The BIG Shift: From Strategy as a Deliverable to Strategy as an Experience

Today's client-advisor experience is a painful one...

Let’s be honest, the way consulting is delivered today is frustrating for the consultant, the client and ultimately the end-user / customer / beneficiary.

For decades, strategy consulting has followed a familiar pattern: intensive discovery phases, high-stakes workshops, and meticulously crafted decks brimming with insights and recommendations. At face value, this method delivers the intended outcomes from a deliverables perspective. But let's take a closer look at the client-advisor journey and the experience both parties go through in this collaborative endeavor.

Diagram of the consultant journey - placeholder

Take the following scenario - .....

We all know the drill:

1️⃣ Month 1: Do interviews, gather data, synthesize insights.

2️⃣ Month 2: Run workshops, debate ideas, capture input.

3️⃣ Month 3: Finalize the strategy, get leadership sign-off, and deliver the deck.

4️⃣ Month 4+: Strategy gets buried in emails, lost on he multiple version controls and forgotten on a shelf.

📌 The process is slow. Weeks of discovery, endless interviews, and painful review cycles kill momentum

.📌 The tools are outdated. Strategy still lives in PowerPoints, PDFs, and SharePoint folders—technology that was built in the 1990s.

📌 Stakeholder buy-in is a battle. Most employees don’t even know what the strategy is, let alone feel a sense of ownership.

Yet, as many seasoned consultants recognize, the true challenge isn't in formulating strategy—it's in ensuring it comes to life.

Strategy consulting has thrived on complexity. For decades, firms have built empires by creating frameworks, conducting high-stakes workshops, and delivering 100-slide decks. The model worked—until now.

A new generation of clients is now at the helm of leading organizations and They want 🔹faster alignment 🔹Less friction 🔹 A better experience. They want strategy to feel like a dynamic experience, not a stale deliverable. The model worked—until now.

Take into account the following statistics:

🚨 Most strategic plans fade within 90 days. (HBR)

🚨 Less than 33% of strategies get successfully implemented. (BCG)

🚨 85% of leadership teams spend less than an hour per month discussing strategy. (Bain)

📌 70% of business transformations fail. (McKinsey)

📌 Only 8% of executives believe their organization executes strategy effectively. (Bain)

The cracks are showing. Clients are demanding more than just insights—they want real impact. Consulting firms are under pressure to prove their value, retain clients longer, and scale beyond one-off engagements.

The old model of "Deliver the deck. Collect the fee. Move on." isn’t just outdated—it’s actively working against long-term impact. When strategies don’t get executed, clients don’t see results, and they start questioning the next engagement.

It’s time to rethink how strategy is delivered.

The Strategy Consulting model, as we deliver it today, is broken.

The Future of Strategy: Beyond the Deck, Beyond the Deliverable

The best strategy consultants aren’t just presenting slides anymore. They’re embedding themselves in execution without becoming operators. They’re using living strategies—not static documents—to stay relevant, guide decision-making, and expand their footprint within client organizations.

🚀 Living strategies don’t sit in a SharePoint folder—they evolve in real time.

🚀 Living strategies keep clients engaged long after the deck is delivered.

🚀 Living strategies make consultants indispensable—positioning them as ongoing strategic advisors, not just project vendors.

This is where Straago comes in.

Introducing Straago: The AI Strategy Builder for Consulting Firms

Straago changes how strategy is built, experienced, and sustained. Straago is built for consultants who want to stay ahead, win bigger engagements, and turn strategy into an ongoing conversation.

🤖 Faster stakeholder alignment. AI synthesizes insights instantly, removing weeks of back-and-forth

🤖  More engaging strategy sessions. Clients co-create their strategy instead of passively reviewing PowerPoint slides.

🤖 Living strategies that evolve. No more static documents—strategies update dynamically as the business changes.

With Straago, consultants can:

✅ Turn every client conversation into a strategic one. Keep your work visible, active, and aligned with execution.

✅ Keep strategy alive across leadership teams. No more one-off decks—ensure strategy stays top of mind.

✅ Expand your footprint within client organizations. Move from a single project to long-term, high-value engagements.

✅ Win more work by showing up differently. Stand out from the competition and embed yourself in decision-making.

Straago isn’t about tracking execution—it’s about keeping you in the room.

The Bottom Line: The Future of Strategy Consulting Belongs to Those Who Evolve

📌 Consulting firms that embrace AI and digital tools will grow 25% faster than those that don’t. (Accenture)

📌 Firms that integrate AI into their strategy delivery see a 40% increase in client retention. (BCG)

📌 The consulting industry is shifting, and those who don’t adapt will struggle to grow. (McKinsey)

The best strategy consultants are already moving beyond PowerPoint. They’re embedding themselves in ongoing decision-making, becoming trusted advisors, and ensuring that strategy remains a dynamic force within organizations.

The ones who don’t? They’ll be the ones trying to justify their fees when clients ask:

"Are we really paying this much for a slide deck?"

💡 Try Straago and see how strategy consulting is evolving.