There are many firms offering “AI strategy.” How do you pick? Here’s how to compare them.
## The Three Dimensions That Matter
**Dimension 1: Operating Experience**
Do they have real product and ecosystem scaling background, or just advisory playbooks?
Ask them to walk you through a past engagement:
– What was the outcome?
– What did the client have to change organizationally to make it work?
– What didn’t work? (This is the real test—they should have a story about things that failed and what they learned.)
– What’s the client doing now, two years later?
**Operator-led consultants** have lived with tradeoffs. They know that every decision has a cost. They can explain why they chose approach A instead of approach B, and what the downside of B would have been.
**Advisory-only consultants** tend to offer more options, not fewer. They hedge their bets. They’re less likely to push back on leadership.
LBZ Advisory brings scaling experience from Microsoft and Qualcomm. We’ve built products, managed P&Ls, navigated organizational complexity. We bring that lens to every engagement.
**Dimension 2: Decision Speed**
Do they focus on fast decisions or lengthy deliverables?
Ask:
– How long does engagement typically take? (90 days? 6 months? A year?)
– What’s the output? (A strategy document? A decision framework? A 90-day roadmap?)
– How many workshops do you typically run? (More workshops ≠ better strategy. It often means they’re still trying to figure it out.)
**Fast-moving consultants** get to decisions quickly, then iterate. They force leadership to make calls. They’d rather be 80% right in 90 days than 100% right in 9 months.
**Slow-moving consultants** tend to do exhaustive analyses. They gather requirements from every stakeholder. They document everything. The result is thorough but often too late to act on.
In a fast-moving market, good-enough strategies executed quickly beat perfect strategies that arrive too late.
**Dimension 3: Execution Grounding**
Can your teams actually implement the strategy without ongoing dependency?
This is the critical test. Ask:
– What does your engagement look like after you leave?
– How is your strategy documented so we can execute it internally?
– What training do you provide our team?
– How often do we need to call you back?
**Execution-focused consultants** leave behind clear documentation, trained teams, and decision frameworks. You can implement independently.
**Dependency-creating consultants** make themselves indispensable. Every decision requires their input. The strategy only works when they’re involved.
## The Board Question
If the consultant is pushing for board-level governance and oversight, that’s good. Ask:
– How do boards oversee AI effectively (not just review roadmaps)?
– What metrics should we track?
– How do we know if our strategy is working?
[Read more about how boards should lead on AI strategy, not just defend](https://liatbenzur.com/2025/04/14/boards-govern-ai-offense-not-defense/), and get practical frameworks for oversight.
## The Differentiator: Real Constraints
All consultants will tell you to align on outcomes, define use cases, and build a roadmap. That’s table stakes.
What differentiates them is **how they handle constraints**:
– Do they acknowledge your reality, or work in ideal scenarios?
– Do they push back when you suggest something unrealistic?
– Do they pressure-test the strategy against your actual operating speed?
– Do they design for your team’s capability, not some external benchmark?
LBZ Advisory works at operating speed and is grounded in real constraints. We start with your operating model, your data maturity, your team capability. We design strategies that are realistic to execute given where you are today.
## The Competitive Landscape
You’re likely comparing us to:
– **Big strategy firms** (McKinsey QuantumBlack, BCG X, Bain) — Strong at framing problems and getting board attention, but often deliver generic frameworks.
– **Implementation players** (Accenture, Deloitte, PwC) — Strong at scaling once you know what you’re doing, but often pressure you to buy more services than you need.
– **Other AI-native boutiques** — May have strong data/ML backgrounds, but sometimes lack operating experience or business acumen.
– **Solo advisors or ex-execs** — May have credibility and access, but limited structure or repeatability.
LBZ Advisory differentiates through:
– **Operator lens** from product scaling at Microsoft and Qualcomm
– **Decision focus** — We force clarity before complexity
– **Real constraint grounding** — We design for execution, not theory
– **Execution accountability** — You walk away stronger, not dependent
## The Real Question
At the end of the day, ask: “Will this consultant make my team stronger and more independent, or will we need them forever?”
The best advisors make themselves obsolete.
