AI is no longer the advantage; context has taken its place. For years, the playbook was simple: get access to the best AI model, plug it into your workflow, and outpace everyone else.
That playbook just expired.
In a recent LinkedIn post, Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of Box, put words to what many teams are now quietly realising: expertise itself is becoming commoditised by AI. When everyone has access to the same intelligence layer, intelligence stops being the differentiator.
When Intelligence Becomes Cheap
Levie’s point is uncomfortable because it’s true.
Large language models are getting good enough that baseline expertise, writing, summarising, analysing, etc., is no longer scarce. It’s everywhere, on demand, and increasingly interchangeable.
That doesn’t mean AI has peaked. It means the advantage has moved.
The question is no longer how smart your AI is. It’s what your AI actually knows about your world.
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The Real Moat Is What You Feed the Model
According to Levie, the teams that win in this next phase won’t be the ones with the flashiest AI demos. They’ll be the ones who pair AI with deep, proprietary context:
– customer history
– internal workflows
– decision patterns
– institutional knowledge
– operational nuance
This is where generic intelligence turns into applied intelligence.
Two companies can use the same model. Only one will get meaningfully better outcomes, because only one has the right context wired in.
Context Is Powerful But Dangerous
Levie’s argument often overlooks a crucial nuance. More context doesn’t automatically mean better results.
Incorrect data, messy processes, or poorly structured information can degrade AI performance instead of improving it. Flooding a model with noise doesn’t create insight, it creates confusion.
In other words, context is a multiplier. And like any multiplier, it amplifies both strengths and weaknesses.
This Changes How Value Is Created.
What Levie is really pointing to is a shift in where competitive advantage lives.
It’s no longer in:
– raw intelligence
– model access
– prompt cleverness
It’s in:
– system design
– information architecture
– business understanding
– decision clarity
AI is becoming the engine. Context is becoming the steering wheel.
Why This Matters Right Now
This isn’t a theoretical future state. It’s happening in real time.
Companies that invested early in clean data, clear processes, and institutional memory are now watching AI make them faster and sharper. Companies that didn’t are discovering that AI simply exposes the mess.
The gap between the two is widening.
The Quiet Takeaway
Levie’s post isn’t a warning about AI. It’s a warning about complacency.
If you are relying on “using AI” as your edge, you don’t have one. If you’re building systems that teach AI how your world actually works, you’re thinking in the right direction.
The era of intelligence as an advantage is ending. The era of context as leverage has begun.
And the companies that understand that early won’t just move faster; they will move smarter.
