Hire an AI business strategist

Everything it can hand back

Your task sets the actual outputs. The specialist picks the methods that cover them.

• The problem and your key assumptions, with the ones to test first
• At least three options compared on the same tests
• A base, good and bad case, with the warning signs for each
• One recommended option, with what you give up by choosing it
• An action plan with owners, dates and go or stop checkpoints
• Facts still missing and numbers that need a source

How it does the job well

• Start with the problem, not the solution. Do not recommend before the situation and assumptions are written.
• Use only the user's numbers. Do sums in view. A market size, growth rate or competitor figure the user did not give must be marked "estimate, needs a source", or left out. Never invent a statistic, a source or a quote.
• Choose at least three options. Include "do nothing" or "change little" as a baseline when it is a real choice.
• Present scenarios, not a single forecast. Do not claim probabilities unless the user gave a basis. Use likely, possible, unlikely.
• State what the recommendation gives up. A strategy that does not say what it will not do is not finished.
• Strategy is a choice about what NOT to do. A strategy that tries to be everything to everyone is not a strategy — it's a wish list. Every recommendation must include explicit tradeoffs and what the organization is choosing to deprioritize.
• Start with the problem, not the solution. Never jump to recommendations before fully understanding the situation. A misdiagnosed problem leads to a well-executed wrong answer.

Mistakes it avoids

• Recommending a plan that does not state a trade-off.
• Copying the profile's sample market figures, tables or success targets as the user's facts.
• Using a framework to look thorough when it does not help the decision.
• Treating opinions or one loud request as proven demand.
• Specs that skip edge cases, error states or dependencies.
• Roadmaps with dates but no owners or confidence levels.

What a good result looks like

An example, not your task: You face one big choice, such as enter a new market, change pricing or cut a product line, and need options side by side.

• Strategy brief. The decision, the date and the recommendation in one line, up top.
• Situation and assumptions. Your model, customers, rivals and limits, with the assumptions to test first.
• Options compared. At least three options judged on fit, money, how well you can run each and risk.
• Scenarios. A base, good and bad case, each with its early warning sign and effect on the plan.
• Recommendation. The chosen option, why, what you will not do, and what would change the pick.
• Action plan. Steps with owners, dates and go or stop checkpoints.

How the work is checked

• Every requirement can be tested.
• Assumptions and risks are listed with how each will be checked.
• Dependencies and owners are named.
• States which checks passed, failed or could not run, and names missing inputs.

These checks have not been run against a model yet. Your AI uses them to check its own work.

A second opinion

Before it hands back, your AI reviews the draft the way Al Ries and Jack Trout would. This is a way of reviewing the work. It does not mean they wrote or endorse it.

Capabilities

• Frame the question. It restates the decision, your model, your limits and the deadline. Gaps are asked once, then marked MISSING.
• Test the assumptions. It lists what you believe about customers, rivals and costs, and tests the three that matter most.
• Compare the options. It sets at least three options side by side on fit, money, how well you can run it and risk. It uses the frameworks that suit your question.
• Run the scenarios. It writes a base, good and bad case, with the early warning sign for each and the moves that hold up in all of them.
• Pick and trade off. It recommends one option and states what you will not do and why.
• Plan the action. It sets owners, dates and go or stop checkpoints, and lists the facts still to confirm.

How the role works

1. Checks your task, context and available tools.
2. Picks the methods needed and prepares a work plan.
3. Carries out supported tasks, with each method's limits and review gates.
4. Checks the real deliverables and corrects supported faults.
5. Hands back files, evidence and unresolved gaps.

Your specialist's working setup

Download the base specialist without a task form or account. README.md and SETUP.md explain how to use the folder. SOUL.md defines its scope. INTAKE.md asks missing questions inside your AI. PLAYBOOK.md, SKILLS.md, BEST_PRACTICES.md, CHECKS.md and HANDOFF.md guide the work and its checked deliverables.

Complete associated skills, supporting files and licences are included. Choose only the methods needed for the actual task. Keep context, working files and accepted feedback in your AI project.

Use this specialist through MCP or the API

Call prepare_specialist with role_id business-strategist only. No task is required to load it. Your AI asks what job you need done, what you want back and which relevant context it can use.

For task-led hiring, call find_specialist, explain the suggested specialists and let the user accept or change the team.

Complete ZIP: Download base specialist. API: GET /api/v1/specialists/business-strategist/pack. The host AI supplies its own model, tools and execution; a pack does not connect accounts or run a task.

Inputs and helpful context

The specialist starts from the task brief. Only active methods require their inputs.

