Explorers surface opportunities, test boundaries, and imagine new applications. They’re your organization’s AI scouts.
Strength: Find High-Value Use Cases
Explorers prevent strategic blindness. They find the opportunities others miss because they’re constantly asking “what if?”
Risk When Dominant: Innovation Theater
When Explorers dominate, you get many pilots but few production deployments. Energy goes into discovery without implementation.
The Anthropic Research
According to Anthropic’s research, 45% of AI users exhibit Explorer behaviors. They’re the largest tribe but often the least connected to production.
Signs of Explorer Dominance
Many experiments, few reach production
Endless POCs that never graduate
High excitement, low EBIT impact
Innovation showcase events but no systematic value capture
The Fix: Strengthen Handoff
Explorers need structured paths to production. Pair every Explorer initiative with an Automator from day one. Set graduation gates and 13-week handoff cycles.
Target ratio: 40% Explorer capacity aligned to strategic priorities.
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.
