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The move highlights a growing pressure on consulting firms to share the financial benefits of AI-driven productivity with their customers.

Dan Priest, PwC’s chief AI officer, acknowledged the client-driven shift in a recent interview. “Clients would hear us talking about using AI and and say, ‘We want our fair share of those efficiencies,’” he told Bloomberg News. “We certainly, as appropriate, give our clients the pricing benefit of the efficiencies we’re achieving.”

The firm, like its competitors, has been integrating AI to streamline services such as systems integration, significantly cutting the resources required. Mr Priest estimated that AI has improved efficiency in this area by approximately 30%, with these gains “in large part showing up as price discounts”.

However, Mr Priest noted that these price reductions have now “plateaued”. He explained that PwC’s focus is shifting from pure efficiency to the enhanced quality and value that AI brings to its services.

“We’re trying to focus more on the value creation,” he said. “There’s a value to that intelligence.”

The ultimate client benefit, he later added, “is much more than price, it’s the ability to move faster, operate smarter and trust the results”.

This development speaks to the broader debate on the economic impact of artificial intelligence. Some experts, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have long predicted that widespread AI adoption will lead to a significant fall in the cost of many goods and services.

The integration of generative AI is particularly disruptive for the traditional business model of consulting firms, which has historically relied on billing clients for time spent on projects. As AI automates tasks, this model is being called into question across the industry. While PwC has been transparent about the pricing impact, it declined to provide specific details, emphasising a broader approach to align AI-driven gains with client benefits in efficiency, timeliness, and quality.