What FTI Consulting Does

FTI Consulting is a global business advisory firm headquartered in Washington, D.C., founded in 1982. With over 7,000 employees, it provides expert services across several critical domains: corporate finance and restructuring, forensic and litigation consulting, economic consulting, and strategic communications. The firm is often called upon during pivotal moments—mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies, regulatory investigations, and high-stakes legal disputes—to provide independent analysis, testimony, and strategic guidance. Its work is deeply data-intensive, involving the review of millions of documents, complex financial modeling, and the synthesis of vast amounts of information to advise boards, lawyers, and executives.

Why AI Matters at This Scale

For a firm of FTI's size and specialty, AI is not a distant trend but an imminent competitive necessity. The sheer volume of data involved in modern litigation and restructuring mandates automation. Manual review is prohibitively slow and expensive. AI offers the promise of superhuman scale and pattern recognition, transforming how consultants uncover insights. At the 5,000-10,000 employee level, FTI has the financial resources to invest in serious AI initiatives and the operational scale to realize meaningful ROI, yet it must move decisively to keep pace with both tech-savvy competitors and increasingly sophisticated client expectations.

Concrete AI Opportunities with ROI Framing

1. Document Intelligence for e-Discovery and Due Diligence: Implementing NLP models to classify, summarize, and extract key entities from legal and financial documents can cut document review time by 30-50%. For a firm that bills significant hours on such reviews, this directly boosts capacity and profit margins, allowing teams to take on more work or deliver faster, more affordable outcomes to clients.

2. Predictive Analytics in Litigation and Arbitration: Machine learning models trained on historical case data, expert reports, and tribunal decisions can help quantify case strengths, predict potential outcomes, and optimize settlement strategies. This provides a data-driven edge in negotiations, potentially saving clients millions and enhancing FTI's reputation for cutting-edge advisory.

3. Augmented Financial Modeling and Valuation: AI assistants can ingest unstructured data (news, filings, market reports) and structured financials to generate first-draft valuation models, sensitivity analyses, and benchmarking reports. This reduces the grunt work for junior analysts, accelerates project timelines, and allows senior consultants to focus on strategic interpretation and client counsel, improving service quality and consultant satisfaction.

Deployment Risks Specific to This Size Band

FTI's size introduces specific challenges. Integration Complexity: Embedding AI into existing workflows across dozens of offices and practice groups requires significant change management and training, risking slow adoption if not led from the top. Data Silos and Governance: Sensitive client data is often walled off in separate systems for security. Creating a unified, secure data foundation for AI without breaching confidentiality agreements is a major technical and legal hurdle. Talent Competition: At this scale, FTI must compete with both consulting rivals and Big Tech for scarce AI talent, necessitating clear career paths and compelling projects to attract and retain specialists. ROI Measurement: Justifying large AI investments requires clear metrics. In a project-based, expertise-driven business, linking AI tool usage directly to improved win rates, faster project completion, or higher billing realization can be difficult but is essential for sustained funding.