Richard Brooks

My thoughts on business, value, and how AI is changing both.

Thirty years running companies, teaching key account management at Cranfield, two books. I write from experience, not the handbook. More about me.

Latest essay

30 October 2026 · 5 min readNew

Don't be very good at a bad strategy

A simple grid from Cranfield's Malcolm McDonald splits businesses into those that thrive, survive, die slowly and die quickly. AI agents make every business faster at whatever it is already doing. A Q&A on why that makes strategy matter more than ever.

Figure 1

Four ways to run a business

Adapted from Malcolm McDonald (2014), presentation at Cranfield School of Management. Only one box is somewhere you'd want to be.

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Books

AI Strategy for Sales Teams

with Andrew Hough and Richard Vincent · 2026

Creating Customer Value Propositions with AI

with Mark Davies and Dr Sue Holt · Kogan Page, May 2027

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