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FIS Managers are going to provide severance to their buddies, Then those buddies will be hired directly as consultants with FIS.
If you are not in good books with your managers, they are going to transfer you to third rated staffing company COGNIZANT. After a while, FIS will ask cognizant to replace you with low cost H1B visa holder.
Watch for more RAs in Consulting very soon. . .
https://www.businessinsider.com/consulting-management-ai-agents-future-ibm-2026-3
By: Lakshmi Varanasi
Mar 23, 2026, 4:01 AM CT
At IBM's consulting arm, the future isn't a slide deck or a strategy memo — it's a live dashboard where humans monitor the work of AI agents in real time.
Earlier this month, Mohamad Ali, senior vice president of IBM Consulting, walked Business Insider through the dashboard that the company both uses internally and recently released to clients.
"Every hour I can see what's going on with all the humans associated with digital workers," and vice versa, he said. "That is the new consulting model going forward."
The dashboard is known internally as "Consulting Advantage." The company unveiled it in 2024 to help its own consultants build and manage teams of AI agents. This January, it unveiled "Enterprise Advantage," a similar version of the platform for clients that allows them to build and manage AI agents at scale.
In recent years, the firm has made itself the testing ground for building and deploying digital workers as it prepares clients for a future defined by AI. Ali said the firm has digital staff working side by side with humans on more than 150 client engagements.
Take the example of a typical security operations center, he said. When an alert comes in, a human investigator would normally spend about 45 minutes combing through logs to figure out what went wrong and what to do next. At IBM, he said, that process is increasingly handled by AI.
Digital workers first "generate an investigation plan." Then they execute it in real time. Multiple agents tackle different parts of the problem simultaneously, passing tasks back and forth, he said. Then they run a risk analysis and produce a report. The process now takes just a couple of minutes. The findings are then passed back to a human — with key actions highlighted — and the human verifies it.
In January alone, IBM used this approach to complete 52,000 investigations, Ali said.
IBM has evolved dramatically from its early days as a maker of mainframe computers into a key player in the AI bo-m. The company said its generative AI department was valued at $12.5 billion during its fourth-quarter earnings call.
Its consulting department, especially, has seen an uptick due to demand for generative AI and services that help clients implement it. Consulting revenue for 2025 came in at over $21 billion, up from about $20.7 billion in 2024.
IBM Consulting has been around for decades. The company acquired PwC's consulting arm in 2002. PwC would later rebuild its consulting business after a five-year noncompete clause expired.
IBM Consulting now employs about 150,000 employees and says its work overlaps with the Big Four and more technology-focused firms like Accenture.
"We don't do, like, what markets you should be in," Ali said. "We do strategy around 'how do you take your corporate strategy and implement it?'"
And right now, he said, there's a big question in corporate strategy: How do you prepare for a world where humans work alongside AI agents?
Boston Consulting Group coming back for assessments at Technology gp. Be ready!
There are 475 people as now, with GBUs, Consulting, etc. The plan is too stay with ca 200. That's massive reduction, much more than 30k spread.
All European companies hire McKinsey to understand how they can run their business better. But McKinsey is not working for the benefit of these companies or Europe. McKinsey is working for the benefit of billionaires in the US.
Recently McKinsey asked Volkswagen to close 8 of their 10 German factories and lay off almost everyone.
https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/volkswagen-mckinsey-soll-angeblich-schliessung-fast-aller-deutschen-werke-empfehlen-a-89c85f97-0964-40b0-ad5f-7163ea7c1925
McKinsey is also the reason why the executive board want to fire SAP employees. This entire narrative that SAP should fire almost everyone and replace them with AI comes from US billionaires through McKinsey.
My hot take is that SAP should fire McKinsey. It will save millions that we give them each year. And SAP should focus on innovation instead of using stupid US marketing and laying off employees and making customers angry. Christian Klein is only doing all this because he plans to join the McKinsey Germany board after he leaves SAP. And that's wrong.
