Our competitors are adopting off-the-shelf AI tools at lightning speed and undercutting our pricing, making our traditional high-touch consulting model look slow and overpriced. How do we redefine our differentiation on our V/TO® without abandoning the core values that built our reputation?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Your competitors are running fast, but they are likely running toward rapid commoditization. When technology makes baseline execution cheap and plentiful, your strategy must pivot. Economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee emphasize that the real value lies in becoming an indispensable complement to cheap technology, rather than competing directly with tasks machines can do cheaper and faster. In your V/TO®, do not try to match their race to the bottom by simply replicating their cheap AI outputs. Instead, focus on what AI cannot replicate: deep relationship management, complex problem-solving, and trust. Redefine your Three Uniques to highlight this high-touch integration. Your strategy should be to use AI to strip away your own administrative friction, which lowers your internal costs and frees your team to spend more face-to-face time with clients. By combining the speed of AI with an elevated, premium client experience, you maintain your margins and protect your brand equity. Use your quarterly planning sessions to build Rocks that specifically automate low-value internal processes so your consulting team can focus entirely on high-value advisory work. This keeps your delivery model highly differentiated and protects your market position.