Koala Development’s Oli May, formerly the leader of Deloitte Australia’s international development practice, explains how the value of independent specialists remains strong but how they share that value needs to change.
With institutional aid budgets reducing, there is now a wave of ‘independent consultants’ sloshing around the humanitarian and development market. That’s not to say this wave is low quality. It isn’t. That’s precisely the challenge – the expertise and talent is real, and so is the fact that supply is greater than demand. There’s a double whammy: the quantity of work is decreasing with the budget cuts, and the competition for what remains is intensifying following redundancies.
While here in Australia we continue to trend against many global currents, few full-time independent consultants can make a living out of just one institution’s delivery chain. The global ripples bump us all.
Meanwhile, every AI prophet foretells doom for the human authorship of all flavours of deliverable from concept note to program design to evaluation. There is some truth in this (one of the best project risk assessments I saw last year turned out to have been largely written by ChatGPT) but the impact can be oversold. Our work is very, very human. We are a long way from rural communities accepting robot interlocutors. That said, the impact can also be more insidious; clients now don’t need to reach out to chat about an issue or get a consultant’s advice, for example. They can ask AI, and that cuts the consultant out of a conversation that could have led to work or deepened a relationship. AI can swallow up your client introductions.
One of the best project risk assessments I saw last year turned out to have been largely written by ChatGPT
It’s tempting to resign ourselves to a depressing future that’s less The Jetsons and more Black Mirror. Constant, exhausting competition. Endless RFQs. Inexplicable development decisions based on generalised analysis of whatever material happened to be findable by Claude. Permanent uncertainty.
I don’t buy it. Much of the anxiety amongst consultants – whether new or seasoned – is not based on a sober analysis of their value, but on how the game has changed. It doesn’t look like it used to, sure, but that means we need to play it differently. Here’s five things independent consultants can do. Don’t aim to survive. Aim to thrive.
Be known for something
Without undermining the quality of expertise, there are thousands of MEL specialists, gender specialists, protection specialists – the list goes on. To stand out, you need to be known for something. What is your differentiator? What makes you different from those who share a similar professional title or role? Can you summarise it in a line or two – the old ‘elevator pitch’? Is it what prospective clients need?
Independent consultants are the connective tissues of the humanitarian and development system
Partner up
Counterintuitively, I still believe that our trajectory needs to be towards collaboration, not competition. Independent consultants are the connective tissues of the humanitarian and development system. They are frequently undervalued. But if they all took a month off, the global system would collapse.
Lean into your value by joining consultancies with non-exclusive associate models, like Koala. This means you can continue with your own clients, but that someone else is out there finding additional work for your pipeline and folding you into more interesting, bigger opportunities by convening multidisciplinary associate teams. In Koala’s case, we can also help coach you in business development and commercials. Associate models offer more support, strength and structure than transactional, agency-type models but allow you to retain freedom.
Adopt commercial practices
Wait – don’t get out the holy water just yet, hear me out. You don’t have to price gouge, or channel every TV business villain from Succession to Mad Men. Basic commercial hygiene means things like pipeline management, pricing discipline, cost control and relationship building. If you have valuable skills to help the world, you need to steward them.
Technology’s inherent global biases could risk deepening neo-colonialisation rather than relieving it
Pivot in the age of AI from ‘creator’ to ‘quality controller’
As of today, AI can generalise and summarise, but almost by definition cannot replicate human-driven inquiry or experience. This is critical for locally led development, in which technology’s inherent global biases could risk deepening neo-colonialisation rather than relieving it. Leave the generalist stuff to the machines – instead become a quality controller of their outputs and lean into your human-to-human expertise. This is especially true if you are a practitioner from a global-majority country, where your skills, insights and expertise are now even more valuable.
Join a peak body
Relationships are everything. You may think that engagements find you, and perhaps they do – for now. Things change rapidly though, and you need to be part of the conversation to build relationships, find engagements and advocate for your market segment. In Australia, the International Development Contractors Community (IDCC) offers reasonable subscriptions for individual members and is well worth the money.
In summary, they say two things are certain – death and taxes. I’d say a third is ‘change.’ We can surf it or we can wipe out. The future of independent consulting is rosy, but only for those who are able to adapt. If we have skills valuable to helping people who need you more than ever, I believe we have a duty to do so.