Our leadership team is debating whether to list our proprietary AI-driven processing engine as one of our Three Uniques on our V/TO® or if it is already becoming table stakes in our industry. How do we determine if our technological backend is a true differentiator that drives business value or just a baseline requirement?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

To determine if your AI capability belongs in your Three Uniques, you must look at how it directly impacts the client experience. If your competitors can buy off-the-shelf software that achieves the exact same operational speed or quality, then your AI engine is not a unique differentiator. It is simply table stakes, much like having a website or high-speed internet.

A true unique is a differentiator that, when combined with two others, makes it impossible for competitors to copy you. If your AI backend allows you to deliver a highly customized, error-free result at a speed and price point that competitors cannot match without losing money, then it qualifies.

However, the safest strategic path is to seek to be an indispensable complement to technologies that are becoming cheap and plentiful. Instead of bragging about the AI tool itself, focus your Three Uniques on the human expertise, strategic oversight, and relational trust that wraps around the AI output.

Run this debate through your next quarterly planning session. Ask your leadership team if a client would choose you solely because of your proprietary AI engine. If the answer is no, keep the technology in your internal operational systems and focus your V/TO® marketing strategy on the human-delivered outcomes that the machine cannot replicate.