Over the last decade, I’ve been brought into dozens of companies between $5M and $100M in revenue that all sound different on the surface – but break in exactly the same way underneath. The pipeline is inconsistent. Forecasts aren’t trusted. Sales, marketing, and operations don’t agree on the numbers. And investors are asking a question leadership can’t confidently answer: “How predictable is your revenue, really?”
What’s changed isn’t effort or ambition. What’s changed is the operating model. And McKinsey’s recent analysis on AI-driven workforce transformation puts hard data behind what I’ve been seeing in the field for years: revenue growth is no longer a headcount problem – it’s a productivity and leadership problem.
So is consulting dead? Maybe, but this is exactly why fractional CRO and RevOps leadership isn’t a stopgap anymore. It’s becoming the default growth model for successful companies of the future.
McKinsey’s “25 Squared” Project: Shrinking Teams and Expanding Output
One of the most telling McKinsey takeaways is this: the firm increased client-facing roles by roughly 25%, reduced non-client-facing roles by 25%, and still grew overall output.
I see the same pattern in SMBs and portfolio companies. Revenue teams were built for a world where scale required more people: more SDRs, more analysts, more RevOps admins. AI has blown that assumption apart.
Today, many of those tasks – reporting, data cleanup, pipeline hygiene, even first-pass outreach – are automated or AI-assisted. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: most companies didn’t replace those tasks with better leadership or strategy. They just layered AI on top of a broken revenue system.
Fractional RevOps works because it matches this new reality. You don’t need more bodies. You need fewer, better decisions – executed faster.
Productivity Gains Are Real – But Only If Someone Owns Them!
McKinsey reports saving 1.5 million hours annually by using AI for research, synthesis, and repetitive work. That time didn’t disappear – it was redeployed toward higher-value thinking and execution.
This is where I see companies struggle.
They invest in tools. They buy AI platforms. They expect productivity gains to magically show up in revenue. But productivity without ownership just creates faster chaos.
Fractional CROs and RevOps leaders exist to convert productivity into performance. We decide:
- Which metrics matter
- How pipeline should actually flow
- What “forecastable” really means
- Where AI accelerates execution – and where it introduces risk
Without that leadership layer, AI becomes noise. With it, AI becomes leverage.
The “25 Squared” Model Is Why Fractional Leadership Wins
McKinsey described its approach as “25 squared“: fewer support roles, more value-creating roles, and higher overall output. That’s not a consulting insight – it’s an operating principle.
Fractional revenue leadership follows the same logic.
Instead of hiring:
- A full CRO
- A full RevOps team
- Multiple layers of management
Companies bring in experienced leadership exactly where it creates leverage, without long ramp times or fixed overhead. I’ve seen this reduce cost, increase clarity, and – most importantly – restore trust in the numbers.
For investors, this matters. Predictability beats growth theater every time.
AI Agents Are Replacing Tasks – Not Accountability
McKinsey now operates with roughly 40,000 human professionals and 25,000 AI agents, with near parity expected soon.
This mirrors what I see across revenue organizations. AI agents can:
- Update CRMs
- Generate reports
- Draft emails
- Analyze trends
What they cannot do is own a revenue number.
Fractional CROs sit precisely at this intersection: translating AI output into executive decisions, aligning GTM teams around shared metrics, and making tradeoffs when data conflicts. AI accelerates execution – fractional leadership ensures it moves in the right direction.
Junior Work Isn’t Disappearing – It’s Being Rewritten
Another subtle but critical McKinsey takeaway: junior roles aren’t going away – they’re changing. AI absorbs the grunt work, forcing humans to operate at a higher level sooner.
This is happening inside revenue teams right now. The old apprenticeship model – “learn by doing admin work for two years” – is collapsing. Without strong RevOps leadership, that creates confusion and burnout.
Fractional RevOps introduces structure, playbooks, and guardrails so teams can actually grow into this new reality instead of being overwhelmed by it.
Why Investors Are Driving This Shift Faster Than Founders
VCs, PE firms, and family offices don’t want heroics. They want repeatability. Traditional revenue teams are slow to adapt, expensive to fix, and difficult to unwind.
Fractional CRO and RevOps leadership gives investors:
- Faster time-to-impact
- Clear diagnostics across portcos
- Consistent revenue governance
- Predictable forecasting frameworks
That’s why I increasingly see fractional leadership deployed before full-time hiring – not after failure, but as a growth accelerant.
Revenue Leadership Has Changed – Permanently
McKinsey’s workforce data confirms what many operators already feel: output is being decoupled from headcount. AI has rewritten the rules. The companies that win aren’t the ones hiring faster – they’re the ones aligning smarter.
From my seat, fractional CRO and RevOps leadership isn’t a trend. It’s the natural response to an AI-augmented world where productivity is abundant, but clarity is scarce.
If revenue feels stalled, forecasts feel fragile, or investors are pushing for predictability – the problem isn’t effort. It’s the model.
And the model has already changed.
Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director @ Tip of the Spear
