I’ve been having some really interesting conversations with companies recently whose approach to AI implementation is almost entirely technology-led. Automate this. Build a dashboard here. Install a chatbot.

It’s all very tech-focused, and to be clear, that approach isn’t entirely wrong. Every organisation has areas where using AI is a complete no-brainer: removing admin burden, cutting out low-value, time-consuming work, and freeing up people’s headspace to focus on what actually matters in their role.

However when the focus is only on technology, you run the risk of just ‘building a faster horse’.

What I mean by that is this: you’re optimising how your business operates today, based on the (flawed) assumption that the role of AI is simply to help you do the same things faster and more efficiently. In the short term, that’s fine - it’s a sensible defensive position.

The risk comes when companies start investing significant sums in AI without first understanding what’s happening in their wider industry, and how AI is reshaping the ecosystem they operate in.

This is the difference between a technology-led approach and a strategic one. One without the other doesn’t really work. In my view, the two have to run concurrently.

Yes, absolutely solve everyday problems with AI. Go after the easy wins: low cost, low risk, automating admin and routine work, but at the same time, you have to step back and look at the strategic picture.

If you don’t, you may miss the fact that the ground is shifting beneath you. You can end up building an increasingly efficient internal machine while failing to notice changes happening externally. What are the wider trends in the market? What’s happening at levels beyond your own organisation?

Many of the companies I work with are mid-sized, so it’s critical to look at what’s happening at multinational level in your industry, because those changes inevitably shape the ecosystem everyone else operates within.

One of the most interesting impacts of AI is that it can blur the lines of where companies choose to compete. The customers you serve today, under your current business model, may not be the customers you compete for in the future.

That’s why a strategic approach matters. It’s about exploring where the market might go, looking at the trends and how the market is evolving, considering different scenarios, and asking: what if? If that scenario started to play out, what early signals would we see in the market that indicate a shift is underway? Strategy is about understanding where value is created, who owns it, and how decisions get made.

The tactical view cannot be separated from the strategic one, both are essential. The tactical use of AI is a defensive move: it protects your position in the market as it exists today. The strategic use of AI is about where you’ll be competing in two to five years’ time.

If longevity matters, if you want to build on your strengths and create future competitive advantage, strategy has to sit alongside technology from the very beginning. The question to ask yourself  is  ‘are we building capability or just speed’?