For the last few decades, code has primarily served in an operational and analytical capacity. SaaS has been deployed across every enterprise on the planet to streamline their sales, marketing, and supply chains. Data warehouses and lakes have democratized access internally, and with just a few lines of code, the most advanced organizations can see across everything they do.
But strategy has remained firmly in the human domain. While we arm ourselves with data to answer the questions of what we should do and where we should play, it still comes down to calories burned to find the answer. Spreadsheets and dashboards might inform our decisions, but the heavy lifting of strategic thinking has been a uniquely human endeavor.
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The emergence of powerful AI models is fundamentally changing this calculus. When combined with code and unique knowledge contained only inside that enterprise, the models enable the creation of systems that can:
- Help answer complex strategic questions
- Operate at a scale and speed previously unattainable
- Be easily deployed and operationalized across the organization
Strategic software represents a new category of enterprise solutions that address challenges traditionally tackled by MBAs, strategists, and consultants. By approaching these problems with code and AI, we’re not just finding faster ways to analyze the past—we’re building operational systems that can continuously solve problems going forward.
Strategic software stands for:
- Speed: Projects that once took months can now be completed in weeks.
- Scale: The ability to process vast amounts of data (e.g., 50,000 documents) in hours.
- Operationalization: Strategic insights can be quickly transformed into ongoing operational processes.
Importantly, strategic software doesn’t replace human expertise—it amplifies it. To be truly effective, these systems require deep company/industry knowledge and human insight. They represent a powerful fusion of human intelligence and AI capabilities, opening up new possibilities for solving complex business challenges.
As we move forward, the build vs. buy question is no longer confined to IT and operations—it’s infiltrating the realm of strategy itself. Companies that harness the power of strategic software aren’t just streamlining their processes; they’re redefining how strategy is conceived, implemented, and evolved. In this new landscape, the competitive edge doesn’t just come from having the best data or the smartest people—it comes from having systems that can turn that data and expertise into actionable, adaptive strategies at unprecedented speed and scale.
The future of business strategy isn’t just about making better decisions—it’s about building better decision-making machines. And that’s what strategic software is all about.