As the name suggests, key stakeholders are the people who initiated the BI project, or the ones who are responsible for the success of the project from the business side.

For a consultant, it becomes important to know the key stakeholders, because they will be the single point of contact for any help which is required by the consultant during the execution of the project. The consultant should contact them if he/she finds any such risks in the project which may result in a delay.

They will be the ones who will be deciding the success of the project, and thus, the consultant should keep them intimated about the project's progress.

If the key stakeholders are not aware of the current execution of the project, the consultant may face backlashes from them.