Our Mission

VSTRAT transforms how organizations approach strategy, marketing, and innovation. By combining proven business frameworks with AI-powered interactivity, we make sophisticated business tools accessible and engaging for everyone—from the boardroom to the classroom to the consulting suite.

Our mission is to revolutionize how people think about and execute strategy. We replace static presentations with dynamic tools that foster real-time collaboration, enabling teams to visualize possibilities, explore scenarios, and make data-driven decisions. When everyone participates in strategic thinking, organizations don't just plan better—they execute more effectively, innovate more consistently, and grow more sustainably.

Through continuous innovation and expansion of our toolset, we're building a future where strategic thinking isn't confined to quarterly meetings or annual retreats. It's an ongoing, inclusive process that drives daily decisions and shapes organizational success.

Peter Zemsky and Michael Olenick publish early results about what became VSTRAT used in INSEAD classes
Peter Zemsky and Michael Olenick at Station F testing VSTRAT

Our Story

Our strategy process once looked like a chaotic maze on a whiteboard — lines and ideas connecting in every direction, creating a complex web almost impossible to navigate. The abstract concepts were solid, but the way they were plotted out was, quite literally, a tangled mess.

From that complexity came the birth of our computer-assisted strategy tools. These tools were designed to help people focus on strategic ideas by organizing and clarifying them visually. They took on the heavy lifting of sorting, connecting, and arranging concepts, letting people do what they do best: think and innovate, while the technology handled the structure.

Our tools enable people to participate meaningfully in strategic discussions. With the recent integration of GenAI, our technology now adds a starting point for those daunting blank pages. GenAI offers that initial nudge to shape ideas, but instead of overwhelming users with endless paragraphs, we keep it focused, using charts, diagrams, and interactive elements to turn abstract thought into accessible, actionable strategy.

VSTRAT is the latest development in this lineage, designed to democratize strategic thinking. By combining GenAI with interactivity, we’re enabling people at every level to contribute strategies that aren't just impressive in theory but practical and empowering in real-world applications.

VSTRAT is the next evolution in strategy creation.

Our Values

Growth

Sustainable, meaningful growth of your business by harnessing AI-powered insights leveraging time-tested frameworks.

Empowerment

Equipping everyone with the tools and insights needed to make informed decisions, and take control.

User-Centric Solutions

Aligning with customer needs, ensuring decisions are focused on delivering real value and impact for the problems you are facing.

Breakthrough Innovation

By blending traditional business strategy tools with AI and interactivity, VSTRAT propels innovation and ideation.

Agility

Dynamic, real-time adjustments allow you to stay flexible and responsive in a rapidly changing business environment.

Collaboration

Blending strategy with interactivity and technology, VSTRAT encourages cross-functional collaboration.

The VSTRAT Difference

Empowerment

We empower people and their teams to accomplish what once took months to complete: effectively, efficiently, at a low cost and on your own timeframe. Our mission is to democratize management practices, making strategic tools accessible to everyone. By giving teams the power to act, we overcome the age-old issue of “culture eats strategy,” creating organizations where strategy is embraced, understood, and executed by all. This shift enables businesses to move faster, make better decisions, and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Impact

There’s a lot of hype around AI in management, but not enough real-world application. VSTRAT changes that. Our tools don't just churn out generic responses from LLMs — they make people think and inspire growth. By augmenting Generative AI with deep interactivity and timeless management frameworks, we deliver tools that create meaningful impact on your business. Grounded in decades of research, VSTRAT addresses real challenges with proven success, driving measurable improvements where it counts most: in the day-to-day operations of your firm.

Research

Management tools and frameworks have evolved through decades of rigorous research and real-world application. VSTRAT builds on this wealth of knowledge, combining proven methodologies with cutting-edge interactivity and AI. Since the early experiments in 2003, VSTRAT has applied this foundation to address today’s business challenges with precision. It's not just a new tool — it’s the result of years of research and practical application, designed to leverage the full potential of management frameworks for real-world impact.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are you a school?

No, we're a business designed to help businesses. While VSTRAT is widely used in various schools, our tools are created and designed to have real-world impact inside and outside the classroom.

Can I use VSTRAT in my school, business, or consultancy?

Yes! We'd love to hear what you're doing and what you have in mind and see how we may help. Please write to us at info@vstrat.ai.

Are you part of INSEAD?

No. VSTRAT evolved from software and ideas long ago. One iteration was tested in INSEAD MBA and executive education classes to great enthusiasm but we're an independent company and work with businesses and schools everywhere.

Who exactly are you then?

We're a group of businesspeople working with high-quality educators to democratize management tools. If you have an idea for an AI-aided management tool, please let us know. Note, however, we receive many tool ideas and work with very few of them.

What's the difference between VSTRAT and ChatGPT or another LLM?

Much like business tools were designed to streamline and enable management - rather than offering longhand descriptions - our tools do the same. Further, our interactive and collaborative functions are beyond the scope of an LLM.

What LLM do you use?

We use different LLM's and we're always updating and switching, whichever ones work best for our various use cases. We're LLM agnostic. Further, we believe interacivity is as important as using the right LLM.

Are you training with the data?

No - our ties to LLM's are all under strict no-training privacy policies. Unlike ChatGPT, your data is not used to train.

Testimonials

Having run group strategy teams through many strategy cycles, its always frustrating to spend so much time and money on aligning our teams to the strategic baseline. What I loved about Vstrat is the ability to quickly bring your whole team to a common understanding of the competitive landscape, consider global insights from external markets and apply this insight to drive decision making in your company.

Steve Chugg

CEO/COO, Great Southern Bank

The customer journey mapping tool provided an incredibly comprehensive view of the customer experience, instantly transforming a blank canvas into a highly intuitive and solid foundation for ongoing, productive discussions!

Cecilia Panetta

Directora de Marketing, Axion energy
Argentina

VSTRAT’s approach has brought value chains to a new level in the classroom. The visual and interactive nature helped me understand and think more intuitively than paper or PowerPoint.

Wang Lei

Executive Education Student

At the end of the class, VSTRAT was introduced. We tried it then had a Q/A session. I had two questions: 1) why wasn't this used earlier, and 2) how do I buy it for the rest of my business?

Hassan Al Ketbi

Global Executive Director, New Business Development, Tourism Industry

Vstrat takes complex inputs and makes the type of business tools like customer journey maps I'm used to seeing. It allows my team to focus on strategy and what really matter to move our business forward. It's way more focused and useful than ChatGPT for the business tools we really use.

Octavia Jones

Strategy Consultant