For Family Enterprises For the executives of a family enterprise

AI Strategy for Family Enterprise

Four days in which the family and non-family executives of a family enterprise build an AI strategy that serves the owners’ values and continuity, and gives the next generation a role in it.

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Family enterprise · For Executives
Duration
4 days
Who takes part
Family and non-family executives, including the next generation
Where
Your company, a venue of your choice, or on campus
Back to overview
Why it matters

Questions only family firms face

Family enterprises face the AI questions every company faces, and several of their own: how AI fits the family’s values, how to invest with a longer horizon, how to keep the knowledge of the senior generation and long-serving staff, and how to prepare the next generation. A strategy that leaves these questions open will struggle to win the owners’ support. This program puts them at the center and ends with a strategy the family can stand behind.

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.

Redesigned work 3 in 4

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

How we frame the work

The family enterprise lens

1Business2Family3Ownership Fully backed AI strategy
  1. 1
    BusinessWhere AI creates value, at what cost and risk
  2. 2
    FamilyValues, the family name and the next generation
  3. 3
    OwnershipLong-term capital, dividends and control
  4. AI Strategy: carried by allA strategy the business can run and the family can stand behind.

Based on the three-circle model of the family business (Tagiuri and Davis).

The program

Day by day to a family strategy

Before the program, we interview the CEO and family owners or members of the family council. Executives and next-generation family members interview their managers, and each function lists the knowledge that leaves with upcoming retirements. On the last day, the team rehearses its report to the owners with a role-played family council.

Duration
4 days
Who takes part
Family and non-family executives, including the next generation
Preparation
Interviews with owners and managers
Where
Your company, a venue of your choice, or on campus
  1. Day 1 Values and ambition Output Ambition, limits based on family values, map of knowledge at risk
  2. Day 2 Priorities and business cases Output Opportunities scored on family goals; business cases
  3. Day 3 Roadmap and operating model Output Strategy, roadmap and operating model
  4. Day 4 Next generation and owners Output Next-generation plan; format for reporting to owners
What you take home
  • AI strategyGrounded in the family’s values and horizon
  • Operating modelWho owns AI and who decides, in line with the family charter
  • Investment viewBusiness cases, payback and the balance with dividends
  • Knowledge mapWhat the senior generation and long-serving staff know, and how to keep it
  • Next-generation planAI roles and a mandate across the company
  • Reporting to ownersA report format for the family council, trusts and shareholders
  1. 01PreparationInterviews and reading, so the program starts from your own situation
  2. 02LearnShort faculty input on one part of the strategy or of oversight
  3. 03PracticeThe step is tried first on a teaching case
  4. 04ApplyYour team or board applies it to your own company
  5. 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, including family goals, 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

  • Family executivesBuild the strategy and represent the family view, all four days
  • Non-family executivesBring professional depth and run the plan, all four days
  • Next generation in the businessCo-lead the interviews and take AI roles, all four days
  • Owners and family councilSet values, horizon and limits through interviews before the program
Senior management

Adding senior management

Department heads often hold the knowledge that matters most for continuity, and the next generation will need their support to lead. Bringing them in adds a fifth day and moves discovery from weeks of preparation into the room.

Strengths
  • Practical opportunities from the people who run the work
  • The next generation earns support from the leaders it will lead
  • Preparation drops to a one-page sheet per department
Trade-offs
  • One extra day, and a larger group to bring together
  • Sensitive family choices are discussed in a wider circle
  • Executives must make the final choices in front of their teams
Executives + Department Heads AI Strategy Carried by All for Family Enterprise 5 days
Enterprise

The enterprise version

AI Strategy for Enterprise follows the same method in three days, without the family questions.

AI Strategy for Enterprise Your executive team builds its own AI strategy and decides how the company will run it. 3 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 are the owners involved?

    Owners and members of the family council shape the intent through interviews before the program. Afterwards, an optional session for the family council uses the report format the team built on the last day.

  • Do next-generation family members take part?

    Yes, when they work in the business. They co-lead the interviews, take on AI roles and leave with a plan and a mandate across the company.

  • Is the program built around our own company?

    Yes. Every program works on your own company, with input from your own managers, under strict confidentiality. We adapt it to your industry, size and governance before it starts.

  • What happens after the program?

    An optional review after 90 days, and an optional session for the family council.

Ask us → For Family Enterprises →

Plan your family’s program

A first conversation about your family, your company and where you are with AI.

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