AI for Strategic Advantage

There's nothing artificial about AI's potential to impact the competitive advantage of every company, brand, and career. As an expert in competitive strategy, here are seven considerations:

𝐀𝐈 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲: As AI is being deployed so quickly, the efficiencies companies hope to gain will only bring them to parity with their competitors. Just as digitization was 20 years ago, AI is table stakes unless you strategize the ways it can give you an advantage.

𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐈: Have you optimized your website content and LinkedIn for AI discovery? AI responds to queries with material that best matches the large language models on which it's been trained. If you don't speak the language of ChatGPT or Claude, they won't know you exist.

𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝟏𝟎𝟏: For years, I've advised brands to build top-of-mind awareness with a broad swath of the market. That's because search engines inform decision-making today. Increased sales come to those for whom people search by name. In a world of AI, this is all the more true. If competitors are more top of mind, you risk pre-emption.

𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐈: When recently facilitating a large executive retreat, I discussed Agentic AI only to discover that people didn't know it existed and was already disrupting whole categories such as advertising. Walmart is already using it to its advantage. Agentic AI refers to intelligent systems designed to make decisions and act autonomously with limited supervision. Go to an AI platform now and query: "In my category, who's using Agentic AI and how?" Digest the answer, then consider:

𝐀𝐈 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲: AI Agents deployed by companies or individuals are unlikely to act in your favor unless you have a strategy for them to do so. A mentor of mine, Roger Martin, advises execs to consider "'where to play?" and "how to win in that space?" Roger, how should we approach AI and Agentic AI when answering these questions? 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: Don't assume colleagues understand much about AI's risks, rewards, or potential. And don't leave their learning to chance: Even one naïve teammate puts your future advantage at risk. Immediately educate your team. Give them perspective on AI's "amplitude."

𝐀𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞: In physics, this is the energy transferred by a wave, oscillating from its highest to lowest point. The right amplitude is neither too low to be ineffective nor too high to cause damage or distortion. This phenomenon is analogous to the highs and lows of AI as predicted by celebrators and doomsdayers. To determine the correct amplitude for you, I recommend reading and sharing six recent articles about using AI for competive advantage in your business:

• "Turn Generative AI from an Existential Threat into a Competitive Advantage" (HBR, Jan-Feb 2024)

"Walmart's Not-So-Secret AI Agents" (LinkedIn, Matthew Seitz, August 2025)

• “What if AI made the world's economic growth explode?" (The Economist, July 2025)

• "Here's What AI Does Next" (Ted Gioia, The Honest Broker, Sept 2024)

• "How we can control AI" (Eric Schmidt, WSJ, Aug 2025)