Recent research from Reuters indicates that approximately 50% of the online population in Argentina, Denmark, France, Japan, the UK, and the USA have heard of ChatGPT, making it the most widely recognized generative AI product. It is also the most commonly used generative AI tool across these countries. However, regular engagement remains low—only 1% of people in Japan use it daily, increasing slightly to 2% in France and the UK, and 7% in the USA (Fletcher, 2024).
Despite AI’s vast potential, it struggles to become an integral part of daily routines. Is this because users don’t fully understand how to harness its capabilities? Or because they aren’t getting the results they expect? Whatever the reason, one thing is clear: people are not leveraging AI to learn how to use AI effectively.
For business executives, CEOs, and executive coaches, understanding AI’s role as a teacher in the art of prompting is essential to getting desired results. The key isn’t just using AI—it’s learning how to work with it iteratively to refine outcomes and then evaluating how well prompts were crafted to improve future interactions.
Two Aspects of Working with AI Effectively
Iterating with AI
AI can be a powerful partner in completing tasks and drafting strategies if used iteratively. Instead of a linear process where AI generates content and the user simply accepts the output, effective users treat AI as a collaborative thought partner. Improvement happens in real-time through iteration, refining responses with follow-up questions and additional details.
A CEO looking to develop a blue ocean innovation plan, for example, must go beyond a single prompt and instead engage AI in an iterative process—one that builds upon its understanding of the company, its market, and its competitors. Consider the structured approach to leveraging AI for strategic planning:
Create a Company Wiki: Provide AI with key company details such as size, target customers, revenue goals, competitors, and strategic objectives. Share your URL and ask AI to review your company’s history, mission, vision, values, products, services, and customer testimonials. Request that it generate a concise internal Wiki that explains your business to someone unfamiliar with it.
Conduct a SWOT Analysis: Ask AI to identify key competitors and their offerings. Follow this by requesting a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis to compare your company’s standing against competitors and highlight areas for strategic focus.
Analyze Market Competition Using Porter’s Five Forces: With the competitor insights gathered, move towards conducting a Porter’s Five Forces analysis. Use the same competitors identified in the SWOT analysis to evaluate industry competition, supplier power, customer influence, threat of new entrants, and potential substitutes. This will serve as a foundation for your blue ocean strategy.
Visualize Competitive Positioning: Once the Porter’s Five Forces analysis is complete, ask AI to create a Radar Chart comparing key industry players across different areas of competition. This visual representation allows executives to quickly assess where their company stands in relation to competitors.
Source: Severin Sorensen's ChatGPT Instance Develop a Blue Ocean Strategy Framework: Guide AI toward innovation by leveraging the Blue Ocean Strategy model. Request an analysis of competitors alongside ten critical market variables that define industry success. Have AI identify areas where untapped opportunities (blue oceans) exist. Then, ask it to rank competitors on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being industry-leading and 1 indicating weak presence). Finally, request a Blue Ocean Strategy Canvas with each company represented in a unique color to easily visualize strategic gaps.
Source: Severin Sorensen's ChatGPT Instance Create a Strategic Roadmap for Innovation: Finally, instruct AI to take on the role of a top-tier management consultant, such as one from a Big Five consulting firm. Ask it to generate a comprehensive strategic roadmap for identifying and executing blue ocean innovations. Specify that the roadmap should include timelines, key milestones, required resources, and actionable steps. Reinforce that it should aim for top-tier strategic thinking, and you’ll be surprised at the depth of insights AI can generate.
Iteration drives competitive advantage. Instead of seeking one-time answers, leveraging AI through a structured, multi-step process—starting with foundational insights and refining through competitive analysis, visualization, and innovation frameworks—enables deeper, more actionable strategies.
This iterative approach uncovers market differentiation opportunities and ensures a clear execution roadmap, positioning businesses for sustained growth and leadership in their industry. For more examples of using AI iteratively for business, consider purchasing Severin Sorensen’s The AI Whisperer Frameworks book, which explores structured AI-driven strategies for business innovation, competitive analysis, and market differentiation.
Leveraging AI to Evaluate and Improve Your Prompting Skills
Once the task or strategy is completed, an often-overlooked aspect of AI interaction is leveraging the technology to understand how you can improve prompting for future use. By asking AI to rate the effectiveness of the prompts used throughout the session, users can gain insight into how to improve their prompt-crafting skills over time.
A real-world example of this approach comes from Severin Sorensen, Host and Curator of AreteCoach.io. After completing the Blue Ocean Strategy Framework outlined above, he leveraged AI to benchmark his strategy and identify areas for further improvement. The self-assessment, shown in the screenshots below, highlights how refining prompts and iterating with AI enhances the quality of responses. This iterative process mirrors how employees perform best with the right context and ongoing collaboration, reinforcing AI’s ability to deliver more precise and effective insights. Below are excerpts from AI’s review of Severin’s request, demonstrating how structured engagement leads to better outcomes.
Practical Steps to Becoming an AI-Powered Thinker
To implement the principles outlined above, here are practical steps for leaders and coaches:
Engage in Iteration: Start with an initial prompt, but don’t stop there. Ask AI how the prompt could be improved for a more desirable outcome. Provide feedback on responses and continue refining.
Use AI as a Thought Partner: Instead of treating AI as a one-and-done tool, engage in a conversation.
Apply AI’s Suggestions: Treat AI’s guidance as you would an expert mentor’s advice—an opportunity to refine your own thought process.
Seek Feedback on Prompting Skills: After completing a thread, ask AI to evaluate your prompting skills compared to others and provide suggestions on prompt-crafting for better results.
Incorporate AI into Decision-Making Processes: Instead of using AI as a brainstorming tool, integrate it into structured workflows for planning, strategy, and execution.
AI Unlocks Your Own Potential
The future of executive decision-making, leadership communication, and strategic planning isn’t just about having access to AI—it’s about knowing how to engage with it effectively. The secret to mastering AI isn’t complex; it’s a simple mindset shift: to get better, work iteratively and ask for feedback. AI is more than a tool; it’s a dynamic teacher ready to refine and sharpen your thinking at every step. The more you lean into this partnership, the more you’ll unlock the true power of AI in business leadership.
References
Fabio, R. A., Plebe, A., & Suriano, R. (2024). AI-based chatbot interactions and critical thinking skills: an exploratory study. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06795-8
Fletcher, R., & Nielsen, R. K. (2024, May 28). What does the public in six countries think of generative AI in news? | Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Reuters Institute. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/what-does-public-six-countries-think-generative-ai-news
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