Will AI Replace Consultants? What the Data Shows

Many people have actually taken our YouTube channel and closed over $100,000 licensing deals without ever being in any of our programs. So I know that the trainings and things that we deliver here are very valuable and the numbers prove it. AI generates content, but it can't generate the proven systems with the documented client results. So there was a $16 billion reallocation of where companies were actually spending money last year. This $16 billion is a 29% Increase from the year before, so it's not just going to AI. Like I said, leadership development investment surged by 126 percent. That is insane. We know that 88 percent of companies use AI, small companies, large companies. But this is really in a reflection of mid to large size corporations, right? They're bringing in AI. We know that they are. However, the latest trending reports show, and we'll go ahead and input the links. the resources and where we pull all of our data from here for you in the show notes as well. But the latest trending reports show that only 6% of organizations are actually using their AI well. If you are a consultant or a subject matter expert who has been watching AI roll into your industry, and you're wondering if what you do is still going to hold value either now, 2027, 2030, 2035, I'm gonna give you the data and then I'm gonna give you the strategy that actually shows that right now is one of the most valuable times for your area of expertise. And how we're working with other clients to grow their consulting practices in the age of AI with the coaching, with the IP that you already have, and how actually the numbers prove that companies are buying your area of expertise more than they ever were before in the age of AI. So, I'm gonna share with you, and I'm gonna break down the numbers for you as to why AI cannot replace you as long as you are forward-thinking about how you are designing your offers and your services. Yeah. You cannot bury your head in a hole. I'm gonna say that right now. One of the things that I do with my team, but it's just honestly something I do on my own, about every other week, is I dive into the latest future of jobs and future of work reports. And I feel, as a business strategist, it's my responsibility to guide my clients in continuing to grow their consulting practices, in designing businesses and models that are not only going to compete, they are going to be the tip of the spear. And so you're getting a little bit of that here. So if you've been in this space where you're thinking, oh my gosh, you know, how am I going to compete in the age of AI when people are just going to ChatGPT to learn what I do? That is really not the case, especially when we're talking about organizational buyers, particularly in relationship to content licensing. So licensing your training systems and your programs. So here's the deal. AI didn't make your expert methodology less valuable. It made it the actual exact thing that companies are buying right now. And I'm gonna share with you a story about how we repivoted a client's business in alignment with the AI here later in this video. So, if you are here, if you have watched AI walk into your industry, if you're wondering, uh, if your expertise still holds value or whether or not your expertise is going to hold value in 2030, And you're kind of in this place where you might feel a little bit of a panic or you need to pivot. We don't ever wanna do anything out of a panic mode. We wanna do it from educated understanding of trends and how you sit in connection to your industry and the value moving forward. So, if you have felt yourself kind of being in that space, then you have certainly reached the right location to continue to make sure that you're advancing your company, your organization in the right way moving forward. And maybe you you've even thought, wow, I need to become the AI tool myself. We're gonna be talking about this here in this episode. Hi, I'm April Beach. I am a business strategist and consultant to leaders, and I've been working with experts like you for over 30 years to design your offers, design your offer ecosystem, design businesses that work with your life. And licensing is one of the many offers that happens to sit in my bucket of expertise. So welcome, I'm glad you found me. Please subscribe to this channel and leave a comment below. I would love to connect with you deeper. And if you're looking for insights on the future of business, consulting and coaching businesses, as well as AI and licensing, subscribe to my Licensing and Lifestyle newsletter. It's here in the comments for you. It's totally free. You can access it. And every month I keep you up to date on the latest trends, the data. So those of you that love data and love analyzing data as it relates to your business and your success and your client's success, make sure that you're also tapping into our newsletter. so that I can keep you informed in addition to what we're talking about here on this, uh, YouTube channel in this video. So welcome. Now let's kind of recap what we're going to talk about here today. We're talking about content licensing in the age of AI and why proven methodology is now at a premium. If you are not familiar with what content licensing is, let me give you a basic summary here. Content licensing is where we take your method, training program, system, process, SOP, course, um, whatever