Can we see the future with AI?

Un Espresso per favore!?

It is Friday and I am glad you take a sip of Ecosystem inspiration.?

This is?#EcosystemEspresso?#28

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2| Will seeing the future with AI make a better strategy?

Hey there, Strategists! ?? Are you tired of sifting through mountains of data just to find that golden nugget of info? Say hello to AI! This brainy tech is here to make your market research better with insights that are to the point and based on data and not just bias!

TAKE AWAY BOX:

I want you to leave with 3 inspirations:

1. In a world of complex business models like #platforms and #ecosystems you need tools to create insights for #collaboration and #convergence.
2. #Strategymaps are great for sharing patterns and provide overview to explore and align among partners in an ecosystem context.
3. A good strategy first and foremost is easy to memorize, you can storytell it - strategy maps are helpful between the NOW and THEN as futures input. But most importantly your brand-led ecosystem destination guides all.

Quote of the week:

No, we can't see the future with AI, but we can make more informed predictions based on data analysis and pattern recognition. AI excels at analyzing large datasets to identify trends and make forecasts, but it can't account for unforeseeable events or human unpredictability.

ChatGPT

Alora! Let′s take a sip!

Seeing and anticipating future better with AI for better strategies?

Strategy is found where companies allocate their time and money

Peter Drucker

If we take this quote as a key source of competitive and general market intelligence for now, we can maybe say: "What you cannot see you cannot influence..."

So, what can we use to make things visible? In the past power point decks, research decks. Attention spans and time is not there any more. AND "less is more" (says the one with the looooooong espressos)...

Since few "years" there are new, simple, and visual tools available to understand patterns, visualise and potentially predict future success, at least a little bit.

AI-based research tools

Those AI-Based research tools and outputs, like diagrams allow you to understand the different patterns faster, anticipate better types of investments, products, and services. They also reveal the kind of investment the different strategies are built on, i.e. M&A vs. organic etc.

At first sight they appear to be analyses by hand. At second sight they are AI based tools wich outperform humans.

SO....what is Amazons business gonna look like in 5 years from now...?

See CB Insights #strategymaps:

What do you like about it? I love it is making a lot of information easy to see, remember, understand and share! Most importantly find spaces of differentiation and partnering!

Tons of information in one sheet!

• Investment - Acquisition - Partnership (we live in an ecosystem economy)
• Innovation Search Field
• Brands and Businesses (Incumbents and Startups)

CB Insights - just one example

CB Insights also uses machine learning and data analysis to provide users with information on emerging industries, market trends, and investment opportunities. Through its platform, you can find: Emerging and trending tech companies. A mosaic score that predicts the success or failure of a company.

6 alternatives to CB Insights:

There are multiple applications and use cases for AI-based research. Here are some...

• Sentiment analysis
• Predictive analysis
• Consumer segmentation
• Image and video analysis
• Voice and speech analysis
• Social media listening
• Chatbots and virtual assistants
• Customer journey analysis
• Demand forecasting
• Concept testing and product innovation

Source 10 weblog

Benefits of Comprehensive Data Platforms for Strategy Development

1. In-Depth Market Insights: Allows companies to access a wealth of information, including financials, industry trends, and risk assessments, all of which are crucial for strategy formulation.
2. User-Friendly Search Capabilities: With smart search functionality, these platforms streamline the research process, making it easy to find the right kind of data swiftly.
3. Cross-Team Collaboration: Features like API integrations and exceptional customer service ensure that different departments within an organization can collaborate more effectively.
4. Customization and Scalability: The platforms are often customizable, allowing for tailored alerts, advanced data filters, and dashboard monitoring, which can be scaled as a business grows.
5. Global Coverage: These platforms often offer data and research materials that span across different countries and industries, providing a more global perspective which is crucial for strategy development in today's interconnected world.

Classic Strategy Maps

Traditionally we would have defined them as a visual tool that articulates the strategic goals of an organization and describes the causal links between objectives, typically aligning them within perspectives such as financial, customer, process, and learning and growth.

CB Insights Strategy Maps

A framework that merges traditional strategy map components with advanced analytics to provide a detailed landscape of market opportunities, competitive threats, and key performance indicators in the tech industry.

Examples of Strategy Maps

This is a great example that strategy maps can exist on different levels. The one above is from #amazon general, this one on Amazon #homeautomation. You can layer them beautifully...

Apple - clear and focused

One of the best.

Apple has 4 major tech platforms to fuel the total brand and ecosystem expansion on the highest level. Of course there are more.

Brand or Tech led?

I was tempted to look for "Privacy" - a key brand building block for #Apple.

While there are privacy and cybersecurity businesses and start ups, on the strategy map we would see company names and whether those are investments, M&A and partnering.

Underneath though it is actually Machine Learning and AI that as enablers to deliver on "Privacy". Everybody tries and does.

Tech platforms like "AI or machine learning" (see map from Apple above) are transversal and are deployed across many application fields.

Consequently, just replicating "privacy" generically to steer the brand and thus strategy and decisions in a business is insufficient.

True Brand First!

Which application fields are paramount is not to be defined by tech people. It is guided by the brand Apple with key performance principles (e.g. "Childlike intuition")...and strategic choices and of course tech roadmaps, IP strategy, Foundational Research and more.

I would metaphorically translate the Job to be done "Privacy" with a performance principle like "Der Intimus" (in German). The Latin word "Intimus" is often used to describe someone who is very close to another person in an emotional or spiritual way. In English, this could be translated as:

1. Confidant
2. Close friend
3. Inner circle

This is what Tech needs to deliver. Everybody knows what a "Confidant" is or is not. It is universal. And it is not buzzword bingo like "privacy"...About 25.200.000.000 results (0,31 seconds)?(source Google). This methodology offers another angle like #Archtypes but far more intuitive and flexible across cultures, generations and more.

Hence, tech people will be able to judge for themselves what is in and out of scope for those performance principles. What is possible now, but also where the roadmap goes achieving the destination future backwards.

Ecosystems need glue and gravitational forces.

Knowing how hard in a large business alignment, focus and traction are, it is even more challenging in an ecosystem context. There are no ultimate authorities to delegate upwards. And focus is hard when more people come together to achieve something. Even more so, as it takes time!

In ecosystem research from Michael G. Jacobides he made clear that only 15% of ecosystems establish a leading position and on average over 7 years.

Without glue the forces would push the whole system out...it would fall apart. It would not be able to define and respect boundaries. It would be general or horizontal and not focused and vertical.

An ecosystem needs simple principles a value proposition the ecosystem is following to deliver. Ron Adner makes the point of staged expansion. It is needed to have identity and guide rails as a collective. It is helping avoid trying too many things in parallel.

Will seeing the future with AI make a better strategy?

Yes, you will not be confined by your industry reality, limited perspective.

No, AI is an enabler. It requires science and art to make a better strategy, especially in a complex ecosystem context.

You can see the future with AI better, but only humans can imagine a future backwards and get there together.

Collecting (competitive) strategy maps will make your strategy better. Co-creating this framework with your teams and partners will make your ecosystem increase the odds of success to be among the 15% after 7 years.

Please share this Ecosystem Espresso with your network and a?#like?to make this visible to more people...?If not - please help make it better with?#feedback.?

Please come back next week!

Ciao and Happy Friday and Weekend!

Alex