AI Didn't Kill Data Consulting. It Exposed What Was Always Broken About It.

Christian Steinert
2 days ago
4 min read

The identity shift from data consultant to business solutions architect — and why AI is forcing every data professional to make this transition now

March has been a month of deep reflection at Steinert Analytics. The type of consulting engagements I envisioned for myself are finally fruiting — but AI is reshaping the game faster than I anticipated. I’ve been having some of the most honest conversations of my career with mentors, clients and fellow data professionals about what this means for all of us.

This issue is raw and transparent. No polished case study. Just my honest thinking on paper about an identity shift I’m actively navigating — and one I suspect many of you are too.

Almost a decade in data. Business intelligence, analytics, reporting, data transformation. That’s all I’ve ever known.

And for most of that time, the offer was clear: help companies model, govern and manage their data so they can make better decisions, move faster and grow with confidence.

That offer still exists. But the market is forcing a reckoning.

The Two Clients I’m Serving — And Why They’re Completely Different

Not every company is ready for data warehousing. I’ve written about this many times. But let me lay it out plainly here.

Option 1 — The Data Transformation Client

Mid-sized to enterprise organizations. Scale-ups where data is at the core of their product. Multiple source systems. Real complexity. Departments that don’t agree on what “net revenue” means. Leadership that understands — at least intellectually — why metrics clarity and data governance matter.

These clients need a data warehouse. They need dimensional modeling. They need a single source of truth that powers consistent, trustworthy decisions at every level of the organization.

Gartner says 60% of AI projects unsupported by AI-ready data will be abandoned. That stat is a gift for anyone selling Option 1. It’s the clearest argument I have for why data transformation isn’t optional — it’s the foundation everything else is built on.

Option 2 — The Quick Win Client

Smaller companies. Roofing firms. E-commerce businesses. Companies running on spreadsheets and brute force manual processes with tribal knowledge baked into every formula. I’ve seen it firsthand more times than I can count — businesses doing multiple millions in revenue held together by Excel workbooks that nobody fully understands.

These companies don’t need a data warehouse. They need automation. They need one report that answers the one question closest to their value chain. They need ROI — now.

And here’s the hard truth: selling them Option 1 doesn’t work. I’ve tried. It doesn’t resonate. They don’t have IT leadership. They don’t have a long-term data vision. They just want ROI NOW.

Where AI Is Forcing the Identity Shift

This is where it gets uncomfortable.

Option 2 clients don’t just want automation anymore. In the Age of AI, they expect you to bring an AI workflow into it. They expect you to do something that feels like magic — stitch together their data, drop an intelligent layer on top of it, and produce insight they’ve never had before.

And honestly? I don’t disagree with that expectation. We have the tools and capabilities to do very incredible things.

The problem is my identity.

I’ve spent nearly a decade positioning myself as a data consultant. A data transformation expert. Someone who builds data warehouses, governs metrics and architects platforms.

Ergest Xheblati — one of the most tenured data architects I know and a mentor I lean on heavily — called me out on this directly in a recent coaching session. My issue isn’t technical capability. It’s that I’m still building the confidence to be a business solutions consultant as much as I am a data consultant.

That hit hard. Because he’s right.

Joe Reis’s Substack article from last week Saturday also ignited a fire under me with this shift. I talk about in the below LinkedIn post.

In the Age of AI, data professionals/consultants are really transitioning to business solutions architects/consultants.

Data is merely just the vehicle in which we deliver impact, but it’s far from the whole show.

We’ve always known this intellectually. Data does not sell. The ROI actions we take on behalf of the data is what sells.

Now it’s time to actually get in the mindset to sell business solutions. Not a data warehouse.

The Deal Structure Nuances Nobody Talks About

Here’s something I’m still figuring out transparently.

Option 1 clients are higher ticket. Larger projects. Longer timelines. Deeper strategic influence. But they’re also harder to close — they come from deep relationships and referrals, and the sales cycle is long.

Option 2 clients have shorter sales cycles. The value is more immediately apparent. You can sell directly to a CEO from the first conversation. Get in. Map their value chain. Build the automation. Prove the ROI. Leave.

But here’s the tension: without a value-based pricing strategy, Option 2 engagements can undercut your margins significantly. You’re delivering real ROI — but if you’re pricing hourly, you may be leaving most of that value on the table.

I don’t have this fully figured out yet. I’m experimenting. But I think the answer lives somewhere in scoping tightly, guaranteeing a specific ROI outcome, and pricing against the value of that outcome — not the hours it takes to deliver it.

What This Means Going Forward

I’m not abandoning Option 1. The data transformation work is where I’m most comfortable, most credible, and frankly most energized.

But I’m no longer ignoring the market signal that’s been knocking on my door.

The Business Solutions Architect identity is the evolution. It doesn’t replace the data expertise — it elevates it. It means leading with the business problem, not the technical solution. It means selling the outcome first and letting the methodology follow.

That’s the shift. And I’m in it.

Are you feeling this same inflection point as a data consultant or full-time data professional? I’d genuinely love to hear where you’re at.

Christian Steinert is the founder of Steinert Analytics, helping healthcare organizations turn data into actionable insights. Subscribe to Rooftop Insights for weekly perspectives on analytics, business intelligence and the business of data consulting.

Feel free to book a call with us or reach out to Christian on LinkedIn. Thank you!

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