What If ?

Proformas, AI, and Just Thinking Things Through

I’ve caught myself thinking about this a few times lately…

Most teams don’t really have a data problem.
If anything, there’s plenty of it.

The issue is we don’t always use it to think ahead.

That’s what proformas are supposed to help with.
But a lot of the time, they get built, talked about once or twice, and then kind of fade into the background while everything keeps moving.

And to be fair, I’ve been part of that approach too.

Where My Thinking Has Shifted

Lately, I’ve been looking at proformas a little differently.

Less about “what’s the plan?”
More about “what could happen?”

• What if we sell more than we expect?

• What if something slows us down?

• What if costs move on us?

• What if we can’t keep up with what we’re promising?

None of these are new questions.

The difference now is we can actually run them pretty quickly and see how things play out.

That’s where I think AI is actually useful, not as a replacement for thinking, but just a way topressure test it faster.

It’s Not Really About the Spreadsheet

The numbers matter, obviously.

But that’s not the part I’ve found most useful.

It’s more about catching things early:

• Where we might be getting ahead of ourselves

• Where something looks fine on paper but probably won’t hold

• Where a small issue could turn into a bigger one

You don’t get perfect answers, but you get a better sense of where to pay attention.

Where Issues Eventually Show Up

One thing I’ve learned (and usually not the easy way)…

When something doesn’t work internally, it eventually shows up with the customer.

A delay becomes a missed delivery.
A disconnect becomes poor communication.
A constraint turns into a broken expectation.

That’s really what’s changed my view on this.

This isn’t just financial planning; it’s pressure testing whether the business can actually deliver.

There’s Some Upside in This Too

The other thing I didn’t fully appreciate before…

When you start walking through different scenarios, you don’t just find problems.

You start to see:

• Where you actually have room to grow

• Where you could move faster than you thought

• Where you might be stronger than you’re giving yourself credit for

That part’s been interesting.

Keep it Simple

I don’t think proformas need to be complicated.

They just need to be used.

And with AI, it’s a lot easier to actually use them, not just build them.