AI Strategy Series

Most organisations approach AI through accumulated business cases, hoping that individual project approvals will somehow cohere into transformation. They don’t. With 92% of companies planning increased AI investment yet only 1% achieving maturity, the gap between ambition and achievement reveals a fundamental misconception: business cases aren’t strategy.

This four-part series applies Richard Rumelt’s strategic framework to AI transformation, showing Boards how to move from project-level approvals to systematic capability building. Rumelt teaches that genuine strategy requires three elements working together: accurate diagnosis of the challenge, guiding policy that addresses root causes, and coherent actions that reinforce each other. Most AI initiatives skip the first two and jump straight to disconnected actions.

The series builds progressively. We begin by exposing the business case trap, then diagnose why project-level governance fails through the Six Concerns framework. The Complete AI Framework provides guiding policy for systematic transformation, and finally we deliver a practical playbook of coherent actions that transform policy into compound advantage.

Articles in This Series

Part 1: Avoiding the Business Case Trap

Boards are approving AI initiatives at record pace, yet only 1% of organisations have achieved AI maturity. The gap reveals a fundamental misconception: accumulating business cases creates fragmentation rather than transformation. This article exposes why project-level thinking fails and why Boards must shift from approving individual initiatives to orchestrating systematic AI capability.

Read Part 1 →

Part 2: The Six Concerns Diagnosis

True strategy begins with diagnosis - understanding the real challenge. The Six Concerns framework reveals why project-level governance creates systemic failure: Strategic Alignment, Ethical & Legal Responsibility, Financial & Operational Impact, Risk Management, Stakeholder Confidence, and Safeguarding Innovation form an interconnected system. Addressing one while ignoring others creates new vulnerabilities.

Read Part 2 →

Part 3: The Complete AI Framework as Guiding Policy

With diagnosis complete, we need guiding policy that addresses root causes rather than symptoms. The Complete AI Framework integrates the Five Pillars of capability building, AI Stages of Adoption for maturity recognition, and Well-Advised for value creation. This provides the systematic approach that orchestrates multi-speed adoption while ensuring balanced value creation.

Read Part 3 →

Part 4: Coherent Actions

Strategy without action remains intention. Action without coherence becomes chaos. This final article delivers a practical playbook of sequenced, mutually reinforcing actions that transform the Complete AI Framework from policy into systematic execution - building compound advantage from Day 1 amnesty through Quarter 4 scaling.

Read Part 4 →

This series draws on and integrates several frameworks from my toolkit: