The Executive’s AI Handbook Series | For Business Leaders
The Executive’s AI Strategy Handbook
Capability, Control & Cost
The three decisions that separate an AI strategy from an AI spending habit — written for leaders who sign off the budget.
What’s Inside: A Pragmatic Guide to AI Strategy
AI isn't one decision. It's three.
Every executive now has an opinion on AI. Few have a framework for the decisions that actually matter: what kind of intelligence the work needs, under whose control, and at what price. Get any one of them wrong and it's no longer a technology mistake. It's a strategy mistake, a finance mistake, a legal mistake. In short, it's an executive mistake.
The Executive's AI Strategy Handbook gives leaders a practical way to make those decisions well. Its argument is simple: AI is a resource to be allocated, like capital and people. The goal is never to use the most AI or the most powerful model. It is to allocate the right intelligence to the right work.
The book is built around three strategic choices:
Capability: What intelligence does this work really require? The most powerful model is not automatically the right one.
Control: Can we depend on it on acceptable terms? In June 2026, two frontier AI models were suspended for every user after a government directive. Access to intelligence you rent is always conditional.
Cost: Does the value justify what we consume to get it? Token prices are only the beginning. What matters is the cost of a successful business outcome.
It then shows how to put those choices to work: redesigning the operating model around human and machine intelligence, and managing AI as a portfolio of workloads that is continually reviewed, reallocated and, where necessary, retired.
You don't need to know how to build AI. You do need to know when an answer about it doesn't make sense. This book gives you that diagnostic literacy.
Inside you'll find:
Executive tests for capability, control, cost, operating model and portfolio decisions
Diagnostic questions tailored to the CEO, CFO, CIO/CTO, COO, Chief Risk Officer, CHRO and board
An AI economics toolkit with five worked calculations
A plain-English guide to AI model architectures, and a guide to evaluating whether an AI system can be trusted
A workload review template and a quick-reference glossary
Written for executives, board members and senior leaders in organisations of any size, including SMEs that will never train a model of their own, whether they are starting their AI journey or well down the road. No technical background required.
AI will not determine the future of your organisation. The decisions you make about it will.
Read the Complete Series
Unlock the Future of Business with AI – A Pragmatic Guide for Every Executive
In a world where Artificial Intelligence is rapidly reshaping industries and redefining the role of technology, "The Executive's Gen AI Handbook" is your essential, non-technical guide to understanding and leveraging this transformative force
Why This Book is a Must-Read for Leaders:
Demystify AI: Gain a clear, practical understanding of what AI is – and isn't – without getting bogged down in excessive technical jargon.
Strategic Imperative: Discover why AI is not just an IT problem, but an "all-of-business issue".
Master AI in Action: Explore real-world applications of generative AI, from deep research and image creation to video, voice, and music generation. Learn how AI can enhance productivity, automate complex workflows, and even empower non-technical professionals in coding and UI design.
Navigate the New Human-Computer Interface: Learn the art and science of "Prompt Engineering" with practical tips and techniques to craft effective prompts, ensuring you get the most accurate, useful, and creative responses from AI tools.
Responsible AI & Compliance: Understand the critical importance of responsible AI development and deployment. Familiarise yourself the legal obligations and governance considerations, including the EU AI Act and its broad geographic reach.
Prepare for Agentic AI: Get an early look at "Agentic AI" – autonomous systems capable of planning, making decisions, and executing multi-step tasks to achieve complex outcomes.
Don't be left in the dust. The pace of AI development is relentless. This handbook provides the map and compass for your AI journey, equipping you to lead with informed courage and harness the most powerful tool yet created for building an innovative, efficient, and human-centric future.
Explore the second act of Generative AI: Agents and Agentic Systems
"The Executive’s Agentic AI Handbook" is your definitive roadmap for navigating the critical shift from Generative to Agentic AI.
Why This Book is a Must-Read for Leaders:
From "Make Me This" to "Do This For Me": Understand the pivotal evolution from Generative AI, which creates content, to Agentic systems that reason, plan, and autonomously execute complex goals in the real world.
The Agency Continuum: Visualise the journey from basic chatbots to "Agentic Systems"—entire digital teams capable of automating complex projects and organizational functions rather than just individual tasks.
Anatomy of an Agent: Demystify the architecture of the modern AI agent. Learn how "Brains" (LLMs), "Hands" (Tools), and "Memory" combine to create reliable digital employees, and understand the crucial difference between automation and true autonomy.
The Rise of Agentic Commerce: Prepare for a trillion-dollar shift in the economy where AI agents become the primary shoppers. Explore the "Protocol Wars," the battle for the "Trust Layer," and how to ensure your business remains visible to non-human customers.
Govern the "Digital Insider": Master the new risk landscape, from "memory poisoning" to the "accountability chasm." Discover the frameworks needed to manage identity ("Know Your Agent"), authorization, and the delicate balance between efficiency and security.
The era of the passive chatbot is over. This handbook provides the strategic foresight, technical context, and governance toolkits you need to harness the power of autonomous agents and define the next decade of your industry.
Keynotes | Workshops | Webinars
Bring it to your team or event.
The board level workshops that draw on The Executive’s AI Strategy Handbook.
Keynote | 45 - 60 Min
AI: Capability, Control & Cost
Most AI strategies are a spending habit with a slide deck. The three decisions that separate organisations getting returns from those still running pilots.
Picking the right AI, not the latest
Controlling AI costs
AI Sovereignty that fits
Workshop | Half or Full Day
Your AI Strategy Sprint
Your leadership team works through the handbook’s frameworks on your own business.
You leave with a prioritised use-case shortlist, an owner for each, and agreed guardrails.
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