From Industrials to AI strategy, Boston consultant Hunter Reynolds has carved out a uniquely multifaceted path at L.E.K. In this Q&A, he shares how embracing new opportunities—from Digital to the TAPP (Temporary Adjustment Program for Parents) program—has shaped his journey and supported both his professional and personal growth.
 

Can you tell us about your career path and what brought you to L.E.K.?
Sure! I’m from the Boston suburbs—Natick, Massachusetts—so pretty close to the Boston office. I went to Hamilton College in upstate New York and graduated in 2019, then joined L.E.K. right after. There were a few things that drew me to L.E.K... First was the focus on strategy work and the fast-paced nature of the projects. Most engagements last a few weeks to a few months, which means you get exposed to a ton of different clients and industries really quickly. It felt like the perfect setup for learning a lot early on.

Second, L.E.K.’s home-office model was important to me. I didn’t want to be the kind of consultant who’s always on planes and in hotels. I really liked that I’d be able to work primarily from the Boston office.

Third, we had a strong pipeline from Hamilton to L.E.K., and I found a lot of great alums who were generous with their time. They helped me understand what consulting was really like. Those three things—the pace of learning, lifestyle, and strong alumni support—made the decision easy, and I’ve been here for five years now.

How did you find your way into the Digital practice?
I first joined L.E.K. as a generalist when we still had a slightly different staffing model, so I was bouncing between industries constantly—consumer, healthcare, pharma, industrials, and more. In my second year, I dedicated to Industrials and spent several years there. More recently, I’ve been pursuing my interest in the tech side of things with our Digital practice. I initially aligned with the Digital team while still dedicated to Industrials, and recently made the full switch.

What kind of work do you focus on within the Digital practice?
My sweet spot is at the intersection of Digital and Industrials. That might look like helping Industrials clients pursue AI opportunities, improve their data strategy, or launch an e-commerce channel. Digital cases tend to feel more internal-facing than traditional L.E.K. work. Instead of focusing on external market forces, I’m spending more time talking to the client—understanding their systems, data, tools, and how employees use technology day-to-day. That’s been a refreshing change and an opportunity to flex new muscles.

Within Digital, I’ve also been part of the AI Delta team, where we’re building out IP and tools to help L.E.K. sell and deliver more AI-focused work, such as a library of AI use cases by industry. That’s been a cool project—thinking through how clients can apply AI in meaningful ways.

AI is a huge topic right now. How are clients thinking about it—and how is L.E.K. responding?
We get a huge range of client questions about AI—some are focused, others are broad. A lot of clients are coming to us with questions like, “AI... what should we be doing?” I just helped revise a strategy proposal where the client’s board asked, “What role does AI play in our 10-year plan?” That’s a big question, so we’re going to assess what AI means for their market, their customer, and their operations. To kickstart that conversation with the client, I built a slide with 40 AI applications specific to their industry—everything from predictive maintenance to routing optimization to dynamic pricing to marketing. Narrowing in on the highest-value opportunities they should invest in will be the hard (but interesting) part.

What’s the culture like on the Digital team?
It’s a tight-knit and collaborative group—it kind of feels like a startup within the firm. We have a Teams chat that includes everyone from first-year associates to MDs. There’s a lot of informal back-and-forth, and it makes the whole team feel accessible and connected. We also get to wear a lot of hats. Since the team is still growing, there are more opportunities to pitch in on different things—from casework to business development to AI Delta. Another unique thing is that we all get invited to strategy and planning meetings. It’s a great window into the inner workings at L.E.K. and what our Digital leaders are thinking about as they grow the practice.

You’ve worn a lot of hats at L.E.K.—tell us about that!
Yeah, I’ve explored a lot of different opportunities here. It’s kept things fresh and made the job more sustainable for me. Beyond casework, I’ve done a rotation with our Industrial Insights Center (IIC), where I built IP like an electric vehicle adoption model and a U.S. building & construction outlook; I see those two pieces of IP leveraged across the firm often, which is awesome. I also did a rotation with the Learning & Development team, where I refreshed our orientation materials and then led new hire training. And I took a sabbatical last July and August, which was incredible. My wife is a teacher, so we got to spend the summer traveling and relaxing together.

We just had a baby, so I’m currently in the TAPP program (Temporary Adjustment Program for Parents). I work lighter hours—9 to 5-ish—with more flexibility and predictability. It’s made a big difference in being able to spend time with my family and still do meaningful work.

Any advice for other working parents in consulting?
Take advantage of everything that’s available—parental leave, TAPP, all of it. Be present during your time away from work. And communicate with your spouse—staying aligned on who’s doing what is huge. But I’m no expert. I’m only three months into this new “working parent” adventure.