ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
An AI-native strategy firmGlobal Advisors: a consulting leader in defining quantified strategy, decreasing uncertainty, improving decisions, achieving measureable results.
A Different Kind of Partner in an AI World
AI-native strategy
consulting
Experienced hires
We are hiring experienced top-tier strategy consultants
Quantified Strategy
Decreased uncertainty, improved decisions
Global Advisors is a leader in defining quantified strategies, decreasing uncertainty, improving decisions and achieving measureable results.
We specialise in providing highly-analytical data-driven recommendations in the face of significant uncertainty.
We utilise advanced predictive analytics to build robust strategies and enable our clients to make calculated decisions.
We support implementation of adaptive capability and capacity.
Our latest
Thoughts
Podcast – The Real AI Signal from Davos 2026
While the headlines from Davos were dominated by geopolitical conflict and debates on AGI timelines and asset bubbles, a different signal emerged from the noise. It wasn’t about if AI works, but how it is being ruthlessly integrated into the real economy.
In our latest podcast, we break down the “Diffusion Strategy” defining 2026.
3 Key Takeaways:
- China and the “Global South” are trying to leapfrog: While the West debates regulation, emerging economies are treating AI as essential infrastructure.
- China has set a goal for 70% AI diffusion by 2027.
- The UAE has mandated AI literacy in public schools from K-12.
- Rwanda is using AI to quadruple its healthcare workforce.
- The Rise of the “Agentic Self”: We aren’t just using chatbots anymore; we are employing agents. Entrepreneur Steven Bartlett revealed he has established a “Head of Experimentation and Failure” to use AI to disrupt his own business before competitors do. Musician will.i.am argued that in an age of predictive machines, humans must cultivate their “agentic self” to handle the predictable, while remaining unpredictable themselves.
- Rewiring the Core: Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi noted the difference between an “AI veneer” and a fundamental rewire. It’s no longer about summarising meetings; it’s about autonomous agents resolving customer issues without scripts.
The Global Advisors Perspective: Don’t wait for AGI. The current generation of models is sufficient to drive massive value today. The winners will be those who control their “sovereign capabilities” – embedding their tacit knowledge into models they own.
Read our original perspective here – https://with.ga/w1bd5
Listen to the full breakdown here – https://with.ga/2vg0z

Strategy Tools
Strategy Tools: The 7S Framework – A Comprehensive Guide
By John Khova Global Advisors digital consultant Introduction The McKinsey 7S Framework is one of the most enduring and widely recognised management models in strategic consulting and organisational design. It posits that organisational effectiveness depends not on...
Fast Facts
Fast Fact: Great returns aren’t enough
Key insights
It’s not enough to just have great returns – top-line growth is just as critical.
In fact, S&P 500 investors rewarded high-growth companies more than high-ROIC companies over the past decade.
While the distinction was less clear on the JSE, what is clear is that getting a balance of growth and returns is critical.
Strong and consistent ROIC or RONA performers provide investors with a steady flow of discounted cash flows – without growth effectively a fixed-income instrument.
Improvements in ROIC through margin improvements, efficiencies and working-capital optimisation provide point-in-time uplifts to share price.
Top-line growth presents a compounding mechanism – ROIC (and improvements) are compounded each year leading to on-going increases in share price.
However, without acceptable levels of ROIC, the benefits of compounding will be subdued and share price appreciation will be depressed – and when ROIC is below WACC value will be destroyed.
Maintaining high levels of growth is not as sustainable as maintaining high levels of ROIC – while both typically decline as industries mature, growth is usually more affected.
Getting the right balance between ROIC and growth is critical to optimising shareholder value.
Selected News
Quote: Clayton Christensen
“Culture is a way of working together toward common goals that have been followed so frequently and so successfully that people don’t even think about trying to do things another way. If a culture has formed, people will autonomously do what they need to do to be successful.” – Clayton Christensen – Author
Clayton M. Christensen, the renowned Harvard Business School professor and author, offers a piercing definition of culture that underscores its invisible yet commanding influence on human behaviour. Drawn from his seminal 2010 book How Will You Measure Your Life?, this observation emerges from Christensen’s broader exploration of how personal and professional success hinges on aligning daily actions with enduring principles.1,2 The book, blending business acumen with life lessons, distils decades of research into practical wisdom for leaders, managers, and individuals navigating career and family demands.1,3
Christensen’s Life and Intellectual Journey
Born in 1952 in Salt Lake City, Utah, Christensen rose from humble roots to become one of the most influential thinkers in business strategy. A devout Mormon, he integrated faith with rigorous analysis, viewing truth in science and religion as harmonious.2,4 Educated at Brigham Young University, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and Harvard Business School, he joined Harvard’s faculty in 1989. His breakthrough came with The Innovator’s Dilemma (1997), introducing disruptive innovation – the theory explaining how market-leading firms falter by ignoring low-end or new-market disruptions.5 This framework, applied across industries from steel to smartphones, earned him global acclaim and advisory roles with Intel, Kodak, and others.