This is my third bank. All are bad, but this one is the worst. I come across stuff that seems like a remnant from the previous century. With all that fancy management and hefty consultant fees, you'd think they would have streamlined some processes by now. AI would short-circuit trying to deal with this place.
Why is ESC engaging MARS consultant review this time round? Heard they are reviewing for the BSC teams? potential rationalization again??
Was fortunate to get VR last year after 10 years of no pay rises and broken promises. The annual drudge of appraisals, getting feedback, self evaluation etc was mind numbing, knowing nothing would ever come out of it. My manager was worse than useless. A total waste of time who blagged and lied his way year after year. I know why people stay as it’s a cushy number and no one cares. Projects drag on and it’s amazing how clients put up with the incompetence. I’m just interested to know what actual accounts are still going in the UK. Not much on here is posted but in the last few town halls I attended there was always a ‘positive pipeline’ so just curious as to what current employees are actually working on - or more pertinent what codes are you booking time to for doing next to nothing? My last account was Defra which died a slow and painful death!
Just when you think this man can’t get any more shallow, he blasts out the most cringe, self‑congratulatory “newsletter” ever written. It’s basically a shrine to himself, wall‑to‑wall “me, me, I, I, my, my.”
And then he has the nerve to act proud that he and his leadership team got “partially met.” Buddy, that’s not a mystery. That’s a mirror. Your team’s performance is a direct reflection of your leadership. Ask your smiling as-----n CHRO or maybe BarUp can help you lift your performance. OA’s leadership culture and that tired consulting‑playbook theater are the real anchors dragging the place down. He missed his management plan, maybe the plan was delusional from the start. He forced everyone into individual OKRs, hyper‑individualized, disconnected targets, then turns around and scolds people for not hitting his inflated management plan. A plan they didn’t set. He did. Based on his AI‑fantasy PowerPoint dreams, air‑game, strategy, and “leapfrog on a wing and a prayer” marketing nonsense with a Spineless Tech consultant who talks but can’t do and lives in a fantasy land wishing he was a Silicon Valley coder praying he doesn’t get fired. Now he’s laying off talent and skills that we actually took from cognisant to rebuild our own internal technology capability. Now he’s handing it all back out to same old vendors who have sc--wed us over for years paying more for cr-p quality and same old service because he promised them work in exchange for buying VG’s cr-p products. This regime ignore the loyalty hard work and service of all the hard working teams and lay them off giving work to his “partners” instead. Then has the audacity and mind blindness to realise that he’s two faced telling Davos he invests in people - what an empty suit!! Meanwhile, in the real world, the entire company is already paying for OA’s failure. The share price is in freefall, but he blames “external forces.” Bonuses are below target yet again, and he blames the staff for not delivering on his overblown plan. Employees get a raise barely big enough to buy a Happy Meal, while OA buys himself “garden shed time” at Davos, sipping champagne and pretending he’s a visionary, signing MOU with provinces no one heard of - all theatre ….And let’s be real, bet his “partially met” will still come with a ski trip, nice pile of cash in his bank and more first class flying luxuries the rest of us will never see in our lifetimes despite working all the hours God sends. Maybe that “partially met” is actually the most honest performance review he’s ever had. He can’t deliver on his own plan. The share price is the scoreboard, and everyone can see the score. This is what happens when you hand a real company to consultants who’ve never built anything, never run anything, never delivered anything - just recycled textbook jargon, “pivots,” and Microsoft copycat acting only made worse by their shameless LinkedIn self‑promotion. It’s embarrassing. Oh and let’s not forget he imported in his second‑hand‑car‑salesman sidekick, VG, to sell vapourware and popsicle products no one wants only hitting targets by strong‑arming suppliers into buying before they can even play and calling it “deals and partnerships” what a joke. That’s when you know the ship is sinking. And the final sign? When a CFO who’s served the company for 25 years decides she’s done. Just look at the numbers: under her six‑year CFO tenure, the share price went up 30%. Under his two‑year reign, it’s down 30%. No wonder SJ walked away. She can smell the BS from a mile off. Time to follow in her footsteps and exit this sinking ship.
