The Hackett Group’s AI Platforms Reshape Consulting Delivery
In an era where business leaders demand faster, more precise transformations amid economic uncertainty, The Hackett Group has introduced XT™ and AIXelerator™. These platforms complete a comprehensive suite of generative AI-assisted tools, drawing on the firm’s proprietary Solution Language Model (SLM) and decades of performance data. For C-suite executives navigating digital overhauls, this development signals a shift toward AI-augmented consulting that prioritizes speed without sacrificing depth.
The Hackett Group, listed on NASDAQ as HCKT, has long specialized in Gen AI consulting and digital transformation. With over 30 years of benchmarking global enterprises, the firm now embeds AI across its service lifecycle. XT™ targets business transformation projects, while AIXelerator™ streamlines software implementations. Together, they join existing tools like Hackett AI XPLR™, ZBrain™, and AskHackett.ai™, forming an end-to-end ecosystem.
Ted Fernandez, Chairman and CEO, emphasizes that these platforms enable delivery speeds unattainable through traditional methods. Paulo Dominguez, the firm’s chief AI innovation officer, frames them as a new operating model—one that amplifies human expertise rather than replacing it.
The Role of Proprietary SLM and Hackett Intelligence
At the core of XT™ and AIXelerator™ lies the firm’s SLM, trained on Hackett Intelligence. This dataset encompasses industry-specific process flows, performance benchmarks, best practices, and insights from thousands of engagements. Unlike broad-spectrum large language models, the SLM delivers contextually precise outputs tailored to enterprise challenges.
Hackett Intelligence serves as the firm’s intellectual backbone, aggregating data from high-performing organizations worldwide. It enables platforms to process structured data (like ERP systems) alongside unstructured inputs (documents and stakeholder notes). The result: consultants gain rapid access to vetted insights, reducing guesswork in complex projects.
This foundation addresses a persistent pain point in consulting. General AI tools often produce generic advice, lacking the nuance of sector-specific benchmarks. The Hackett Group’s approach ensures outputs align with proven standards, helping clients benchmark against peers and identify realistic improvement paths.
XT™: Accelerating Business Transformation
Business transformation engagements often falter under data overload. XT™ tackles this by unifying client data into coherent, actionable outputs. The platform ingests vast datasets—spanning systems, reports, and inputs—and applies the SLM to generate transformation roadmaps.
Key capabilities include:
- Data Synthesis: Automatically maps disparate sources to Hackett’s process benchmarks, highlighting gaps and opportunities.
- Scenario Modeling: Simulates transformation outcomes based on historical performance data, aiding risk assessment.
- Recommendation Engine: Produces prioritized roadmaps with phased deliverables, tied to measurable KPIs.
In practice, XT™ shortens the path from discovery to strategy. Consultants spend less time on data wrangling and more on high-value tasks like executive alignment. Early applications show up to 40% reductions in project effort, allowing teams to deliver refined strategies faster.
For executives, this means transformations grounded in empirical evidence. Consider a finance leader overhauling procurement: XT™ could cross-reference the firm’s data against the client’s spend patterns, recommending optimizations that mirror top-quartile performers.
AIXelerator™: Streamlining Software Implementations
Software rollouts remain a high-stakes endeavor, with failure rates hovering around 70% in large-scale deployments. AIXelerator™ integrates SLM-driven intelligence into every phase, from requirements gathering to post-go-live monitoring.
The platform structures delivery as follows:
- Discovery and Requirements: Analyzes legacy systems and user needs against best-practice templates.
- Design and Build: Generates configuration blueprints and automates routine coding tasks.
- Test, Deploy, and Monitor: Runs predictive testing and flags deviations from benchmarks in real time.
By embedding Hackett Intelligence, AIXelerator™ enforces consistency across global teams. It flags deviations early, such as mismatched process flows, preventing costly rework. This is particularly valuable for ERP or cloud migrations, where alignment with industry standards dictates success.
Dominguez notes that the platform equips teams for intuitive, natural-language interactions. Consultants query the system for guidance, receiving responses steeped in the firm’s 30-year repository. Clients benefit from accelerated timelines and higher success rates, as AI handles tactical execution while humans focus on customization.
Strategic Implications for Enterprise Leaders
These platforms arrive at a pivotal moment. Global economic pressures demand agility, yet 2025 surveys reveal only 28% of transformations meet timelines. The Hackett Group’s tools address this by blending AI efficiency with human oversight.
Leaders should weigh several factors:
- Cost Efficiency: Up to 40% effort savings translate to lower fees and faster ROI.
- Risk Mitigation: Benchmark-driven insights reduce implementation failures.
- Scalability: Applicable across finance, HR, procurement, and IT functions.
For competitive advantage, firms can leverage these platforms to pilot AI in one area—say, supply chain optimization—before enterprise-wide adoption. The Hackett Group’s track record, serving Fortune 1000 clients, lends credibility.
Broader market context underscores the timing. Competitors like Accenture and Deloitte invest heavily in AI consulting, but few match Hackett’s depth in performance intelligence. This positions the firm to capture share in the $500 billion transformation market.
Completing the AI Suite: End-to-End Coverage
XT™ and AIXelerator™ cap a full platform lineup:
| Platform | Focus Area | Key Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Hackett AI XPLR™ & ZBrain™ | Ideation to implementation | Rapid prototyping of AI initiatives |
| AskHackett.ai™ | Executive advisory and intelligence | On-demand benchmarking queries |
| XT™ | Business transformation | Data-to-roadmap acceleration |
| AIXelerator™ | Software implementation | Lifecycle consistency |
This ecosystem ensures seamless handoffs. An ideation project in XPLR™ feeds directly into XT™ for transformation planning, then AIXelerator™ for execution.
About The Hackett Group®
The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT) is a Gen AI strategic consulting and digital transformation firm that enables Digital World Class® performance. Using Hackett AI XPLR™, ZBrain™, XT™, AIXelerator™ and AskHackett.ai™ and Quantum Leap® platforms, the company’s experienced professionals and engineers help organizations realize the power of Gen AI from ideation through implementation to achieve quantifiable, breakthrough results with unprecedented speed, allowing it to be key architects of their Gen AI journey. The company’s expertise is grounded in unparalleled best practices insights from enterprise performance benchmarks from the world’s leading businesses – including 97% of the Dow Jones Industrials, 90% of the Fortune 100, 70% of the DAX 40 and 51% of the FTSE 100. Visit us at www.thehackettgroup.com.
