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Giacomo Balli
The Second Opinion

For owners and CEOs about to spend serious money on software, AI, an app, or a vendor.
An independent answer before the money moves.

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Domain expertise has always been the real moat because it is the only advantage

Domain expertise has always been the real moat because it is the only advantage you cannot buy on a roadmap.

Most companies think the edge comes from the tool, the model, the platform. Then they try to implement it and the work collapses into definitions. What counts as an exception, what is a valid input, who can override a rule, which downstream system is the source of truth. The hardest part is never the feature. It is the hidden taxonomy the business has been carrying in people’s heads for years.

You see this in how JPMorganChase handles risk, how Boeing manages configuration and compliance, how Walmart runs replenishment at scale. The winning teams do one unglamorous thing early. They turn tacit judgment into explicit decision rules and ownership, before they automate.

Technology accelerates execution. Domain expertise determines whether you accelerate the right thing.

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Published: Mon, May 25 2026 @ 4:43:21
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