Strategy is easy when you're an outsider. But what happens when you're the one actually making the decisions?
When the polished slide deck meets messy reality? When the theoretical meets the practical?
That's the journey Agathe Blanchon-Ehrsam has navigated, moving from Partner at Vivaldi to VP of Growth & Innovation at Danone. Her story reveals the often hidden challenges of turning brilliant strategy into real-world business results.
In a revealing conversation on Faces of Innovation, Agathe pulled back the curtain on what really happens when consultants leave the room. What she shared might change how you think about strategy, innovation, and the people you need to hire.
Read on to discover why the best strategies often fail, how AI is changing everything about corporate innovation, and why the next wave of business leaders won't look anything like today's.
AGATHE'S CAREER ARC – A NON-LINEAR PATH TO INNOVATION LEADERSHIP
Agathe's professional journey didn't follow a predictable trajectory. Starting in finance, she moved to consulting and eventually stepped into corporate leadership—a path driven by a fundamental realization.
"I wanted to get closer to the consumer and drive impact in their daily lives," she explained on the podcast. This desire for tangible impact ultimately led her to Danone, though she admits she initially never planned to work at a large CPG company.
So what changed her mind? The opportunity to see her strategic thinking translated into products that affect millions of people's lives daily. "In consulting, you rarely get to see the full lifecycle of your ideas," she noted. "At Danone, I can walk into a store and see the results of our innovation work."
WHAT CHANGES WHEN YOU MOVE FROM CONSULTING TO CORPORATE?
The transition from advisor to decision-maker reveals stark differences in how strategy actually works.
From the consulting perspective, the focus stays primarily on solving problems and delivering insights—but execution is someone else's job. Consultants can afford to present the "perfect" solution without worrying about implementation hurdles.
The corporate reality? The only good strategy is the one that can actually be implemented.
"The biggest wake-up call was realizing that my job wasn't to find the best idea. It was to get buy-in and make it happen," Agathe shared. This reveals the hidden work of innovation: about 80% of the effort isn't thinking up new ideas—it's getting internal stakeholders aligned and removing roadblocks to execution.
HOW TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN CONSULTANTS & IN-HOUSE TEAMS
This disconnect between strategy and execution creates friction in many organizations. But Agathe believes there's a solution.
"The best clients in consulting know how to sell ideas internally," she observed. "A consultant's success depends on whether their client can champion the idea and drive execution."
Yet this is precisely where consulting often falls short. Many agencies focus too much on insights and too little on operational reality. They deliver comprehensive reports but underestimate the internal selling required to implement recommendations.
This explains why companies are increasingly building internal strategy teams. The rise of embedded talent acquisition reflects a growing need for people who can execute, not just advise.
AI'S IMPACT ON INNOVATION – THE NEW STRATEGY PLAYBOOK
This evolution in strategy is happening alongside another transformative force: artificial intelligence.
"We replaced weeks of research with AI in an afternoon. It was a game-changer," Agathe revealed when discussing how Danone is already leveraging AI in their innovation pipeline.
The tools have helped her team identify consumer pain points, map sensorial cues for product development, and even recommend ingredient combinations based on AI-driven insights—all processes that previously took weeks of manual work.
But this technological shift has profound implications for talent and hiring. AI isn't replacing human expertise—it's redefining what skills matter. The most valuable professionals aren't just strategists—they're AI-literate operators who can move fast, interpret AI-generated insights, and translate them into executable plans.
THE TALENT SHIFT: WHY AI-LITERATE LEADERS ARE THE FUTURE
This convergence of strategy, execution, and AI capabilities is creating unprecedented demand for consultants-turned-operators—people who can move fluently between strategy and execution while leveraging the latest technology.
Companies that hesitate to adapt their talent strategy will inevitably fall behind. The future belongs to businesses that know how to integrate AI into decision-making and hire accordingly.
This is where Bamboo X comes in.
BAMBOO X: FINDING THE RIGHT TALENT FOR THE AI-POWERED FUTURE
The hiring market is shifting—fast. Traditional strategy roles are evolving, and the best talent today understands AI-driven execution, market shifts, and cross-functional leadership.
At Bamboo X, we specialize in helping startups and high-growth companies stay ahead of this curve. We provide access to top-tier AI-literate strategists, engineers, and product leaders who can bridge the gap between innovative thinking and practical execution.
Our expertise spans hiring for innovation, digital transformation, and growth strategy—precisely the capabilities companies need to thrive in this new landscape. And our flexible recruitment models are tailored to fast-moving startups that need to scale quickly without sacrificing quality.
The next generation of business leaders won't just hire talent—they'll hire the right capabilities to scale in an AI-driven world. And those who partner with Bamboo X will find themselves ahead of the curve, ready to transform strategy into reality.
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