your proven framework is. And we actually allow other companies to bring it into their teams or to sell it as one of their forward-facing products. So you may be familiar with like music licensing or brand licensing. Well, what I do, my area of expertise is licensing your content and your IP. And so I'm glad that you have found us. So now let's take it a step further. We're talking about what is content licensing in the age of AI. So one of the questions I get all the time from people that contact us and we're in a sales call with them regarding whether or not it's a good fit for them to join our program so we can teach them how to license their content. And one of the questions that certainly is a smart question that has come up is, how valuable is my content in the age of AI when somebody can just go and reproduce in the age of AI? And so I am going to be talking about the numbers of why content licensing and expert licensing is actually increasing in value and what the numbers show to prove that over the last, particularly even 4 months, it's increasing even more than we expected and how that could apply to your business. So, here are some of the data points that are important. We know that 88% of companies use AI, small companies, large companies, but this is really in a reflection of mid to large-sized corporations, right? They're bringing in AI, we know that they are. However, the latest trending reports show, and we'll go ahead and, and put the links to the resources and where we pull all of our data from here for you in the show notes as well. But the latest trending reports show that only 6% of organizations are actually using their AI well. 42% of organizations have actually completely abandoned their AI initiatives. And we know that that is actually up from 17% the year prior. So, we know that companies are bringing in AI tools and systems, and there's this rush for AI, but it's broken and it's not working well. And now, quickly, uh, I'm proud of us as a human race. I think that organizations are realizing this as well. And so, what does that mean for you? What does that mean for the human side of what we do with companies? And so, that's what we're gonna be talking about here today, and I'm also gonna break down the $16 billion reallocation of money and what companies are spending money on. So let's go ahead and dive in. First thing I want you to know is the AI gap is real and it's not closing. So we saw that 88% of companies are using AI and only 6% of those organizations are actually saying they're using it well, they're winning, they love what they spent their money on. What they decided to do in the beginning as a company is actually rolling out the way that they had planned. And so, the framing that we're working on, and that we're seeing here, and also with our companies that are currently working in organizations with licensing, is there's this gap. And the gap is in the methodology, not the technology. So, what actually do I mean when I say methodology? When we are bringing in systems and tools and software, that is processing. That is operational improvement, cost saving, waste of time saving, improving the speed at which we do things. We as a company use AI all the time. So, I, I love AI. I value AI. I'm in also, in addition to my geeking out on data of like future of work reports, my team and I are in AI trainings all the time to make sure that we're continuing to learn and understand. So, I wanna make sure that this is not coming across that I'm against AI. As a matter of fact, I have multiple clients. Yeah. They're actually licensing their AI tools even to companies. So, let me just get that out there so there's no haters in the comments saying that I'm not keeping up with AI. So, what I'm talking about, however, is how does this relate to you? You know, you're a consulting business and you have an area of expertise. What is this gap and how is this showing up for you and what you do? So, I want you to pause for a minute and I want you to identify that If a company is bringing in a system that may come close to replacing what you have done in the past, let's say you're a sales coach, or you're a marketing trainer, or you teach people how to, I don't know, build their signature talks, or whatever this is, what you do is a systematic step-by-step process. What we're seeing, and this isn't just in large corporations, what we're seeing even within the small organizations that we consult is there's a gap between the system And then the application or the advisory of the application. And so, the first thing I want you to be thinking about is that this gap between what AI can produce and what it is producing and how it actually looks in the human component within the thought processes or the application or the bringing together of people to discuss what's happening with AI. Also, there are other gaps within that multiple different AI systems and tools. These are huge gaps in industries large and small. So, the first thing I want you to be thinking about is identifying, what do I do, or how can I take a part of what I have done in the past that is that human component? You know, companies aren't failing because they didn't have AI. They're failing at their AI because they didn't have the human systems that plug it all together. So, if you're listening to this and you provide any sort of skills, even if it as relates to the AI directly, but then there's a human thought