Leadership: How to Shape Major Market Opportunities

Exceptional leaders do not simply wait for opportunities to appear in the sales pipeline. They identify important changes before the market fully understands them, define the problems clients will soon need to solve and build the capabilities required to lead the response.

This is the difference between pursuing opportunities and shaping markets.

Pursuing an opportunity usually begins when a client issues a request for proposal, asks for a meeting or communicates a defined requirement. At that point, the client has already framed the problem, established the buying process and may already have a preferred solution in mind.

Market shaping begins much earlier.

A market-shaping leader asks:

• What important change is taking place?
• Which organisations will be affected?
• What new risks, costs or opportunities will that change create?
• Why are existing solutions insufficient?
• How should leaders understand the issue?
• What capabilities will clients need?
• How can our organisation credibly lead the market response?
• What should we build now, before demand becomes obvious?

The objective is not merely to sell more services. It is to influence how clients, regulators, investors, industry bodies and technology partners understand an emerging problem—and to establish the organisation as one of the most credible places to solve it.

Client-deal shaping and market shaping reinforce each other. Market shaping creates the category, language and proof that make individual opportunities easier to win; client opportunity shaping converts that position into funded programmes for specific accounts.

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1. What it means to shape a market​

Market shaping is the deliberate process of creating demand, defining a category, influencing buyer priorities and developing a distinctive position around an emerging need.

It involves more than marketing.

A successful market position combines:

1. A significant external change
2. A clearly defined client problem
3. A compelling point of view
4. Relevant capabilities
5. Credible evidence
6. A commercial proposition
7. A route to market
8. A scalable delivery model
9. A trusted ecosystem
10. Visible leadership

The leader does not invent artificial demand. Instead, they help organisations recognise an important issue earlier, understand it more clearly and act on it with greater confidence.

For example, organisations may know that artificial intelligence is developing rapidly. However, they may not know:

• Which AI use cases should receive investment
• How to govern autonomous or agentic AI
• How AI affects workforce design
• How to manage model and third-party risk
• How to calculate return on investment
• How to redesign business processes around AI
• How to provide assurance over AI-generated decisions
• How to scale experimentation into production

A market-shaping leader converts this broad uncertainty into a structured executive agenda.

They may create a position such as:

Organisations do not need more disconnected AI pilots. They need an enterprise operating model that connects strategy, process redesign, technology, data, workforce, governance and value measurement.

That point of view can then be supported by research, executive workshops, assessment tools, reference architectures, accelerators, managed services and implementation capabilities.

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2. Why market-shaping leadership matters​

In highly competitive markets, organisations cannot rely only on responding to existing demand.

When an opportunity reaches a formal procurement process, several things may already have happened:

• The client has defined the problem.
• A competitor may have influenced the requirements.
• The available budget may already be fixed.
• The decision criteria may favour another provider.
• The work may have been reduced to a price comparison.
• The strategic issue may have been divided into disconnected technical projects.
• The client may be looking for a vendor rather than a strategic partner.

By shaping the market earlier, a leader can help influence:

• How the problem is described
• Which risks are considered
• What outcomes are expected
• Which capabilities are required
• How investment is prioritised
• Which stakeholders are involved
• How success is measured
• Whether the client builds, buys, partners or outsources
• How the programme is governed
• What long-term operating model is required

This creates a stronger position than competing only on price, credentials or available resources.

It also allows the organisation to move from selling isolated projects to building long-term client relationships, platforms, transformation programmes and managed services.

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3. Start with external change, not internal capability​

A common leadership mistake is to begin market development with an internal capability.

For example:

• “We have built an AI accelerator. Who can we sell it to?”
• “We have a new cybersecurity team. What services can they offer?”
• “We have partnered with a cloud provider. How can we generate revenue from the partnership?”

This is an inside-out approach.

It often creates propositions that are technically impressive but weakly connected to urgent client needs.

Market shaping should begin from the outside in.

The leader should first understand what is changing in the environment and what that change means for clients.

Important sources of change include:

Regulatory change​

New legislation, regulatory guidance, reporting obligations and enforcement activity can create major markets.

Examples include:

• Artificial intelligence regulation
• Data protection requirements
• Sustainability reporting
• Digital operational resilience
• Consumer protection
• Financial crime regulation
• Cybersecurity obligations
• Supply-chain due diligence
• Corporate governance reform

A regulatory shift can create demand for strategy, readiness assessments, control frameworks, remediation, technology implementation, assurance and managed compliance services.

