Most Companies Have an AI Budget. Very Few Have an AI Strategy. Here Is the Difference.

Most companies have an AI budget. Very few have an AI strategy. There's a difference.

A budget says "we're spending on AI." A strategy says "here's why, here's how it connects to our competitive position, and here's what we're deliberately choosing not to do." I've sat in boardrooms where the AI conversation starts with tools and vendors. It should start with a different question entirely: what institutional capabilities are we trying to build that will still matter in five years? If your AI strategy can't answer that, it's not a strategy. It's a procurement plan.