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New models and AI agents are here: Do you understand the implications?
Strategic Intelligence Field Guide for Global Leaders Navigating AI and Transformation

Executive Summary
Emerging Evolving There are no ecosystem guardrails for models, and no agreed upon baseline when a new model emerges. Market dynamics push safety to the sidelines for cost, performance, and speed to market. Geopolitical tensions take a sharper focus as the race to AGI unfolds. Gen AI is no longer just an assistant to roles, it’s an active task performer, transforming how we interact. | Intelligence integration and ease of upgrades is collapsing the timeline between innovation and adoption. Foundational intelligence (AI models) can now be swapped or interaction paradigms reimagined over a weekend, creating transformative possibilities coming from all directions. Considerations for data and decision ownership and autonomy for individuals, organizations, and agents will play a key role in determining successful outcomes for business and society as these technologies come to scale. |
Executive leadership teams must consider the following:
Mindset shifts to gain firm grounding to lay the foundations for this new era
Defining the sociotechnical frameworks for interactions
Ensuring shared value creation while safeguarded with values
Gain Perspective
Tomorrow Morning's briefing sharpens your focus on what’s next.
Understand how to leverage these shifts for business growth.
How is this relevant to my business now?
How can I take immediate action?

The Landscape
We can't predict the future, but we can prepare.
On the Horizon
Emerging
China's DeepSeek R1 Model Breaks New Boundaries:
• 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦: Matches or surpasses OpenAI’s GPT-o1 on tasks like mathematics, coding, and reasoning.
• 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯-𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦: Released under an MIT license, enabling researchers to study, build upon it, and be used commercially.
• 𝘊𝘰𝘴𝘵-𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦: Operates at a fraction of the cost of competitors, with up to 96% lower cost per token.
• 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: Developed using less powerful GPUs to overcome US export sanctions.
Evolving
OpenAI’s Operator and Perplexity’s AI Assistant are now in the palm of your hands:
• 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘈𝘐’𝘴 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳: A cutting-edge AI agent capable of autonomously navigating websites, booking reservations, and performing online tasks. Currently available to ChatGPT Pro users in the US as a research preview.
• 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘵𝘺’𝘴 𝘈𝘐 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵: On Android, this AI manages schedules, books reservations, and answers questions in 15 languages, with iOS availability pending approval.
𝗘𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁
AI Agent Interactions:
• 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵: AI is evolving from assistant roles to active task performers, transforming how we interact.
• 𝘈𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺: Open-source initiatives like DeepSeek-R1 democratize advanced AI capabilities for researchers and developers.
• 𝘚𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘴: Growing autonomy highlights the need for robust safety measures and ethical considerations to guide AI actions - for individuals and organizations.
Points of Perspective
Nearsight
Grounding the Foundations for Advancements:
Examining what’s immediately in front of us reveals that the pace of advancements is collapsing the timeline between innovation and adoption. Market incentives rooted in cost, performance, and competition are driving this relentless momentum, ensuring advancements won’t wait for long.
This creates a gap and line of tension in our understanding of the implications as each new model and modality activates. Are we equipped to fully comprehend the risks at play and the opportunities ahead? Before shifting the foundations, we must ensure the ground is firm—rooted in readiness, aligned vision, and clear outcomes for success. Leaders who embrace this preparation will transform potential disruption into unparalleled strategic advantage.
Farsight
Assuring Resilience:
These developments demand that leaders prioritize ecosystems that not only integrate AI but also foster understanding and oversight, ensuring resilience and adaptability as the lines between AI and human agency blur.
Implications
In a world where AI is not just emerging but evolving with emergent capabilities, gaining perspective and seeing clearly is not enough—we must 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬.
Nearsight and Farsight offer essential perspectives: one for what's right in front of us, the other bringing it all together. But perspective alone doesn’t create transformation. 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
As we integrate AI agents, dynamic workflows, and redefined roles, we must move beyond observation to adaptation. This requires five key mindset shifts that transform leadership, strategy, and decision-making in an era of accelerated change. By synthesizing Nearsight and Farsight, we cultivate a mindset that is adaptive, strategic, and proactive—allowing leaders and teams to navigate complexity with clarity and confidence.
Strategic Imperatives for CxOs:
In this moment, we are also being called to adapt and evolve—not just as individuals or organizations but as a society navigating profound change. For employees, it means stepping into roles as collaborators and orchestrators with AI, leveraging its capabilities to amplify. For CxOs, it’s imperative to redefine alignment—not only around technological capabilities but also around a shared vision of work, leadership, and responsibility. It challenges us to think beyond efficiency—toward adaptability and purpose.
𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 → 𝗧𝗢
1️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 → 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿
We moved from seeing AI as an efficiency driver to treating it as a 𝗰𝗼-𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 in building tools that enhance strategic decision-making.
𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦: 𝘞𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘐 𝘈𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰-𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳, 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴 𝘊𝘹𝘖 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴.
2️⃣ 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁 → 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀
Rather than focusing on effort-intensive processes, we designed our assessment to 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀, giving leaders immediate clarity on organizational and AI alignment.
𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦: 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘈𝘐 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
3️⃣ 𝗜𝗤 & 𝗘𝗤 → 𝗛𝗤 (𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁)
Success in AI integration isn’t just about intelligence and scale —it’s about 𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹, 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲, 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺-𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.
𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦: 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘈𝘐 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘏𝘘 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
4️⃣ 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 → 𝗚𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱
We ensured our assessment doesn’t just offer insights but also provides 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 to navigate AI adoption safely.
𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦: 𝘞𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘐 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥.
5️⃣ 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱 → 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱
Rather than reacting to AI-driven disruptions, we are creating a 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗮𝘆 for leaders to align AI strategies with business objectives.
𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦: 𝘉𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺, 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
Reflection:
Mindset is the bridge from insight to alignment. We have to evolve our thinking—shifting from old paradigms to new approaches to adapt to this new era.
As we step into the Agentic Era, reflect on this:
• Are you enabled with the knowledge and infrastructure to ensure trusted interactions with emerging AI and evolving AI Agents?
• Do you have the personal, professional, organizational, and societal benchmarks to measure progress?
• How do these shifts challenge your values, adaptability, and capacity to navigate complexity?

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Gain Perspective
Tomorrow Morning's briefing sharpens your focus on what’s next.
Understand how to leverage these shifts for business growth.
How is this relevant to my business now?
How can I take immediate action?