Amanda Luther, a managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) with nearly two decades at the firm, offers an inside look at the demanding life of an AI strategy consultant navigating the current artificial intelligence transformation sweeping corporate America. Based in Austin, Luther specializes in AI strategy and implementation for clients across multiple industries, with particular expertise in the restaurant sector.
Luther’s typical day begins at 7 a.m. with basketball—her “Zen moment”—followed by a 15-minute walk to BCG’s Austin office, stopping for coffee and breakfast tacos along the way. Mornings are dedicated to deep thinking, preparing for client discussions and conducting broader AI research. As a leader of BCG’s research into AI trends, she consumes curated newsletters featuring the “top 10 things to read this week” aggregated from multiple media sources. She also participates in an AI group chat with Stanford classmates working as academics, investors, and engineers, where they compare notes on industry developments.
The consultant reveals that C-suite executives are experiencing existential anxiety about AI. Leaders know they need to act—their boards are demanding it—but they’re simultaneously hearing that most AI projects fail, creating paralyzing tension. As AI discussions move deeper into organizations, questions become more personal, with employees asking, “What does this mean for me and my role?” This protective mindset often creates resistance to change.
In the restaurant industry, Luther sees exciting convergence with AI technology. While customer-facing innovations like apps, personalization, and chatbots have existed for years, the real breakthrough is on the operational side: empowering shift managers with intelligent tools to handle the complex choreography of quick-service restaurants—taking orders, filling drinks, and coordinating food delivery.
Luther’s afternoons involve internal meetings and sometimes difficult conversations about careers, where emotions naturally surface. She maintains a box of tissues nearby and emphasizes treating people with humanity during vulnerable moments. Her anxiety has evolved over nearly 20 years—she no longer worries about meetings but focuses intensely on positioning team members on the right projects, knowing that consulting opportunities are episodic and missing one could mean waiting months for another chance.
Travel dominates her schedule, with frequent flights to Dallas, Chicago, and Minneapolis—sometimes visiting two to four cities weekly. Despite the demanding pace, Luther maintains strict boundaries: she prioritizes seven to eight hours of sleep nightly and reads 100 books annually, currently working through US presidential biographies and Hugo Award-winning science fiction. Her weekend reset is non-negotiable, allowing her to return Monday ready to solve new puzzles.
Key Quotes
Right now, at the C-Suite level at many companies, the AI question feels almost existential. They know they need to do something about AI — everyone’s talking about it, their boards are asking — but they’re also hearing that most projects fail.
Luther describes the paralyzing tension facing corporate executives as they navigate AI adoption. This quote captures the current state of enterprise AI—caught between intense pressure to act and fear of failure—explaining why strategic consulting around AI implementation has become so critical.
As you go deeper into organizations, the questions become more personal: What does this mean for me and my role? People start to feel protective of how things have always been.
Luther identifies the human resistance factor in AI adoption, revealing that beyond C-suite strategy, individual employees are grappling with existential career questions. This insight explains why AI implementation often fails despite technical feasibility—the human change management component is frequently underestimated.
What’s really exciting now is the operational side: putting the right intelligence in a shift manager’s hands. Running a quick-service restaurant is incredibly complex — you’re taking orders, filling drinks, and handing out food. AI can simplify that work.
Luther highlights the evolution of AI in the restaurant industry from customer-facing tools to operational intelligence. This represents a broader trend of AI moving from automation to augmentation, empowering workers rather than replacing them—a more sustainable and human-centered approach to AI deployment.
I’m sometimes in tough conversations about people’s careers, and it’s not uncommon for emotions to come up. Sometimes people cry, and that’s natural. I keep a box of tissues nearby, and I just tell them, ‘It’s OK. Take your time.’
This quote reveals the emotional reality of AI-driven organizational transformation. Luther’s acknowledgment of the human cost of change underscores that AI adoption isn’t just about technology—it’s about navigating career disruption, fear, and uncertainty with empathy and humanity.
Our Take
Luther’s profile illuminates a critical but often overlooked aspect of the AI revolution: the strategic consulting layer bridging technology and organizational reality. While much attention focuses on AI developers and researchers, professionals like Luther are doing the difficult work of translating AI capabilities into business value while managing human resistance and anxiety. Her observation about C-suite existential dread is particularly revealing—it suggests we’re still in the early, uncertain phase of enterprise AI adoption where fear of missing out competes with fear of failure. The restaurant industry example is instructive: AI’s most valuable applications may not be the flashiest consumer-facing tools but rather operational intelligence that makes complex work manageable. This human-centered approach—augmentation over automation—could define successful AI deployment across industries. Luther’s emphasis on continuous learning through curated research and expert networks also highlights that AI strategy requires constant adaptation. The field is moving too quickly for static expertise; success demands intellectual curiosity and collaborative knowledge-sharing. Finally, her commitment to work-life balance despite crushing demands offers a counternarrative to tech industry burnout culture—sustainable AI leadership requires personal boundaries and renewal.
Why This Matters
This profile provides rare insight into how AI transformation is creating unprecedented pressure at the highest levels of corporate leadership. Luther’s experience reveals that AI adoption isn’t primarily a technical challenge—it’s a deeply human one involving existential anxiety, career uncertainty, and organizational resistance. The fact that C-suite executives feel caught between board pressure to implement AI and high failure rates illustrates the maturity gap in enterprise AI deployment.
The restaurant industry example demonstrates how AI is moving beyond customer-facing applications into operational intelligence, a trend likely to accelerate across all sectors. This shift from automation to augmentation—putting intelligence in workers’ hands rather than replacing them—represents a more sustainable path for AI adoption.
Luther’s daily routine of consuming curated AI research, participating in expert networks, and dedicating time to strategic thinking highlights the intellectual intensity required to guide organizations through AI transformation. As companies invest billions in AI initiatives, the demand for experienced strategists who can navigate both technical possibilities and human dynamics will only intensify. Her emphasis on work-life balance despite the demanding schedule also signals that sustainable AI leadership requires personal boundaries—a lesson for an industry often characterized by burnout.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/bcg-senior-partner-amanda-luther-power-hours-daily-routine-2025-11