The global consulting industry is undergoing a structural transformation—from intuition-led, slide-driven engagements to software-enabled, analytics-anchored decision making. As consulting firms increasingly rely on proprietary platforms to deliver speed, consistency, and sharper insights, tools are becoming central to how strategy is designed and executed.
Indian decision intelligence platform 3Cubed offers a live illustration of this shift. The platform was piloted as part of an MBA course on Modern Strategy Consulting at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Mohali, where it was used to demonstrate how consulting is evolving into a tool-enabled, system-level discipline, with software augmenting strategic judgment rather than merely supporting analysis.
Industry estimates suggest that more than 60 percent of consulting engagements globally are now supported by analytics platforms and digital tools, a trend that is redefining the consultant’s role. Instead of working sequentially from hypotheses to insights, consultants increasingly operate within integrated platforms that surface patterns, trade-offs, and execution implications in real time.
Rather than treating technology as an optional enhancement, the classroom experience positioned software as a core consulting capability—one that shapes how problems are framed, analyzed, and resolved.
Students worked on live industry problem statements, using the platform to map enterprise operations, link process and effort data, and evaluate decisions across cost, efficiency, and customer experience simultaneously. This mirrored how modern consulting teams increasingly work: combining structured thinking with digital systems that enable end-to-end visibility.
The objective was to move beyond traditional, intuition-heavy approaches toward data-anchored and system-oriented decision making. By engaging with a production-grade platform, students experienced firsthand how consulting tools compress cycle times, reduce fragmentation, and elevate the quality of strategic conversations.
Participant feedback highlighted the relevance of tool-enabled consulting skills for future leadership and advisory roles, reinforcing the view that consulting capability is no longer defined only by frameworks and storytelling, but by the ability to work fluently with decision intelligence platforms.
Commenting on the broader significance, Himanshu Tambe, Co-founder of 3Cubed, said, “Consulting is undergoing a fundamental shift. Software is no longer a support layer—it is becoming the operating system for insight and decision making. Platforms like 3Cubed reflect how consulting is actually practiced today and where it is headed.”
He added, “What is particularly powerful is demonstrating that globally relevant consulting tools can be built in India and used to train talent that will operate in complex, global environments.”
Founded by Shammik Gupta and Himanshu Tambe, 3Cubed is an Indian decision intelligence and consulting enablement platform that models how work actually happens inside organizations and supports integrated performance redesign.
By enabling consultants and leaders to move from fragmented analysis to outcome-oriented, system-level decisions, 3Cubed exemplifies a broader industry reality: the future of consulting will belong to those who can combine strategic thinking with powerful, software-driven tools.
