The AI Sketch
A typical scene in modern boardrooms
Scene: The palatial client meeting room at Apex Omega Consulting Partners ("Where thought leadership becomes thought dominance™"), decorated with abstract art consisting entirely of intersecting circles that supposedly represent "value chain transformation at scale." One table is occupied by a group of Analysts performing their morning ritual of synchronously highlighting pre-reads in five different colors while their watches buzz in perfect harmony. A CEO and CFO enter, the CEO clutching a dog-eared copy of "Good Strategy, Bad Strategy."
CEO (exhausted from actually reading strategy books): Let's sit here.
CFO (brandishing the latest disruption readiness index): Perfect spot for our strategic value creation journey!
CEO: (to AΩ Senior Vice-President) Morning!
AΩ SVP (manifesting between two symmetrically arranged junior VPs, all wearing identical suits from the same Savile Row tailor): Morning! I trust you've internalized our proprietary Septagonal Strategy Synthesis Framework™?
CEO: Well, what've you got?
AΩ SVP: (summoning slides from nowhere) Well, we've got A.I.-enabled strategic realignment; A.I.-driven competitive advantage framework; A.I. value chain optimization (begins drawing interlocking triangles in the air); value chain with A.I. and strategic moats; value chain, moats, and synergistic A.I. transformation (analysts behind begin arranging post-its in the shape of a "proprietary" five forces variant); transformation journey with A.I. arbitrage and moats...
AΩ Analysts: (chanting while updating their identical "thought leadership" posts) A.I. A.I. A.I. A.I...
AΩ SVP: ...A.I. A.I. A.I. strategy and A.I.; A.I. A.I. A.I. A.I. A.I. A.I. (sketches a matrix so complex it requires non-Euclidean geometry) shareholder value A.I. A.I. A.I...
AΩ Analysts: (singing while simultaneously color-coding tabs in Excel) A.I.! Scalable A.I.! Value-adding A.I.!
AΩ SVP: ...or Enterprise Strategic Transformation Portfolio Optimization with a multi-modal ecosystem approach served in a market-positioning-disrupting manner with synergies and value creation garnished with competitive advantage analysis, stakeholder alignment, and a zero-based budget transformation, with A.I. on top!
CEO: (clutching strategy book tighter) Have you got anything without A.I.?
AΩ SVP: (consulting a framework so complex it can only be viewed in four dimensions) Well, there's A.I. strategic transformation and A.I., that's not got much A.I. in it.
CEO: I don't want ANY A.I.! I want a coherent strategy! What's our diagnosis? Where's our coherent action plan? What's our actual competitive advantage?
CFO: Why can't we have strategic transformation A.I. and moats? The board loves A.I.!
CEO: THAT'S not good strategy! That's just buzzword soup!
CFO: (pulling out AΩ’s proprietary "Strategy Horizon Value Matrix"™) Hasn't got as much A.I. as A.I. strategic transformation and A.I., has it? I can model it in my Digital Finance Transformation roadmap...
AΩ Analysts: A.I. A.I. A.I. A.I. (Creating identical cascading waterfall charts that somehow form a Klein bottle)
CEO: Could you do the strategic transformation and moats without the A.I.? Just pure positioning? Some real competitive advantage?
AΩ SVP: (drops leather-bound copy of "Strategic Frameworks Quarterly" in horror) Urgghh!
CEO: What do you mean 'Urgghh'? I want good strategy! Clear thinking! Coherent action!
AΩ Analysts: (while arranging their strategy books by shade of pretension) Disruptive A.I.! Paradigm-shifting A.I.!
AΩ SVP: (into platinum AirPods Max) Cease synthesis! (Analysts freeze mid-framework) Bloody strategy purists! You can't have strategic transformation and moats without A.I. It's literally impossible - look at this value creation horizon matrix! (Draws an impossibly complex diagram that accidentally proves P=NP)
CEO: (screams while throwing strategy framework printouts) I just want good strategy!
CFO: Sshh, don't cause a fuss. I'll have your A.I. allocation. I love it. I'm having A.I. A.I. A.I. A.I. A.I. A.I. A.I. shareholder value A.I. A.I. A.I. and A.I.! (Begins updating digital transformation roadmap)
AΩ Analysts: (singing while simultaneously aligning their strategy framework posters) A.I. A.I. A.I. A.I. Scalable A.I.! Synergistic A.I.!
AΩ SVP: Quiet!! (Checks latest Strategy Thought Leadership Metaverse feed) Shareholder value is now a legacy framework!
CFO: Well could I have more A.I. instead of shareholder value then? My digital transformation OKRs depend on it!
AΩ SVP: You mean A.I. A.I. A.I. A.I. A.I. A.I... (but it is too late and the Analysts drown his words by simultaneously opening identical digital transformation maturity assessments)
AΩ Analysts: (performing an interpretive dance of "Strategic Intent Through Machine Learning") A.I. A.I. A.I. A.I. Scalable A.I.! Synergistic A.I.! A.I. trans-form-a-a-ation A.I. par-a-dig-g-m shift A.I. Premium A.I.! Best-in-class A.I.! Industry-leading A.I.! Value-creating A.I.! Ecosystem-enabling A.I.! A.I. A.I. A.I. A.I.!
(In the distance, the ghost of Peter Drucker mutters something about managing for results)
CEO: (standing up slowly) Has it occurred to you that what we actually need is a strategy? (Walks out while others gasp in horror, frameworks spontaneously combust, and all Apple Watches simultaneously display "Strategy Not Found")