A Beginner's Guide to AI Why “AI Strategy” Doesn’t Exist: Dr. Rebecca Homkes on Value Creation and Growth
Mar 3, 2026
Dr. Rebecca Homkes, a growth strategist and author who advises leaders on value creation and transformation. She explains why AI should be embedded in growth strategy, contrasts dabbling with deliberate adoption, and outlines four parallel priorities: platform, governance, capability building, and performance transformation. She also shares the Survive Reset Thrive playbook and why learning velocity matters.
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Start Teams With Data And Tool Clarity
- At team level, first clarify what data you can use, what tools are allowed, and where to focus skill-building.
- Homkes recommends purposeful team-level time investment rather than leaving everyone to 'figure it out'.
Prioritize Heads Up Learning Mode
- Heads-down execution is rewarded but is the wrong posture; leaders should seek 'heads-up learning mode' to adapt plans while executing.
- Homkes argues agility means adapting strategy as you learn, not rigidly finishing plans.
Slack Scaled By Targeting Users First
- Slack grew by targeting users with a freemium product instead of CTOs, then used visible adoption to sell enterprise licenses.
- Rebecca Homkes uses Slack's example to show powerful bottom-up adoption that later gained top-down buy-in.
