I have come to understand strategic thinking as more art than science. Strategy is surely informed in part by data, but I find that our society in general and the technology industry specifically too often confuse data and wisdom, that we foolishly (though understandably) seek heuristics or processes so that we can turn the art of strategic thinking into a game of color by numbers so simple that anyone can do it. When it comes to strategic thinking, better that we seek methods of framing our thoughts rather than shortcuts to the answers themselves. This session offers practical approaches to injecting strategy into your organization’s Microsoft Cloud journey, indeed, a selection of the same approaches I take with my clients. We explore a wide range of topics, including the impact of AI on the strategic landscape, how organizations have ever-decreasing time to absorb waves of innovation into their operating models, the transition from activity-based to system-based value, and how governance fits. We’ll then investigate a model for weaving strategic intent into the ongoing cloud journey, and explore industry-specific ecosystem maps that illustrate how other organizations have found success doing this.

I co-created this concept and content with Microsoft's Global Blackbelt (GBB) team, and it draws on their experience as well as mine working with organizations in the United Kingdom, United States, Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, France, Romania, and more worldwide. I've written the following deep dive on this topic, so many themes here will be carried through the session (though session will have the most up to date content): https://www.andrewdwelch.com/blog/strategic-thinking-for-microsoft-cloud.