McKinsey Launches AI Platform 'Lilli' to Revolutionize Consulting

In July 2023, the prestigious consulting firm McKinsey launched an AI platform called 'Lilli' to revolutionize its nearly 100-year-old business model. The impetus for Lilli's creation came in November 2022, when McKinsey's board asked senior partner Erik Roth to make it easier for employees to access the firm's vast trove of knowledge, which included around 65,000 PowerPoint documents.

Roth saw an opportunity in the rise of generative AI, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, which had launched that same month. After demonstrating Lilli's capabilities to the skeptical board, the firm began rolling out the AI tool across its global offices. Lilli is an "orchestration layer" that draws on 11 different AI models to execute tasks, pulling from McKinsey's internal sources as well as public data.

Two years after its debut, Lilli has become a ubiquitous part of the consulting experience, with two-thirds of McKinsey's employees using it monthly and over 40% using it weekly. The platform can generate content, rewrite text to fit the firm's style, and suggest which internal experts a consultant should consult. This has saved the average McKinsey consultant over a day per week, allowing them to focus on other priorities.

While AI adoption can be disruptive, McKinsey sees Lilli as a transformational tool that gives the firm a competitive edge. The firm is now showcasing Lilli to clients who may want to implement their own versions. As Lilli continues to evolve, with features like voice-enabled assistance, McKinsey is positioning itself at the forefront of the AI revolution in the consulting industry.