The Consulting Report is pleased to announce The Top 25 Artificial Intelligence Consultants and Leaders of 2025. These professionals are shaping how AI gets implemented inside large organizations. They oversee enterprise-wide deployments, structure adoption roadmaps, and guide decisions about where and when to apply machine learning. In some cases, that means embedding generative AI into customer-facing applications; in others, it means evaluating vendor models for safety, fine-tuning LLMs with proprietary data, or standing up new compliance functions to meet regulatory standards.
Many are also involved in translating strategy into practice—advising C-suites on how to align AI efforts with long-term business goals, while managing internal change and building cross-functional teams that can support sustained implementation. The work is highly technical, but also deeply organizational. Taken together, these leaders reflect the growing demand for consultants who can apply AI with precision inside high-stakes environments—healthcare, finance, national defense—where small decisions carry outsized consequences.
Among this year’s awardees, we recognize Sumeet Gupta, Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting, who leads the firm’s Digital & AI Transformation practice and brings over two decades of experience helping Fortune 200 companies and private equity firms build AI-driven products, services, and businesses. AJ Dalal, Senior Managing Director of Data & AI Strategy at Publicis Sapient, brings over two decades of experience in enterprise data and digital innovation, helping Fortune 500s and high-growth startups translate data and AI strategies into measurable business outcomes. Lou DiLorenzo Jr., current roles with the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, where he serves as the lead client partner and technology strategy advisor, respectively. In 2024, Lou was appointed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) AI Agenda working group..
The recipients of this year’s award were selected for their depth of expertise, the quality of their advisory work, and the tangible outcomes they’ve delivered through AI-driven transformation. Each awardee has played a critical role in shaping how organizations design, implement, and scale artificial intelligence. Please join us in recognizing The Top 25 Artificial Intelligence Consultants and Leaders of 2025.
1. Alex Singla
Firm: McKinsey & Company
Title: Senior Partner
Alex Singla is a Senior Partner in McKinsey & Company’s Chicago office, where he also leads QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, the firm’s global AI and advanced analytics arm. McKinsey is a global management consulting firm that serves as a trusted advisor to leading businesses, governments, and institutions worldwide. The firm collaborates with organizations across the private, public, and social sectors, leveraging deep functional and industry expertise along with extensive geographic reach to tackle complex challenges.
2. Sumeet Gupta
Firm: FTI Consulting
Title: Senior Managing Director
Sumeet Gupta is a Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting, a global expert advisory firm with more than 8,300 employees across 34 countries and territories. FTI Consulting’s professionals collaborate closely with clients to anticipate risks, illuminate key insights, and deliver strategic solutions that help organizations overcome adversity and seize critical opportunities.
Gupta is an AI expert and leads FTI’s Digital & AI Transformation practice. He started his career as an AI researcher on deep learning neural networks and has more than 20 years of experience helping companies leverage emerging technologies, AI, and data to build new businesses, products, and services, significantly accelerating growth and profitability. Gupta’s industry expertise spans across retail, consumer products, healthcare, technology, travel and hospitality, financial services, and agribusiness. He has led multiple digital assignments advising Fortune 200 companies and private equity firms.
Gupta serves on the board and advisory board of several technology companies and venture capital firms. He is a frequent speaker on AI at industry events with Reuters, WSJ, Adobe, and Salesforce. Prior to joining FTI Consulting, Gupta was an executive partner at Publicis Sapient. Before that, he was the co-founder of a high-performance computing startup that was acquired. Gupta holds a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in computer science and mathematics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
3. Anuj Jain
Firm: Accenture
Title: Managing Director
Anuj Jain is a Managing Director at Accenture, a leading global professional services company that supports businesses, governments, and organizations in building their digital core, optimizing operations, accelerating revenue growth, and enhancing citizen services. With over 23 years of experience in digital technology and business consulting, Jain is a growth leader who helps clients across the life sciences, healthcare, and CPG sectors achieve more from their digital transformations with data and AI. As a Principal at PwC UK, Jain led a world-class team of data, automation, and generative AI specialists who delivered innovative and impactful solutions for complex business challenges.
