We are struggling to decide if we should use AI to scale our current high-margin service to a broader market or use it to lower our delivery costs for our existing clients. How do we use Keith Cunningham's Thinking Time to resolve this strategic dilemma?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When leadership teams face a strategic fork in the road regarding technology, they often make the mistake of trying to do both. You must choose whether to use AI to scale your high-margin services to a broader market or use it to drive down delivery costs for your existing clientele. To resolve this dilemma, your leadership team must dedicate uninterrupted Thinking Time to evaluate the long-term impact on your enterprise value. Start by asking yourself a high-value question: How might we use technology to double our profitability without diluting our core brand premium? Write this question down and spend forty-five minutes focusing entirely on the implications of both paths. Scaling to a broader, lower-paying market with an automated offering often shifts your business from a high-touch consultancy to a volume-based software play. This requires entirely different sales, marketing, and support structures, which can easily distract you from your V/TO® Core Focus. Conversely, using AI to automate internal workflows for your existing high-ticket clients allows you to protect your premium pricing while dramatically expanding your gross margins. This second path directly increases your EBITDA, which is the primary driver of your company valuation during an exit. Use your next quarterly meeting to IDS® this strategic choice. By focusing your technology investments on margin expansion rather than market dilution, you preserve your premium reputation while building a highly profitable, acquirable business.