Lib Consulting published the “Consulting Industry Chaos Map 2025” on July 7, 2025. In addition to mapping consulting firms by major area, the company also released data on the number of employees at each firm and trends in headcount by category. This resource is useful for gaining an overview of the consulting industry as a whole and understanding the characteristics and strengths of individual consulting firms.
The chaos map published by Lib Consulting is a partially revised version of the “Consulting Industry Chaos Map 2024” released in 2024. It maps 92 firms—six more than the previous edition—organized by major area. Consulting firms are categorized and further subdivided into segments such as “Strategy,” “General,” “Boutique,” “Think Tank,” and “IT.”
The map also includes the number of employees at each consulting firm as of June 2025 (Figure 2). According to Lib Consulting, which created the chaos map, the total number of employees in the consulting industry in 2025 is 184,463. Of these, the 92 firms listed on the chaos map have a combined total of 144,519 employees—an increase of 8,428 (approximately 6%) compared to the 86 firms featured in the 2024 chaos map.
The map also identifies consulting firms that have received investment from large corporate groups such as advertising agencies, general trading companies, and major SIers (Figure 3). Firms tentatively defined as having received 5% or more investment from advertising agencies, trading companies, or similar entities are highlighted with a red border for easy identification.
A total of 20 consulting firms were found to have received a certain level of investment from large corporate groups—up from 14 firms in 2024, an increase of 6. This suggests that the trend toward providing one-stop value delivery as part of a broader corporate group is accelerating.
Lib Consulting analyzes that the era of individual consulting firms competing independently is coming to an end, giving way to an age of “group total competition,” in which firms compete as part of massive corporate groups leveraging their combined capabilities. The trend is particularly evident among major general consulting firms, which are increasingly incorporating subsidiaries and affiliates with specialized expertise in areas such as strategy, digital transformation, M&A, and business process reform. Meanwhile, large B2B corporate groups—including advertising agencies, general trading companies, and major SIers—are integrating their core businesses with consulting functions, and are increasingly moving to internalize everything from strategy formulation to execution support and operations.
A ranking showing the changes in employee headcount by major category was also published (Figure 4). It summarizes the trends in employee numbers from 2024 to 2025 for categories such as “General × Digital” and “Boutique.”
The category with the highest employee growth from 2024 to 2025 was “General × Digital,” with a growth rate of +12%. The next highest was “Boutique” at +9%. The category with the largest total workforce in 2025 was “Major General Firms,” with 41,276 employees. The only category to see a decline was “Strategy,” where headcount fell from 5,115 in 2024 to 4,904 in 2025, representing a growth rate of -4%.
In conjunction with the release of the chaos map, Lib Consulting also shared its analysis of trends in the generative AI market. The company notes that while AI-specialized boutique firms are emerging, they have yet to gain a dominant position in the market. This is partly because digital capabilities no longer serve as a differentiator for consulting firms, and AI itself has become a standard, expected function rather than something exceptional. As a result, “General × Digital” firms—with their large talent pools and established client bases—are capturing generative AI-related engagements and dominating the market. Their ability to provide end-to-end support, from proof of concept (PoC) to company-wide operational implementation, is cited as a key factor in their success.
【Related Links】
Lib Consulting Co., Ltd.
https://www.libcon.co.jp/
