Andreas Krasser, CEO of Omnicom Hong Kong, made that point at Campaign House in Cannes last week. It stopped the room, because it's not really about China. It's about two completely different theories of how to make decisions under uncertainty.
China has systematised speed. It's not recklessness — it's a deliberate strategic choice. Move fast, read the market, adapt. Repeat. The loop is tight and intentional. Meanwhile, Western companies are still debating whether to run an AI pilot.
The flip side is that Chinese companies are still learning how to build brands — the kind of deep, emotionally resonant brand equity that takes years, decades even, to accumulate.
That's not something you can launch-and-test your way to. It needs time, consistency and craft to build that trust. So neither model is complete.
Europe has brand depth but is moving too slowly on AI. China is moving fast but is still developing the brand-building muscle. The regulatory environment has something to do with this, but the underlying tension is real regardless.
The answer isn't pure speed or pure caution. It's knowing which things need to go fast, and which things genuinely need time.
Gartner confirms GenAI is now in the Trough of Disillusionment: the phase where serious strategic work happens. Most companies are doing that work slowly and cautiously. But AI can help you do your risk assessment, scenario planning, competitor analysis and market modelling in a fraction of the time it used to take.
Brand trust? You can't compress that. Don't try. But strategy — not just operations — can get much quicker. The companies that will pull ahead aren't the ones who move fastest across the board. They're the ones who've worked out which decisions benefit from speed, and which ones still require patience.
What's the best AI tool you've found to help with strategy and decision-making? I'd like to hear what's actually working.