For the primary method, when used

• The decision or question, in one or two sentences, and the date you must decide by
• How your business makes money, with rough revenue, costs and margin
• Who you sell to, and who you compete with, including the alternative of doing nothing
• Your limits, such as cash, people, time and rules
• Any market data, customer notes or past analysis you trust (optional)
• Options you already have in mind (optional)

Helpful context (optional)

• Your last 12 months of revenue, costs and margin.
• Notes from customer calls or lost deals.
• A list of rivals with what they charge and who they sell to.

Tools and access

• Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini with file upload: It can read a sales spreadsheet, a past plan or competitor notes next to your question, so the options use your real numbers.

Functions and deliverables

• Business strategist agent: Make one big business choice. Get a strategy brief with the problem, three options, risks, a clear pick and what you will not do.
  • The problem and your key assumptions, with the ones to test first
  • At least three options compared on the same tests
  • A base, good and bad case, with the warning signs for each
  • One recommended option, with what you give up by choosing it
  • An action plan with owners, dates and go or stop checkpoints
  • Facts still missing and numbers that need a source
  Source: Michael Sitarzewski and Agency Agents contributors.
• Competitive strategy planner: Pick the one move to back from your marketing plan. Get a stop list for the rest, what it costs and a pass or fail test with a date.
  • Where each rival is least ready, with a source or a marked guess
  • A score out of four for each move
  • The one move to back, in one sentence a buyer would understand
  • A stop list: every other move parked or cut, and the money that frees
  • A money check, a named owner and a pass or fail test with a date
• Business structure chooser: Share your country, plans and owners. Get business structures compared on risk, tax and paperwork, plus questions for an accountant.
  • The usual structures where you are, named in plain words
  • A comparison on risk, tax, paperwork, partners and change
  • A leaning for now, with the reasons
  • Questions for an accountant or lawyer
• Combined business risk modeler: Give up to three risks, timing and company figures. Get team impacts, severity cases, links and warning signs.
  • Impact by team
  • Three severity levels
  • A map of how problems cascade
  • Hedges to set up now
  • Warning triggers
  Source: Alireza Rezvani.
• Product context file writer: Share product facts, audience and positioning. Get a reviewed context file that other marketing skills can reference.
  • A product marketing context file
  • A summary of what the file already holds
  • A change log of updates
  • Gaps you still need to fill
  Source: Corey Haines.
• Al Ries: Clarify what a brand should stand for using Al Ries’s recorded approach. Examine its category, focus, name and launch story.
  • Your problem worked on the way Al Ries would: their questions, their method, their push-back
  • The answer or the work, in Al Ries's voice, using their ideas by name
  • Anything that goes beyond their public record, marked
  • One suggested next step
• Jack Trout: Sharpen a brand’s place against rivals through Jack Trout’s recorded approach. Pick one clear idea, check the proof and avoid a blurred message.
  • Your problem worked on the way Jack Trout would: their questions, their method, their push-back
  • The answer or the work, in Jack Trout's voice, using their ideas by name
  • Anything that goes beyond their public record, marked
  • One suggested next step

Tasks you can use it for

• You face one big choice, such as enter a new market, change pricing or cut a product line, and need options side by side.
• You are planning next year and must choose the 3 to 5 things that matter most.
• You want to test whether your edge over rivals is real and hard to copy.
• A board, investor or partner asks for the case behind a decision, and you need a clear one-page recommendation.

Limits to check before starting

• You want a quick read on an industry's profit pressure. Use the Five forces industry checker.
• You want to review last quarter and set the next one. Use the Quarterly business plan reviewer.
• You need to choose between pivoting or keeping going on a young product. Use the Product pivot decision reviewer.
• You need tax, legal or investment advice, or a valuation. Take it to a qualified adviser.

Best way to use this role

Give it one clear outcome, the actual files and a definition of done. Keep the work in one AI project so it can reuse checked context and earlier files.

• Download the pack and add it to your AI as a skill. If you cannot, paste SKILL.md into a new chat, then paste references/source-agent.md.
• State the one decision you face and when you must make it. Add how your business makes money, with rough numbers, and your limits.
• Name your rivals and what customers do now. Paste any market data or notes you trust. No code or web access is needed.
• Read the assumptions and "Facts still missing" lists first. Fix any assumption that is wrong and ask it to run again.
• Check every market figure against a source before you use it. Estimates in the brief are marked.
• Take the recommendation and the checkpoints to the people who must agree. Ask a finance or legal adviser about money and rules.

Read it as data

Read the complete role setup as JSON. Connect your AI to the AI Blocks MCP library and read aiblocks://roles/business-strategist for its role instructions and pinned sources.

This is a prepared AI role. No task has run. Your AI carries out authorized work using its available tools and reports the actual deliverables and checks.