Economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee argue that as technology becomes cheap, the value of complementary human assets rises. How do we identify and invest in these specific human complements within our current service model to justify our premium pricing?

Economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee highlight a critical economic principle: when a technology becomes cheap and plentiful, the value of its complements rises. In an economy flooded with cheap, AI-generated content and basic analysis, your standard deliverables are being commoditized. To maintain your premium pricing, you must identify and invest in the human complements that AI cannot replicate. Look at your V/TO® and evaluate your Three Uniques™. The aspects of your service delivery that rely on deep trust, complex relationship management, empathy, and high-stakes decision making are your primary human complements. These are the elements of your business that actually become more valuable as basic task execution becomes free. To exploit this shift, update your standard Accountability Chart to elevate these human-centric seats. Move your team members out of administrative and processing roles and place them into strategic advisory and client success roles. Train your people to use AI to handle the analytical heavy lifting so they can spend their time delivering high-impact, personalized guidance to your clients. When you position your business as an indispensable complement to cheap technology, you protect your margins from commoditization. Buyers operating under the Step by Step Exit framework will pay a premium for a business that has successfully defended its pricing power by leveraging human relationships alongside advanced automation.

Category: AI & Business Strategy