AI for Strategists

Before you can use AI well, you need to understand what it's great for – and where your human instinct remains irreplaceable.

• We'll introduce the AI Sandwich: the human–AI–human approach that keeps your judgement at the centre of the process, every time.

• We'll reframe how your team thinks about AI – from a tool that saves time to a partner that raises the quality and ambition of the work.

• We'll explore where AI creates genuine advantage in a strategy workflow – and where it creates risk if used without care.

You'll leave with a clear mental model for using AI as a thinking partner – and the confidence to apply it immediately.

The research phase is where AI delivers its most dramatic impact for strategists. This chapter teaches your team to conduct richer, more thorough research in a fraction of the traditional time.

• We'll teach advanced techniques using tools like Perplexity, Google NotebookLM and Microsoft Notebook – building robust research plans and accelerating customer discovery.

• You'll learn how to explore new sectors, audiences and markets you don't yet know well – and get up to speed faster than was previously possible.

• You’ll learn to build AI assistants tailored to your most common research tasks – benchmarks, audience analysis, competitive landscapes – and share them across your team.

You'll leave knowing how to conduct market and customer research that used to take days in a matter of hours – without sacrificing depth or rigour.

Great research only matters if it leads to better insights. This chapter focuses on synthesising data, developing strategy and raising the ceiling on the range of ideas your team is able to explore.

• You’ll learn how to harness AI to synthesise large datasets into sharp, actionable insights and build data-backed brand strategies.

• We'll cover how to use AI to develop more nuanced strategies and map positioning options more thoroughly – using it as a thinking partner that challenges and expands your strategic range.

• We'll explore the difference between using AI to generate ideas and using it to pressure-test them.

You'll leave with deeper analytical capability and a wider, more thoroughly mapped range of strategic options to bring to clients.

This chapter introduces your team to one of AI's most powerful capabilities: validating ideas against the market before pitching them to the client.

• We'll explore how to build sophisticated, insight-rich customer personas using AI.

• You'll learn how to test your strategic ideas against simulated personas – pressure-testing positioning, messaging and brand narratives with confidence.

• We'll cover how to use AI to surface the gaps, contradictions and opportunities your initial thinking may have missed.

You'll leave with a validation capability that makes your strategic recommendations more robust – and your confidence in presenting them considerably higher.

Even the sharpest strategy can fall flat in a client presentation. This chapter shows your team how to harness AI to tell stories in ways that really land.

• We'll cover how to develop compelling strategic narratives using AI as a creative and structural collaborator.

• We'll introduce AI-powered storytelling tools that bring strategic concepts to life – moving beyond static slides to more immersive, memorable presentations.

• We'll share top-of-class examples of how leading strategy teams are changing the way they present and sell their thinking.

You'll leave with the skills to turn your strategic output into something clients remember – and buy into.