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by Sean M. Bair (Author)
AI is easy. Strategy is hard. This book is about getting both right.
Most companies don't fail at AI because they picked the wrong model. They fail because they bolted AI onto a strategy that was never clear to begin with. The tools change every few months. Good strategy doesn't.
If you're the one deciding where AI fits in your company, this book helps you tell durable advantage from expensive distraction.
Sean Bair has spent 30 years in AI and teaches strategy at BYU's Marriott School of Business. Five companies built, two sold, a few bets gone sideways, and a hard-won sense of what separates the leaders who use AI well from the ones who just buy it. This is the book he wishes he'd had.
Part field guide, part framework, part honest confession from a founder who got it wrong before he got it right, AI Strategy for Business Leaders hands you a way to think that survives the next model release.
Inside you'll find:
- MURB, a four-part framework for building strategy that holds up when the technology changes
- Eight lessons from real AI projects (Zillow, Meta, and a few of Sean's own) that show you what to get right first, and what you can't afford to get wrong
- Working systems for competitive intelligence, customer feedback, and automation you can build this week, not next quarter
- A partnership approach that treats AI vendors as allies, not just another contract
- A personal AI system that remembers what you forget and keeps you sharp
The whole book runs on three shapes: a triangle, a square, and a circle. Foundation, execution, mastery. Ground the strategy. Build the systems. Grow into the kind of leader who directs AI instead of chasing it.
This is a working manual, not a survey of the field. It's written for founders, executives, and the students who'll be running things in five years. You can put it to work before you finish chapter two.
Good strategy still wins. AI just raises the stakes.
