There are only five viable pathways. Each reflects a different relationship with the AI plateau — above it, on it, around it, or across it. Every individual and organization will need a mix, but the proportions are determined by skill, authenticity, judgment, and adaptability. Full framework: https://businessengineer.ai/p/the-ai-quality-plateau
Strategy: Develop genuinely exceptional, right-tail human capability — deep expertise, novel synthesis, emotional resonance, judgment. Anything AI cannot authentically generate becomes durable value.
Hard Truth: Very few people actually sit above the plateau. Most overestimate their position; peak talent is ~1–5%.
Difficulty: Very High Availability: Extremely Scarce
When it works: – Elite advisors – Visionary founders – Original artists – Category-defining thinkers
When it fails: – Anyone mistaking competence for genius – Anyone competing on quality alone without authenticity
2. Leverage the Plateau
Strategy: Accept that AI handles execution. Position yourself at the orchestration layer — deciding when AI suffices vs. when human refinement is required.
Core Skill: Curation and direction, not production.
Difficulty: Medium Availability: Moderate
What it enables: – 10x personal output – High-leverage roles with minimal hands-on work – Ability to scale judgment across workflows
Who succeeds: Operators, PMs, founders, editors, strategists — people whose value is decision quality, not raw output.
3. Exploit the Authenticity Gap
Strategy: Move into domains where human origin is intrinsically part of the value proposition.
Key Domains: – Relationships & personal presence – Accountability & responsibility – Creativity with verifiable human story – Trust-heavy or identity-based professions
Difficulty: Medium Availability: Selective
Why it works: When AI can mimic quality but not origin, the source becomes the signal. Authenticity becomes the differentiator.
But: Verification will get harder — provenance becomes a requirement.
4. Build on the Plateau
Strategy: Use AI as infrastructure to create new businesses, workflows, or services that were previously uneconomical. Find valuable applications of near-free capability.
Opportunity: AI makes formerly expensive tasks free. The real question becomes: “What can I build now that the cost is zero?”
Difficulty: Medium Availability: Wide Open
Examples: – AI agents orchestrating processes – New SaaS categories – Vertical workflows now economically viable – Service businesses with automated backends
This path rewards creativity, not credentials.
5. Prepare for Multiple Transitions
Core Principle: Avoid strategies that depend on a stable boundary between “human work” and “AI work.” That line will keep moving.
Key Actions: – Build adaptability into your career – Maintain optionality across domains – Expect to reposition repeatedly – Learn across multiple S-curves
Meta-Strategy: Given the rising plateau, any fixed position becomes temporary. The only durable advantage is the capacity to adapt repeatedly.
The Synthesis: Your Mix Is the Strategy
No one follows a single pathway. Most successful operators blend: – Peak for differentiation – Plateau leverage for output – Authenticity for trust – Building on the plateau for scale – Transition readiness for long-term survival
The mix depends on: – Honest self-assessment – Market dynamics – How far your skills sit above or below the plateau – Your appetite for reinvention
The Key Insight: These strategies are not mutually exclusive. Most people will need to combine them — and rebalance over time — as the plateau rises.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