Technological change​

New technologies can alter business models, operating processes, cost structures and competitive advantage.

Examples include:

• Generative AI
• Agentic AI
• Quantum technologies
• Edge computing
• Digital twins
• Blockchain and digital assets
• Privacy-enhancing technologies
• Advanced robotics
• Synthetic biology
• Autonomous systems

The leadership question is not simply, “What can this technology do?”

The stronger question is:

What economic, operational, strategic and regulatory consequences will this technology create for our clients?

Economic change​

Interest rates, inflation, capital availability, energy prices, labour shortages and changes in consumer spending can all create new client priorities.

For example, prolonged cost pressure may create demand for:

• AI-enabled productivity
• Process automation
• Procurement transformation
• Workforce redesign
• Cloud-cost optimisation
• Portfolio rationalisation
• Shared services
• Managed operations

Geopolitical change​

Trade restrictions, sanctions, regional conflicts and industrial policy can influence:

• Supply-chain resilience
• Cybersecurity
• Data sovereignty
• Technology sourcing
• Critical infrastructure
• Energy security
• National AI capability
• Defence and public-sector investment

Social and workforce change​

Demographic shifts, employee expectations and changes in skills availability can create markets around:

• Workforce transformation
• Digital learning
• Human–AI collaboration
• Talent intelligence
• Organisational redesign
• Employee experience
• Future skills
• Responsible workforce automation

Industry disruption​

Each industry experiences change differently.

The implications of AI for a bank are not identical to its implications for a retailer, energy provider, pharmaceutical company or government department.

Exceptional leaders translate broad trends into industry-specific consequences.

They ask:

• Which value chains will change?
• Which industry economics will be affected?
• Which roles or processes will be redesigned?
• Which regulatory obligations will become more difficult?
• Which new competitors may enter?
• Which assets will increase or decrease in value?
• What will clients need to do differently?

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4. Build a disciplined market-sensing capability​

Market sensing should not depend on one leader reading news articles or attending conferences. It should operate as a repeatable leadership capability.

A strong market-sensing system brings together signals from:

• Client conversations
• Account teams
• Regulators
• Government policy
• Academic research
• Industry bodies
• Technology partners
• Start-ups
• Investors
• Internal delivery teams
• Recruitment activity
• Competitor announcements
• Procurement trends
• Media and analyst reports
• Technology adoption data
• Operational incidents
• Changes in client budgets

These signals should be captured, assessed and converted into strategic hypotheses.

For example:

Signal: Financial institutions are experimenting with generative AI but remain concerned about explainability and regulatory accountability.

Hypothesis: Demand will move from experimentation towards governed deployment and independent AI assurance.

Potential market: AI governance, model risk management, AI controls, testing, audit readiness and continuous assurance.

Leadership action: Develop a trusted AI proposition, create an assessment framework, establish a regulatory advisory group, build technical testing capability and convene financial-services executives.

Leaders should regularly ask:

• Which signals are becoming stronger?
• Which client concerns are appearing repeatedly?
• Where are budgets beginning to move?
• Which regulations may create mandatory action?
• Which client problems remain poorly served?
• Where are competitors investing?
• Where do we have an unusual combination of credibility and capability?
• Which market could become significant within two to five years?
• What would need to be true for the opportunity to grow?
• What early action would give us an advantage?

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5. Select the right market opportunities​

Not every trend should become a major investment.

Leaders need a disciplined method for deciding which opportunities deserve attention—consistent with portfolio start/continue/scale/pause/stop discipline.

A potential market opportunity can be evaluated across several dimensions.

Strategic importance​

Does the opportunity support the organisation’s wider strategy?

Will it strengthen priority industries, capabilities, accounts or regional objectives?

Client urgency​

Is the issue important enough for clients to act?

Is it linked to revenue, cost, risk, compliance, resilience, customer experience or competitive advantage?

Market size​

Could the opportunity become commercially meaningful?

Does it support a single project, a series of projects or a long-term service market?

Timing​

Is the market ready now?

Is the organisation too early, correctly timed or already late?

Right to win​

Why should clients choose this organisation?

Does it possess relevant:

• Industry knowledge
• Technical capability
• Regulatory credibility
• Data
• Intellectual property
• Partnerships
• Delivery experience
• Executive relationships
• Geographic reach
• Brand trust

Differentiation​

Can the organisation build a position that is meaningfully different from competitors?

