Financial Diagnostics with AI: Discover the Strategy Behind the Numbers

Financial statements do more than report performance—they reveal strategy. In this AI Strategy Toolkit, you'll learn how to use financial data, strategic frameworks, and AI-powered analysis to understand how companies create value and sustain competitive advantage. Using Costco and Target as examples, this toolkit demonstrates how to: • Collect financial data from public sources • Organize income statements and balance sheets • Calculate Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) • Decompose ROIC into Return on Sales (ROS) and Capital Turnover • Compare competing business models and strategic positions • Use AI to validate calculations and interpret performance differences • Analyze how strategy affects profitability and efficiency • Conduct scenario and sensitivity analysis using AI Rather than treating financial statements as accounting reports, this toolkit shows how strategists use financial diagnostics to uncover the drivers of competitive advantage. By combining financial data, strategic frameworks, and AI-assisted analysis, managers can better understand how firms create value, where performance differences originate, and how future changes may affect results. Strategy in the Age of AI | AI Strategy Toolkit