The dual horizon: How AI is reshaping strategic foresight for the better and the riskier

If you work in strategic foresight, innovation, or business strategy, you’ve likely asked yourself: What role should AI play in shaping how we think about the future? You’re not alone. From boardrooms to think tanks, the conversation around AI in foresight is heating up, and for good reason.

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence is transforming strategic foresight from a slow, expert-driven process to something faster, more scalable, and arguably more powerful. At the same time, it’s introducing new tensions and risks that foresight professionals can’t afford to ignore.

This article explores both sides of the coin: the optimistic horizon where AI accelerates sensemaking and empowers better decisions, and the darker undercurrents that demand vigilance, human oversight, and ethical foresight.

AI as a game-changer in strategic foresight

Strategic foresight is about more than predicting the future; it’s about making sense of uncertainty and designing better decisions today. AI is now a key enabler in that mission.

From automated horizon scanning to trend radar generation, AI tools (like our FIBRES Foresight Agents) can dramatically reduce manual work and surface actionable insights in a fraction of the time. Generative and agentic AI systems are both speeding up workflows and changing how foresight happens.

Key AI-driven advantages include:

• Signal detection at scale: AI can process thousands of news items, patents, and market shifts to detect weak signals others might miss.

• Faster synthesis: Complex trend data is summarized, clustered, and visualized in minutes.

• First-draft strategy inputs: AI can produce scenario outlines, strategic radars, and even risk maps to jump-start collaboration.

• Accessibility: Advanced foresight tools are no longer reserved for large enterprises. SMEs and lean teams can now do more with less.

In the best scenario, AI doesn’t replace human insight; it amplifies it. By automating the grind, it allows foresight professionals to focus on the "what if" and "so what": interpreting the big picture, connecting the dots, and facilitating strategic conversations—and ultimately—creating impact.

A paradigm shift, not just a productivity boost

What we’re witnessing isn’t just automation; it’s a fundamental shift in how foresight is approached. Rather than only layering AI onto traditional workflows, organizations are rethinking how they scan the horizon, model uncertainty, and structure strategic conversations.

AI is evolving from a tool to a collaborator, a strategic co-pilot. This shift redefines the role of foresight professionals: from data wranglers to interpreters, facilitators, and strategic designers. Your value is in what AI can’t do: apply context, challenge assumptions, and guide collective action.

The flip side: risks, gaps, and governance challenges

Despite the promise, AI introduces serious risks that foresight professionals must understand and plan for.

• Bias and blind spots: AI relies on historical data, which means it can reflect and amplify societal biases.

• Black box decisions: Many AI systems lack transparency. If we can’t explain how insights were derived, can we trust them?

• Overreliance and deskilling: If humans take a backseat, critical thinking and creativity may erode.

• Ethical dilemmas and accountability: Who is responsible when AI-based insights go wrong?

• Governance lag: Laws and policies are struggling to keep pace with AI’s speed. This regulatory uncertainty is now a strategic risk in itself.

AI, left unchecked, risks turning foresight into a mirror of the past rather than a lens into the future. That’s the paradox: the same data-driven superpowers that help us sense what’s next can also obscure what’s truly novel or disruptive.

The path forward: Human-centric, futures-ready foresight

So how do we integrate AI responsibly and effectively into foresight? It comes down to a few strategic imperatives:

1. Build AI literacy across your team: Understanding what AI can and can’t do is now table stakes for strategy and foresight professionals.

2. Keep humans in the loop and work collectively: Use AI to surface possibilities, but rely on human expertise for interpretation, challenge, and ethical decision-making. Foresight is strengthened when approached as a joint effort, combining diverse perspectives, and co-creation across teams and stakeholders.

3. Embed ethics and transparency: Choose tools that offer traceability and editorial control. Make your process explainable.

4. Anticipate governance shifts: AI policy is becoming geopolitically important. Strategic foresight must now include scenario planning around regulatory and societal responses to AI.

5. Design for agility: Traditional foresight cycles are too slow. AI-enabled foresight should support continuous monitoring, iteration, and rapid sensemaking.

Let AI augment, not replace, the future of foresight

AI is not a crystal ball. But it is a new lens — one that can bring incredible clarity, speed, and strategic value when used thoughtfully.

For foresight professionals, the challenge is clear: embrace AI as a co-pilot, not a shortcut. Equip yourself and your team with the skills to navigate both the promise and the pitfalls. And never forget: the future isn’t just something to be scanned and modeled. It’s something we shape.

In the era of AI-enhanced foresight, the human touch remains your greatest advantage.

References

1. Navigating the Future with Strategic Foresight, BCG

2. 2025 AI Business Predictions, PwC

3. AI and strategic foresight: Impact on business management, Inspenet

4. Brace for Impact: Facing the AI Revolution and Geopolitical Shifts in a Future Societal Scenario for 2025–2040, MDPI

5. Augmented foresight, EPRS

6. Why AI literacy is crucial for safe, inclusive and strategic AI transformation, World Economic Forum

7. 5 Predictions for AI in 2025, Time

8. AI Futures, OECD

9. The year of AI clarity: 10 AI Forecasts for 2025, Diplo

10. Allied Command Transformation - Strategic Foresight Analysis 2023, NATO's ACT

11. Government AI Readiness Index 2024, Oxford Insights

12. Governing AI for the Future of Humanity, Stimson