Outcome ownership needs control.

Moderated an Ortus Club roundtable this week. Same conversation I am hearing on most advisory calls right now: vendors increasingly being asked to commit to business outcomes, not implementation. Adoption rates. Pipeline movement. Cost-to-serve. Things vendors can shape but cannot solely own.

Outcomes depend on customer behaviour, executive sponsorship, and data quality. Most of those sit outside the vendor’s control. If you sell an outcome you cannot fully steer, you have just bought asymmetric risk.

AI is changing our industry. It is not yet the silver bullet everyone is hoping for, regardless of role or job title. The vendor still needs the customer to do their part. The customer still needs an operating model that lets the vendor’s work land. And both still need to agree, in writing, who is accountable for the bit in the middle.

Outcome ownership without control is not a contract. It is a story.