processes and components around it, or maybe you don't do anything related to AI whatsoever and you are in the soft skills or emotional intelligence area, that's a really great place also to be in, and we're breaking down the numbers. So, ask yourself, even though a company has a process or a system What do I have? What experience do I have that I can help this company solve a real gap that 88% of them are failing at because they don't have this? Answer that for yourself. Let me know in the comments. Reply below. I love reading your comments and I would love to hear how you can fit into that gap area. Okay. The next thing I want you to be aware of is that AI exposed 2 specific gaps, not one. Gap number one is the content versus the proven systems. And then gap number 2 is a technical systems versus human systems. So let's go ahead and dive into gap number 1. So AI can generate content all day long. How many of you raise your hand if you're using Claude or you have custom Claude projects and Claude skills and agents like we are and like we're helping our clients do, or maybe ChatGPT, you have all these AI systems that are creating your content, right? That's not the problem. AI can create and it can produce things very, very well. It can even produce other trainings and programs that you may have sold in the past, right? But what it can't do is it can't replace your proven methodology. So these are documented ways that you look at the way that you do things, ways that you teach other businesses or other leaders to see things. AI can do the processes, But it can't teach the human side of how to look at something differently, how to analyze something. And AI doesn't have your proven human relational skills. And so that is a huge gap between AI just creating content and the proven thinking around that content. And that distinction is huge. And so if you're thinking about licensing, if you are thinking about licensing your trainings, methods, and services, and you're considering Going into an organization and thinking, listen, I really want to bring my training into here. I really want to bring my expertise or my methodology, but they're using this in the AI side. Where do I fit? You fit in the human side of helping them see the disconnects between their AI. That's what we're going to license. That is that gap. And it doesn't have to be consulting. I'm not saying that we are moving you out of a scalable model into like a one-on-one coaching model. You could do that if that's you guys and you're here and we're talking about growing your consulting practice. That is like liquid gold right now. But I'm really focusing on the licensing side of how AI is not going to replace the licensing. So we can still even put your human systems and training in a deployable digital model to help with that disconnect in the human connection. So that gap number one is the content versus the proven systems and how to analyze those systems for implementation and deployment amongst humans. We still, right now, need humans, and the gap is huge. So, the next gap I wanna talk about is actual— is actually the technical systems between the human systems. So, the more AI handles the technical work, the louder that the human gap becomes. And this is something that is becoming very apparent for organizations. As a matter of fact, in the Future of Jobs report, the new 2025 report that was just released in reflection of what happened in 2025, it shows that leadership and social influence is in the top 10 fastest-growing skills of what organizations are bringing in. So, let's now talk about the value of your soft skills training. So, if you are not in a place where you are the sales or marketing coach or the, the systematic coach, If you're in a place where you're wondering, you know, why does anybody care about emotional intelligence, or why does anybody care about listening skills or creativity or being able to articulate well? Now I want you to be rethinking that, because now more than ever, the lack of those skills and the need for those skills is doubling down. In organizations, listen to this, I'm gonna read my stat here. They analyzed 2,000 skills, and 69% of the human skills are considered very low, or their team has a very low capacity to fluently operate in the human side of business. So, this is showing that companies are, as they're racing to replace AI, they're also, thank the Lord, realizing that the human side of the intelligence of their companies cannot continue to be buried by AI, and they're actually increasing the amount of money that they're spending on leadership, communication, listening skills, neuroscience, wellness. This also goes into a full extent, which I'm not able to cover here in this video, but the data behind anything that has to do with physical or mental or emotional or spiritual wellness is a big area where we're seeing companies doubling down and spending money. And so these 2 gaps, whether it's between just content and proven systems or technology and human systems, I really want you to be realizing that these are the things that companies are investing in and the reports and the data show it. It's not just April Beach coming on a YouTube video saying, hey, listen, companies are spending money on this just because I think. The data shows everything that we're talking about here. Everything that we bring to our clients, everything that we do is backed up by data. And this data has A business