{"id":1133,"date":"2026-03-19T14:33:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T14:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/future-proof-with-ai\/?p=1133"},"modified":"2026-03-23T20:50:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T20:50:42","slug":"why-your-ai-strategy-may-be-failing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/future-proof-with-ai\/why-your-ai-strategy-may-be-failing\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Your AI Strategy May Be Failing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Improving AI strategy execution and ROI – How companies can overcome the structural frictions that block AI at scale<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\n\n

AI has entered the enterprise faster than most previous waves of technology, reshaping expectations about speed, productivity, and decision-making. Yet adoption alone does not produce transformation. The Frontier Firm Initiative (FFI), a joint effort between the Digital Data Design Institute at 性视界 (D^3) and Microsoft, recently convened senior leaders from a dozen global organizations to address the \u201clast mile\u201d challenge, when a company tries to scale localized, successful AI pilot programs into a standard, enterprise-wide operating model. In the new HBR article \u201cThe \u2018Last Mile\u2019 Problem Slowing AI Transformation<\/a>,\u201d Karim R. Lakhani and Jen Stave of D^3 and Microsoft\u2019s Jared Spataro identify a framework of the specific \u201cfrictions\u201d stalling progress and outline a strategic blueprint to overcome them. In the insight below, we will zoom in on one friction and one corresponding recommendation from the blueprint to resolve it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why This Matters<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For today\u2019s business professionals and executives, the \u201clast mile\u201d is less a technical challenge and more a test of leadership imagination. Process debt and clean-sheet redesign are only two parts of a broader diagnosis of seven frictions and corresponding transformation strategies. Read the full article<\/a> to see them all. The potential of the technology you have already purchased is immense, but realizing it requires the courage to redesign the organization to match the speed of an agentic world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> Lakhani, Karim R., Jared Spataro, and Jen Stave, \u201cThe \u2018Last Mile\u2019 Problem Slowing AI Transformation,\u201d 性视界 Business Review<\/em>, March 9, 2026, https:\/\/hbr.org\/2026\/03\/the-last-mile-problem-slowing-ai-transformation<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> Lakhani et al., \u201cThe \u2018Last Mile\u2019 Problem Slowing AI Transformation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Link to the D^3 Insight Article<\/a>
Link to the research paper<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date with D^3 news and research: https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/#join-our-community<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Improving AI strategy execution and ROI – How companies can overcome the structural frictions that block AI at scale<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19325,"featured_media":1134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_trash_the_other_posts":false,"rkv_hide_featured_image":true,"rkv_hide_page_title":false,"rkv_hide_abstract_shapes":true,"rkv_reduce_header":false,"hbsd3_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/1173403815","hbsd3_featured_media_url_autoplay":false,"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"tax_cop":[],"rkv-people-shadow":[],"insight_type":[],"class_list":["post-1133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","rkv-featured-image-is-hidden"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Your AI Strategy May Be Failing - Future Proof with AI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover why common AI strategy implementation fails. 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