Christensen’s later works, including How Will You Measure Your Life?, shift from corporate strategy to personal integrity. Co-authored with Jeff Dyer and Hal Gregersen, it warns against marginal compromises – ‘just this once’ temptations – that erode character over time.3 He argued management is ‘the most noble of professions’ when it fosters growth, motivation, and ethical behaviour.2,3 Stricken with leukemia in 2017 and passing in 2020, Christensen left a legacy of over 150,000 citations and millions of books sold, emphasising that true metrics of life lie in helping others become better people.2,4
The Context of the Quote in Christensen’s Philosophy
In How Will You Measure Your Life?, the quote illuminates how organisations – and lives – succeed through ingrained habits. Christensen posits that culture forms when proven paths to common goals become automatic, enabling autonomous action without constant oversight.1 This ties to his ‘resources, processes, priorities’ (RPP) framework: resources fuel action, processes habitualise it, and priorities direct it.2,4 A strong culture aligns these, creating ‘seamless webs of deserved trust’ that propel success, echoing his warnings against short-termism where leaders chase loud demands over lasting value.3
He contrasts virtuous cultures fostering positive-sum interactions and lucky breaks with toxic ones breeding zero-sum games and isolation.3 For leaders, cultivating culture means framing work to motivators – purpose, progress, relationships – so employees end days fulfilled, much like Christensen’s own ‘good day’ model.2
Leading Theorists on Organisational Culture
Christensen’s views build on foundational theorists who dissected culture’s role in management and leadership.
- Edgar Schein (1935-2023): In Organizational Culture and Leadership (1985), Schein defined culture as ‘a pattern of shared basic assumptions’ learned through success, mirroring Christensen’s ‘frequently and successfully followed’ paths. Schein’s levels – artefacts, espoused values, basic assumptions – explain why entrenched cultures resist change, much like Christensen’s processes becoming ‘crushing liabilities’.5
- Charles Handy (1932-2024): The Irish management guru’s Understanding Organizations (1976) classified cultures (power, role, task, person), influencing Christensen’s emphasis on autonomous success. Handy’s gods of management archetype underscores culture’s ritualistic hold.
- Stephen Covey (1932-2012): In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989), Covey urged ‘keeping the main thing the main thing’ via principle-centred leadership, aligning with Christensen’s priorities and family-career balance.3
- Peter Drucker (1909-2005): The ‘father of modern management’ declared ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’, a maxim Christensen echoed by prioritising cultural processes over mere resources.5
- Charles Munger (1924-2023): Berkshire Hathaway’s vice chairman complemented Christensen, praising ‘the right culture’ as a ‘seamless web of deserved trust’ enabling weak ties and serendipity.3
These thinkers collectively affirm culture as the bedrock of sustained performance, where unconscious alignment trumps enforced compliance. Christensen’s insight, rooted in their legacy, equips leaders to build environments where success feels inevitable.
References
1. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7256080-culture-is-a-way-of-working-together-toward-common-goals
2. https://www.toolshero.com/toolsheroes/clayton-christensen/
3. https://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2020/02/16/clayton-christensen-on-how-will-you-measure-your-life/
4. https://quotefancy.com/clayton-m-christensen-quotes/page/2
5. https://www.azquotes.com/author/2851-Clayton_Christensen
6. https://memories.lifeweb360.com/clayton-christensen/a0d52888-de6d-4246-bce9-26d9aaee0aac

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Consultants join our firm based on a fit with our values, culture and vision. They believe in and are excited by our differentiated approach. They realise that working on our clients’ most important projects is a privilege. While the problems we solve are strategic to clients, consultants recognise that solutions primarily require hard work – rigorous and thorough analysis, partnering with client team members to overcome political and emotional obstacles, and a large investment in knowledge development and self-growth.
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