4. Bob Ghafouri
Firm: Alvarez & Marsal
Title: Managing Director
Bob Ghafouri is the Co-Founder and leader of A&MPLIFY, Alvarez & Marsal's customer experience (CX) and artificial intelligence (AI) powered digital agency. Mr. Ghafouri specializes in marketing and customer advisory, leveraging AI, design, and technology, generating value for clients with digital and AI strategies and technology-driven digital transformation, and advising technology startups. With over 25 years of experience, he helps clients unlock trapped value by leveraging existing assets and technology like AI to create new growth opportunities, accelerate existing digital programs, foster innovation, and deliver customized experiences for customers.
Prior to joining A&M, Mr. Ghafouri served as interim chief commercial officer and technology officer with Red Ventures, a digital media holding. He led a team that designed and launched an artificial intelligence (AI) powered digital commerce and content platform to support advertising, direct response, and affiliate commerce revenue generation programs across the Red Ventures portfolio.
Previously, Mr. Ghafouri worked with Accenture as a senior managing director, a member of the global leadership committee, and a founding member of Accenture Interactive (Song). As chief commercial officer, he helped increase revenues, helped raise capital for growth, participated in acquisitions to scale the business, and advised companies in the retail, telecommunications, consumer goods, hospitality, and health sectors on AI/ML-powered digital transformation. He was also co-founder and former head of Accenture’s global digital transformation strategy practice, Bloom. In addition, Mr. Ghafouri founded, launched, and scaled three digital businesses in the government, retail, and real estate industries.
Ghafouri earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and statistics from Pennsylvania State University.
5. Conrad Heider
Firm: Simon-Kucher
Title: Partner
Conrad Heider is a Partner at Simon-Kucher, the world’s leading commercial growth and pricing consultancy. He serves as Chief Operating Officer and Co-Head of Simon-Kucher Elevate, the firm’s digital consulting division focused on data, AI, and digital transformation. With over 2,000 employees across 30+ countries, Simon-Kucher delivers comprehensive growth strategies encompassing sales excellence, digital innovation, and pricing expertise.
As COO, Heider drives strategic scaling and operational excellence across global functions including Consulting Operations, IT, Marketing, Data & AI, and Utilization. In his role as Global Co-Head of the Digital Team, he leads the integration of technology consulting, advanced analytics, and engineering to deliver scalable growth solutions powered by machine learning and AI. These include Marketing Mix Models, hyper personalization, dynamic pricing, Next-Best-X recommendations, RFQ/tender-response intelligence, and customer lifecycle optimization.
Heider brings more than 16 years of consulting and executive leadership experience across industries. He has led over 200 digital transformation projects, helping clients optimize digital sales and marketing, enhance customer experiences, and build scalable, data-driven business models. Prior to joining Simon-Kucher, Heider was a Principal at A.T. Kearney, supporting clients in enterprise-wide digitalization and organizational transformation. He also served as Director of Strategy & Intelligence at Freeletics and was a member of the executive leadership team, where he drove the company’s growth through data strategy and product innovation.
Heider earned degrees with distinction from the London School of Economics, the Hertie School of Governance, and Maastricht University. He is known for his passion for innovation, strong execution mindset, and ability to bridge strategy, technology, and human-centered design.
6. Paul Henninger
Firm: KPMG UK
Title: Partner
Paul Henninger is a Partner at KPMG UK and serves as Head of Connected Technology. He oversees all UK Technology teams, including technology advisory, data and analytics, cloud and application engineering, automation, and enterprise platforms across systems such as SAP, Oracle, Salesforce, and Coupa.
7. Eric Sheng
Firm: Bain & Company
Title: Partner
Eric Sheng is a Partner at Bain & Company, where he leads the firm’s Global Data Science and Machine Learning Engineering Group. He is recognized as an industry leader in applied AI and machine learning, with a focus on delivering high-impact enterprise solutions, with a focus on generative AI applications based on multi-modal foundation models.
