Reverse-Engineering the Future: How Leaders Should Think About AI & Tech

“We’re busier than ever, but not necessarily more productive”, says business strategist Peter Fisk in a mid-spring afternoon at the Financial Times studios in London. Having just returned from an international business trip to Asia, Fisk tells me that the key differentiator between businesses who are thriving and those who aren’t is not access to tools, but clarity of purpose.  

Today, AI is everywhere. It’s in headlines, boardrooms, and strategic plans. But Fisk’s warning is simple: tools alone won’t transform your business. Strategy, imagination and leadership will. “It’s not about AI itself. It’s what you do with it”. Technology, on its own, changes nothing, he argues. The real power lies in how leaders use it. 

According to Fisk, the best companies use AI to amplify human strengths. They speed up decisions. They reduce friction. But above all, they create more space for creativity, empathy and leadership. This is what Fisk calls “sustainable innovation”: solving real problems in ways that matter. 

Reverse-Engineering the Future 

But how can leaders ensure they are truly building the future, rather than getting distracted by the latest tools in the market. According to him, starting with the desired future state and working backward – or reverse-engineering it – can be a great starting point. 

“The best way to create the future now is to jump to the future,” he says. “Don’t start from where you are. Start from where you want to be.” 

The benefit of this approach is, according to Fisk, is that it challenges teams to think beyond what’s familiar. And it forces leaders to confront what’s really holding them back: fear of letting go. 

According to Fisk, one of the most common mistakes he sees is that many leaders wait until results decline to make a change. “The time to change is when you’re at your peak,” he says. “That is when you have the resources, the talent and the permission to take bold bets.” 

The key is to experiment early and often. Try new ideas on a small scale. Learn quickly. Adapt. Fisk points to Microsoft’s shift under Satya Nadella, where a growth mindset turned a legacy giant into a learning organisation.

Being Big Doesn’t Mean Valuable 

Big is no longer the same as valuable, Fisk says. He points to Volkswagen and PepsiCo, who are giants in revenue but are far outpaced in valuation by Tesla and Coca-Cola respectively. Even more striking, Kweichow Moutai, a Chinese spirits brand, now rivals Coca-Cola in market value. “Being the biggest no longer means being the most valuable,” he says. 

These companies are not simply refining their old models. They are redefining what it means to be in their industry. Fisk also highlights Mercado Libre, which started as an e-commerce platform in Latin America but has become an even bigger player in fintech. Likewise, Indian telecoms firm Jio has evolved into a super-app and lifestyle brand, reshaping consumer expectations in just a few years. 

Every year, Fisk curates his “Most Inspiring Companies” list, an eclectic mix of firms that may not be the biggest, but often prove to be the boldest. From the electric car maker BYD in China to a niche yerba mate brand from South America, these companies share one trait: they look forward. 

“They have vision, and they have courage,” Fisk says. “They step outside traditional norms and imagine new possibilities.” 

For leaders looking to do the same, the message is clear: the best ideas may already exist, just not in your industry or market. “The future is already here,” Fisk says. “But it’s unevenly distributed.”

Strategy and Learning Go Hand in Hand 

For change to be sustainable, Fisk believes that learning needs to be aligned to the core of the organisation and be a key strategic element in the business. “Learning programmes should not be a break from the business,” Fisk says. “They should be how you change the business.”

He urges executives to connect learning with real business priorities. That means investing in skills that prepare people for uncertainty, not just efficiency. And it means involving the C-suite, not outsourcing growth to HR.

Fisk argues that learning should be treated as a strategic lever. It should be aligned to the long-term vision of the organisation, and it should build the human capabilities required to achieve it. “Learning needs to stop being three years ahead of when it’s needed,” he says. “It needs to be done now, because it’s the best way we can transform the business now.”

This means designing learning journeys that target real business problems, such as navigating disruption, building innovation culture, or leading transformation. It also means building cross-functional ownership between HR and the C-suite. For CEOs, the question is no longer whether to invest in development, but whether it’s focused on the right goals.

“[Learning] is not a break from business,” he says. “It’s how you build the business.”

To conclude, Fisk’s advice for CEOs is direct: stop obsessing over quarterly results. Look five or ten years ahead. Ask where you want your organisation to be and start working backward from there.