Same Ambition, New Rules:
Leading, Advancing and Building Careers Worth Staying For in Consulting's Next Chapter

November 19, 2026 | New York Marriott Marquis | New York, NY

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The ambition never left. The rules changed. Firms are thinning the base of the pyramid, protecting the senior advisors who own client relationships, and delivering work through smaller, AI-augmented teams. AI fluency has quietly become a condition of promotion, sponsorship carries more weight in a firm with fewer seats, and flexibility is being pulled back. Many of the experienced women firms most want to keep are leaving to build independent and fractional practices, and some now compete with the firms they left.

This program examines the new rules of advancement and what it takes for women to lead, and stay, in a profession that is rewriting them in real time. Research shows that when women receive the same career support as men, the gap in their interest in promotion disappears. The question is no longer ambition. It is what firms, and the women inside them, do next.

Join Consulting Magazine, industry innovators, and the honorees of the Women Leaders in Consulting awards for an engaging, high-impact session designed for experienced professionals and the firm leaders who develop them. This dynamic program combines three fast-paced lightning talks with a deep-dive panel discussion, providing attendees with insight and practical guidance on advancement, sponsorship, AI fluency, and retention in a changing profession.

You will connect and network with peers, firm leaders, and the Women Leaders in Consulting of 2026 as you sharpen your industry acumen and gain unique insight into how the rules of advancement are changing, and how to lead through them.

Through three lightning talks followed by a deep-dive panel session with those speakers, you will gain focused insight into key elements of advancement and retention for today's women leaders:

• Understand the market forces reshaping who advances in consulting, and why advancement decisions now carry more weight than ever.
• Learn the promotion criteria nobody announced, from AI fluency to sponsorship, and how to build both in a firm with fewer seats and fewer formal programs.
• Hear firsthand why experienced women are leaving for independent and fractional practice, and join an interactive discussion on what firms and professionals can do now to keep the leaders the industry can't afford to lose.