I am working on a Gen ai product and I have a meeting to demo that to the HIH team and the contractors. I have worked hard on the project and looks like the team in HIH wants to takeover? Idk. What to do?
AI’s ability to replace work traditionally done by
human consultants threatens parts of IBM’s
business model.
Sounds like it will help accelerate and increase RAs which is right in-line with IBM's business model.
https://www.techradar.com/pro/modernizing-a-cobol-system-once-required-armies-of-consultants-spending-years-mapping-workflows-ai-changes-this-anthropic-says-ai-could-help-keep-cobol-running-for-a-long-time-to-come-but-ibm-wont-be-happy
From his linkedin post
"AI has sparked a new round of conversation about COBOL, with tools emerging that claim to translate legacy code and, with it, solve the modernization challenge. It is worth being precise about what that means and what it does not."
This framing understates the reality. The modernization challenge was never about translating COBOL syntax—it’s about risk, economics, institutional knowledge, and business logic embedded over decades. AI didn’t suddenly “spark” this conversation; enterprises have been trying automated translation, wrappers, and re-platforming since the 1990s, with mixed results at best.
Care coordinator role for post acute care. Anyone have any info on the job? Yay or nay
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/former-optum-director-found-guilty-in-1-2m-fraud-scheme-against-company/
How rampant is this? Working in Optum I got the impression it was in fact quite rampant. I can't even imagine the abuse happening offshore.
I’m sorry to hear about all the layoffs people are experiencing. My advice is that because your experience is valuable, especially you folks who have been working here for 10, 20, 30 years, you should either A) Start your own company (for behavioral health, etc) or B) Do consulting on your own terms.
It’s obvious people with incredible resumes are being let go. It’s time we take our careers back and invest into something we’re truly passionate about.
Wishing you all the best!
I’m sorry to hear about all the layoffs people are experiencing. My advice is that because your experience is valuable, especially you folks who have been working here for 10, 20, 30 years, you should either A) Start your own company (for behavioral health, etc) or B) Do consulting on your own terms.
It’s obvious people with incredible resumes are being let go. It’s time we take our careers back and invest into something we’re truly passionate about.
Wishing you all the best!
One thing is certain, Waters will continue laying off the people who are the heart and soul of this company AND replace with consulting chronies.
......mckinsey is here.....
.a consulting firm..
a global management consulting firm
they address problems that no one else can..""
what is the " real reason" this company is walking the halls ?
why are they here
How many of you think last year S4 & CFIN implementation by Acn was
Spotted getting off on the 16th floor. Eyeroll. Expect them to be paid millions to recommend “cost savings” in RIFs that will never materialize.
any one heard of this?
Anyone else been forced to attend this rushed mess?
Its like Dev Days but with external sales people mixed in, and its been a complete sh-t show. I dont think Ive learned a single thing that I couldnt have gathered from a basic google search. We are blocking off thousands of peoples time for multiple for this, hired a hype man, and are paying consultants to come pitch AI generated slide decks to IT people.
What on earth is going on? Hard to take any of the cost savings talk seriously when we pi-s away money like this
Is it true that the once exclusive CPQ quote tool is now being used by the dealers?
If so, when did that start?
Given the current situation at Pinterest, is there a possibility they could cancel their contract with Accenture?
MW and JG talking about AI like it's going to change their world.
Maybe it is. We see it in other parts of the world, part of people's day to day. It takes talent, and the talent is leaving.
If I had to guess, the average PSG of the AI team is probably not higher than 22.
All the people working on the data have also exited the company because of the BS and lack of confidence in our completely disconnected leaders.
JG and LC would rather spend tens of millions of dollars on BCG and McKinsey or EY rather than just pay a fraction of that to retain the talent that was here.
The world's best AI practitioners are not dinosaurs like the consultants with MBAs that JG and LC are bringing in. and the ENGINE strategy for AI is a fantasy at best. It's sad that these leaders have completely neutered what was a team with good talent.
