On May 11, 2026, the open source AI consulting competition for small business advisers was implemented. A new AI consulting business for big firms called OpenAI Deployment Company was established by OpenAI with over $4 Billion in backing . TPG leads the partnership, with Advent, Bain Capital and Brookfield serving as co-lead founding partners. In addition, OpenAI agreed to acquire UK-based AI firm Tomoro. After closing, the acquisition will add approximately 150 engineers and deployment staff. The previous week Anthropic had announced another venture (separate from its lab) to offer AI services through Blackstone, Goldman Sachs and Hellman & Friedman. One week. Two AI Labs. Two Consulting Ventures. The companies that make these tools are now looking to deploy them. This is not an emerging threat for independent AI consultants, coaches or advisors. Rather, it represents a shifting of the market in client expectations of how they should be supported through AI consulting services. What DeployCo Actually Does OpenAI’s new consulting division will also be another way for clients to work with OpenAI. They will deploy engineers in firm locations who will study how the firm is organized, and then build custom AI solutions which are connected directly to current data sources, toolsets and controls of the firm. Like anthropic, OpenAI does not just sell software. Their projects start with a short review. Thereafter they select a few key process flows from the client company and then build, test and launch systems into daily use. This is hands-on implementation consulting. DeployCo's partners provide consulting and capital access to over 2000 companies world wide. Its consulting and systems partners provide consulting services to many thousand more. OpenAI is planning to move full force into the professional services market. It has been common for most lab based AI groups to have consulting firms, system teams and freelance advisors handle these kinds of engagements. The same types of business aspects that anthropic will cover will be covered by OpenAI, but they will be targeting mid-size enterprise. Larger enterprise enterprises will still be served by large-enterprise-class anthropic partners. So in total... Well funded brand backed AI services are moving closer to the clients that have used independent AI consultants for the last three years. MORE FOR YOU Where They Will And Will Not Compete It can be helpful to understand where DeployCo and Anthropic are focusing their resources in order to better gauge the potential risks facing an independent advisor. DeployCo appears to have been created primarily to support large firms (those with large budgets) with multiple departments and significant amounts of data. Anthropic has developed an Enterprise AI Services Company which will help mid-sized firms who do not currently have sufficient in-house personnel. KPMG provides evidence of the very top end of the market its recent agreement with Anthropic to make Claude available to over 276,000 employees across 138 countries/territories is clearly different from helping a small $500,000 coaching business improve client on-boarding. Where the market is moving Source: Institute Of Business AI The pressure will fall differently across all firms and generalist firms that offer a wide range of AI advisory services take the most risk. Specialists with strong domain expertise, specific objectives and existing relationships with clients also still have an opportunity to serve. However, the name still counts because both OpenAI and Anthropic are creating their service teams quickly. The market for competitive AI consulting is being pulled lower. What Independent Advisors Are Actually Selling Consulting is not simply providing people with access to tools, but using good judgment in selecting the appropriate tool for the right problem at the right time, as well as enabling them to work differently. Very few companies were designed to operate with the same level of ongoing change that exists today. Measuring AI ROI is a habit, not a product feature. For example, before applying technology, the consultant will need to understand the current state of the business. They will have to identify where time is wasted and/or lost in the process and develop a plan to demonstrate the financial return on investment (ROI) from their recommendations. A Forward-Deployed Engineer may create a robust system. However, a consultant who works independently can still question whether such a system should exist. A consultant can evaluate different vendor options and remain engaged long after the build-out team departs. The difference between being able to do all of the build (capacity) as well as making no value judgments (neutral judgment) is what this consultant will have to define for themselves. A company like DeployCo is designed to assist an organization with difficult AI tasks. Additionally, DeployCo provides a means to review and track your choices and the results you are getting from your workflows. Therefore, when a small firm is hiring a consultant to help them implement AI into their business model, they can't simply look at how many strategy terms the consultant has in their arsenal. Instead, they want a neutral expert, someone skilled in one specific area, someone willing to provide low cost services over time and also someone who will take care of their needs long after the project is completed. The Positioning Test This Creates The launch of DeployCo is not an indicator that independent AI consulting will be dead. It is a positioning test. General AI advisers are at the greatest amount of risk. Their value proposition generally is: "I can assist you in using AI tools." Due to their ability to utilize branding power, engineers, and a direct connection to AI model providers, large providers can now take much of this type of work away from general AI advisers. General AI advisers cannot win by simply offering a generic AI plan. General AI advisers also cannot win by listing each tool as does all of their competitors. The value that experts provide can be replicated in some cases. When an expert's skills are difficult to replicate, they have a lower level of risk. In this case, field-specific knowledge and/or experience within an industry creates a higher barrier for replication. Additionally, long-standing relationships with clients also provide value as well as create trust and additional opportunities for follow-on work. Badges or other forms of knowledge of tools and systems are insufficient. An independent advisor must demonstrate the client was able to gain something (value) from their service and how much it cost them. Advisors should document the changes that occurred after the system has been launched. They should also clearly identify who is responsible for maintaining the system at least 6 months post-launch. This is ongoing support not just a one-time launch. What To Watch In The Next 90 Days Three signals are worth tracking as this market shift settles. The pricing signal. No pricing model was deployed by DeployCo, and once pricing is established, it will help define how much clients are willing to pay for Enterprise AI Implementation Services. Those lower, independently contracted rates could be supported but those rates could also harm Advisors that can't articulate to their client why a smaller Project provides greater value. The scope signal. OpenAI talks about large enterprises and hard to do projects, while Anthropic now has an interest in medium sized companies. This leaves one major question unanswered. What size of company will be set as the minimum by each? It appears that when this industry moves into service for smaller businesses, it creates immediate increased risk to small business AI consultants or independent AI advisory services. The outcome signal. Beginning with the most obvious, can we get our money back from all of this? According to Gartner (May 2026) , about 80% of companies within the study used either test or self-run technology, and as a result reduced staff. This didn't correlate with increased profitability. Advisors don't automatically make difficult work easier through new AI consulting firms. As such, an independent advisor needs to monitor case studies, be able to demonstrate actual increases in profit, and show the total costs associated with those increases. It is apparent at this point how much the professional services industry has been disrupted by AI. In addition to selling their models, OpenAi and Anthropic are building client-consulting type businesses. While there may be an opportunity for independent advisors, the "safe middle" is shrinking rapidly. Only the advisors that remain relevant will know their target audience, provide unbiased recommendations on which options are available to them, and demonstrate results with transparency.

Source: Forbes

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