Consulting partner pool soars, taps academia, policy and tech too
Consulting and Big Four firms in India have more than doubled their partner ranks over last three to five years amid rising demand for specialized expertise. They are also hiring beyond traditional consulting into tech,
Summary
Consulting and Big Four firms in India have more than doubled their partner ranks over last three to five years amid rising demand for specialized expertise. They are also hiring beyond traditional consulting into tech, academia, and startups as AI reshapes client needs.
Mumbai: As client mandates grow more specialized, consulting and tax advisory firms in India have more than doubled their partner base over the past three to five years. And they are also looking beyond their own industry for the next cohort of partners, tapping the academia, startups, technology and public policy to bring in the expertise clients now demand.
The shift reflects changing client demand, which calls for experts in global capability centres (GCCs), technology, digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, sustainability and sector-focused advisory.
In consulting parlance, the management consulting firms include the likes of Bain & Company, McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) and Kearney, while the likes of KPMG, PwC, Deloitte and EY are largely into auditing tax work and consulting. The former category typically has a smaller number of partners or managing directors who bring in the clients, mostly having a stake in the firm’s revenues. On the other hand, the second group of advisory firms can have about a thousand-plus partners, some with equity and others with fixed incomes and bonuses.
According to a Big Four senior partner, who did not wish to be named, the ratio of equity partners to the fixed income ones is almost 50:50.
On the rise in partner ranks, Himanshu Bajaj, managing director and head at A&M India & Global Capability Center (GCC), said: “Our managing director base has grown significantly in India, from around 20 three years ago to 62-plus today across our core India business, financial advisory, tax, and our global capability centre.” Bajaj said the spurt happened without “changing a thing — no hierarchy, no tiers, every managing director owns clients and their P&L (profit and loss)”.
Bain, McKinsey, BCG and Kearney did not respond to Mint’s queries, but industry watchers said that even within the consulting cohort, there is often a hierarchy model within the partnership models.
Now, compared to the smaller group of partners that consulting firms have, the Big Four—a term coined to label EY, PwC, KPMG and Deloitte—have them in hundreds. Take the case of Deloitte India, which has about a thousand-plus partners—Jehil Thakkar, partner at the firm, said that over the last five years, the audit and consulting company has expanded its partner base by 2.5 times.
“Today, firms have diversified partnership structures, extending beyond traditional equity partners to include delivery specialists, industry experts, and technology leaders with distinct capabilities and goals,” said Thakkar.
Interestingly, for some of the partners, the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) is changing their business models and the shift in demand from the traditional advisors is for digital natives. And therefore, the grounds where the advisory firms hire from is also shifting.
PwC’s chief commercial officer, Vivek Prasad, said the company with close to 1,050 partners is recruiting from the academia, tech and tech policy, media, trade negotiation, product engineering, design thinking, startups, data science, and even healthcare. “Over the last five years, our partner cohort has more than doubled, with the last three years seeing a very steep increase in intake,’ said Prasad.
The chief commercial officer denies that the expansion of partnership model will lead to any dilution in the meaning of who is a partner. “As the business evolves, our leadership bench may expand, but our standards for admission into a partnership role remain highly selective.”
EY has about 1,000 partners, and according to Prashant Singhal, clients and industries leader at the firm, EY India’s partner count has “has more than doubled over the past 4-5 years, which reflects both the expansion of the market and increasing client demand for specialized expertise".
However, according to a senior partner in one of the consulting firms, the partnership model will come under stress if companies use the tag to retain talent during the severe competition in hiring experienced hands. This is because partners often move with their teams and this, in turn, impacts the company.
KPMG did not respond to Mint’s queries.
About the Author
Devina Sengupta
Devina is a journalist and editor who covers workplaces, human resources, education and the consulting sector for Mint. Her reporting focuses on how work is evolving in India, from shifting corporate practices and labour policies to the rise of new career paths in the digital and creator economy.
She also writes the opinion column Pen Drive, where she offers sharp, accessible insights on workplace culture, leadership, and the broader social impact of economic change. Alongside this, she produces longform stories that explore the human side of work, highlighting real experiences, emerging trends, and underreported voices shaping the future of employment.
In her editorial role, Devina leads a team covering workplace issues, legal developments, telecom and the fast-growing creator ecosystem. She also hosts The Working Life, a podcast on HR trends in corporate India. Through conversations with industry leaders and experts, she examines topics such as talent management, workplace innovation, and career growth in a rapidly changing professional landscape.
Source: Livemint — Companies
