When we sit down to write our 3-Year Picture on the V/TO®, we are struggling to project our revenue-per-employee targets. Since AI will exponentially increase what a single seat can output, how do we establish realistic three-year goals for human capacity without over-hiring or setting impossible execution targets?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Setting a three-year target when technology is advancing rapidly requires shifting your focus from raw headcount to operational capacity. If you plan your business using historical ratios of revenue to employees, you will end up over-hiring and hurting your margins as automated systems become more efficient.

Start by defining your future capacity based on what your core processes look like when fully optimized by technology. Look at your current team and prioritize use cases for AI that improve operational efficiency, freeing your people from administrative burdens. This allows you to project a much higher revenue-per-employee metric in your 3-Year Picture on the V/TO®.

Instead of projecting an army of new employees, focus on building the complementary assets that make your technology valuable. Economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee emphasize that the true value of new technology is unlocked only when companies redesign their organization and human roles.

Your 3-Year Picture should reflect a lean, highly skilled team that spends its time on high-impact priorities and strategic client management. When you map out your future organizational structure, focus on hiring for roles that require deep emotional intelligence, complex problem-solving, and strategic judgment. This approach keeps your overhead low, makes your business highly attractive to buyers using the Step by Step Exit framework, and ensures your team remains highly productive.