8. AJ Dalal
Firm: Publicis Sapient
Title: Senior Managing Director, Data & AI Strategy
AJ Dalal leads the Data & AI Strategy Practice at Publicis Sapient, helping Fortune 500 companies and high-growth startups unlock transformative value through data and artificial intelligence. Based in Toronto, he brings over two decades of experience at the intersection of enterprise data, digital innovation, and attributable business outcomes.
AJ is known for designing and scaling data-led transformations that balance speed with strategic clarity. With deep expertise across the entire data and AI stack, he specializes in the space between art and science to drive digital execution. He has led some of the largest and most complex data programs across industries, consistently delivering solutions that move seamlessly from vision to velocity.
9. Sparky Zivin
Firm: Teneo
Title: Senior Managing Director
Sparky Zivin is a Senior Managing Director and the Global Head of Teneo Research. His team draws on a full spectrum of methodologies—from traditional stakeholder research to advanced AI-driven analytics—to support critical strategies for clients. Teneo serves a significant share of the Fortune 100 and FTSE 100, along with major corporations, financial institutions, and public sector organizations.
10. Paolo Pellegrini
Firm: Metyis
Title: Partner, AI & Data
Paolo Pellegrini is a Partner at Metyis, where he helps large organizations leverage data and algorithms to make better strategic decisions and to enable AI-driven business models. His experience spans multiple sectors and business functions—from marketing and sales to finance and HR—with a focus on embedding intelligence into how companies operate, decide, and grow.
He specializes in bridging the gap between data and strategy, identifying how AI can go beyond automation to unlock entirely new ways of generating value. His work combines strong business acumen with hands-on data expertise, supporting clients across both Italian and international markets.
In 2019, Pellegrini led the creation of an AI Product Factory, anticipating the shift toward generative AI before it entered mainstream adoption. The team developed an Italian LLM that integrated generative models with optimization logic—not only generating creative marketing copy but also selecting the best-performing version to drive measurable uplift in campaign and CRM outcomes. This approach paired automation with performance, reducing manual effort and enabling personalization at scale.
Prior to joining Metyis, Pellegrini held leadership roles in other major Italian consulting firms, where he focused on data-driven transformation initiatives for large European enterprises. Earlier in his career, he also served as a researcher at the Digital Innovation Observatories of the School of Management at Politecnico di Milano, where he focused on then-emerging topics such as big data, data science, and cloud computing, contributing to some of the earliest structured research on these themes in the Italian enterprise context.
11. Rahul Kumar Singh
Firm: Sigmoid
Title: Chief Analytics Officer and Co-Founder
Rahul Kumar Singh, Chief Analytics Officer and Co-Founder of Sigmoid, is a globally recognized thought leader redefining how enterprises adopt AI, ML, and data-driven transformation at scale. Since co-founding Sigmoid in 2013, he has led its evolution from a niche analytics firm to a global powerhouse in data engineering and AI consulting, delivering billions of dollars in business impact across CPG-retail, life sciences, and BFSI. His leadership has enabled outcomes such as $25M+ sales growth through AI-powered planogram optimization and 20% logistics savings via agent-driven supply chain transformation.
Rahul has played a strategic role in integrating Agentic AI into enterprise ecosystems and transforming business processes through autonomous, multi-agent systems. With expertise spanning AI/ML, data strategy, business consulting, generative AI, and agentic AI, he has driven innovations in marketing analytics, customer intelligence, NLP, risk management, and supply chain transformation. His initiatives have accelerated real-time, hyper-personalized decision-making and helped Fortune 500 enterprises become truly data-ready for scalable AI adoption.
At Sigmoid, Rahul fosters innovation through a Generative AI Center of Excellence and 30+ data analytics accelerators, scaling domain-specific AI solutions and upskilling global teams. Rahul continues to combine strategic vision with execution, delivering autonomous, measurable AI solutions that shape the future of intelligent enterprise transformation.
