Rethinking Competitive Strategy for a World Driven by Intelligent Technologies

Abstract

This paper examines how intelligent technologies, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, predictive analytics, autonomous systems, robotics, digital twins, the Internet of Things, edge and cloud computing, knowledge graphs, large language models, decision intelligence, agentic AI, and cyber-physical systems, are changing the foundations of competitive strategy. Classical strategy theories, including the resource-based view, Porter's positioning framework, transaction cost economics, and dynamic capabilities, were built for environments in which human judgment, physical assets, and comparatively stable industry structures determined firm performance. Those assumptions hold less well once intelligent technologies become embedded in decision-making, learning, innovation, and value creation across the firm. Drawing on strategic management, information systems, and organizational theory research, this paper argues that classical frameworks remain partly valid but need conceptual extension rather than outright replacement. It develops an original model, the Intelligent Strategy Capability Framework (ISCF), which explains how lasting advantage arises from the interaction of strategic intelligence, human judgment, AI-augmented decision capability, organizational learning, digital resource orchestration, adaptive innovation, knowledge integration, platform and ecosystem strategy, trust and responsible AI, strategic agility, institutional adaptability, and governance capability. The paper discusses managerial and policy implications and sets out directions for future research on strategy in technology-intensive organizations. The central claim is that competitive advantage in an AI-enabled economy depends less on owning intelligent technology and more on the organizational capacity to combine machine intelligence with human judgment under conditions of fast diffusion and rising institutional scrutiny.