Artificial Intelligence Is for Everyone – How Companies Can Respond to the “Homogenization Effect”

According to MIT Sloan Management Review, the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence by companies does not necessarily mean it will become a source of long-term competitive advantage. On the contrary — what appears cutting-edge today may soon become universal, commodified, and accessible to all. Strategic differentiation ends where mass accessibility begins.

The wave of AI adoption in business brings with it what can be described as a “homogenization effect” — a landscape where every company relies on the same technologies. Open-source models, public APIs, widely available datasets, and accessible technical talent mean that simply using AI no longer creates advantage — everyone can do it.

True value is created where technology is combined with components that others can’t replicate — local knowledge, internal process specificity, customer-centric design, and a unique managerial culture. This creates what the authors call residual heterogeneity — the remaining uniqueness that makes a company stand out in a world where everyone has access to the same tools.

This perspective is especially relevant in the Georgian context. In recent years, Georgia’s tech ecosystem has shown growing interest in AI tools. Startups, private firms, and even public institutions are integrating AI across services — from automation to analytics. However, as noted in a review developed by BTUAI, most of these tools and approaches are identical to global trends: the same GPT models, the same image generators, the same optimization workflows.

So the question arises: if everyone uses the same tools, what makes any company stand out? The answer again lies in that residual heterogeneity. For example, Pulsar AI — founded in Georgia and later acquired in the U.S. — initially developed a speech recognition system tailored to the Georgian market and a specific industry need. It wasn’t just a GPT-powered interface — it was a deliberate solution, born of deep contextual insight and user behavior understanding.

That’s why it’s critical not to treat AI as a “magic key.” The technology itself is not a guarantee of advantage — it’s a baseline resource whose impact depends on human creativity, strategic thinking, and adaptation to local needs.

The article is using MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer 2025 issue (Volume 66, Number 4), the original analysis was authored by David Wingate, Barclay L. Burns, and Jay B. Barney. The discussion in the context of Georgia was developed by BTUAI.