Companies across all industries are in the throes of change. The rapid pace of technological advances has meant that ; post-pandemic  have led to increased ; and the new administration’s policies have prompted a slew of workplace shifts including mass layoffs, a major pullback on  initiatives, and new . For many workers, this  has caused burnout, inefficiency and a decrease in morale. For company leaders, it’s been enough to make their heads spin—and to compel them to reach out to consulting firms for help.

Atif Zaim, current U.S. consulting leader and deputy chair elect at KPMG, sees this moment as an opportunity to improve his consulting practice. “We are trying to understand what is happening to these industries right now,” he says. “What are the biggest players doing?” The consulting firm’s focus on problem solving, its drive to stay on top of current trends and its willingness to adapt to changes are just a few of the reasons KPMG was highly rated on Forbes’ list of .

To create our list, now in its tenth anniversary year, Forbes partnered with market research firm  to conduct two surveys between mid-November 2024 and mid-January 2025—one for clients who had worked with a management consulting firm in the past four years, and one for partners and executives at consulting firms (a peer-to-peer survey). More than 1,200 clients and more than 1,150 industry insiders participated. Each survey respondent evaluated consulting firms in 33 possible categories consisting of 16 client industries (including IT, life sciences and insurance) and 17 functional areas (such as AI, risk management and operations).

The responses from both surveys were combined along with last year’s data (with a lesser weighting)—to reward firms for consistent high-quality work over time. The consulting firms with the highest scores landed on our list. Firms with the most recommendations in each category were given star ratings: five stars for “very frequently recommended,” four stars for “frequently recommended” and three stars for “recommended.” All told, the 191 companies that made the list received a collective total of 913 awards.

For the fourth year in a row,  received the most recommendations, with 33 star ratings.  and  followed closely behind with 32 star ratings each. Next were  with 31,  with 30, and  with 29.

For consulting firms to stay competitive this year, regardless of the industry, a major priority was enhancing services involving generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). In fact,  found that 86% of consulting clients say they’re actively looking for services that incorporate AI. But unlike last year, many clients are no longer content to use GenAI just to automate tasks or sum up content. Now, companies are aiming to move beyond simple integrations of GenAI and are seeking more comprehensive AI tools.

At , for instance, consultants are evaluating ways in which clients can use agentic AI, which is a system that uses AI agents—or virtual assistants—to collect and analyze data, identify patterns and make decisions autonomously, says Tyson Cornell, U.S. advisory leader at PwC, which earned 28 star ratings.

Indeed, PwC’s , and its focus on training consultants to problem solve using GenAI have been vital to the firm’s success, says Cornell. In turn, PwC’s consultants have been able to consider bigger-picture applications of the new technology—using it to create new markets rather than just reducing costs and increasing efficiency, he says. Case in point: the firm is currently working with a client to use AI to identify cancer through MRI scans. In another case, a retail client is souping up its merchandising program with help from GenAI tools.

Another shift at consulting firms in 2025 is an increased emphasis on using GenAI responsibly to avoid mistakes and misinformation. Consulting firms are acutely aware that —generating content that is inaccurate or biased—which can have major ramifications (and financial consequences) for any business implementing the technology. So, smart firms are proactively creating systems that prevent these unintended outcomes.

KPMG, for example, has built a , which combines machine learning with human input—also known as a human-in-the-loop (HITL) approach—to improve productivity while guarding against errors that could be introduced by AI. Zaim, at KPMG, describes one GenAI tool created in this framework and built with a large pharmaceutical company to speed up a document-verification process. Previously, when the process was performed by employees manually, it often took months to complete. With the new AI agent reading and summarizing the documents, the process now takes a matter of days. And because humans are still overseeing the routine for accuracy, quality control is ensured.

Similar approaches integrating humans and AI have been instituted at other top firms, such as PwC’s  initiative,  initiative and Boston Consulting Group’s —understandable, given that 77% of U.S. adults don’t trust businesses to use AI responsibly, . And they’re right to be concerned: A  indicates companies are only starting to assess AI-related risks and determine who’s responsible for mistakes and governance. The same survey indicates that firms vary widely in regard to whether GenAI content is checked before use, with more than half of companies saying they check 60% or less of the output, and roughly a third of companies saying they check 20% or less.