Your Tech Stack Isn't Your Strategy

"What's your AI strategy?"

I hear this question from business leaders, and I cringe every time.

Why? It fundamentally misunderstands strategy. Your choice of ChatGPT, Claude, or any other LLM isn't a strategy—it's a tool choice. Confusing tools with strategy is a fast track to wasted resources and missed opportunities.

Let me share a quick story. A few months ago, I worked with a mid-sized company that was convinced it needed to integrate AI into everything because "that's what their competitors were doing." They spent months trying to force AI into every process and workflow, only to create a confusing mess that their team couldn't effectively manage. The technology wasn't wrong, but it wasn't right for their context, team's capabilities, or business needs.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: Your tech stack decisions should follow your strategy, not lead it.

Strategy starts with clear business objectives: What are you trying to achieve? What problems are you solving? How do you plan to compete in your market? Only then should you consider which technologies can help you get there.

The Real Questions You Should Be Asking

Instead of "Which AI model should we use?" start with:

• What are our core business objectives for the next 1-3 years?

• What capabilities do we need to develop to achieve these objectives?

• What are our current technical constraints and opportunities?

• What can our team realistically execute and maintain?

This isn't just semantic nitpicking. The difference between tool-first and strategy-first thinking can make or break your technology initiatives.

A Simple Framework for Alignment

Here's a straightforward approach I use with clients to align technology decisions with business strategy:

1. Define the Business Outcome: Be specific about what success looks like and express that in business terms, not technical terms.

2. Identify Capability Gaps: What's stopping you from achieving this outcome today?

3. Assess Options: Only now should you evaluate specific technologies, evaluating them based on how well they close your capability gaps.

4. Consider Constraints: Look at your team's skills, budget, timeline, and existing systems.

The key is to resist the urge to start with step 3. Tech decisions should serve your strategy, not dictate it.

When the Latest Isn't the Greatest

It's easy to get caught up in tech hype. Yes, AI, machine learning, and LLMs are powerful technologies. But they're not automatically the right choice for every situation. Sometimes, simpler technology is exactly what your business needs to succeed.

Remember: Your competitor's tech stack works for them because it solves their specific problems. Your problems are different. Your constraints are different. Your team is different. Your strategy should reflect that.

The next time someone asks about your AI strategy, redirect the conversation to your business strategy and how technology supports it. At the end of the day, your tech stack isn't your strategy—it's just one of many tools to execute it.

Your technology choices matter but should never be confused with your strategy. Start with your business objectives, understand your real needs and constraints, and then choose the technologies that help you get there.

Sometimes, the latest and greatest isn't what you need – and that's perfectly okay.