No one wants to work for these puppets guided by management consultants who have practically zero experience in AI. If you're using the same consultants who have been here over a decade or two, what are the chances that they know what they're doing?
In 2024 they hired Deloitte to do an 'audit' after which they went through the organization with a chainsaw on nebulous promises of AI doing all the work. Unproven promises at that. Then hiring consultants and contractors to replace the fired staff, and not even at lower salaries.
They of course kept vertical stacks of deadwood who made life difficult for everyone. The kind of people who stop productive work and su-k up to upper management without doing productive work themselves.
I've received a few small settlements from class action lawsuits for their bad practices.
Asplund Leadership Consulting!
OMG! Another one of our former ELT is joining A&M. The same BT firm we wasted millions of $$$ on. There must a a conflict of interest or under the table deal. Pay the millions, when BT doesn’t work and you jump ship, just join them.
Ethics should investigate! Oh wait…that would be a waste of time.
Question: HR and manager did read my termination blurb. During the call announce they will pay severance which appears to cover about 3 months of salary. Great since I was about to leave anyway to join a startup.
I imagine there is no stock acceleration typically offered correct?
Question:
I recall something about Cobra. Not sure I would need to pay premiums. Not interested in that since I can join wife excellent medical plan instead.
Consulting companies are actively involved in presenting options for GoA that will soon pass the divestment threshold and will have to added to the decommissioning liability ledger.
How will this affect job security and continuity?
700K applicants brought into state by consulting firm
Here is a video that outlines her layoff plan during this skit. You can even see her picture on the wall at the beginning of the vid. If you listen really close you can even hear her voice. “Hey, that’s me….that’s me at the top.”
.
https://youtu.be/K7ISnXf6Geo
So demoralizing to work for a management consultant pretending to be a technologist. All this mo--n does is pay 20 contractors to do the work of 1 competent employee and outsource. Don’t get me started on saas contracts
Randomly heard recently that IT had a trip with a contractor to (of all places) Fiji to try and find some more low cost resources. Did any of y’all get invited to that trip?
Some quick Google searches show that it’s about 1/3 Cost of Living (COL) compared to Charlotte, so that’s somewhat understandable. But considering the time zone differences with all the other sites, how the heck are we supposed to have team meetings? Or is it only connection via email with no chance of getting global meeting's with existing teams in US / Europe / India.
If it hits $360, that means it's time to exit my position.
https://www.barrons.com/articles/ibm-stock-price-top-pick-2026-35af20b3
By: Mackenzie Tatananni
Updated Jan 08, 2026, 2:59 pm EST / Original Jan 08, 2026, 2:15 pm EST
Skeptics may argue that International Business Machines has lost the clout it had decades ago, but one analyst is doubling down on his bullish bet on the stock heading into the new year.
Much of the negative noise surrounding IBM appears to be unfounded, according to Oppenheimer analyst Param Singh, who has chosen IBM as one of his top picks for 2026. He rates the stock at Outperform with a $360 price target.
IBM stock was 2.1% higher at $303.04 on Thursday as the Nasdaq Composite traded in the red. Singh’s price target suggests the stock can rise another 19%.
Attitudes on the stock are indubitably mixed. Of 22 analysts polled by FactSet, 11 rate IBM at Buy, while seven rate it at Hold, and four at Sell. So why the vote of confidence?
“Bears have the estimates wrong, making expectations low into the print,” Singh said, referring to IBM’s fourth-quarter earnings report due later this month. He believes IBM can deliver durable growth by consistently raising prices, and described its portfolio of software as “sticky,” meaning clients repeatedly return to the products even though alternatives exist.
IBM has been winning bigger contracts because it has more products and services to offer, largely driven by acquisitions and the rollout of new mainframe computers. Last year, it paid $6.4 billion for HashiCorp, a provider of infrastructure and security tools, and has had early success integrating those offerings into its portfolio.
