10-19-2026
As AI makes data analysis faster, cheaper and more widely available, business leaders need a new source of strategic advantage: better judgment about how to think for different strategic problems. The Daniels School’s Jeffrey Reuer co-authored “The Next Gen Strategist in the Age of AI,” with collaborators from Boston Consulting Group and The Ohio State University. Their article explores four modes of strategic thinking that help leaders enhance their strategic thinking and judgments — systems thinking for complexity, counterfactual thinking for reinvention, integrative thinking for balancing today’s performance with tomorrow’s opportunities and critical thinking for AI-informed decisions.
Leaders can use these lenses to diagnose a challenge before defaulting to familiar tools or assumptions. One especially useful practice is a second-order-effects exercise before a major decision: identify at least three consequences beyond the intended outcome. That simple step can expose feedback loops, cross-functional risks, and unintended consequences that siloed decision-making overlooks
Read this useful guide to strengthening the distinctly human capabilities that strategy now demands in the AI era.
