Strategy-First AI Workshop

Make your AI investments reinforce how you win.

A two-day executive engagement that reverses the order of AI strategy. Instead of starting with what AI can do, you start with where you’ve chosen to play and how you’ve chosen to win — then stress-test every initiative against those choices.

Two consecutive days 5–8 senior leaders Facilitated by Stefanie Hutka
The problem this solves

“AI-first” strategies that are really just feature lists.

0%

of AI projects fail — nearly double the failure rate of traditional IT efforts.

RAND, 2024

0%

of CEOs report investing in AI tools before fully grasping their value.

IBM, 2025

0%

of executives say AI has had no measurable impact on productivity or employment in three years.

National Bureau of Economic Research

The pattern is consistent: leadership adopts an “AI-first strategy,” then back-fills use cases. The result looks strategic but isn’t reinforcing how the organization has chosen to win. Teams burn cycles. Customers feel the drop in quality. The board asks where the return is. This workshop reverses the order.

Who it’s for

Executive teams with real AI bets in flight.

Built for a CEO plus 3–6 direct reports at an organization with at least two active AI or automation initiatives — especially where one or more of these is true:

The AI strategy has quietly become a feature list rather than a set of strategic choices.
Product, engineering, and strategy leaders are not yet speaking a shared language about automation.
The board or investors are asking pointed questions about ROI.
A major automation decision is on the table in the next two quarters.

Not a fit? If your team is shopping for AI tools or still building basic AI literacy, a foundational Intuition Building Sprint is the better starting point.

What you’ll leave with

Six concrete artifacts — not a slide deck of intentions.

Automation Choice Check

A completed check for each major AI initiative in flight, anchored to the Strategy Choice Cascade.

A prioritized portfolio

Every initiative plotted on the Autonomy Decision Matrix — placed in Hold, Question, Assist, or Automate.

12-month rollout plan

A sequenced plan: which initiatives to accelerate, slow, repurpose, or stop — and in what order.

A risk register

Surfaced through a structured pre-mortem, with mitigation owners assigned.

An executive narrative

A one-page story suitable for board, investor, and all-hands communication.

30-day follow-up

A working session to review traction, drift, and the next quarter’s choices.

The two-day agenda

Day one diagnoses. Day two sequences.

Day One — Diagnose
  • The Automation Strategy Gap: where your organization sits, and the signals that put it there.
  • Iceberg Model session: surfacing the mental models driving current AI decisions.
  • Strategy Choice Cascade refresh: aligning on where you play and how you win.
  • Automation Choice Check applied to each live initiative.
Day Two — Sequence
  • Autonomy Decision Matrix portfolio mapping.
  • “Climb high, sleep low” rollout sequencing toward your automation North Star.
  • Pre-mortem on the highest-priority initiative.
  • Synthesis: the 12-month roadmap, risk register, and executive narrative.

Each day runs roughly 9am–4pm with breaks. On-site or off-site — in-person preferred.

How it works

A guided arc from scoping call to follow-up.

The engagement is designed so the two days in the room are the easy part — fit is confirmed up front, and the thinking continues long after the session ends.

60-minute scoping call

Confirms fit and surfaces the initiatives the workshop will focus on.

Pre-read, one week out

A short pre-read goes to every participant before the session.

Two-day session

Facilitated personally by Stefanie Hutka. Roughly 9am–4pm each day, on-site or off-site.

Synthesis document

Delivered within 10 business days: roadmap, risk register, and executive narrative.

30-day follow-up

A review session on execution, traction, and drift.

Your facilitator
SH

Stefanie Hutka

Author of Designing Automated Futures (Rosenfeld Media). UX practitioner, UC Berkeley instructor, and Bay Area startup mentor with two decades designing and shipping emerging-technology products — from augmented reality systems at DAQRI to generative AI workflows at scale. She has facilitated versions of this material with enterprise leadership teams across financial services, insurance, design tooling, and robotics.

Investment & next step

Two days that re-anchor every AI bet you’re making.

Format: two consecutive days, on-site or off-site, for 5–8 senior leaders. Investment is available on request. The next step is a 30-minute scoping call to confirm fit.

Book a 30-minute scoping call Not sure it’s the right time? Take the diagnostic — it will tell you.