I was struck by a recent article by Robert Armstrong in the Financial Times asking a provocative question:
Who needs consultants in the age of AI?
Armstrong’s argument was simple. Artificial intelligence is becoming remarkably good at some of the work consultants have traditionally charged a premium for (e.g. analysing industries, synthesising information and identifying patterns).
Armstrong also made an interesting observation. The difficult part of transformation was never producing the strategy. The difficult part has always been getting people to implement it.
I think that’s exactly right.
As AI makes strategic thinking faster and more accessible, strategy creation itself becomes less of a competitive advantage. What becomes scarce is something entirely different.
The ability to create buy-in.
I’ve spent the past decade working with organisations trying to drive innovation and transformation. In almost every case, the obstacle wasn’t the lack of good ideas. It wasn’t a poor strategy. It was getting enough people to believe the change was worth supporting and then actively participate in making it happen.
That’s why I define buy-in as two things working together:
- Belief: People viewing the initiative as legitimate and valuable.
- Participation: People actively contributing to making it successful.
Without both, strategy implementation will stall. You might achieve compliance through mandates or incentives, but compliance disappears when the leaders stop pushing. Creating buy-in builds sustainable momentum.
When everyone has access to good strategic advice, the winners are the ones that can turn those plans into action. So, in the future, as strategy creation becomes cheaper. Creating buy-in will become more valuable.
Tendayi Viki