Scalability​

Can the opportunity be delivered repeatedly, or will every engagement require a completely new solution?

Risk​

What legal, regulatory, ethical, reputational, operational or investment risks exist?

Investment requirement​

What people, technology, partnerships, research and sales investment will be required?

Cross-service potential​

Can the opportunity connect multiple capabilities across the organisation?

For example, an AI assurance market may involve:

• Strategy
• Risk
• Legal
• Cybersecurity
• Data
• Technology
• Internal audit
• Industry regulation
• Workforce change
• Model testing

The strongest opportunities often sit at the intersection of several client needs and organisational capabilities.

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6. Create a distinctive market point of view​

A market position begins with a strong point of view.

A point of view is not a generic statement such as “AI is transforming business.”

It should explain:

• What is changing
• Why it matters
• What leaders are misunderstanding
• What organisations should do
• What risks they must manage
• What decisions they need to make
• What a successful response looks like

A strong point of view should be clear enough to influence executive decisions.

For example:

Weak point of view​

Organisations should adopt AI responsibly.

Stronger point of view​

The next phase of AI adoption will not be won by the organisation with the most pilots. It will be won by the organisation that can redesign end-to-end processes, deploy reusable AI capabilities, maintain human accountability and demonstrate measurable business value.

The stronger statement creates a basis for:

• Executive discussion
• Research
• Assessment services
• Operating-model design
• Technology implementation
• Governance
• Workforce transformation
• Managed services

An effective point of view should be:

• Relevant to a major executive concern
• Specific enough to guide action
• Evidence based
• Commercially meaningful
• Distinctive
• Easy to communicate
• Connected to deliverable capabilities
• Adaptable across sectors where appropriate

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7. Reframe the client problem​

One of the most valuable things a market-shaping leader can do is improve the definition of the problem.

Clients often begin with a narrow request.

For example:

We need a generative AI chatbot.

A market-shaping leader may reframe this as:

You need to redesign customer-service journeys using AI while preserving trust, security, accessibility, escalation, regulatory compliance and measurable service outcomes.

This broader framing may reveal needs relating to:

• Customer-experience strategy
• Process redesign
• Knowledge management
• Data quality
• AI architecture
• Identity and access management
• Human escalation
• Model evaluation
• Compliance
• Operational monitoring
• Workforce change
• Benefits realisation

The leader should not expand the problem merely to increase the size of the engagement. The purpose is to ensure that the client addresses the real conditions required for success.

Good problem reframing helps clients move:

• From technology to business outcomes
• From pilots to enterprise capability
• From isolated tools to operating-model change
• From adoption to measurable value
• From generic governance to risk-based control
• From vendor selection to strategic design
• From one-off implementation to continuous improvement

This same discipline applies inside individual deals—see client opportunity shaping.

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8. Develop a market-shaping proposition​

A proposition explains how the organisation helps clients respond to the issue.

A strong proposition should answer:

• Who is the client?
• What problem are they facing?
• Why is the problem urgent?
• What outcomes can be achieved?
• What approach will be used?
• Why is the organisation credible?
• What makes the proposition different?
• What evidence supports it?
• How will it be delivered?
• How will value be measured?
• What will it cost?
• How can the relationship expand over time?

A mature proposition may include several layers.

Executive advisory​

Helping senior leaders understand the issue, define ambition and make strategic decisions.

Diagnostic or assessment​

Evaluating the client’s current position, maturity, risk exposure and opportunities.

Strategy and roadmap​

Defining priorities, investment choices, operating model and implementation plan.

Design and implementation​

Building the required processes, data capabilities, platforms, controls and organisational structures.

Adoption and transformation​

Supporting workforce change, communications, training, governance and behavioural adoption.

Assurance​

Providing independent testing, control validation or regulatory readiness support.

Managed service​

Operating some part of the capability on an ongoing basis.

For example, a responsible AI proposition could include:

1. Executive AI governance workshop
2. AI maturity and risk assessment
3. AI policy and control framework
4. Use-case risk classification
5. Model evaluation and red teaming
6. AI inventory and monitoring platform
7. Regulatory readiness
8. Workforce and accountability design
9. Independent AI assurance
10. Continuous managed governance service

This creates a pathway from initial conversation to long-term strategic relationship.

