A venture backed competitor just launched a fully AI enabled, self service version of our core offering at a fraction of the cost, threatening our enterprise accounts. How do we use our V/TO 3 Uniques and the Trusted Advisor framework to play a different game instead of panic building a cheap copy?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a competitor drops their price by seventy percent using automation, your first instinct is to panic and build a worse version of their tool. Do not do it. A race to the bottom is a race you will lose to venture backed software companies. Instead, you must run this threat through the IDS process and redefine your positioning on the V/TO.

Your competitor has commoditized the execution layer of your service. Your response must be to double down on the relationship and advisory layers. Go back to your 3 Uniques on the V/TO. If one of your uniques was speed or accuracy, that is no longer a differentiator. Replace it with something they cannot automate, such as deep domain expertise, customized strategic governance, or a guaranteed outcome that requires human judgment.

Apply the Trusted Advisor framework to your enterprise accounts. Reach out to your key clients not to sell them a tool, but to understand their strategic objectives. Show them that while an AI tool can generate raw outputs, it cannot assume liability, understand organizational nuance, or navigate complex stakeholder alignment.

Update your Proven Process to show how you integrate their automated tools with your expert guidance. This positions your company as the strategic layer that makes their AI investments actually work. You will lose the low value clients who only wanted cheap outputs, but you will lock in your high margin enterprise accounts who are terrified of making mistakes with unguided AI tools.