Helping mid-market B2B challengers boost ROI from AI

JEN RICE, FRACTIONAL CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER

Only 30% of AI ROI is from technology; the rest is organizational. I support CEOs in Africa & Middle East with the strategy, facilitation and perspective shifts that unlock profitable growth from AI.

Sure, AI can help each function get faster.

But onboarding is still a mess.

You’re looking to AI to help you save money and grow faster. If you’re like most, you’re using it to speed up functions like marketing or customer support.

So why aren’t you seeing bigger returns?

Look at the processes that cross functions, like onboarding a new customer. Handoffs and workarounds multiply, systems don’t connect, data is siloed. Decisions made in one place create extra work three departments later.

That’s where the complexity lives. Local AI wins not only can’t fix it, but can actually make it worse.

Value first, not AI first.

McKinsey, Bain, BCG and others all confirm that the work needs to be redesigned before you can see an ROI from AI, but they don’t tell you how to do it.

The Lean playbook holds the key: start with value, then reverse-engineer how cross-functional teams and AI create that value together. Remove everything that no longer fits. Then add AI to accelerate a streamlined way of working.

Waste comes out. Misaligned money gets redirected. Capability compounds. Teams get excited and feel a sense of ownership. You keep the ambition without the bloat.

My secret sauce? Deep knowledge of how B2B customers define value, and how to unite your business to deliver it. It’s easier and more affordable than you’d think.

The Leapfrog Program

See more clarity, less complexity, and real bottom-line impact in 90 days. My success is tied to yours; I take partial compensation from measurable outcomes.

ROI-Ready Strategy

A strategy that ensures your investments go 10x farther.

Most business strategies don't give the clarity needed to compete in a world shaped by AI.

I help your executive team think differently about your customers and business, then align on a path forward that creates:

  • more business and customer value

  • more efficiency and productivity

  • a competitive moat that compounds over time

I’ll also help you identify 6- to 7-figures of misaligned spend to fund your future — and my fee.

Co-Creation

Unite cross-functional teams to redesign critical value streams

The Value-First workshop helps teams to streamline how they work, then add AI.

We’ll map and redesign:

  • One end-to-end customer journey to improve retention

  • The internal value stream that supports that journey to remove complexity

  • a new end-to-end AI-enabled workflow to improve velocity — with clear roles for humans & AI

Then measure the impact, and equip you to take over this essential practice.

Activation

Solve the root causes of AI adoption resistance and misalignment.

After you’ve implemented your new end-to-end workflow, the work doesn’t stop.

Trust, incentives, culture, structure, and even UX can hold back progress.

Our Human-AI Lab uses an ethnographic approach to surface and resolve blockers in how humans work with AI.

Through experimentation, we’ll observe what works, then codify the new process so you can scale it.

Outcomes

Measurable ROI from AI including:

  • Revenue and customer lifetime value

  • Margins, productivity and efficiency

  • Capacity and throughput

Unified teams with more purpose, less burnout

Differentiation and competitive advantage

Compounding capabilities

Long-term clarity in the midst of uncertainty

Book a call

“Hi, I’m Jen Rice.

An ex-management consultant, I live at the intersection of ruthless efficiency and "what’s possible here?" I get weirdly excited about stripping out deadweight and complexity… and challenging the assumptions that created the mess in the first place.

I previously served as B2B Sector Lead and CX Principal at Forrester in San Francisco, helping my clients streamline how they create customer value across functions.

Now I’m a global citizen, bringing this approach to AI-powered growth — and to the emerging-market challengers I so admire.

  • “Jen helped us simplify our customer promise, gain alignment at all levels of the organization, and simplify decision-making. We've seen measurable progress on our shared goals.“

    — Erik K, CX Director, Energy Company

  • “I highly recommend Jen to anyone looking for a brilliant and seasoned strategist to quickly uncover ways to be more competitive."

    – Rachael, Chief Customer Officer, B2B Tech

  • “Working with Jen made an immediate impact. I cut 20 hours from each week, gained clarity on which projects to accept or reject, and identified a new business model that’s a better fit for our aspirations. Thanks Jen!”

    Lauren, Co-Founder, Brand Agency

  • "Jen is a very skillful facilitator. She worked with our leadership team, keeping them out of the weeds… at the end of the day we were enthusiastic, and two years later, we’re still committed to our path!”

    – Sharon, Director, Government

  • " Jen turns previously murky situations into a clear way of identifying what is happening, and what can be done next.”

    — Katie, Chief of Staff

Less friction, more momentum.

Book a call

Former clients include: