AI Isn't the Strategy
Rethinking the Where, Why, and How of Business Reinvention Powered by AI
One thing I’m observing with generative AI and AI agents is that they’re still seen as tools to automate yesterday’s work, based on yesterday’s thinking, measured by yesterday’s metrics.
And just to level-set: when I say agents, I mean AI systems that don’t just respond to prompts… they can take action across tools, workflows, and decisions.
But even then, too often the goal is simply speeding up what already exists.
That’s automation.
And while automation has value, it’s not transformation.
Automation is doing the same work faster, cheaper, at scale.
Reinvention is changing what the work is to not only improve yesterday’s work and make it more efficient, but to also achieve new outcomes that create new value. It’s the difference between iteration and innovation.
While I see “AI strategies” across the enterprise, I rarely see the where, why, and how of AI to drive business reinvention with AI.
The Where, Why, and How Mental Model for Business Reinvention Powered by AI
Reinvention changes the work itself: the outcomes we pursue, the value we create, and the experiences we deliver.
The Where, Why, and How framework is a leadership mental model designed to shift AI strategy from faster and cheaper to new and better.
Where clarifies the destination. What becomes possible when we challenge constraints and reimagine outcomes?
Why anchors the effort in purpose…why we exist, what we stand for, and why change is worth it.
How turns vision into action…how we test, learn, scale, and measure impact without simply automating broken processes.
In other words: Where, Why, and How is the AI-era equivalent of Vision, Mission, and Strategy. It’s a mental model to remind us that AI isn’t the strategy… it’s the capability that makes a better strategy achievable.
Where
Where can this take us that we’re not thinking about?
Where can AI challenge fundamental assumptions about our business and how we work?
Where can AI create value in our work and in the experiences we deliver to employees, customers, and partners?
Where do we want to go with AI?
Because “where” isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about possibility.
It’s about moving from process-driven organizations to decision-driven organizations.
From siloed functions to connected intelligence.
From employee workflows to employee experiences.
From serving customers to orchestrating better customer outcomes.
Why
Why do we not challenge our conventions or “business as usual?”
Why do we work this way—or measure these values?
Why do we optimize for activity instead of impact?
We’re still measuring “success” by yesterday’s measures:
tickets closed instead of problems prevented
speed of response instead of quality of experience
volume of output instead of value created
And the bigger question: why do we even exist?
Why did we start this company?
Why do customers choose us?
Why does our work matter?
Because the “why” is where transformation either begins… or gets avoided.
And if we’re being honest, many AI efforts don’t start with purpose.
They start with pressure.
How
How can we think differently about our approach?
If we started today, how would we design this?
How might we identify key areas of impact—fast learning, low-risk experiments—to adapt and grow?
How can we bring an AI-augmented vision and mission to life in ways that employees, customers, and partners value and believe in?
Here’s what “how” can look like when it’s intentional:
Start small with low-risk experiments tied to real outcomes
Learn fast through feedback loops and iteration
Scale deliberately with change management (leadership) and governance
Measure differently, think outcomes over tasks
Because if we apply AI to broken processes, we don’t fix them…we scale dysfunction.
That’s just it: the where, why, and how are really about starting with vision, mission, and strategy.
AI is not those things.
AI is not the vision.
It is not the mission.
And it is not the strategy.
AI is a capability.
Strategy is a choice.
Transformation is a commitment.
That’s on leadership to define, and for everyone to bring to life… together.
And if you really think about it, AI is just one opportunity to rethink your Where, Why, and How.
Closing
This is for C-Suites, Boards of Directors, and leaders everywhere, The real breakthrough isn’t deploying AI or achieving incremental progress, it’s reimagining what becomes possible because of it. So before you tout use cases that make yesterday faster and cheaper, before you roll out agents, automate workflows, or chase quick wins… answer the leadership questions first: Where are we going? Why does it matter? How will we get there?
Articulate your future motivating state. What does it look and feel like? How will we know when we get there? What is the role people play in bringing it to life. What does success look like for everyone?
Because the future is so much more than automation. It’s intentionally designed, purposefully led, and intelligently augmented.
Read Mindshift | Book Brian as a Speaker
