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If the word “consulting” has always filled you with a sense of confusion and mystery, it’s time to set the record straight. While this term might seem ambiguous and overly broad, it actually represents a professional service that has grown into a massive global market worth hundreds of billions of dollars and growing.
This market is increasingly competitive and while it’s dominated by some massive international companies, new, boutique providers are constantly entering the market with disruptive technologies and unique service offerings. If your organization is in need of expert advice and professional experience to help guide you forward, you may want to engage a consultancy firm.
With so many choices out there, this review will give you advice on what firms do and how to choose one, along with our list of the best consulting firms in 2025.
What a Consulting Firm Does and Why They’re Useful
On the one hand, everyone knows what consulting is – giving expert advice to other professionals. On the other hand, however, the specifics of how a consultancy firm does business are generally not well understood.
In fact, most consulting firms work in much the same way. They will first meet with a client to assess their needs and the goals they wish to achieve. Once these factors are understood, the firm will choose a single consultant or a consultancy team with the most applicable skills, knowledge, and experience to fulfill the client’s needs. These consultants then work on solving the specific issues that the client has, normally by drafting a strategy for how to move forward. This can include improving standards, streamlining processes, reducing waste, and increasing profitability.
Consultants usually work with clients on a contract basis. They can be contracted for set periods or specific projects, but their services may also be used repeatedly and in this case, they may bill for time and materials (T&M) instead.
Organizations in any industry can hire consulting firms and consultants can have experience in any field. However, hiring consulting firms is very common in the following industries:
- Engineering and Manufacturing: helping with cost estimations, obtaining permits, product testing, quality control, etc.
- Healthcare: improving hospital management practices, patient care, medical technologies, and services
- Human Resources: advising on policy development, best practices for employee relations, and compliance
- IT: help with product development, systems testing, project planning, security, and more
- Investment and Finance: giving direction and planning advice for wealth management, savings plans, financial organization, and risk management
- Marketing: advising on brand development, advertising strategies, target markets, and pricing models
- Management: helping high-level management make decisions and form strategies related to business process development, leadership, and team management, increasing profitability, and more
- Operations: giving advice on streamlining operations, digital transformations, technology adoption, increasing efficiency, and unifying strategy and purpose
Crucial Features of Consultants and Consulting Firms
The international consulting market is dominated by a small number of large multinationals but there’s still room for smaller consultancies, even one-person operations. The factors that set a firm apart and make it a high-quality partner are the same the world over and can be possessed by both large and small firms. These important features include:
Business Skills and Knowledge
No matter which industry they’re hired to consult for, firms need to have business skills so they can advise their clients successfully. Regardless of the problems clients are having, they’ll always be related to streamlining, building up customer bases, and making their businesses more profitable.
Consultants have to understand how the world of business works and be familiar with the intricacies and interconnections necessary to make an enterprise succeed.
Industry expertise
In addition to general business knowledge, consultants need to have industry expertise and it can’t simply be theoretical. To offer appropriate advice and lead organizations in profitable directions, consultants need to understand the clients’ industries inside and out and have practical work experience in them.
Initiative
All consultants will work on the obvious tasks they’re assigned. Those who go above and beyond, however, will constantly look for ways to lead projects and explore additional opportunities. They try to identify issues and concerns that their clients may not yet have thought of and build creative solutions that are proactive and forward-looking.
Analytical Skills
Excellent consulting, especially in this day and age, should be driven by data and rely on thorough and adept analysis of the client’s position. While a client may identify an issue, deep analysis can investigate and quantify it. The more analysis is performed, the better the problem, and the solution, can be understood and approached.
Time Management Skills
Consulting firms can charge high prices for their expertise and professional advice. While this is certainly justified, high fees can be a barrier for many clients. Clients are generally looking for quality consultations that don’t take long to bear fruit so that fees don’t pile up. Great consultants can manage their own schedules, their client’s time, and project durations effectively so projects don’t drag out longer than necessary.
Communication Skills
Great Communication skills are essential for both individual consultants and the firms they work for.
First, consulting firms should market their services clearly and be able to communicate their terms, fees, and operations effectively to their clients. This creates appropriate expectations and reduces time wasted on clarifications. Individual consultants should also have highly effective communication skills to help them work with their clients successfully.
They need to be able to listen well to the client’s issues and goals, ask insightful questions, explain their ideas, and produce clearly outlined strategies for the client to implement.
