Beyond the Hype: Why AI Alone Won't Secure Competitive Advantage, by Jonathan H. Westover PhD

Abstract: This article examines the relationship between artificial intelligence and sustainable competitive advantage through an evidence-based strategic lens. While AI technologies promise transformative capabilities, their increasing ubiquity challenges the assumption that AI adoption alone can provide lasting competitive differentiation. Drawing on strategic management theory and emerging market evidence, we analyze why AI is destined to become a competitive necessity rather than advantage as it becomes more accessible and commoditized. The research suggests that sustainable advantage will increasingly derive not from AI technologies themselves, but from the uniquely human capabilities that complement them—creativity, strategic vision, and organizational culture. Organizations seeking lasting differentiation must understand how to integrate AI within a broader strategic framework that leverages distinctly human contributions that resist commoditization.