--- title: AI's Implications for Business Strategy description: Marketing is one of many fields to be deeply impacted by AI. MIT Sloan's AI for Business Strategy Course sets a strong foundation for understanding and use image: https://signal78.ai/hubfs/DALL%C2%B7E%202025-01-02%2021.07.08%20-%20A%20geometric%2c%20low-poly%20style%20image%20of%20a%20glowing%20lightbulb%20to%20symbolize%20a%20good%20idea%2c%20set%20against%20a%20simple%20gradient%20background.%20The%20image%20uses%20bold%2c%20vibr.webp --- [Skip to content](https://signal78.ai/insights/ais-implications-for-business-strategy#main) [![Signal78 home](https://signal78.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/signal78-site/logo-signal78.png?width=95&height=30&name=logo-signal78.png)](https://signal78.ai/) [Home](https://signal78.ai/) [Platform](https://signal78.ai/platform) [Services](https://signal78.ai/services) [About](https://signal78.ai/about) [Insights](https://signal78.ai/insights) [Book a demo](https://signal78.ai/insights/ais-implications-for-business-strategy#demo) [← Insights](https://signal78.ai/insights) AI in the WorkplaceJuly 30, 20234 min read # AI's Implications for Business Strategy ![Matt Cyr](https://signal78.ai/hubfs/signal78-site/headshot-matt-cyr.jpg)**Matt Cyr** · Founder & President, Loop ![](https://signal78.ai/hubfs/DALL%C2%B7E%202025-01-02%2021.07.08%20-%20A%20geometric%2c%20low-poly%20style%20image%20of%20a%20glowing%20lightbulb%20to%20symbolize%20a%20good%20idea%2c%20set%20against%20a%20simple%20gradient%20background.%20The%20image%20uses%20bold%2c%20vibr.webp) In this article Share I’m 2/3 of the way through my 6-week MIT Sloan online course on developing an AI business strategy, so it seemed like a good time to step back and reflect on what I’m learning. I’ll start with some definitions and a bit of history. Future posts will be on some specific uses of AI in strategy and business. **First, a few basic definitions.** There are lots of words and phrases being used that, frankly, I didn’t fully understand before this course. Here are a few that have helped me: - **Artificial Intelligence (AI)**: [From Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/technology/artificial-intelligence), “the ability of a digital [computer](https://www.britannica.com/technology/computer) or computer-controlled [robot](https://www.britannica.com/technology/robot-technology) to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings.” - **Artificial General Intelligence (AGI):** This is what the [doomsayers](https://time.com/6266923/ai-eliezer-yudkowsky-open-letter-not-enough/) fear. It’s when AI becomes self-aware and capable of operating on its own. If you’ve seen the new Mission Impossible movie, think “[the Entity](https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/mission-impossible-dead-reckoning-the-entity-explained-2207562/)” or [Skynet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skynet_(Terminator)) if you prefer a more nostalgic version of humanity-crushing robots. If it makes you feel any better, [AGI predictions have been wrong before](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_general_intelligence#:~:text=AI%20pioneer%20Herbert%20A.%20Simon%20wrote%20in%201965%3A%20%22machines%20will%20be%20capable%2C%20within%20twenty%20years%2C%20of%20doing%20any%20work%20a%20man%20can%20do.%22%5B38%5D). - **Machine Learning (ML)**: [From MIT Sloan](https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/machine-learning-explained), “a subfield of artificial intelligence that gives computers the ability to learn without explicitly being programmed.” ML processes enormous of data to learn over time – human inputs and feedback are a critical component of ML. - **Deep Learning (DL)**: [From AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/deep-learning/#:~:text=Deep%20learning%20is%20a%20method,produce%20accurate%20insights%20and%20predictions.), “Deep learning is a method in artificial intelligence (AI) that teaches computers to process data in a way that is inspired by the human brain. Deep learning models can recognize complex patterns in pictures, text, sounds, and other data to produce accurate insights and predictions.” - **Natural Language Processing (NLP):** [From IBM](https://www.ibm.com/topics/natural-language-processing), “NLP) refers to the branch of computer science—and more specifically, the branch of [artificial intelligence or AI](https://www.ibm.com/topics/artificial-intelligence)—concerned with giving computers the ability to understand text and spoken words in much the same way human beings can.**”** If you use Siri, ChatGPT, website chatbots or any other tool that tries to understand what you want by processing your words, you’re using NLP. - **Robotic Process Automation (RPA):** From [The Enterprisers Project](https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2019/5/rpa-robotic-process-automation-how-explain), “Robotic process automation is…instructing a machine to execute mundane, repetitive manual tasks.