What the PwC Shift Means for Consultants, Students and Rival Firms

Three audiences should read the PwC signals differently:

• Students and career changers aiming at consulting: PwC's barometer says jobs combining AI with specialist expertise are growing twice as fast as generalist AI-assisted roles and have seen 42 percent faster wage growth since 2021. Build AI fluency on top of a core discipline rather than expecting generalist roles to stay open.
• Current consultants, auditors and finance professionals: Griggs expects the decline in traditional hires to continue. Treat advanced data and machine-learning literacy as a near-term expectation, not a long-term differentiator.
• Professional services firms competing for talent: PwC is pairing new technical hires with partner upskilling — about 4,000 partners through RevUp with Harvard Business School plus a Wharton-developed AI curriculum. Firms that match that mix are more likely to hold their order pipelines as AI changes client delivery.

A caveat: the AI Jobs Barometer is PwC's own publication, and the record order intake is a CEO claim, so the forward-looking figures are directionally useful rather than independently verified.