leader, as an entrepreneur, is important data for you to be aware of as well. And then the last thing I wanna talk about is the actual money. So, there was a $16 billion reallocation of where companies were actually spending money last year. So, listen to this, corporate spending on outside products, experts, and services like yours, not inside training, outside training, was $16 billion last year. And then listen to this, because $16 might not mean anything. This $16 billion is a 29% increase from the year before. That is from Training Magazine and 2025's industry report. So, companies are spending 29% more money on outside experts like you because they're realizing that their employees and their teams are not as capable of delivering these very specialized systems that you can, or this specialized knowledge that comes from probably being in the trenches. If you are like most of our clients, this is like your life's work. You are very good at what you do. You've either studied for years to be the expert that you are, or you've led other businesses and you've been a leader in your space for years. You've created solutions and trainings. Frankly, most of our clients are deploying solutions and trainings that have never been done before. They're brand new things, or they're completely disrupting the way things are done. So, if that resonated with you, you are in the right place. And so, we're seeing this. We're seeing companies, the number is showing that companies are spending money on this, $16 billion, which is up 29%. The year before that, it was only $12.4 billion in 2024. There's your number gap differential. So, the slice of the corporate training budget that flows to outside companies is going, it's flowing, and who's it going to if it's not going to you? Okay? This aligns with licensing. Certainly, it also aligns with our clients that do corporate consulting as well. So, let's talk about now really where is the money going? So, it's not just going to AI. Like I said, leadership development investment surged by 126%. That is insane. It was increased. The amount of money organizations spent on developing leaders, the human side of it, increased by 126%. And 26%. That is absolutely insane. Uh, and leadership is the number one area for increased L&D spending and investment, up 61% internally for organizations as well. Um, here's some more numbers for you that I'm gonna read off here for, for those of you guys that are, that are numbers geeks like I am. 64% of employers named employee health and wellbeing as a key talent strategy. Do you teach people how to sleep well at night or how to have great marriages or how to, I don't know, increase their HRV at night? Maybe you're a wellness or a biohacking expert. Companies are spending money and they're understanding that investing in your types of trainings and services and programs is equally as valuable to AI. So what does this actually mean? To you. This means the buyer pool just got bigger. This means the number of organizations that are actually spending money on outside trainings and services and licensing programs like yours is increasing, not decreasing. AI-adjacent IP is like this inside wave. So, if your IP, if what you do works in harmony or helps them to improve the systems that their AI systems are attempting to improve, then that is also a winning area. for you to move forward with as far as selling trainings and programs and licensing your systems and services to companies. Human systems, so this again is the leadership, communication, creative thinking also is a huge part of this, as I've shared with you here in the numbers, and the reallocation of money. So, moving money from inside training budgets to outside training budgets is huge. That is telling us, again, to recap, that companies have identified that the best place they can find solutions is from experts like you and me and Joe down the street, who's been an amazing business strategist for years. They are not looking to do what they have done before. They understand that changing things within their organization changes on a very niche scalable level based on your unique area of expertise. And I don't care what size business you are. Many of our clients we work with are solopreneurs and small organizations. Some of our clients don't even have their own company. I work with university professors that have amazing areas of expertise that we're licensing into other organizations. And so I want you to really rethink if you are worried that your content isn't gonna be valuable anymore. The lens that I'm sharing this in is the lens of licensing and deploying your programs within other companies. But you can take this lens and you can look at it from any color in any direction and understand how valuable your unique area of expertise is. So, I promised you I would tell you about my client. We're going to call him William in here, but I love sharing stories. Oftentimes, the clients we work with are confidential, and so I, of course, cannot share them on here, but I want to share this with you so that I think it's something that will really encourage you. So William, you know, has systems and software, right? We do a lot of software licensing as well. But the missing component of software licensing is the human side. And he worked with large manufacturing companies. So you're talking multiple plants, multiple locations, these huge companies where they had this software