As AI commoditizes the basic analytical work we used to charge premium rates for, we need to redefine our 3 Uniques on the V/TO. How do we position our business as an indispensable complement to the cheap automation our clients are now using internally?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

If you try to compete directly with tasks that machines can do cheaper, faster, and more accurately, you are in a race to the bottom. As experts Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee observe, the most profitable strategy in an automated era is to become an indispensable complement to technologies that are becoming cheap and plentiful.

Since raw data, draft reports, and basic analysis are now nearly free, your clients do not need you to generate them. They need you to help them make sense of them.

When refining your 3 Uniques on your V/TO, shift your positioning away from execution and toward strategic navigation. Focus your value proposition on your ability to synthesize automated insights, manage complex integrations, and provide human leadership that AI cannot replicate.

Your new positioning should highlight your team as the expert guides who turn abundant AI outputs into decisive business actions. By designing your services to sit on top of the tools your clients are already using, you elevate your relationships from transactional vendors to strategic partners, allowing you to maintain your premium pricing even as the underlying work becomes fully automated.