12. Charisma Glassman
Firm: Genpact
Title: Vice President, Global Head of Retail Advisory
Charisma Glassman is a Senior Partner at Genpact, an advanced technology services and solutions company that delivers lasting value for leading enterprises globally. Through its business knowledge, operational excellence, and cutting-edge solutions, the company helps enterprises across industries.
Glassman serves as the Group Vice President, overseeing the retail sector across fashion, luxury, grocery, home goods, QSR, personal care, mass merchandise, health and beauty, discount, specialty, and e-commerce. In this role, she is responsible for managing global retail clients across the U.S., Europe, and APAC. Glassman drives the global business and spearheads the development of innovative, technology-driven solutions tailored to the diverse needs of retailers across multiple sub-sectors.
Before joining Genpact, Glassman was a portfolio head of consumer products, luxury and retail at Capgemini and head of customer marketing product technology at Barclays. She also served as lead digital product strategist at Citi and previously worked with Rave Digital as vice president of digital transformation and as digital marketing manager at The Walt Disney Company. She started her career in 2001 as the managing director of digital strategy at Goplast Advertising. Glassman graduated from New York University with a master’s degree in technology management.
13. John Simmons
Firm: PwC
Title: Principal
John Simmons is a Principal at PwC, a network of firms across 149 countries with over 370,000 professionals committed to delivering assurance, advisory, and tax services. Simmons focuses on improving commercial products, services, and operations to enhance access to critical resources like energy, food, work, and education.
With over 30 years of experience, he has worked across various industries, including technology and SaaS software, telecommunications, finance, manufacturing, and aerospace and defense, leveraging data and technology to drive change. In recent years, he has focused on the energy and utilities sectors, using analytics and AI tools to improve energy delivery and diversify sourcing. He combines data science, AI, and behavioral insight to support strategic decision-making and operational transformation.
Previously, Simmons was an SVP in application development at First Marblehead Corporation and, before that, a principal at PRTM. Earlier in his career, he worked with PRTM Management Consultants as a manager. Simmons holds an MBA in operations, product development, and information technology from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
14. Lou DiLorenzo Jr.
Firm: Deloitte
Title: Principal & Tech, AI, & Data Strategy US Practice Leader
Lou DiLorenzo Jr. leads Deloitte’s US Technology, AI, and Data Strategy Practice. Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world’s most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500® and more than 8,500 U.S.-based private companies.
With over 25 years of experience across various sectors, DiLorenzo excels in bringing key stakeholders together to drive change, develop new capabilities, and achieve positive financial results for both large corporations and startups. In his multifaceted role, Lou has served as key member of the Deloitte US Generative AI practice leadership team and led Deloitte’s Generative AI Incubator. His strategic insights on how technology drives competitive value for organizations have been instrumental for notable clients, including the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, where he serves as the lead client partner and technology strategy advisor, respectively. In 2024, Lou was appointed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) AI Agenda working group.
Prior to returning to Deloitte as a Principal in 2019, DiLorenzo was on the founding team of a consumer health insurance startup, serving as the Chief Operating Officer. Lou was an appointed officer at Cargill, Inc. and held several strategy and technology leadership roles.
DiLorenzo is a prominent voice in the technology community, frequently quoted in leading publications such as Forbes, Fortune, and The Wall Street Journal. Lou hosts the podcast, Techfluential, from Deloitte and WSJ Custom Content which features conversations with influential C-suite leaders redefining the role of technology to transform organizations. DiLorenzo holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Colgate University.
15. Sunil Senan
Firm: Infosys
Title: Senior Vice President and Global Head, Data, Analytics & AI
Sunil Senan is Senior Vice President and Global Head of Data, Analytics & AI at Infosys, where he collaborates with executive leadership to help organizations harness data and artificial intelligence to transform operations and drive innovation. Infosys is a global leader in digital services and consulting, supporting clients across more than 50 countries with their digital transformation strategies.
