Why traditional strategy models are under pressure
For many years, strategy work followed a predictable rhythm: analysis, options, recommendation, handover. That approach assumed time, stable operating conditions, and a clear separation between thinking and doing.
In the future of senior strategy roles, those assumptions no longer apply.
Boards now expect strategy to inform real-time decisions. CEOs need advice that reflects execution risk, organisational capability and cultural reality. Senior leaders are required to move seamlessly from insight to action, often with incomplete information.
In our advisory work at Galvin-Rowley Executive, we see organisations struggling not because strategy is absent, but because it is disconnected from how decisions are actually made.
AI has accelerated the gap, not closed it
AI, data analytics and digital tools are often cited as the reason strategy roles are changing. In practice, they have acted as an accelerant rather than a solution.
Many organisations want the benefits promised by AI-enabled decision-making but lack the internal readiness to support it. Governance is unclear. Roles are poorly defined. Capability is uneven. Confidence in how insights should be used is low.
This has created a visible gap in the future of senior strategy roles: ambition outpacing execution capability.
As a result, boards are increasingly turning to senior advisors, interim executives and hybrid leaders who can bridge strategy, technology implications and organisational reality — without treating any one of those dimensions in isolation.
The rise of hybrid strategy capability
One of the most consistent signals we see in the future of senior strategy roles is demand for hybrid capability.
Organisations are no longer well served by leaders who operate exclusively in one lane. The most effective strategy and advisory roles now blend:
- Strategic judgement grounded in commercial reality
- Fluency in data, technology and AI implications
- Credibility with boards and executive teams
- The ability to move between analysis and delivery
This shift is reshaping role design, succession planning and how advisory engagements are scoped. It is also changing what boards look for when assessing senior strategy capability.
The change is structural, not cosmetic.
Consulting and advisory roles are moving closer to the organisation
Alongside this, the boundary between internal and external advice is narrowing.
Traditional consulting models — episodic, document-heavy and distant from delivery — are increasingly complemented by advisory arrangements that are more embedded, accountable and adaptive.
In the future of senior strategy roles, this shows up through:
- Interim executives with transformation or stabilisation mandates
- Senior advisors working directly with CEOs and boards
- Hybrid roles that combine strategy, change and operational leadership
At Galvin-Rowley Executive, we see this as a rational response to complexity rather than a rejection of consulting expertise.
What this means for boards and CEOs
For boards, the key question is no longer whether strategy capability exists. It is whether it exists in the right form.
Boards that continue to rely on legacy models of strategy support often find decision-making slows precisely when agility is required. CEOs, in turn, absorb the burden of translating advice into action.
In our work supporting boards and executive teams, Galvin-Rowley Executive helps organisations reassess:
- The shape of senior strategy and advisory roles
- When interim capability is more effective than permanent appointments
- How governance expectations align with execution reality
Those that respond early are better positioned to manage risk and momentum.
A capability question, not a technology question
While AI and data have accelerated change, the future of senior strategy roles is ultimately about capability.
Who can exercise judgement under pressure.
Who can connect insight to execution.
Who can support boards and CEOs through ambiguity without oversimplifying it.
Organisations that recognise this are adjusting role design and advisory models before decision quality suffers.
Start the conversation early
If your board or executive team is questioning whether existing strategy or advisory capability is still fit for purpose, an early conversation can clarify options before pressure forces change.
If you would like to discuss how these dynamics are affecting your board — including composition, succession or leadership capability — we welcome a confidential conversation.
Reach out to our Director, Jen Galvin-Rowley, for a confidential discussion about the future of senior strategy roles and how organisations are responding in practice. jen@galvinrowley.com.au
0410 477 235