system that he had been licensing for years. Well, William also really cares about humans and people. I wish I could reveal who he is because he's like one of my favorite people in the whole world, just especially just in who he is as a mentor to young men. But the reality is, is that when he was looking at his programs and his software, he realized that he was missing this human side. So even with the systems in place, even with the processes in place, things kept breaking. And so he realized that that human-to-human connection, the frameworks, The actual bringing together the humans in his processes of implementing his own software was what organizations were missing. And we built a different offer ecosystem around his software that included the consulting, it included the coaching. It was a hybrid model. And since this has been deployed, not only are his existing clients growing more, but he has gained so many more clients because of this new understanding of the hybrid human. Software tech side of the licensing that he does. So, it's licensing with consulting, and it's a hybrid offer design, which is, which is a big part of the unique strategy we do with our clients. So, let's kind of recap some of the things we talked about here today. By the way, if you haven't yet, please subscribe. I would love your support here. I love sharing tools and trainings and strategies that you can apply to your business right away. Many people have actually taken our YouTube channel and closed over $100,000 licensing deals without ever being in any of our programs. So, I know We know that the trainings and things that we deliver here are very valuable, and we would really appreciate you sharing this with your friends as well. Also, make sure that you're subscribing to our newsletter. So our newsletter is where we break down data every single month that is important for you as an expert in your space to stay on top of. And of course, with consulting and licensing and business design all blended in. So would love that. The link is below where you can subscribe to the Licensing and Lifestyle Newsletter. So let's kind of recap what we talked about here. It's not going to completely replace you. It is going to continue to advance, and we would be absolutely naive to not identify that. But when we're talking about your 2027, 2030, and 2035 business plan, that's what I work on with our clients. Really, like, what's your 2030 plan? What's your 2035 plan? These are things that we need to be mindful for as we are designing your business model offer ecosystems going forward with licensing or without licensing. Just in the state of AI. So AI, it, AI will not replace everything, and it's certainly not gonna replace your methodology in the human side. The numbers prove it. AI generates content, but it can't generate the proven systems with the documented client results. That disconnect is a gap that you are in prime position to solve. Also, it cannot generate a relationship with a client. Companies, big and small, still buy because of relationships, and they continue to license from you or bring you in as an expert, trust you because of the fact that you're a human. And the numbers are showing that as industries, we've identified the importance of the human relationship. Also, companies have identified the importance between the human-human connections within their own organizations. And that AI is making the gap of how terrible some of those human systems are even more noticeable. Some of these organizations have always had huge human-to-human gaps, and now with AI, it's even more apparent, like the wheels are falling off in some cases. So, it's a really important opportunity for you to be able to come with your human systems and present them to these organizations that are proven to be out there, and they're spending the money bringing in trainings like yours. So I hope this encourages you. I can do a whole nother training on how AI-generated content isn't even licensable. Maybe I'll end there with that. If you are trying to develop a course and you're not an expert, you're not qualified to license. I'm just going to say it, right? Licensing comes from your own proven methodology and being proven over the years. You can't go and outline a course using ChatGPT and stealing from everybody else's methodologies and then turn around and license it. Everybody sees through that. Companies particularly, uh, they can create that on their own, so they're never gonna license yours. And those license— those AI programs that even are developed from people's proven methodology are the ones that are breaking. So don't try to do that. That is my rule of thumb here. In order to license, you need to be an established leader, meaning you have created systems, methods, and solutions that have gotten other companies or other people results in the past. It does not have to be built out into a full course or a training or a program before, but you know that you've created something unique and people have won from it. And that's what qualifies you to license. So anyhow, I hope you found this valuable. Again, my name's April Beach. I would love to connect with you more. Please like and subscribe here, and I will connect with you in the next video. Of course, you can always visit aprilbeach.com to learn about our programs and how we can support you in creating your unique licensing or just overall business. Hybrid offer ecosystem. Take care.