Economic transitions
I am interested in industrial revolutions as changes in economic structure. New capabilities alter scarcity, shift advantage and eventually force companies, professions and institutions to catch up.
On strategy, AI and the economics of knowledge work.
Perspectives from three decades in strategy consulting, on what changes when intelligence becomes abundant, how production systems must adapt, and what judgement must still do.
Latest publications
Latest perspectives
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Reflections & published thoughts
The record
Three decades close to consequential decisions.
McKinsey · Qvartz · BCG · Oliver Wyman
Jesper Kjerside is a strategy adviser, writer and co-founder of taonta. He has spent approximately three decades working on strategy, transactions and transformation across Europe and North America.
Most recently, he was a Senior Partner at Oliver Wyman, responsible for the Nordic Private Equity and M&A business. Previously, he was a Partner and Managing Director at BCG and a Partner at Qvartz. His earlier career included McKinsey.
Senior rolesSenior Partner, Oliver Wyman; Partner and Managing Director, BCG; Partner, Qvartz
ResponsibilityNordic Private Equity and M&A business at Oliver Wyman
Advisory focusStrategy, transactions and transformation
Professional scopePrivate equity, financial services, insurance, software, technology and business services
International workEurope and North America
Motivation
What drives me.
Three long-running interests connect the consulting career, the writing and what I am building now.
“For much of my career, analytical capacity was part of the value I brought. Generative AI is changing where that value comes from.”
On professional advantage
Production systems
Much of my career has been spent asking whether organisations produce the right outcomes, efficiently and effectively. Due diligence tests the system under pressure. Transformation asks what should replace it.
Individual and collective intelligence
I have a longstanding interest in sociology and psychology: how individuals think, how groups become more or less intelligent, and what now changes when artificial cognition joins the collective.
A personal inflection point
Late to generative AI. Quick to the practical frontier.
I was late to generative AI, then moved quickly. It challenged a professional advantage I had relied on for years. It also removed a constraint I have always felt: I have generated more ideas than available time and teams could economically test. That testing and development capacity is now becoming abundant.
I have worked around software for much of my career. Generative AI changes how software is developed, maintained and operated, but it is still software. The important work is to turn capability, whether delivered through chatbots, coding agents or proprietary tools, into a reliable system.
Thought and perspective
Questions I keep returning to.
The articles are different attempts to work through a small set of recurring questions.
“Divergence has become cheap. Discernment has not.”
On creativity and judgement
What becomes scarce when useful intelligence becomes abundant?
The economics of expertise, differentiation and value.
How should production systems change when analysis becomes cheap, but accountability does not?
Efficiency, efficacy and the redesign of professional work.
When does a collection of people and machines become an intelligent collective?
Roles, tension, memory and the conditions for better judgement.
What should remain a human decision, even when more of the work can be automated?
Responsibility, legitimacy and decisions with consequence.
Current venture
taonta
“I started by trying to make my teams redundant with chatbots. It worked, at the price of adding more of me.”On the path to taonta
Strategy consulting. AI-native delivery.
taonta is an AI-native strategy consulting firm founded by Jesper Kjerside and Søren Aggerholm. It combines senior advisory judgement with a proprietary production model for complex commercial and strategic decisions.
launching soon
taonta
Speaking and media
Speaking topics →
Conversations that go beyond the AI headline.
Keynotes and leadership sessions
AI economics, collective intelligence, the future of expertise and how senior teams should respond.
Media and expert commentary
Perspective grounded in strategy, transactions and the practical redesign of knowledge work.
Contact
Continue the conversation.
For speaking, media, article discussions or professional enquiries.
contact (at) kjerside (dot) com