Commercial excellence is the new moat in an AI-accelerated economy
Static planning is over. As we head into 2026, permanent geopolitical shocks and fast tech cycles have made one thing clear: valuation now follows commercial excellence, not size.
That's the lens Fernando Ventureira, chief executive of Stratence Partners, brings to the market outlook. His message to boards is blunt: volatility is a structural fact, and strategy only matters if it hits the field with certainty.
Strategy is cheap. Execution pays.
Traditional commercial models-static plans, disconnected sales, gut-feel pricing-are being replaced. Ventureira points to data-driven scenarios, real-time sales governance, and disciplined value-based pricing as the new baseline.
"Across most industries, commercial excellence is emerging as the dominant driver of profitability, cash generation, and enterprise value," he says. The play is simple: turn strategy into actions that managers and sellers can execute every week, with clarity and accountability.
AI is an accelerator, not a crutch
Much of the discourse treats AI as a magic wand. Ventureira disagrees. "AI dramatically increases the speed, quality, and scalability of strategic and commercial decisions - but only when embedded into core business processes."
The leaders use AI to simulate pricing moves in real time, monitor performance automatically, and trigger governance without manual chase. As board cycles shrink from years to quarters, speed and consistency matter more than showy decks.
For context on value-based pricing methods, see this overview from Harvard Business Review: A Quick Guide to Value-Based Pricing. And for a view on the inflation shocks that exposed weak commercial models, see the IMF's primer on inflation.
What the numbers say
The financial upside is measurable. Companies that tighten pricing discipline and execution often see net price up to 3%, with EBIT up around 7% in 18 months.
"These results are achieved through execution discipline, cross-functional alignment, and the systematic embedding of pricing and commercial decisions into day-to-day operations," says Ventureira. Translation: this is a capital-efficient lever with predictable returns.
Sector notes
- Chemicals and industrials: manage portfolio breadth, protect margins against volatile input and logistics swings, and formalize price corridors by customer and SKU.
- Healthcare and finance: build compliance-first governance, tighten approval flows, and target risk-adjusted growth with clear audit trails.
- All sectors: integrate pricing, sales governance, and data into one commercial operating system so every deal and decision adds value.
How to operationalize in 90 days
- Set a single commercial north star: margin dollars and cash over volume vanity.
- Define 3-5 scenario rules for pricing (by segment, region, channel) and codify them into deal desks.
- Stand up weekly commercial governance: price moves, pipeline health, win-loss, and exceptions-owned by P&L leaders.
- Embed AI where decisions happen: price recommendations, discount guardrails, renewal risk flags, incentive simulations.
- Publish a simple "how we sell" playbook: qualification, offer design, approval paths, and non-negotiables.
- Rewire incentives to margin and cash collection; pay for behaviors that stick.
- Upgrade data quality at the source: clean product hierarchies, segment tags, and price-waterfall fields.
- Launch field-tested pilots in two segments; scale what works, kill what doesn't.
- Automate performance monitoring with alerting; remove manual reporting where possible.
The end state: lasting autonomy
Ventureira's takeaway for leadership teams: prioritize execution certainty over theoretical perfection. Put AI and governance inside pricing, deal management, and incentives-not in isolated dashboards.
"Commercial excellence, accelerated by AI, is no longer optional. It is the mechanism through which strategy is converted into predictable financial performance," he concludes. The era of abstract plans is over. The operating system wins.
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If your teams need practical upskilling on applied AI for pricing, sales, and operations, explore role-based programs here: Complete AI Training - Courses by Job.
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