As platforms like AlphaSense automate the grunt work of research, the advantage is no longer in finding information. The new "alpha" for investors comes from asking better, more creative questions, identifying cross-industry trends, and being more adept at prompting the AI to uncover non-obvious connections.

For data-heavy queries like financial projections, AI responses should transcend static text. The ideal output is an interactive visualization, such as a chart or graph, that the user can directly manipulate. This empowers them to explore scenarios and gain a deeper understanding of the data.

The most powerful use of AI for business owners isn't task automation, but leveraging it as an infinitely patient strategic advisor. The most advanced technique is asking AI what questions you should be asking about your business, turning it from a simple tool into a discovery engine for growth.

WCM avoids generic AI use cases. Instead, they've built a "research partner" AI model specifically tuned to codify and diagnose their core concepts of "moat trajectory" and "culture." This allows them to amplify their unique edge by systematically flagging changes across a vast universe of data, rather than just automating simple tasks.

Instead of presenting static charts, teams can now upload raw data into AI tools to generate interactive visualizations on the fly. This transforms review meetings from passive presentations into active analysis sessions where leaders can ask new questions and explore data in real time without needing a data analyst.

Go beyond using AI for data synthesis. Leverage it as a critical partner to stress-test your strategic opinions and assumptions. AI can challenge your thinking, identify conflicts in your data, and help you refine your point of view, ultimately hardening your final plan.

The most effective way to use AI is not for initial research but for synthesis. After you've gathered and vetted high-quality sources, feed them to an AI to identify common themes, find gaps, and pinpoint outliers. This dramatically speeds up analysis without sacrificing quality.

Go beyond using AI for simple efficiency gains. Engage with advanced reasoning models as if they were expert business consultants. Ask them deep, strategic questions to fundamentally innovate and reimagine your business, not just incrementally optimize current operations.

The most significant recent AI advance is models' ability to use chain-of-thought reasoning, not just retrieve data. However, most business users are unaware of this 'deep research' capability and continue using AI as a simple search tool, missing its transformative potential for complex problem-solving.