Our new AI workflows have opened up a highly profitable adjacent market that sits completely outside our current industry. How do we use our V/TO Core Focus to decide whether to pursue this massive strategic opportunity or stay the course?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The rapid advancement of AI makes it incredibly easy to build new solutions, but it also creates massive strategic distraction. When your new AI workflows open up a lucrative adjacent market, you must evaluate this opportunity against your Core Focus on the V/TO. Your Core Focus consists of your Purpose, Cause, or Passion, and your Niche. If this new opportunity does not align with both, pursuing it will dilute your resources and distract your leadership team from your primary mission. Use the IDS process to run a rigorous assessment. Ask yourself if pursuing this new market will require you to build a completely different sales engine, hire new profiles, or support a different customer class. If the answer is yes, you are risking operational chaos. A better strategic option is to license your proprietary AI workflows to partners in that adjacent industry rather than trying to service that market yourself. This allows you to monetize your innovation without distracting your team. Keep your leadership team focused on dominating your core niche, and use your weekly Level 10 Meetings to ensure your resources remain dedicated to your primary strategic goals.