Taken together, these factors could boost overall revenue by 6% and software revenue by 9% in 2026, Singh said. His call for revenue growth is double the consensus forecast on Wall Street and nearly double the call for growth in software revenue.
“We believe IBM will positively surprise the bears on its earnings through the year, driving upside to the stock,” Singh said.
That comes after a decent run in 2025, a year dominated by the conversation around artificial intelligence. Shares rose 35% last year, behind a 39% gain for AI heavyweight Nvidia but ahead of a 20% gain for the Nasdaq.
There already are signs 2026 will be a good year. Despite recent chatter, Oppenheimer’s checks show little to no customer attrition, even as IBM passes along a 6% price hike to customers renewing enterprise license agreements.
And then there is IBM’s consulting division, which has become a significant contributor to revenue. Singh and the Oppenheimer team see little evidence of a pullback on spending, although software is expected to continue to grow more rapidly
Software revenue is expected to achieve sustained, double-digit percentage growth as opposed to “low-single-digits” for IBM’s consulting arm, Oppenheimer said.
Barron’s wrote favorably on IBM for a different reason in December: the company’s burgeoning quantum-computing division. Big Blue was an early entrant in the space, and aims to release a fault-tolerant quantum supercomputer by the end of the decade. That would be an industry first.
I believe their gonna cut so much more then most think Crazy this firm will consult to cut more management but yet their benefiting Executive Hires (McKinsey Alumni): Several high-ranking Verizon executives are former McKinsey personnel, including:
Alfonso Villanueva: Recently named Executive Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer, effective November 2025. He was previously a Senior Partner at McKinsey, where he led the Telecom, Media & Technology practice across Asia Pacific
Consulting companies for modern tech recommend 1000 per billion revenue, that would mean 5000-6000 employees
The math doesn't work and selling 25% of the company won't be enough. For anyone left there will be massive layoffs
In addition to ongoing engineering performance challenges, a lack of transparency around progress, and significant network and connectivity problems, we are now encountering scheduling issues with India-based engineers. Several have declined to attend meetings scheduled after 10:00 a.m. Central Time, citing the late hour on their end. In some cases, there is resistance to meetings held after 8:30 p.m. local time, which would require U.S.-based staff to substantially alter their work schedules by starting meetings as early as 6:00 or 7:00 a.m, a practice that falls outside standard industry norms. These scheduling disputes are repeatedly raised while the engineer declines to attend meetings or take on work, leaving the engineering lead and offshore vendor to sort through the issue. This pattern can persist for weeks, during which the offshore engineer continues to submit and receive approval for full 40-hour weekly timesheets. This outcome reflects the risks associated with outsourcing while eliminating experienced in-house talent.
Sounds familiar?
Starbucks did not lose $30 billion because of bad coffee. It lost it because the company
mispriced what actually created its value.
When Starbucks appointed a McKinsey-trained executive as CEO, the mandate was operational discipline. Costs were scrutinized. Processes were standardized. Stores were pushed to behave like efficiency machines rather than community spaces.
On paper, the logic made sense.
Consultants optimize margins by removing friction. But Starbucks was never a pure efficiency business. Its premium pricing depended on brand emotion, store experience, and cultural loyalty. Those are intangible assets, but they carry real monetary value.
As efficiency initiatives rolled out, customers noticed. Service quality declined. Stores felt
transactional. The brand lost its emotional moat. Foot traffic softened. Growth expectations reset. Markets reacted quickly. Over 17 months, Starbucks shed roughly $30 billion in market capitalization. Not from insolvency risk, but from a reassessment of future cash flows tied to brand strength.
The board reversed course. The CEO exited. Strategy changed.
The wealth lesson is structural. Consulting frameworks work best where value is mechanical and repeatable. Consumer brands compound wealth through trust, identity, and habit, not just margins.
When leadership optimizes the wrong variable, scale turns small misjudgments into massive losses.
Starbucks did not fail at execution. It failed at understanding what it was actually selling.