As AI makes raw content creation and basic analysis completely free, our clients are starting to question the value of our advisory retainers. How do we apply the economic principle of becoming an indispensable complement to cheap technology on our V/TO® to justify our premium advisory fees?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When AI makes raw execution free, clients will quickly refuse to pay for manual labor. If you try to compete with machines on speed and cost, you will destroy your business. Instead, you must position your company as an indispensable complement to the technologies your clients are adopting.

As economic experts like Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee have shown, when a core input becomes cheap and plentiful, the demand for its complement skyrockets. In this case, cheap AI generation increases the demand for human curation, strategic integration, and high-level accountability. Your clients do not just want automated outputs, they want business outcomes.

Updating Your V/TO® for AI-Driven Value

To protect your premium retainers, update your V/TO® (Vision/Traction Organizer) to focus your marketing strategy on this complement. This involves a fundamental shift in how you articulate your value proposition:

• Stop selling deliverables: Cease marketing basic reports or generic code. These are now easily replicated by AI.
• Start selling strategic outcomes: Focus on the tangible business results your clients achieve through your expertise. This includes improved decision-making, competitive advantage, and market leadership. For more on adapting to changing client expectations, consider [rewriting our 3-Year Picture and core processes](/qa/customer-expectations-shifting-ai-vto).
• Start selling operational alignment: Emphasize how your advice integrates disparate systems and processes to create a cohesive, high-performing organization.

Leveraging AI Internally for High-Value Advisory

Your team should use AI internally to streamline cumbersome processes. This frees them up to spend more time on high-value advisory work that AI cannot replicate. For instance, [AI can simplify outdated processes](/qa/simplify-eos-process-component-with-ai), making your internal operations more efficient.

During your next strategic planning session, run an IDS® (Identify, Discuss, Solve) session to evaluate your current services.

1. Identify: Pinpoint any task that AI can execute for next to nothing.
2. Automate: Implement AI solutions for these tasks. This might involve exploring [disciplined Thinking Time to make smarter technology bets](/qa/thinking-time-ai-software-fatigue) for AI tool adoption.
3. Reallocate: Reallocate your team's capacity to:
• Deep client relationships
• Scenario planning
• Business integration

By delivering the strategic layer that machines cannot replicate, you justify your premium pricing and build a highly differentiated, exit-ready business. This approach helps prevent your services from becoming commoditized, even if [every competitor uses the same commercial AI tools](/qa/ai-commoditization-3-uniques-vto).

Related questions

• [How can AI enhance the effectiveness of the EOS People Component during growth phases?](/qa/how-can-ai-enhance-the-effectiveness-of-the-eos-people-component-during-growth-phases)
• [How do we rewrite our 3-Year Picture and core processes to survive this shift without burning out our people?](/qa/customer-expectations-shifting-ai-vto)
• [If every competitor in our niche starts using the exact same commercial AI tools, how do we maintain our unique differentiators on the V/TO® and prevent our services from becoming commoditized?](/qa/ai-commoditization-3-uniques-vto)
• [How can AI help us simplify our documented processes so our employees actually follow them?](/qa/simplify-eos-process-component-with-ai)
• [How can we use disciplined Thinking Time to make smarter technology bets?](/qa/thinking-time-ai-software-fatigue)