India's consulting and audit sector faces major disruption as AI and geopolitical tensions reshape the industry.

India's consulting and audit sector faces major disruption as AI and geopolitical tensions reshape the industry. Major firms including McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Accenture, PwC, EY, KPMG and Deloitte are freezing lateral hiring and planning significant layoffs. Research and production roles face the heaviest impact, with estimates suggesting 25% reductions in these functions as artificial intelligence can now handle data analysis and presentation preparation that once required human teams. The West Asia conflict has reduced client demand and work pipelines across the sector. However, hiring is shifting strategically toward AI specialists, data scientists, risk management professionals and implementation experts.