**”** **Here’s an AI hierarchy used in the class that helped me understand how the pieces fit together:** AI (the entire domain) \> ML (the algorithms underlying AI) \> NLP (an application of ML) \> Chatbots (a specific application of NLP). **If you’re a Benedict Cumberbatch fan, you may already know something about AI.** In the 2014 movie “The Imitation Game,” Cumberbatch plays Alan Turing, considered by many to be the father of modern AI. His “[Turing Test](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test)” is a “test of a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human.” The fact that he developed the test in 1950, almost 75 years ago, was very surprising to me. **This isn’t the first** [**AI hype cycle**](https://www.wired.com/story/ai-hype-cycle-burnout/#:~:text=The%20hype%20cycle%2C%20as%20defined,the%20time%20when%20it%27s%20adopted.)**.** My social feeds (probably like yours) are stuffed with AI tips, predictions and doomsaying. The hype train is running hot, but this isn’t the first time AI has generated intense periods of interest. Similar cycles happened in the 1970s and 1980s, and both were followed by so-called [AI Winters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_winter), when interest and funding dried up. Who knows if the same will happen this time, but cutting through the hype and getting a better understanding of what’s possible with AI was one of the main reasons I wanted to take this course. Additional resources I found helpful: - Here's a deeper dive on [the history of AI](https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2017/history-artificial-intelligence/). - McKinsey is all-in on AI. Here’s their recent take on the [potential economic benefit of AI](http://file///Users/mattc/Downloads/Gen%20AI%20-%20McKinsey.pdf). - Does is ever feel like AI can do *anything*? It does to me. Fortunately for us humans, there are [many things AI can’t do](https://bigthink.com/the-future/what-ai-cannot-do/). - Marketing, which is the field I work in, is already being massively disputed by AI and it will only continue. Here’s an article about a [few ways marketing is using AI](https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2022/09/09/artificial-intelligence-and-the-future-of-marketing/?sh=7d4bb255697f) and a few [great examples of AI-driven marketing.](https://blog.socialmediastrategiessummit.com/10-examples-of-ai-in-marketing/) ![Matt Cyr](https://signal78.ai/hubfs/signal78-site/headshot-matt-cyr.jpg) Founder & President ### Matt Cyr Nearly 30 years leading marketing teams, from Boston’s hospitals and universities to eight years running strategy and new business at a 100-person agency. Founded Loop in 2024. ## More insights. [See all insights→](https://signal78.ai/insights) ### [![](https://signal78.ai/hubfs/Gemini_Generated_Image_tlr2qftlr2qftlr2.jpeg) AI StrategyOctober 6, 2026 It’s Q4 — How’s Your AI Plan Coming? Read the post→](https://signal78.ai/insights/its-q4-hows-your-ai-plan-coming) ### [![](https://signal78.ai/hubfs/2026-09-28_asset_linkedin-article-header-platform-update-fall-2026.png) Signal78September 28, 2026 Signal78 Is Live. Here's What It's Proven — and What's Next. Read the post→](https://signal78.ai/insights/notes-from-the-build-where-signal78-stands-this-fall) ### [![](https://signal78.ai/hubfs/37-78.png) AI for AgenciesAugust 11, 2026 AI Will Keep Making Move 37. We Named the Company After Move 78. Read the post→](https://signal78.ai/insights/ai-will-keep-finding-move-37.-we-named-the-company-after-move-78) Every week ## Stay in the Loop. Get next week’s issue in your inbox: what changed in AI, and what it means for your agency. ![Signal78](https://signal78.ai/hubfs/signal78-site/logo-signal78.png) The agentic operating platform for agencies. It runs the routine and signals your people when their judgment matters. [Home](https://signal78.ai/) [Platform](https://signal78.ai/platform) [Services](https://signal78.ai/services) [About](https://signal78.ai/about) [Insights](https://signal78.ai/insights) © 2026 Signal78 [Privacy policy](https://signal78.ai/privacy) Cookie settings × ## Book a 30-minute demo Pick a time that works. You'll see Signal78 running on agency work like yours. × ## Talk to us Tell us a little about your agency and what you want AI to change. We'll reply within one business day. × ## Can’t we just build this in Claude? The white paper on what it takes to keep a homegrown AI system current, secure and separated by client. ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Matt Cyr", "url" : "https://signal78.ai/insights/author/matt-cyr" }, "dateModified" : "2025-04-13T13:57:55.266Z", "datePublished" : "2023-07-30T12:20:00.000Z", "headline" : "AI's Implications for Business Strategy", "image" : [ "https://signal78.ai/hubfs/DALL%C2%B7E%202025-01-02%2021.07.08%20-%20A%20geometric%2c%20low-poly%20style%20image%20of%20a%20glowing%20lightbulb%20to%20symbolize%20a%20good%20idea%2c%20set%20against%20a%20simple%20gradient%20background.%20The%20image%20uses%20bold%2c%20vibr.webp" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://signal78.ai/insights/ais-implications-for-business-strategy", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://signal78.ai/hubfs/Loop%20Logos/Loop_Primary.svg" }, "name" : "Signal78" } } ```