Artificial Intelligence Eradicate Practitioners of Strategy :- Discover how AI is reshaping strategy practice—what tasks are being automated, which skills remain uniquely human, and why strategic expertise still matters. Learn more for 2025!
Will Artificial Intelligence Eradicate Practitioners of Strategy? Yes & NoThe most common question I encounter these days is whether artificial intelligence (AI) will completely wipe out the human practice of strategy. While I have written extensively on topics like “Strategy & AI” and “Investment Strategy & AI,” today we delve into the impact of AI on the business of strategy.
Will Artificial Intelligence Eradicate Practitioners of Strategy? 5 Key Insights for 2025!
In this comprehensive guide, we explore both sides of the argument—why AI will eliminate many routine tasks while still leaving room for uniquely human expertise. For more insights on related topics, check out our previous Practitioner Insights (PTW/PI) articles here.
The Evolving Practice of Strategy
Many professionals work full-time or part-time on what we call the practice of strategy (PoS). These include management consultants at top firms like McKinsey, BCG, and Bain, as well as numerous in-house strategists at companies around the world. Collectively, these strategy practitioners form a significant workforce globally—tens of thousands strong.
The answer to whether AI will eradicate these jobs isn’t black and white. In fact, it’s a nuanced mix of “yes” and “no.”
The “Yes” Side: Automation of Routine Strategy Tasks
AI’s Impact on Routine Work
AI is set to automate a substantial portion of strategy-related tasks. Many activities performed by strategy practitioners—like customer research, market mapping, and constructing analytical decks—are being transformed by algorithms. These tasks, once labor-intensive, are now completed faster, more thoroughly, and with greater accuracy by AI tools.
A Brief History of Disruption
Reflecting on my personal experience, during the summer of 1980, while I was between my two years at Harvard Business School, I worked as an investment banker. Back then, creating prospectuses meant working with hot lead presses and tedious manual proofreading using IBM Selectric typewriters. With the advent of electronic publishing, tasks once performed by many MBAs were swiftly automated. Investment banks transitioned, hiring fewer investment bankers and more professionals in sales, trading, and quantitative roles.
Today, AI represents the next wave of disruption for high-end professional jobs. In strategy practice, for instance, I recently used my favorite AI tool, Claude, to generate a typology of winning business strategies. Within minutes, it provided a classification that included market position strategies, competitive behavior strategies, and even various methods of achieving differentiation.
Demonstrating AI’s Capabilities
I pushed Claude further by asking for detailed ways to win with differentiation. It offered five core differentiation approaches—ranging from product/service quality to customer experience—and even suggested implementation tactics like pricing and communications strategies. Then I asked how to ensure sustainability of that competitive advantage, and Claude outlined eight key elements, such as securing your supply chain and developing proprietary technologies.
In just three simple queries over five minutes, AI delivered a framework that traditionally required hours of expert input. This clearly demonstrates that many strategy tasks, once reserved for high-priced practitioners, are becoming algorithmic in nature. Management consulting firms have already begun offshoring many of these routine tasks to lower-cost jurisdictions—and AI is only accelerating that trend.
For further reading on digital disruption in strategy, you might explore articles on Harvard Business Review or Forbes.
The “No” Side: The Enduring Value of Human Strategy Expertise
Intelligent Prompting Requires Strategic Insight
While AI excels at generating checklists and general frameworks, it falls short when deep strategic insight is required. For instance, when I asked Claude for ways to ensure long-term competitive advantage, the tool provided a list of sustainability factors. However, to determine which factors are most critical—and to tailor those recommendations to a specific business context—requires nuanced understanding.
Just as pilots follow preflight checklists or doctors use surgical checklists (as highlighted in Atul Gawande’s Checklist Manifesto), human strategists apply checklists from memory. AI can generate a list, but it cannot replace the expertise needed to adapt that list to the unique variables of each situation. In other words, AI needs an intelligent interlocutor to frame the right questions and interpret its outputs effectively.
Application to Specific Business Contexts
Even when provided with detailed context, AI tends to offer generic answers. In one scenario, I presented a strategy challenge involving a medical product with a 70% global market share but no physical differentiation. Although Claude produced a sensible set of recommendations, it still left me to decide which of the options best matched the unique situation. This underscores a critical point: successful strategy depends on applying general knowledge to specific problems—something that requires deep expertise.
Generation of Unique Solutions
One major limitation of AI is its inability to generate truly unique, innovative solutions. AI systems work by identifying patterns in existing data. They excel at providing the most common responses but fall short when asked to produce a breakthrough idea. In a world where everyone has access to the same algorithmic insights, the value of human strategists will increasingly hinge on their ability to innovate beyond the standard playbook.
How Strategy Practitioners Can Thrive in a Post-AI World
Augmenting Human Expertise with AI
There are three primary ways for strategy practitioners to continue delivering high value in an AI-enhanced environment:
- Intelligent Prompting: Develop the skill to ask the right questions that drive useful, tailored responses from AI.
- Contextual Application: Use AI-generated frameworks as a starting point, then apply your deep industry knowledge to refine and adapt those insights.
- Innovative Problem-Solving: Go beyond algorithmic outputs to generate unique solutions that AI cannot replicate.
Mastering these skills will not only safeguard your career but also significantly enhance your compensation and professional satisfaction.
FAQs on AI and Strategy Practice
Q1: Can AI completely replace human strategy practitioners in the future?
A1: AI will automate many routine tasks in strategy, but human expertise remains essential for intelligent prompting, contextual adaptation, and generating innovative solutions.
Q2: How can strategy practitioners remain relevant in an AI-driven world?
A2: By mastering the art of intelligent prompting, applying AI-generated insights to specific contexts, and developing unique, innovative strategies that go beyond algorithmic outputs.
Q3: What areas of strategy work are least likely to be automated by AI?
A3: Tasks that require deep industry-specific knowledge, creative problem-solving, and the generation of unique solutions are areas where human strategists will continue to excel.
Practitioner Insight – The Future of Strategy
If you’re a strategy practitioner, consider this a call to action. Embrace AI as a tool that can handle routine, algorithmic tasks while you focus on the aspects that demand strategic creativity and expertise. The future will belong to those who can combine the efficiency of AI with their own human ingenuity. In short, the answer to whether AI will eradicate the practice of strategy is: it will transform it. Many tasks will be automated, but the uniquely human ability to craft innovative and context-specific strategies will ensure that skilled practitioners continue to thrive.
For more expert insights and continuous updates on the evolving role of AI in strategy, visit our Practitioner Insights hub.
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