AI: The competitive advantage of disciplined execution over speed

The window for experimentation is closing 

With €2.53 trillion in AI spending forecast for 2026*, organizations face a stark reality. Research shows that 42% of AI initiatives are abandoned before production**, and the cost of architectural missteps is rising.

If you ask me, AI succeeds when the groundwork is laid first. This blog builds on that thinking, drawing insights from Fujitsu’s AI mini-report*** developed with FT Longitude, and looks at why disciplined execution - not speed alone - has become the real competitive advantage.

AI is no longer operating in a regulatory grey area. Increasing scrutiny means organizations must think about compliance, governance, and risk from the outset—not after deployment.

Fernando Almeida, Fujitsu’s Head of Portfolio Strategy Hybrid IT, captures this shift clearly:

“Regulation is no longer something you deal with after deployment. It shapes how AI systems are designed from the start.”

This fundamentally changes how AI initiatives are approached. Speed alone is no longer a competitive advantage—execution quality is.

The foundation determines the ceiling 

As AI matures, a clear pattern is emerging: organizations that prioritize strong foundation—data, architecture, governance—outperform those that prioritize speed alone. That’s exactly what I have also described in my blog ‘Why AI fails without application modernization’*.

As Almeida explains:

“You need to set up the foundation first, and that part is slow, because you have to agree on architecture, governance, and operating models in advance.”

But that investment pays off:

“Once that foundation is in place, you can adopt new AI capabilities quickly and safely.”

At the core of this foundation is data. Without it, even the most advanced AI systems will struggle to deliver value.

Walsh emphasizes this point:

“Before you think about tools, you need to understand your data — where it is, who owns it, and what you are allowed to do with it. Otherwise, AI creates risk instead of value.”