Every competitor in our industry is adopting the same public AI tools to write copy, draft reports, and compile data, making our technological capabilities look identical to theirs. How do we redefine our Three Uniques on our V/TO® to establish true strategic differentiation when the technology itself has become cheap, plentiful, and completely commoditized?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

If your competitors are using the exact same public AI tools, those tools are not your differentiator. They are table stakes. If you list generic AI capabilities as one of your Three Uniques on your V/TO®, you are setting yourself up for commoditization.

To find your true differentiation, you must apply the economic principle of becoming an indispensable complement to cheap, plentiful technology. When AI makes raw data, content, and code cheap and abundant, the value shifts to the things that remain scarce. These scarce assets are deep industry context, emotional intelligence, trusted relationships, and proprietary data.

Review your Three Uniques with your leadership team. Strip away any mention of standard AI processing. Instead, focus on how your team uses AI outputs to deliver human diagnostics that machines cannot replicate. Your differentiator is not the software. It is your unique ability to synthesize automated insights into high-stakes business decisions for your clients. Prioritize your operational efficiency internally to keep your costs low, but market your human-in-the-loop expertise as the premium value. This is how you defend your margins and prevent your service from being viewed as a generic software-driven utility.