Strategy planning departments are frequently tasked to maintain a high degree of granularity to their analysis in less time and with less tolerance for error. And while the pressure is real, strategic analysis is increasingly supported by artificial intelligence.
AnswerTeam is focusing this article on smart, practical ways strategy teams can use AI to cut through noise, surface insights faster, and focus on what humans do best—making smart decisions.
Do we use AI to help write this article? Yes for sure, and therein lies the key message here, being that AI alone cannot drive analysis and content production. There must, as always, be a layer of human intervention.
Strategic Planning Process
Digging through industry reports, competitor news, and market trends can eat up hours. AI tools like ChatGPT, AlphaSense, or market intelligence bots can quickly summarize key points, highlight red flags, or even draft a quick SWOT analysis. Instead of spending a day reading, a strategy team can spend that time discussing what it all means.
You’ve got spreadsheets from sales, marketing dashboards, customer behavior data… and someone has to make sense of it all. AI tools like Tableau with predictive analytics, Power BI with AI visualizations, or even Excel’s newer AI features can help your team identify patterns, trends, and anomalies without having to write code or build complex models.
But strategy isn’t just about analyzing today—it’s about planning for tomorrow. With AI-powered forecasting, strategy consultants can model different business scenarios and stress-test assumptions faster. Want to know what happens if raw material prices spike or a competitor enters your market? AI can help simulate the ripple effects.
Need to write a presentation for the board, a strategy brief, or an internal update? AI writing tools can develop a draft in minutes. It is then up to the real, human consultants to shape the message and tone.
Strategy teams often spend time gathering updates from other departments, preparing slides, or cleaning up data. AI tools can automate recurring reports, extract insights from meeting transcripts, or even auto-generate summary decks, a significant time saver for the consulting team.
Where Real People Really Add Value
AI is a tool, not a strategist. It can process data, generate ideas, and speed up tasks, but it can’t (yet) replace the judgment, creativity, and context that the corporate strategy team brings to the table. The real power comes when humans and AI collaborate.
To maximize AI input, the CSO may pick one or two use cases—like automating research or building faster forecasts—and start a pilot effort to integrate AI into the regular analytical process. As the team gets more comfortable, this AI-assisted approach will expand.
The greatest value from the human team is still in the thinking. AI can answer a lot—but it can’t decide what’s worth asking. Strategy teams add value by framing the right problems. Is the goal to protect market share or expand into new segments? Should we respond to a competitor or shift our business model? AI needs direction—humans provide it.
Another aspect to this interplay between the strategy team and AI support tools, is that AI doesn’t know your company’s politics, the CEO’s pet projects, or the real reason a past strategy failed. The strategy team adds value by interpreting AI outputs through the lens of internal dynamics, industry nuance, and business history. It’s not just about what the data says—it’s why it matters now.
While AI can surface 100 insights, the strategy team must identify which ones matter. Prioritization is a human skill, and relies on the subjective balance between multiple factors. Strategy teams synthesize multiple streams—quantitative data, qualitative insights, stakeholder input—and create a clear, coherent picture of what has happened, what is happening, and what a company must do next to maximize its future potential.
AI can write facts, but strategy teams shape stories. Turning dry analysis into a persuasive case—complete with tradeoffs, visualizations, and executive-ready framing—is a human strength. This is what moves decisions forward.
Even the best analysis is useless if it doesn’t lead to action. Strategy teams drive value by aligning stakeholders, managing resistance, and translating insights into roadmaps.
Smarter Training: How Companies Can Train Employees to Use AI
Here’s how companies can start using AI to make employee productivity smarter, faster, and more engaging. Furthermore, AI can help with this process as well.
- Personalize the Learning Path: Not every employee needs the same training. Some employees intuitively understand how to create effective AI prompts, while others will need more time to practice the interaction. AI itself can track what people already know, what they’re struggling with, and tailor content to fill the gaps.
- Think of AI as a Helper, Not a Replacement: AI is best applied if it is used to support the team’s work, not take it away. It can give employees a head start, offer suggestions, or automate the boring parts, to increase strategic focus on solving problems and connecting with people.
- Learn Better Prompts: Prompt writing is at the core of effective AI use.
With that in mind, there are a few key rules to follow to get the maximum value from the AI interaction:
- Be Clear and Specific: The more specific the prompt, the better the output. Instead of: “Write something about marketing”, use “Write a 100-word email to promote our new coffee subscription service to young professionals”
- Provide Context: Give background info so the AI can better interpret the situational needs.
- Indicate Format: For example, instruct the AI to write bullet points, an email, a table, or a tweet, format matters.
- Leverage the Use of Roles or Perspectives: AI can respond as a specific type of person. Example: “Act as a career coach and give me feedback on this resume” Or: “Pretend you’re a customer reading this website—what’s unclear?”
- Iterate and Refine: Prompt writing must be modified and adapted to the tone and style of the end content product. This knowledge will improve with experience of the consultant.
Learning to use AI isn’t about becoming an expert. It’s about building confidence, experimenting with tools, and figuring out how AI can help you work smarter. Start small, stay curious, and let the learning grow over time.
Final Thoughts
We know that AI can amplify a strategy team’s work, but it we also know that it cannot replace strategic thinking. The value comes from a strong human-AI loop, using AI to handle the heavy lifting, then applying human insight to make AI results meaningful, strategic, and actionable.