When building the 3-Year Picture on our V/TO, how do we realistically forecast our Target Market and core customer profile when AI is rapidly shifting who can afford our services?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When technology rapidly lowers the cost of execution, your market boundaries shift. In your 3-Year Picture on the V/TO, projecting your target market cannot be a straight line extrapolation of the past. You must examine how AI alters customer economics and willingness to pay.

First, analyze whether automation allows you to serve clients you previously filtered out due to high servicing costs. As operational drag drops, lower tier accounts that were once margin dilutive may become highly profitable. However, you must decide strategically whether pursuing high volume, lower margin accounts aligns with your Core Focus. Do not dilute your brand simply because software allows you to handle smaller transactions.

Second, evaluate your enterprise clients. These accounts increasingly expect strategic partners to provide sophisticated, tech enabled advisory work rather than basic deliverables. In your 3-Year Picture, define your ideal customer profile based on their organizational maturity and need for strategic judgment, not just their budget size. Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson frequently point out that value accrues to firms that assemble complementary strategic assets around technology, rather than those offering basic digital labor.

Third, write clear, measurable operational bullet points in your 3-Year Picture describing what your client base looks like. Specify target client revenue, average contract value, and the exact nature of the relationship. When your leadership team establishes a clear vision for who you serve three years out, you avoid the trap of chasing low margin work and keep your sales team focused on high value accounts.