Since joining Infosys in 2001, Senan has played a key role in establishing new business lines, expanding the firm’s global presence, and forming strategic partnerships with industry and academic institutions. His work reflects a long-standing focus on delivering measurable results and enterprise value through data-led solutions. Earlier in his career, he was an IT analyst at Tata Consultancy Services. Senan holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and completed his MBA at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore.
16. Chandra Shukla
Firm: EY
Title: Senior Consultant
Chandra Shukla is an AI & Data Consultant at Ernst & Young (EY), where he helps Fortune 500 clients leverage advanced AI, machine learning, and optimization for critical enterprise applications. He has also developed Agentic AI solutions for the private equity (PE) sector to drive sustained business advantage for investors and portfolio companies.
Chandra has a long history of applying AI across financial services and multiple other industries prior to joining EY. He enjoys advising startups dedicated to harnessing AI for the strategic and competitive advantage of the industry.
He attended an Ivy League MBA program as a Merit Scholar, earned a master’s degree from the University of Michigan—serving in academic leadership roles—and graduated at the top of his class from IIT in India.
He is an IEEE Senior Member and also advises academic programs in universities focused on AI. He mentors at UC Berkeley’s Big Ideas Contest and was a Data Science for Social Good Fellow during his time at Michigan.
His contributions have been recognized by his previous company leaderships and at the industry level for critical roles. He collaborates with corporate leaders, consulting firms, and venture investors to advance AI adoption and innovation.
17. Iliya Rybchin
Firm: BDO
Title: Principal
Iliya Rybchin is a Principal at BDO, where he advises Fortune 500 companies and executive leadership on digital disruption, AI and machine learning, data and analytics, transformation, customer experience, and innovation strategy. He helps clients uncover opportunities created by emerging technologies and navigate the complexity of tech-driven growth. BDO is a leading provider of assurance, tax, and advisory services, operating across the U.S. and in over 160 countries through its global network.
Prior to joining BDO, Rybchin was a partner at Elixirr and co-founder of Highnote Foundry, where he led its consulting practice. He held senior roles in strategy and new ventures at A+E Networks and Bloomberg, helping launch new businesses and drive digital transformation. Earlier, he led global strategy and business development across the McGraw-Hill portfolio and played a key role in shaping the mobile strategy at Helio, where he developed the business model and deal structure that led to its merger with Virgin Mobile.
Rybchin also held senior positions at Virgin Mobile and Orange, where he was responsible for commercializing new products and technologies and oversaw innovation centers in Boston, London, and Stockholm. At the start of his career, he was part of Accenture Labs, advising clients in telecom, media, tech, and financial services. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University in information systems and decision science.
18. Ravindra Patil
Firm: Tredence Inc
Title: VP, Data Science
Dr. Ravindra Patil leads the Data Science practice at Tredence as Vice President of Data Science. With 15 years of industrial experience in data and AI, Ravindra has a proven track record of leading successful teams and developing technology solutions that leverage data and AI.
He began his professional career with Siemens and has been associated with Philips Research and its business groups. Prior to joining Tredence, he led a Data and AI group for Philips' $4 billion Personal Health cluster. Throughout his career, he has developed multiple AI algorithms and data platforms and successfully transferred them to various businesses.
Ravindra earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering with university rank and a founder's gold medal. He went on to pursue his master's degree in pattern recognition from IIT Madras, India, and a PhD in machine learning from the University of Maastricht, Netherlands. He has over 30 patent filings to his credit, of which multiple of them are granted/in various stages of the grant process. He has published more than 25 research papers in international journals and conferences.
19. Narasimhan Aravamudhan
Firm: Zifo RnD Solutions
Title: VP, Service Delivery
Narasimhan Aravamudhan is a VP, Scientific Data for AI and AI at Zifo Scientific Informatics. Zifo is the leading global enabler of AI and data-driven enterprise informatics for science-driven organizations. With extensive services and solutions expertise spanning research, development, manufacturing, and clinical domains, we serve various industries, including pharma, biotech, specialty chemicals, food and beverage, oil and gas, and FMCG. Trusted by over 190 science-focused organizations worldwide, Zifo is the partner of choice for advancing digital scientific innovation.
