Anthropic is getting into the consulting business.
On October 23, the FT reported that Anthropic and Hg, a London buyout firm, agreed to launch a European AI consultancy by the end of the year. Its consultants and engineers will sit inside companies from hubs in London and Berlin and build AI into how they work, the job Accenture and the Big Four do today. Neither company has confirmed it yet.
It’s Anthropic’s second consulting firm in six months, and OpenAI has one too:
May 4: Anthropic, Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman and Goldman Sachs create Ode, a consulting firm for mid-sized companies with about $1.5B of planned investment
May 11: OpenAI launches its own, the Deployment Company, with more than $4B and 19 partners led by TPG
October 23: Anthropic and Hg bring the model to Europe
Why does it matter?
For years the labs sold the model and left the implementation to consultants.
→ Now they’re building their own consulting firms.
Most companies don’t have the engineers to put AI into their core operations, so the labs send their own, with private equity bringing the money and the clients.
The consultants noticed. Accenture’s shares fell more than 4% the day the news broke.
📚 In this guide, we break down how the labs built their consulting firms, how an engagement runs from the first CEO call to production, and how a ten-person team can run the same play.
High-signal analysis on markets, capital and the companies shaping the next decade
Inside you will find:
Why the Labs Are Building Consulting Firms Now See why demand for AI implementation outgrew the model business, and what it means for Accenture and the Big Four.
The Three-Piece Machine: Lab, Private Equity and a Boutique Bought on Day One Find out how Ode, OpenAI’s Deployment Company and the Hg venture copy the same structure.
How Anthropic Covers Every Company Size Learn how integrators, Ode and Hg split the market from the Global 2000 to the European mid-market.
How an Ode Engagement Works, From the CEO Call to Production Follow the six steps of an engagement, rebuilt from Ode’s announcement, interviews and job posts.
Why the Model Is the Smallest Part of the Work See how evals and reusable code cut a two-month deployment to one day for the second team.
Why Private Equity Is the Best Sales Channel in AI Find out why owners of hundreds of companies are the shortest path to signed AI projects.
What the Labs Pay for Their Special Forces See the salaries on Ode’s job board, the profiles it hires and Anthropic’s $100M plan to train 10,000 more.
How to Run the Same Play With a Ten-Person Team Build your own version: one vertical, a three-stage offer, a channel and a place on Anthropic’s partner ladder.
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