Insights

What’s the winning AI strategy: build, buy, or borrow? That’s the wrong question. The real question is: when should you build, when should you buy, and when should you borrow? In real AI strategy, there is rarely a single “right” option. The organizations that get this right don’t choose one path — they combine them deliberately. With traditional software, this is usually a cost and speed decision. With AI, it becomes a control, risk, and data decision — and those trade-offs have long-term consequences. ...

“The challenges haven’t changed. Only the technology has. Your experience is more relevant than you think.” If you’ve ever led a transformation — any transformation — you already know more about AI adoption than you think. Agile transformation. Digital transformation. Operating model redesign. New technology adoption. Culture change programs. Every single one felt new at the time. Every single one came with the same promise — this will change everything. And every single one ran into the same walls. ...

“You’re not choosing whether AI becomes part of your organization. You’re choosing how intentionally and how well.” Let’s skip the debate about whether AI is coming. It’s already here. Every organization I speak to is doing AI work in some shape or form. Maybe it’s a pilot. Maybe it’s a vendor tool already deployed. Maybe it’s a team experimenting quietly without a formal program. Maybe it’s all three simultaneously. The significant shifts we’re seeing now aren’t the beginning of AI. They’re the maturation of it. The question was never whether. It’s always been how. ...

“AI tools don’t create value. Organizations that are ready to use them do.” The biggest AI fear today? Justifying the investment. Yes — fear. Whether you acknowledge it or not. Every organization is investing in AI. Tools are bought. Pilots are running. Vendors are contracted. And somewhere in every boardroom, every leadership team, every program office, there’s a quiet anxiety nobody is saying out loud. Are we going to be able to justify this? ...