Exponential to Table Stakes
Right now, AI is a massive strategic advantage.
As I discuss in How Do You Win with AI?, the first half of the flywheel is using AI to free up your people. The second half of the flywheel are the steps for achieving exponential benefits and differentiation in the marketplace.
At some point, all companies will be on this flywheel, and the differentiation will be commoditized. Using AI will be table-stakes to compete, just as using the internet is now.
In the internet age, the first companies that could profitably sell their products or services on the internet created exponential differentiation in the marketplace. Then, everyone developed websites.
It’s similar with mobile websites as smartphones proliferated. The first companies to have mobile-native experiences drew massive benefits in the marketplace. Then, building mobile sites became table stakes.
In the past, as the tech, and the transformation that followed, became table-stakes, there were technology platforms that effectively demonetized the transformation.
Instead of coding your own website from scratch and buying servers, you could use site templates Wix or WordPress with your own copy and spin up a website in an hour or two. And, it would automatically generate the mobile versions of the sites to boot. Instead of spending $10,000 on a website, a company could spin one up for $300 per year.
So why invest in AI when it’s early and expensive?
Because by the time it’s table stakes, there will be less and less differentiation. All the value is in getting the early lead. The early lead is what customers remember. It’s what builds brand equity. It’s what creates true differentiation.
When everyone else is playing catch-up to you, you’re focused on value-creation for the customer. It’s a completely different mindset. One company is saying “What can I do to not be left behind?”
The other company is saying “How can I drive even more value for you?”