Top 8 Consulting Firms
There are tens or even hundreds of thousands of consultancy firms the world over. Some are massive, providing service around the world and employing tens of thousands of consultants. Others work in limited locations and offer niche services, and some employ only one or a handful of professionals.
| Consulting Firm | Description |
|---|---|
| McKinsey & Company | A top global management consulting firm known for its data-driven insights, business strategy, and corporate advisory services. |
| Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Renowned for its expertise in business strategy, digital transformation, and innovation consulting. |
| Bain & Company | Provides strategy consulting, private equity advisory, and corporate transformation services to global businesses. |
| Ernst & Young (EY) | A leading professional services firm offering consulting in finance, risk management, and technology solutions. |
| PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) | Delivers consulting in business strategy, risk assessment, and digital transformation for enterprises. |
| Accenture | A global leader in IT services, digital transformation, and business process consulting, offering end-to-end solutions. |
| Deloitte | Provides consulting in management, technology, audit, and financial advisory services across industries. |
| KPMG | Specializes in risk management, audit, tax consulting, and digital transformation strategies. |
In this review, we’ll look at the best of the big consulting firms providing international services in 2025:
1
McKinsey & Company
As one of the “Big 3” (MBB – including BCG and Bain & Company), McKinsey is one of the largest consulting firms in the world, with over 45,000 employees and revenues of $16 billion in 2024. It has offices in over 65 countries worldwide and is known for being exclusive with its hiring, taking on only the very best professionals with advanced degrees and deep industry experience.
McKinsey is primarily a management consulting firm that seeks to introduce innovative management practices to clients and help them build their capacities and capabilities.
Consulting Focus:
- Digital transformation
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Risk management
- Marketing and sales
- Operations
- Corporate finance
- Sustainability
2
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
BCG is another Big 3 firm, this one founded in 1963 and headquartered, unsurprisingly, in Boston. It operates from over 100 offices in 50 countries and employs more than 32,000 people.
This firm focuses on consulting across a wide range of industries from aerospace to financial institutions to the public sector. It’s known for its high-quality insights and advisory services, which stem from the customized, deep research and analysis it performs for clients.
Consulting Focus:
- Resilience
- Business transformation
- Sustainability
- Corporate finance and strategy
- M&A
- People strategy
- Revenue management
- Risk management and compliance
3
Bain & Company
Bain & Company was founded in 1973 and is also headquartered in Boston. It rounds out the Big 3 with 65 offices in 40 countries and over 19,000 employees worldwide.
This firm works with governments, nonprofits, and corporations to help them innovate and achieve higher performance. Like the other Big 3 members, it works across a broad range of industries and uses advanced tools like AI and deep analysis to provide data-driven solutions for its clients.
Consulting Focus:
- Business transformation
- M&A
- Innovation
- Technology
- Sales and marketing
- Customer experience
- People and organization
4
Ernst & Young (EY)
The British firm Ernst & Young is one of the largest accounting services organizations in the world and includes its global strategy consulting arm, EY-Parthenon. EY works in over 120 countries and has over 400,000 employees though only a fraction of them work in strategy and consulting. EY works across a huge range of industries with a strong focus on transformation and strategy development.
Consulting Focus:
- Product and service innovation
- Customer experience
- Cybersecurity
- Enterprise resilience
- Data and decision intelligence
- Risk management
- Supply chain and operations
5
Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC)
Price Waterhouse Cooper or PwC is another British professional services provider and one that has a history stretching back as far as 1849.
Headquartered in London, this company employs over 370,000 people and works in 149 countries around the world. Its consultancy services focus on transformation and strategies to help clients identify new sources of value and adapt to rapid technological changes.
Consulting Focus:
- Digital operations
- Cloud transformation
- M&A deals
- Financial transformation
- HR transformation
- Risk management
- Strategy
- Regulation
- Technology
- Workforce transformation
6
Accenture
Accenture, formerly Andersen Consulting, is based in Dublin, Ireland, and has been in business since 1989. This massive international service provider employs an incredible 774,000 employees and provides managed services, engineering, and consulting services in over 120 countries.
Accenture is focused on helping its clients reinvent their businesses and accelerate change in their respective industries to gain increased value and profitability.
Consulting Focus:
- Data and AI
- Risk management
- Finance
- Cybersecurity
- Infrastructure projects
- Marketing and sales
- Customer experience
- Technology transformation
7
Deloitte
One of the oldest and biggest companies on this list, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, was founded in 1845 and is headquartered in London. However, it has a team of over 450,000 employees who work in 150 countries performing accounting, audit, tax, and consulting services. It focuses on helping clients make sustainable changes while they transform their operations and structures to gain competitive advantages.
