Could Artificial Intelligence (AI) transform alliance management into something not only easier, but also more effective? Or should alliance managers regard AI as a looming threat to the profession?
The truth is, it can be both, but which way it plays out depends entirely on how we choose to engage with it.
Alliance management is heavily reliant on judgement, relationship-building, and navigating ambiguity in politically sensitive situations. These are areas where AI tools struggle. They lack the lived experience, context sensitivity, and trust capital that human alliance managers cultivate over years.
But where AI is strong, is in the enabling side of our work. Those who embrace it can extend their reach, sharpen their insights, and increase their influence.
AI can already help alliance managers be more effective by:
- Accelerating analysis: AI can digest partner contracts, governance records, meeting notes, and performance metrics to highlight risks, missed obligations, and emerging opportunities faster than a human analyst could.
- Enhancing partner intelligence: It can scan market data, press releases, patent filings, and hiring patterns to surface early signals about a partner’s shifting priorities or potential strategic moves.
- Improving meeting preparation: AI can distil complex histories of multi-year partnerships into concise, context-rich briefs tailored for the people in the room.
Used well, this does more than make alliance management easier. It makes it more impactful, freeing managers to focus on the high-value relational work that drives alliance success.
Partnerships are built on trust, influence without authority, and nuanced human dynamics. These are not AI’s strengths. However, the bar for alliance managers will rise, with greater emphasis on strategic and relational skills. Executives might, mistakenly, believe that AI can replace more of the role than is wise, potentially devaluing the function unless we clearly demonstrate the irreplaceable human contribution.
The most successful alliance managers in the coming years will treat AI as a co-pilot, not a competitor. That means that they will use it to automate the repetitive and analytical work, while focusing human effort where it matters most: building trust, navigating politics, and aligning strategies across organisations.
The real threat is not AI itself, but an alliance manager who ignores it. Those who master AI-augmented alliance management could make themselves not only more effective, but indispensable.
How about you, (how) do you use AI in your work?
PS: Click here to read my stories about the Camino de Santiago.