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9. Build before the market fully matures​

Market leadership often requires investment before revenue becomes certain.

This may involve:

• Hiring specialist talent
• Building technical demonstrators
• Creating assessment tools
• Developing reference architectures
• Producing proprietary research
• Creating datasets or benchmarks
• Establishing alliances
• Training account teams
• Developing industry-specific use cases
• Creating governance frameworks
• Building delivery methods
• Funding early client experiments
• Creating managed-service platforms

The leader must balance speed and discipline.

Investing too late means entering a crowded market without differentiation.

Investing too early can result in capabilities that the market is not ready to buy.

A useful approach is staged investment.

Stage 1: Explore​

Test whether the problem is real.

Activities may include:

• Client interviews
• Market analysis
• Regulatory review
• Small research projects
• Leadership roundtables
• Early prototypes
• Partner discussions

Stage 2: Validate​

Confirm that clients are willing to invest.

Activities may include:

• Paid diagnostics
• Co-innovation projects
• Executive workshops
• Pilot programmes
• Early commercial proposals
• Lighthouse-client engagements

Stage 3: Productise​

Turn the approach into a repeatable proposition.

Activities may include:

• Standard methods
• Templates
• Pricing models
• Delivery playbooks
• Training
• Quality controls
• Technical accelerators
• Sales materials
• Case studies

Stage 4: Scale​

Expand across accounts, industries or regions.

Activities may include:

• Dedicated leadership
• Sales targets
• Delivery hubs
• Managed services
• Global alliances
• Acquisitions
• Marketing campaigns
• Cross-service integration

Stage 5: Renew​

Continue adapting as the market changes.

Leaders should regularly challenge whether the proposition remains relevant, distinctive and commercially attractive.

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10. Use demonstrators and accelerators strategically​

Demonstrators can make an emerging opportunity tangible.

They allow clients to see how a concept might work in practice.

Examples include:

• An AI-enabled claims-processing journey
• A regulatory-monitoring platform
• A digital-twin demonstration
• An intelligent supply-chain control tower
• A responsible AI dashboard
• A cyber-threat simulation environment
• A workforce-planning tool
• An AI assurance testing platform

However, a demonstrator should not be created only because the technology is interesting.

It should support a clear market narrative.

A useful demonstrator should help answer:

• What client problem does this solve?
• Which executive should care?
• What business outcome can it improve?
• What risks does it address?
• Which decisions does it enable?
• What would be required to implement it?
• How does it differentiate the organisation?
• Can it be reused across multiple clients?

Accelerators should reduce time, cost or risk.

They may include:

• Reference architectures
• Reusable code
• Control libraries
• Industry taxonomies
• Process models
• Data connectors
• Evaluation frameworks
• Regulatory mappings
• Deployment templates
• Benchmark datasets
• Benefits calculators

The value of an accelerator is not simply that it exists. Its value comes from helping the organisation deliver better outcomes more quickly and consistently—especially when a Data & AI Centre of Excellence owns reuse, quality and commercialisation.

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11. Convene the market​

Exceptional leaders do not communicate only through sales presentations. They create forums where important market conversations take place.

This may include:

• Executive roundtables
• Industry councils
• Regulator discussions
• University partnerships
• Client innovation labs
• Technology-partner events
• Closed leadership communities
• Working groups
• Research collaborations
• Sector conferences
• Policy discussions

Convening the market provides several benefits.

It helps the leader:

• Understand client concerns
• Test emerging ideas
• Build senior relationships
• Identify common problems
• Develop credibility
• Influence market language
• Create collaborative solutions
• Detect regulatory direction
• Identify potential partners
• Generate future opportunities

The strongest convening is not a disguised sales event.

It should create genuine value for participants.

For example, an executive roundtable on agentic AI might explore:

• Which decisions should agents be allowed to make?
• How should accountability be assigned?
• What evidence should be retained?
• How should organisations monitor autonomous behaviour?
• What is the role of human approval?
• How should third-party agents be governed?
• How can business value be measured?
• What regulatory expectations are emerging?

Insights from the discussion can inform future research, propositions, client work and policy engagement.

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12. Develop proprietary research​

Research can help an organisation move from participating in a market to defining it.

Strong proprietary research may include:

• Executive surveys
• Industry benchmarks
• Maturity assessments
• Economic analysis
• Regulatory analysis
• Technology testing
• Scenario modelling
• Case studies
• Operational data
• Adoption studies
• Risk frameworks
• Market forecasts

The best research is not produced only for publicity.

