AI is one of the hottest topics right now. Technology has always relied on hype to stay in the conversation. But, you know what? The fundamentals of business won’t change. A keystone principle that drives all my decisions is this: The one who serves the customer best gets all the customers.

With that said, is AI enabling us to create and deliver value, and serve our customers better than before?

It’s about creating and delivering value. Customers don’t care if you use AI. Not because of the current backlash. Because they only care that you deliver the outcomes they care about.

Customer value is the ultimate competitive advantage.

Most companies obsess over competitors: their prices, features, marketing, technology, AI strategy, market share. But customers aren’t grading you against your strategy deck. They’re asking: “Who is going to serve me better?”

And serve is much broader than customer service. It means understanding me better, solving my problem better, removing more friction, creating a better experience, delivering a better outcome, and continuing to improve on my behalf.

Again, the one who serves the customer best gets all the customers.

Obviously, “all” is intentionally hyperbolic. Markets have segments, switching costs, distribution constraints, etc. But as a principle. It forces the right question.

It’s not: How do we beat the competition with AI?

It’s: How do we become so much better at serving the customer that the competition becomes irrelevant? How does AI enable us to do what we couldn’t do before?

Delivering better outcomes and value is the innovation game. It’s not about doing more of the same a little faster and more efficiently. It’s about questioning the status quo and reimagining how you create and deliver value.

Bottom line: 10x customer value drives 10x business results. The path to extraordinary business results isn’t necessarily extracting more value from customers. It’s creating dramatically more value for them.