Our competitors are claiming major efficiency gains from AI, but our team is still in the testing phase. How do we measure our actual operational velocity against theirs without getting distracted by their marketing noise?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Stop looking at your competitors' marketing materials. Flashy press releases do not equal operational leverage. Instead, bring this issue to your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ and use the IDS® process to look at your own numbers. To measure your actual velocity, you must focus on your Scorecard.

Look at your revenue per employee and your gross margin percentage. These are the only metrics that prove whether your team is actually gaining leverage or just playing with new tools. As Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson have argued, the companies that succeed with new technology are those that fundamentally restructure their workflows, not just those that adopt tools first.

Prioritize using AI to increase employee productivity as a starting point, as employees are a major P&L item and much time is spent on low-value tasks. If your competitors are boasting about AI but their headcount is still growing at the same rate as their revenue, they have not actually solved the problem.

Use your quarterly meetings to run a Scenario Simulation. Ask an AI tool to simulate competitive pricing responses based on their public claims. This will help you see if their alleged efficiency gains are a real threat or just noise. Focus on your own V/TO® and make your operational efficiency your primary shield. Keep your team focused on executing their Rocks and let your competitors waste cash on unproven tech.