It should improve:

• Client conversations
• Executive decision-making
• Proposition design
• Sales qualification
• Delivery quality
• Benchmarking
• Policy engagement
• Market credibility

For example, research on enterprise AI adoption might reveal that organisations with the most pilots are not necessarily generating the greatest value. The research may identify stronger predictors of value, such as:

• Executive ownership
• Process redesign
• Reusable platforms
• High-quality enterprise data
• Adoption measurement
• Clear accountability
• Responsible AI controls
• Product-oriented delivery
• Workforce readiness

These findings can become the foundation of a distinctive market position.

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13. Build ecosystems, coalitions and partnerships​

Many major market opportunities cannot be addressed by one organisation alone.

Market-shaping leaders build ecosystems involving:

• Technology providers
• Cloud platforms
• Software companies
• Universities
• Start-ups
• Regulators
• Government bodies
• Industry associations
• Specialist consultancies
• Investors
• Legal firms
• Data providers
• Research organisations

The leader should determine the role of each partner.

Possible partnership models include:

• Joint propositions
• Co-developed intellectual property
• Technology integration
• Market research
• Client innovation programmes
• Referral arrangements
• Joint ventures
• Managed services
• Skills development
• Acquisitions

A strong ecosystem should create more value than a collection of logos.

The leader should ask:

• What capability does each partner contribute?
• Where are responsibilities clear?
• Who owns the client relationship?
• How will intellectual property be managed?
• How will revenue and investment be shared?
• How will quality and risk be controlled?
• How will client confidentiality be protected?
• Is the partnership strategically important or merely promotional?
• Does it strengthen our differentiation?
• Can it scale?

Industry coalitions can be particularly powerful when the problem requires common standards or collective action.

Examples include:

• Responsible AI standards
• Digital identity
• Supply-chain data sharing
• Cyber resilience
• Sustainability measurement
• Sector-wide skills development
• Interoperability standards
• Data spaces

By convening such coalitions, leaders can help define the market’s operating rules.

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14. Create new managed services​

Market opportunities can become especially valuable when they support recurring services rather than only one-off projects.

A managed service may continuously provide:

• Monitoring
• Compliance
• Analytics
• Testing
• Model evaluation
• Cybersecurity
• Data operations
• AI governance
• Regulatory reporting
• Cloud optimisation
• Business-process operations
• Third-party risk management

For example, an AI governance managed service could help clients maintain:

• An inventory of AI systems
• Use-case risk classification
• Policy compliance
• Model evaluation
• Control evidence
• Incident management
• Regulatory documentation
• Third-party monitoring
• Human-oversight records
• Board reporting

The development of a managed service requires leaders to think differently from project delivery.

They must consider:

• Standardisation
• Service levels
• Recurring revenue
• Platform investment
• Automation
• Operational resilience
• Data security
• Multi-client separation
• Talent capacity
• Continuous improvement
• Contractual liability
• Pricing
• Exit arrangements
• Regulatory obligations

A managed service should not be launched merely because recurring revenue is attractive. The service must solve a persistent client need more effectively than the client can solve it alone.

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15. Enter new markets through partnerships or acquisitions​

Some opportunities require capabilities that would take too long to build organically.

Leaders may consider partnerships, minority investments or acquisitions when the organisation needs:

• Specialist talent
• Proprietary technology
• Intellectual property
• Sector access
• Geographic presence
• Delivery capacity
• Data assets
• Established clients
• Regulatory licences
• A faster route to market

However, an acquisition is not a substitute for strategy.

Before investing, leaders should be clear about:

• The market opportunity
• The capability gap
• Why organic development is insufficient
• The strategic fit
• The integration model
• Talent retention
• Cultural compatibility
• Technology integration
• Client conflicts
• Risk and independence considerations
• Revenue synergies
• Delivery synergies
• Brand implications

The most valuable acquisition is not always the largest. A small specialist organisation may provide a critical capability that enables a much broader market proposition.

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16. Mobilise the organisation around the opportunity​

A strong idea will not become a market position without organisational alignment.

