Chapter 2 / 5
Prof. Sarah Fitzgerald

CEXRES Academy

AI Decision Support

AI-First Leadership

Using AI for strategic decision making

0%
0:00 / 8:52
CEXRES
CEXRES © 2026
CEXRES

AI Decision Support

Using AI for strategic decision making

Key Concepts

From Strategy to Measurable Outcomes

From Strategy to Measurable Outcomes is the discipline of making and defend strategic choices in a way that compounds — specifically as it applies to ai decision support. In leadership & management work this shows up as decisions about operating model, evaluated through AI ethics & governance board design so the team is never relying on taste alone. The goal of this concept is to give you a repeatable way to make the call when the data is incomplete and the stakes are real.

Microsoft applied this idea by anchoring its operating model decisions to a measurable outcome rather than a quarterly deliverable; the result was a faster, cheaper path to the same business goal, and a model other teams inside the company could reuse.

Trade-Offs and the Strategy Canvas

Trade-Offs and the Strategy Canvas is the discipline of making and defend strategic choices in a way that compounds — specifically as it applies to ai decision support. In leadership & management work this shows up as decisions about talent density, evaluated through Transformation Playbook so the team is never relying on taste alone. The goal of this concept is to give you a repeatable way to make the call when the data is incomplete and the stakes are real.

Amazon applied this idea by anchoring its talent density decisions to a measurable outcome rather than a quarterly deliverable; the result was a faster, cheaper path to the same business goal, and a model other teams inside the company could reuse.

Competitive Differentiation That Lasts

Competitive Differentiation That Lasts is the discipline of making and defend strategic choices in a way that compounds — specifically as it applies to ai decision support. In leadership & management work this shows up as decisions about governance guardrails, evaluated through AIVS (AI Value Scoring) so the team is never relying on taste alone. The goal of this concept is to give you a repeatable way to make the call when the data is incomplete and the stakes are real.

Netflix applied this idea by anchoring its governance guardrails decisions to a measurable outcome rather than a quarterly deliverable; the result was a faster, cheaper path to the same business goal, and a model other teams inside the company could reuse.

Where to Play and How to Win

Where to Play and How to Win is the discipline of making and defend strategic choices in a way that compounds — specifically as it applies to ai decision support. In leadership & management work this shows up as decisions about organizational health, evaluated through Five-dimension AI-First Leadership model so the team is never relying on taste alone. The goal of this concept is to give you a repeatable way to make the call when the data is incomplete and the stakes are real.

Microsoft applied this idea by anchoring its organizational health decisions to a measurable outcome rather than a quarterly deliverable; the result was a faster, cheaper path to the same business goal, and a model other teams inside the company could reuse.

Methodology

1. From Strategy to Measurable Outcomes

2. Trade-Offs and the Strategy Canvas

3. Competitive Differentiation That Lasts

4. Where to Play and How to Win

Case Study

Challenge

Competing for top creative and engineering talent while operating in a hit-driven, rapidly changing industry.

Approach

Netflix built a "talent density + candor" operating model — high pay, minimal process, and radical feedback — trusting adults to make decisions without layers.

Outcome

The model produced sustained creative and technological innovation and is widely studied as a blueprint for high-performance knowledge organizations.

Lesson

Lesson for you: the same AI-First Leadership discipline that worked for Netflix is available to any team — the difference is having the method, not the budget.

Chapter Takeaways

  • Start every ai decision support effort by naming a measurable outcome in one sentence.
  • Use AI-First Leadership to score options against that outcome — never against taste or volume of activity.
  • Anchor the work in from strategy to measurable outcomes, which gives you a repeatable way to make the call under uncertainty.
  • Ship a small, measurable experiment in under two weeks; the team that learns fastest wins.
  • Remember: From Strategy to Measurable Outcomes — From Strategy to Measurable Outcomes is the discipline of making and defend strategic choices in a way that compounds — specifically as it applies to ai decision support.

Chapter 2 of 5

40% Complete

CEXRES © 2026