Consulting Focus:
- isk management
- Core business operations
- Customer experience
- Human capital
- Marketing
- Technology
- Enterprise performance
- Strategy and analytics
8
KPMG
KPMG is a large multinational professional services company that works in 145 countries and employs a team of over 275,000 people. The firm was formed from a merger to create Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler in 1987, but its roots go back to 1897.
This company works in the areas of accounting, tax, and consulting services. It has a strong focus on value creation, transformation, operations, and sustainable workforces and consults in these and other areas. It specializes in creating strategies that help clients deal with changing regulations, competitors, and customer expectations.
Consulting Focus:
- Risk management
- Business transformation
- Customer experience
- Technology
- Operations
How to Choose a Consulting Firm
How can you successfully choose a partner from the thousands of consulting firms available to you? If you’re struggling to create your shortlist or narrow down your options, you’re probably dealing with far too many possibilities.
To help you limit them, we recommend that you quickly assess contenders on the following criteria:
Industry Focus
There are so many options out there that it simply doesn’t make any sense to choose to partner with a consulting firm that doesn’t specialize in your industry. Be careful, though, because many firms will claim to cover myriad industries but may not have a lot of experience in all of them.
If you’re not sure if a contender has the specific industry experience you require, ask them directly and they may provide you with case studies, references, or other evidence of the projects they’ve worked on.
Consulting Specialties
Similarly, look for a consulting firm that offers the specific types of consulting you require. If you need to work on business transformation, risk management, or customer experience, ensure that your potential partner is set up to provide these specific services.
Experience
You don’t necessarily need a consulting firm with over 100 years of experience, but a few decades also can’t hurt. The experience of having worked on hundreds or thousands of projects can be incredibly valuable.
These firms can learn as much from their mistakes as from their successes and the more projects they’ve worked on, the more of both they’ll have to draw upon. This can help them point you in better directions and create more refined strategies that they know will work.
Locations
While a lot of consulting activities can be performed remotely these days, choosing a firm that has an office in your city or country is still very useful. You’ll be able to communicate more easily when located in the same time zone and with experts who understand your language and local culture.
Data Security
Since you’ll be sharing your business information, often very sensitive and critical data, it’s hugely important to choose a BPO partner that offers a high level of security.
Look for a firm that has a comprehensive security policy, data security certifications like ISO 27001 and GDPR (the EU’s general data protection regulation) and SOC1,2,&3 compliance to help ensure the safety of your data.
Price
As with any service provision, price is an important consideration. While every business wants to take advantage of the greatest expertise and professionalism, not all of them can afford the required fees.
For example, McKinsey is known for charging an average of 25% more than most competitors but backing it up by hiring only the best professionals.
It’s important to clearly state your needs to contenders and ask for clear quotes. You can then evaluate the cost and expected return on investment to decide which firm can provide you with the greatest value.
Team Size
Small consultancies have their place in the industry. They’re usually more flexible and more specialized than large multinational providers. At the same time, they may not have access to the variety of experts that you could really benefit from. Larger firms can assign multiple consultants to your case and provide you with multi-disciplinary expertise that can be invaluable.
Consulting Style
Style is one of the factors that’s most often overlooked but one that has a huge influence on how the success of a project is perceived.
Some consulting firms are known for their hands-on approach and simply take your needs and goals and create a fully formed strategy for you. Others work more inclusively with your team, coaching them to create their own strategy and implement it. The latter may be more resource-intensive because your people need to be more involved, but they may also gain insights and a more thorough understanding of the strategies created.
The Best Consulting Firms in 2025
Choosing the right consulting firm to partner with is no easy feat, as there are so many providers in this professional services space. The best consulting firms for your needs are those that have the experience and specific knowledge that apply to your business and your unique set of issues and conditions.
While there are many options, selecting any of the entries on our list of the best consulting firms in 2025 will help you find the services you require to build value and increase the efficiency of your organization.
Frequently Asked Questions
The answer depends on your company’s specific needs. If you have multiple areas you need to improve, a larger firm will have a range of experts who can form a multidisciplinary team to help you. For very focused needs, however, you can look for a smaller firm that specializes in exactly what you’re looking for.
Normally, you’ll contact the firm you’re interested in and request a preliminary consultation in which you’ll explain your needs. The firm should then offer you a quote and explanation of its services. If the terms are acceptable, you can enter into a service agreement to formally engage its services.
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