The real constraint was never creativity. It was execution.

Ideas were always abundant. What was scarce was the ability to build, test, analyze, and scale them quickly and affordably. Strategy didn’t fail because it was wrong. It failed because organizations couldn’t move on it fast enough.

AI changes that.

When execution becomes cheap, the central question shifts from Can we do this? to Should we do this?

This is where discomfort begins, not because AI is moving too fast, but because it removes the friction that once protected us from hard choices.

Slowness used to mask indecision. Cost used to justify delay. Neither does it anymore.

AI radically lowers the price of turning intent into action. Prototypes emerge in days. Analysis that once took months arrives in hours. Experiments that required layers of approval now happen by default.

But this creates a new illusion: that progress equals motion.

Doing more is not the same as choosing well.

When everyone can execute, execution stops being a competitive advantage. What differentiates organizations is no longer speed of building; it’s the discipline of selection.

This is why strategy becomes harder, not easier.

Cheap execution floods teams with possibilities. Every idea feels viable. Every option feels reasonable. The temptation shifts toward breadth over depth, activity over direction.

AI doesn’t create this problem. It reveals it.

In a world with fewer constraints, strategy is no longer about overcoming limits. It’s about intentionally imposing them.

Focus becomes a choice, not a consequence of scarcity.

This also quietly ends the era of “best practices.”

When the same tools are available to everyone, copying playbooks loses power. What worked elsewhere is no longer proof that it will work here. AI democratizes execution while amplifying differentiation.

The advantage moves from operational excellence to judgment quality.

Organizations that struggle in this phase confuse output with progress. They launch more initiatives, generate more experiments, and produce more activity, while avoiding the harder work of alignment, prioritization, and trade-offs.

AI makes starting easier. It makes continuing harder. That’s the point.

As execution gets cheaper, indecision becomes more expensive. Every extra project carries an opportunity cost. Every delayed decision amplifies distraction. Every unchosen direction weakens the chosen one.

AI doesn’t eliminate the need for strategy. It makes it unavoidable.

Strategy in the AI era isn’t about predicting the future. It’s about choosing constraints in a world where almost anything is possible. It’s about saying no, faster and more deliberately than others say yes.

Ironically, this brings work back to its most human core.

When machines handle speed, scale, and synthesis, what remains is judgment. Prioritization. Accountability. The courage to commit while alternatives remain visible and tempting.

AI didn’t just make organizations faster. It made indecision visible.

And in doing so, it raised the bar for what strategy truly means.