Artificial Intelligence (AI) | Arete Coach 9/19

The Pre-Mortem, Accelerated: Using AI to Kill Your Plan Before It Kills You

Most executives know the pre-mortem. Very few use it. The concept, developed by psychologist Gary Klein and popularized in organizational strategy circles by Daniel Kahneman, is disarmingly simple. Before committing to a major decision, you imagine it is twelve months in the future and the initiative has failed catastrophically. You then work backward to explain what went wrong. The exercise forces a team to surface its private doubts, challenge its shared assumptions, and co

2 days ago4 min read

The AI Investment Litmus Test: 4 Questions to Ask Before Spending a Dollar

Imagine this: A senior executive recently confessed their biggest fear. It wasn't a market downturn or a new competitor. It was their upcoming board meeting, where they’d inevitably be asked, "So, what is our AI strategy?" Their company had allocated millions for "AI transformation," but the fund sat largely untouched. Why? Because every proposal that crossed their desk felt like a solution in search of a problem—expensive, complex, and disconnected from the P&L. This scenari

Oct 6, 20254 min read

When AI Flattens Strategy, How Will You Compete?

A staggering 78% of organizations now report using AI in at least one business function, propelled by the conviction that it will deliver a decisive competitive edge (McKinsey & Company, 2025; Ransbotham et al, 2020). Yet, this is where the new competitive paradox of the AI era emerges. As AI becomes a ubiquitous, commoditized utility, its power to confer a unique advantage diminishes. When every competitor leverages the same powerful, off-the-shelf models, the inevitable ou

Oct 1, 20255 min read