The leader needs to connect:

• Industry leaders
• Account teams
• Sales teams
• Technical specialists
• Product teams
• Delivery teams
• Risk and legal teams
• Marketing
• Finance
• Learning and development
• Recruitment
• Alliances
• Regional and global leadership

Each group needs to understand:

• Why the opportunity matters
• Which clients are affected
• What the proposition is
• How to identify demand
• What evidence exists
• How to start a client conversation
• Which capabilities are available
• What the organisation can and cannot promise
• How opportunities should be qualified
• Who owns the next action

This requires more than sending a presentation.

The leader may need to create:

• Account playbooks
• Executive briefing materials
• Industry-specific messages
• Qualification questions
• Proposal templates
• Delivery methods
• Learning programmes
• Demonstration scripts
• Commercial models
• Risk guidance
• Case studies
• Incentives
• Leadership dashboards

Market shaping becomes real only when many people across the organisation can recognise, discuss and deliver the opportunity consistently—supported by engagement with business and service-line leaders.

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17. Establish clear leadership and governance​

Emerging markets often attract interest from many parts of an organisation. Without clear governance, this can create duplication, confusion and internal competition.

The leader should clarify:

• Who owns the market strategy?
• Who owns the proposition?
• Who leads each industry?
• Who owns technical development?
• Who approves investment?
• Who controls intellectual property?
• Who manages partnerships?
• Who owns quality and risk?
• Who is accountable for revenue?
• How will regions collaborate?
• How will conflicts be resolved?

A market opportunity may require a leadership structure such as:

Executive sponsor​

Provides authority, investment support and organisational alignment.

Market leader​

Owns the overall strategy, growth plan and market position.

Proposition leader​

Owns the offer, methods, assets and commercial model.

Industry leaders​

Translate the proposition into sector-specific needs.

Capability leaders​

Provide technical, regulatory, operational and transformation expertise.

Account leaders​

Identify and develop opportunities within priority clients.

Delivery leader​

Ensures the work can be delivered consistently and at quality.

Risk leader​

Ensures regulatory, legal, ethical and reputational risks are addressed—aligned with risk, governance and assurance decisions.

Without this clarity, the organisation may produce overlapping propositions, inconsistent messages and poor client experiences.

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18. Convert thought leadership into commercial action​

Thought leadership should not remain separate from business development.

Every major market insight should be connected to a route to action.

For example:

Insight: Boards lack confidence in how their organisations govern AI.

Thought leadership: Research on board oversight of AI.

Executive engagement: Board and chief risk officer roundtables.

Diagnostic: AI board-governance assessment.

Advisory service: AI governance operating-model design.

Implementation: Policies, controls, committees, reporting and technology.

Assurance: Independent testing of governance effectiveness.

Managed service: Continuous AI risk monitoring and board reporting.

This creates a coherent journey from insight to value.

The leader should ask:

• Which clients should receive the research?
• What conversation should it trigger?
• What diagnostic can follow?
• What decision can we help the client make?
• What implementation support may be required?
• What recurring need could emerge?
• How will insights from delivery improve the next version of the proposition?

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19. Shape demand without creating fear​

Market shaping should be responsible.

Leaders must not exaggerate risks or create artificial urgency merely to generate sales.

Credible leadership requires balanced communication.

The leader should explain:

• The scale of the opportunity
• The limits of current evidence
• The risks of action
• The risks of inaction
• The uncertainty involved
• The available options
• The trade-offs
• The conditions required for success

For example, when discussing AI regulation, the leader should avoid presenting every AI use case as equally high risk.

Instead, they should help clients adopt proportionate governance based on factors such as:

• Decision impact
• Data sensitivity
• Degree of autonomy
• User vulnerability
• Regulatory context
• Explainability requirements
• Human oversight
• Scale
• Reversibility
• Potential harm

Trusted leaders create informed demand, not fear-based demand.

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20. Measure market-shaping progress​

Revenue is important, but it is often a delayed measure.

Market development should be tracked through a combination of leading and lagging indicators.

