(#118) ?? Adobe's AI integration with Microsoft; Google's interest in Wiz

Dear #onStrategy reader,

Here is what you’ll find in this edition:

1. BYD is becoming the #1 EV car producer and innovation
2. Why Google has acquired the cybersecurity firm Wiz for $32 billion?
3. Adobe and Microsoft released AI Agents for Marketing
4. Market predictions
5. The Innovator’s Dilemma in the Age of Generative AI

BYD is becoming the #1 EV car producer and innovation

I like seeing demo days, like this week (18th of March 2025) with BYD. Here are the insights that matter from this event:

1/ Democratizing technology to win the mass market

BYD is taking a powerful stance by standardizing advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) across nearly its entire lineup without increasing prices. DiPilot-100 ADAS will become a baseline offering, even on affordable models like the Seagull, which sells for just 78.8k RMB. By democratizing safety and advanced driving technologies, BYD is strategically pushing competitors into a corner forcing rivals like Huawei and Tesla to justify the premium prices of their own ADAS solutions?.

2/ Leveraging scale to control the supply chain

BYD’s ability to deploy DiPilot-100 ADAS at scale demonstrates remarkable control over its supply chain. It has secured massive orders of critical components like Nvidia chips, Lidars, and sensors. This aggressive procurement locks competitors out of accessing these critical supplies. It’s a classic example of competitive advantage achieved through operational efficiency and supply chain dominance, hence creating significant barriers to entry for competitors?.

3/ Setting new standards in EV charging technology

BYD’s new “Super e-Platform”n it’s transformative. With charging capabilities that add 400 kilometers in just 5 minutes, BYD directly tackles range anxiety, one of the largest barriers to EV adoption. By drastically reducing charging time to nearly parity with gasoline refueling, BYD is redefining consumer expectations, setting a new industry benchmark, and effectively pressuring global rivals like Tesla to catch up quickly or risk falling behind permanently.

4/ Vertical Integration as a Strategic Advantage

The ability to produce core components internally, from semiconductors and high-voltage Silicon Carbide chips to battery packs, allows BYD to achieve unprecedented efficiency and performance gains. The new platform, with its 1000V battery system, demonstrates how vertical integration is about achieving a level of product innovation that rivals relying on external suppliers cannot easily replicate?.

5/ Competitive [ositioning through radical innovation

BYD is fundamentally reshaping what is expected from an electric vehicle. The unveiling of ultra-fast charging and high-powered electric motors that significantly outperform current standards indicates BYD’s aggressive pivot toward high-performance, high-value segments. This is a strategic shift designed to challenge not only domestic rivals but also international automakers like Mercedes-Benz and Tesla, positioning BYD as a global tech and performance leader rather than just another cost-competitive automaker.

With almost infinite resources from the Chinese state it’s impossible for them to fail. Bloomberg, Reuters, BYD, TP Huang.

Why Google acquired the cybersecurity firm Wiz for $32 billion?

Well, there are at least 3 reasons behind this acquisition:

1/ Google knows the future of AI isn’t just chatbots, it’s AI that acts without being asked. Buying Wiz for a record-breaking $32 billion is about redefining cloud security for the next AI wave. Google is betting that the winner isn’t the company that builds the best model, but the one that creates a secure infrastructure everyone trusts first.

2/ Wiz is Google’s shortcut to multi-cloud dominance. By acquiring Wiz, Google is also getting customers who already use multiple clouds (AWS, Azure, Oracle). Wiz’s continued commitment to multi-cloud is strategic; Google knows the future isn’t monopolizing cloud use, it’s owning the security layer that ties it all together.

3. Why does this matter? Because trust beats tech every time. Companies won’t choose the cloud provider that’s cheapest. They’ll choose the one that makes them feel safest. With Wiz, Google isn’t just buying technology, but also trust. And trust, in the era of generative AI, might just be the scarcest resource of all. Financial Times is skeptic about this transaction. Google, The Verge, Financial Times

Adobe and Microsoft released AI Agents for Marketing

The AI Agents field is very dynamic these days. Here is Adobe and its strategic partnership with Microsoft:

1/ Adobe’s integration of AI agents into Microsoft 365 Copilot matters because this it’s a fundamental shift in how software is integrated and consumed. Traditionally, marketers switch between half a dozen applications every hour; now, Adobe is embedding its tools directly into Microsoft’s workflow. Marketers can refine audience targeting, access customer analytics, and generate visuals within Word or PowerPoint without ever switching tabs. It’s like Adobe finally realized that convenience, not feature count, wins in enterprise software.

2/ But perhaps more importantly, Adobe is redefining its role in the ecosystem. Rather than standing alone as a powerful but siloed creative suite, Adobe is becoming infrastructure deeply embedded within the fabric of the tools everyone already uses. Adobe isn’t just selling products now; it’s selling seamlessness, a unified workflow. This is the new model for software companies: don’t just offer great products, integrate them so deeply into your partners’ platforms that users don’t even notice they’re using multiple services. Adobe’s future isn’t just software; it’s being quietly everywhere at once. Adobe, Satya Nadella

Not to brag, but damn how right I was 2 months ago ??

The Innovator’s Dilemma in the Age of Generative AI

So good to teach and share insights from my book ??

?? Here’s Adobe, launching Firefly, promising that AI-powered creativity tools will give everyone “superpowers”, which sounds delightful, unless your job is making traditional Adobe software. The great irony here (and Clayton Christensen would love this) is that Adobe itself might be walking straight into a classic Innovator’s Dilemma scenario: disrupting its own core products, potentially cannibalizing Photoshop or Illustrator with a tool anyone can use. This feels exactly like textbook Christensen disruption, undermining your existing high-margin business to chase the future.

But look, the innovator’s dilemma has evolved. Generative AI is fast, cheap, and inevitably disruptive, but the dilemma isn’t just whether to cannibalize yourself; it’s whether Adobe can move quickly enough to prevent others (OpenAI, Midjourney, Canva) from eating their lunch first. Firefly it’s a bold bet that the future belongs to whoever makes creativity effortless. If Adobe gets it right, it becomes the future. If not, well, someone else definitely will.

source: "The Innovator’s Dilemma in the Age of Generative AI" (chapter III.6 from my book: https://book.onstrategy.eu)

I just launched my book on strategy:

Through 28 chapters, I covered three parts: (1) Strategy, (2) Innovation & Growth, and (3) Generative AI.

See a full sample - the chapter on Network Effects. - click HERE

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