How are the working groups formed?

Along function lines, for example a chief commercial officer with the heads of marketing, sales and customer service. We agree the groups with you before the program.

Can non-executive directors join?

Directors can join the final day to see the strategy and the proposed board metrics. If they should help set the frame, the integrated program brings them in on the first day.

What happens after the program?

An optional review after 90 days with executives and department heads, against the first roadmap check.

For Enterprises For executives and their department heads

AI Strategy Carried by All

Four days for the executive team and the department heads who report to it. The strategy is built during the program days, so preparation stays light, and every function leaves with its own AI plan and a named owner.

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Enterprise · Executives + Department Heads

Duration: 4 days
Who takes part: Executives and the department heads who report to them
Where: Your company, a venue of your choice, or on campus

Back to overview

Why it matters

AI changes the departments first

Department heads know where time and money are lost, and they will lead adoption in their teams. A strategy built without them can miss practical opportunities and meet resistance later. Bringing them into the program moves discovery from weeks of preparation into the room.

Redesigned work 3 in 4

AI high performers have fundamentally redesigned workflows, against one in four other companies.

Companies using AI 9 in 10

use AI regularly in at least one business function.

AI high performers 6%

of companies attribute at least 5% of operating profit (EBIT) to AI.

How we frame the work

What a strategy must reconcile

An AI strategy holds only where three things meet. Where only two overlap, something is missing.

1What AI can do2What the company stands for3What the board will support Right, but unfundedFunded, but off-missionSupported, but not feasible Your AI strategy

1
What AI can doWhich tasks it can improve today, at what cost and risk
2
What the company stands forCustomers, people, values and the limits the owners set
3
What the board will supportInvestment, oversight and the evidence directors need
AI StrategyA strategy the company can fund, run and stand behind.

Where circles partly overlap

Right, but unfunded
Funded, but off-mission
Supported, but not feasible

The program

Day by day, every function

Before the program, each department head completes a one-page sheet on goals, processes, problems and systems, and we interview the CEO and representatives of the owners or the non-executive board. On the second day, executives interview department heads from other functions; their findings become the list of opportunities.

Duration: 4 days
Who takes part: Executives and the department heads who report to them
Preparation: Light: a one-page sheet per department
Where: Your company, a venue of your choice, or on campus

Day 1 AI ambition and limits Output Ambition, limits and interview plan
Day 2 Finding opportunities Output Opportunities by function
Day 3 Priorities and business cases Output Scored opportunities and business cases with owners
Day 4 Roadmap and operating model Output Strategy, roadmap and an AI plan per function

AI Strategy Carried by All
	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4
Executives	Direction, ambition, limits	Interview department heads	Score and choose	Roadmap, ownership, final choices
Department heads	Direction, interview method	Are interviewed; add opportunities	Co-own business cases	Adoption plans; function AI owners

What you take home

AI strategyBuilt by executives and department heads together
AI plan per functionOwned by the department head who runs the work
ROI casesEach with a named owner
RoadmapWith adoption plans for each team
Operating modelWho owns AI and who decides, at executive and department level
Quarterly opportunity reviewA routine to find and report new AI opportunities every quarter

01PreparationInterviews and reading, so the program starts from your own situation
02LearnShort faculty input on one part of the strategy or of oversight
03PracticeThe step is tried first on a teaching case
04ApplyYour team or board applies it to your own company
05Follow-upAn optional review once the first results are in

Every program is adapted to your industry, size and governance before it starts.

Choosing what to do

How opportunities are sorted

Every opportunity is rated on the value it creates and on how feasible it is with today’s data, systems, risks and costs.

Strategic betsHigh value, but groundwork comes firstPlan the groundwork

Do nowHigh value and ready to startFund and start

StopNot worth the effort or the riskDrop or park

Fill-insModest value, easy to do when capacity allowsHand to the teams

Groundwork, such as cleaner data or a new system, can turn a strategic bet into one to do now.

Who takes part

CEO and executive teamSet direction and make the final choices, all four days
Department and team headsBring the detail of the work and lead adoption, all four days
Working groupsAlong function lines, for example a chief commercial officer with the heads of marketing, sales and customer service

Senior management

Why add senior management

Compared with AI Strategy for Enterprise, this program adds the department heads who report to the executives, and one day. Preparation drops to a one-page sheet per department.

Strengths

Practical opportunities from the people who run the work
Ownership and adoption start in the room
Preparation drops to a one-page sheet per department

Trade-offs

One extra day, and a larger group to bring together
Sensitive choices are discussed in a wider circle
Executives must make the final choices in front of their teams

For Executives AI Strategy for Enterprise 3 days

Family enterprise

The family enterprise version

The family version adds a fifth day. The family’s values shape every choice, department heads help map the knowledge at risk from retirements, and the next generation asks the leaders it will one day lead for their support.

AI Strategy Carried by All for Family Enterprise The strategy is built in the room, and the next generation works with the leaders whose support it will need. 5 days

Also on campus in New YorkEvery program can run at your company or in your boardroom, or on campus at Columbia Business School, where our founder teaches AI. About the campus option →

Frequently asked

How much preparation does it take?
Little. Each department head completes a one-page sheet on goals, processes, problems and systems. The discovery interviews happen in the room.
How are the working groups formed?
Along function lines, for example a chief commercial officer with the heads of marketing, sales and customer service. We agree the groups with you before the program.
Can non-executive directors join?
Directors can join the final day to see the strategy and the proposed board metrics. If they should help set the frame, the integrated program brings them in on the first day.
What happens after the program?
An optional review after 90 days with executives and department heads, against the first roadmap check.

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