Market-awareness indicators​

• Executive engagement
• Research reach
• Invitations to industry forums
• Media coverage
• Regulatory engagement
• Analyst recognition
• Senior client participation
• Partner interest

Demand indicators​

• Client conversations
• Workshop requests
• Assessment opportunities
• Qualified pipeline
• Repeat questions across accounts
• Budget allocation
• Requests for strategic advice
• Inclusion in client planning cycles

Capability indicators​

• Number of trained practitioners
• Reusable assets
• Delivery capacity
• Technical readiness
• Industry specialisation
• Partnership maturity
• Time required to mobilise teams

Commercial indicators​

• Pipeline value
• Win rate
• Revenue
• Margin
• Average engagement size
• Cross-service revenue
• Recurring revenue
• Client expansion
• Managed-service adoption

Client-outcome indicators​

• Revenue created
• Cost reduced
• Risk reduced
• Time saved
• Compliance improved
• Resilience increased
• Adoption achieved
• Customer outcomes improved
• Workforce productivity improved

Strategic-position indicators​

• Market share
• Category recognition
• Client references
• Strength of intellectual property
• Competitor response
• Ability to influence standards
• Position in priority accounts
• Talent attraction

The leader should avoid focusing only on the number of reports, events, pilots or meetings. These activities matter only when they contribute to stronger market position and client outcomes—then reviewed in portfolio performance.

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21. Questions exceptional leaders ask​

Market-shaping leaders regularly challenge their teams with questions such as:

About the market​

• What important change are we seeing?
• What evidence supports it?
• Why does it matter now?
• Which clients will be affected first?
• How large could the opportunity become?
• What could prevent the market from developing?

About the client problem​

• What problem is the client actually trying to solve?
• Is the problem strategic, operational, regulatory or technological?
• What is the cost of doing nothing?
• Who owns the outcome?
• Which executive has the strongest reason to act?
• How is the issue currently being addressed?

About differentiation​

• Why should the market listen to us?
• What do we know that others do not?
• What evidence, assets or capabilities make us credible?
• Is our proposition genuinely different?
• Could a competitor easily copy it?
• Are we leading the conversation or repeating the market consensus?

About capability​

• Can we deliver what we are promising?
• Which capabilities must be built?
• Which should be partnered?
• Which should be acquired?
• What quality and risk controls are required?
• How will we scale delivery?

About commercialisation​

• Who is the buyer?
• What budget will fund the work?
• What is the entry service?
• How can the relationship expand?
• Can we create recurring revenue?
• What is the commercial model?
• How will client value be demonstrated?

About timing​

• Are we too early?
• Are we too late?
• What should we invest now?
• What should we test before scaling?
• What decision must be made in the next 90 days?

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22. Common leadership failures​

Following every trend​

Not every emerging technology or regulatory development deserves a major proposition.

Leaders must distinguish between temporary attention and durable client demand.

Starting with a solution​

Building an accelerator before understanding the problem often leads to weak adoption.

Producing generic thought leadership​

Content that repeats widely known ideas rarely creates market distinction.

Confusing visibility with leadership​

Speaking at many events does not necessarily mean the organisation is influencing the market.

Launching without delivery capability​

A strong campaign can damage credibility if the organisation cannot deliver what it promises.

Allowing internal fragmentation​

Different teams may create competing propositions around the same topic.

Ignoring the commercial model​

A market may be strategically interesting but commercially weak.

Treating partnerships as announcements​

Partnerships need shared propositions, joint account plans, technical integration and clear economics.

Failing to specialise​

A broad proposition such as “AI transformation” may be too general to generate action. Clients often need industry- and function-specific solutions.

Measuring activity instead of impact​

Reports, events and pilots are not outcomes.

Underestimating trust​

In markets involving data, AI, cyber, regulation or critical infrastructure, trust may be more important than speed.

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23. A practical market-shaping process​

Leaders can use the following structured process.

Step 1: Detect the change​

Identify the regulatory, technological, economic, industry or social shift.

Step 2: Define the affected clients​

Determine which sectors, functions and organisations will experience the greatest impact.

Step 3: Articulate the problem​

Explain the issue in clear executive language.

Step 4: Form a hypothesis​

State what clients will need and why existing approaches are insufficient.

Step 5: Test with the market​

Use interviews, workshops, roundtables, research and small engagements.

Step 6: Select a priority position​

Choose where the organisation has both a meaningful market opportunity and a credible right to win.

Step 7: Develop the point of view​

Create a clear perspective on what leaders should do.

Step 8: Build the proposition​

Define services, outcomes, delivery methods, commercial model and differentiation.

Step 9: Create proof​

Develop demonstrators, research, case studies, benchmarks and lighthouse engagements.

Step 10: Build capability​

Recruit, train, partner, acquire and create reusable assets.

Step 11: Mobilise accounts​

Equip client teams with messages, questions, workshops and qualification tools.

Step 12: Scale delivery​

Establish governance, quality, capacity, technology and operational discipline.