Nara’s expertise includes identifying opportunities suitable for Gen AI, Agentic AI and Traditional AI deployment, prioritize and implement them, enhancing customer experiences, and driving commercial growth through data, AI, and machine learning for Life Sciences customers. He delivers fast and hands-on impact on growth by piloting projects, developing Blueprints, and creating proof of concepts, helping businesses understand and capitalize on AI opportunities, leading to significant improvements across Research, Development, Clinical and Manufacturing QC Space for global Pharma and Biotech customers. He has also been involved in several multi-site implementations of enterprise solutions like ELN, LIMS, CDS, EDC, CTMS including integrations with other scientific applications and instruments. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering from the University of Madras. He has also completed executive education program (AMP) at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
20. Arun Shastri
Firm: ZS Associates
Title: Principal
Arun Shastri is a global leader in the ZS AI practice who has led classical and generative AI implementations throughout his career. His vision guides the development of AI-powered products that deliver value to B2B and B2C clients across industries. He has helped companies build lasting competitive advantages at some of the world's leading businesses operating in the high-tech, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, financial services, and travel and transportation spaces. Arun also teaches at Northwestern’s Kellogg, where he graduated with a PhD in decision sciences.
Arun is an influential thought leader who writes about how AI is making an impact on the world of business. Arun is a co-author of the Harvard Business Review Sales Management Handbook, focused on digital competencies and how to implement AI in the sales ecosystem.
In addition, his articles have appeared in Harvard Business Review, InformationWeek, Forbes, and other publications. Arun hosts the “Reinventing Customer Experience” podcast, where guests from companies such as Walmart, United Airlines, Panera, and Goldman Sachs discuss strategies for delivering personalized experiences and engaging customers through the use of technology.
Arun holds a PhD in decision sciences from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
21. Ashik Ardeshna
Firm: Oliver Wyman
Title: Senior Partner
Ashik Ardeshna is a Senior Partner at Oliver Wyman. Oliver Wyman guides clients through high-stakes decisions and transformative moments, helping them adapt, grow, and thrive. The firm is fueled by deep industry insight, specialized expertise, and collaboration.
22. Reguraman Ayyaswamy
Firm: Tata Consultancy Services
Title: Senior Vice President
Reguraman (Regu) Ayyaswamy is a Senior Vice President at Tata Consultancy Services, which he first joined in 1994 as a group lead. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is a global IT services, consulting, and business solutions organization that helps many of the world’s largest businesses adapt and evolve through consulting-led, innovation-driven services.
23. Christina Fung
Firm: CGI
Title: Senior Vice President
Christina Fung is a Senior Vice President at CGI. As an insights-driven and outcomes-focused firm, CGI helps accelerate returns on investments. Across 21 industry sectors and 400 locations worldwide, the firm delivers comprehensive, scalable, and sustainable IT and business consulting services.
24. Pushpa Ramachandran
Firm: Wipro
Title: Vice President & Head of Artificial Intelligence
Pushpa Ramachandran is a Vice President and Head of Artificial Intelligence at Wipro, a global technology services and consulting company. He plays a key role in defining and executing the company’s vision for AI-augmented transformation, helping clients reimagine processes through curated data and intelligent insights. A recognized thought leader in analytics and AI, he supports organizations in leveraging emerging technologies to drive customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
25. Oliver Turnbull
Firm: Arthur D. Little
Title: Principal
Oliver Turnbull is a Principal at Arthur D. Little, based in the firm’s London office, where he is part of the “Digital Problem Solving” practice. He brings over 30 years of experience in information technology, with more than two decades in consulting. His work spans telecommunications, media, transport, and public sector clients, with a consistent focus on digital strategy, service management, and business-driven transformation.