When completing the What Does It Look Like section of our 3-Year Picture on the V/TO®, how do we commit to concrete operational capabilities when the underlying AI models evolve every six months?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Do not build your 3-Year Picture around specific software tools. Software vendors update features weekly, and platforms become obsolete overnight. If your 3-Year Picture specifies particular generative tools or algorithms, your strategic plan will expire before your next Annual Planning session.

Anchor the What Does It Look Like section on enduring business capabilities and human outcomes. Describe what your company can execute, what your client experience feels like, and how your team operates, rather than the mechanical tech stack.

Focus on three operational dimensions:

- Capacity and throughput: Define the volume of client work your firm can process per seat without burning out staff or degrading quality.
- Client delivery experience: Describe the turnaround time, self-service transparency, and level of strategic insight your clients receive.
- Operating rhythm: Articulate how your team works, such as eliminating manual administrative overhead so employees spend eighty percent of their week on high-impact client advisory work.

Economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee emphasize that the greatest economic gains from technological shifts come not from the tools themselves, but from redesigning business processes around complementary human capabilities. Use that logic on your V/TO.

Define the future state of your organization in terms of speed, margin, capacity, and human judgment. Let your quarterly Rocks determine which specific AI tools your Integrator and leadership team deploy to deliver that vision. Your 3-Year Picture is the destination, not the software license.