Step 13: Measure results​

Track market position, pipeline, revenue, client outcomes and capability maturity.

Step 14: Refresh the position​

Continue adapting as technology, regulation and client priorities change.

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24. Example: shaping the responsible and trusted AI market​

A regional leader observes several signals:

• Organisations are rapidly experimenting with generative AI.
• Boards are uncertain about accountability.
• Regulators are increasing their attention.
• Business teams are acquiring tools without central visibility.
• Risk teams are struggling to apply existing control models.
• Clients lack reliable methods for testing AI systems.
• There is increasing concern about third-party models and data.

The leader concludes that clients will need an integrated responsible AI capability.

The leader’s market-shaping actions may include:

1. Publishing research on enterprise AI governance.
2. Convening board members, risk leaders and regulators.
3. Creating an AI maturity and risk assessment.
4. Developing a use-case classification framework.
5. Building technical testing and red-teaming capability.
6. Creating a model-evaluation laboratory.
7. Mapping controls to relevant regulations and standards.
8. Developing an AI governance operating model.
9. Training industry and account leaders.
10. Establishing alliances with technology and governance platforms.
11. Delivering lighthouse engagements.
12. Launching continuous AI assurance and monitoring services.

The organisation is no longer waiting for a request titled “Responsible AI implementation.”

It is helping clients understand that responsible AI requires an enterprise capability combining:

• Strategy
• Governance
• Data
• Security
• Model risk
• Legal compliance
• Workforce accountability
• Technical testing
• Monitoring
• Assurance

That is market shaping.

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25. Example: shaping the AI-enabled business transformation market​

Many organisations begin AI programmes by collecting use cases.

A leader may recognise that this approach often produces numerous pilots but limited enterprise value.

The leader develops a stronger market point of view:

AI value will not come primarily from adding copilots to existing work. It will come from redesigning end-to-end processes, decision rights, roles, controls and customer journeys around new AI capabilities.

The resulting proposition may include:

• Enterprise AI strategy
• Value-pool identification
• Process and journey redesign
• Use-case portfolio management
• Data and platform architecture
• AI product operating model
• Workforce transformation
• Responsible AI controls
• Adoption and change
• Benefits measurement
• Managed AI operations

The leader can then convene chief executives, chief operating officers, chief technology officers, chief data officers and chief human resources officers around one integrated transformation agenda.

This is more powerful than selling disconnected AI tools.

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26. A 90-day leadership agenda​

A leader beginning a market-shaping initiative could use the following agenda.

Days 1–30: Understand and focus​

• Review external market signals.
• Analyse client conversations and pipeline.
• Interview account, industry and capability leaders.
• Identify recurring client problems.
• Assess competitor positions.
• Evaluate the organisation’s right to win.
• Select two or three priority market hypotheses.
• Establish executive sponsorship.
• Define initial success measures.

Days 31–60: Validate and design​

• Test hypotheses with senior clients.
• Convene targeted roundtables.
• Define the market point of view.
• Develop the initial proposition.
• Identify capability gaps.
• Select potential lighthouse clients.
• Define partnership requirements.
• Create an investment case.
• Agree governance and ownership.
• Begin research or demonstrator development.

Days 61–90: Mobilise​

• Launch the first executive narrative.
• Train priority account teams.
• Initiate lighthouse engagements.
• Develop repeatable assessment tools.
• Confirm delivery capacity.
• Establish commercial and pricing models.
• Create a market dashboard.
• Agree a 12-month growth plan.
• Assign named leaders for accounts, industries and capabilities.
• Establish a regular review of market evidence and client feedback.

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Conclusion​

Shaping major market opportunities is one of the highest-value responsibilities of executive leadership.

It requires leaders to see beyond the current pipeline and understand how regulation, technology, economics, industry structures and social expectations are changing client priorities.

Exceptional leaders identify important shifts early. They convert uncertainty into a clear executive problem. They develop a distinctive point of view, build the required capabilities, convene clients and partners, create evidence and establish a scalable commercial proposition.

They do not wait for clients to define the opportunity for them.

They help clients understand:

• What is changing
• Why it matters
• What decisions are required
• What risks must be managed
• What capabilities need to be built
• What successful transformation looks like

The goal is not simply to respond to requests for proposals.

The goal is to influence the questions clients ask, the priorities they set and the actions they take.

That is how leaders create markets rather than merely compete within them.