I spent the last six months deliberately breaking my natural boxing rhythm. I moved from my comfortable Southpaw stance into Orthodox, forcing my brain and body to mirror every movement. Initially it was exhausting, clumsy, and for a long time, it felt like a regression.
But it taught me the most critical lesson for the 2026 business landscape: If you are stuck in one stance, you have no room to move. In the ring, the edge comes from agility; to weaponise your cross into a nasty jab, cut a new angle, avoid a punch and launch an attack your opponent never saw coming. In the boardroom, that same agility is a lethal competitive advantage. It allows you to outmanoeuvre rivals who are either leaning too far into risk or paralysed by the fear of it.
The Orthodox Trap: Why “Offence-Only” Strategies Fail
Think about the last few years, most organisations have been working from a singular stance – leveraging AI to increase productivity, solve problems and maybe handle staffing challenges. They’re leaning hard into AI adoption, chasing the knockout of instant ROI.
Sounds like good use of tech, so what’s the problem? They are overextended, focusing on the output rather than the input. In boxing, they’ve left their chin exposed. The attack surface went from company devices, to private smart phones lighting up asking Chat to solve a work contract query.
In 2026, the counter punches – regulatory audits, data liability, and ethical grey zones – are beginning to land, and there’s more coming. If a strategy is all offence, you aren’t competing, you’re basically waiting to get caught.
The Stance Switcher: Why We Need to Stop and Look at the Angles
Any good boxing coach will tell you real power isn’t in the arms – it’s in the legs and how you use them. This includes stance choice.
In the past six months, I’ve listened to clients discuss how they use AI in their businesses. This has led me to study AI frameworks like ISO/IEC 42001 and the risks involved (BlueDot, 80,000 hours). As I’ve explored various use cases, I often think: “This is normalised; when will we stop and think about the consequences?” I’ve worked with clients who readily tell me they share sensitive information with AI to automate decision-making; personally identifiable information, trade secrets and intellectual property – all for the sake of convenience. I advise caution, but while some clients understand, others are too tempted by the ease of use and availability. I began to understand there was an immense communication gap, the implications and potential legal ramifications were very poorly understood.
Around the same time, I swapped my boxing stance. After years in Southpaw (right foot forward), I made the decision to move to Orthodox (left foot forward) and learn to fight from there. This opened up the ability to move between the two stances as necessary, becoming, as the boxing lingo goes, a Switch-Hitter. Suddenly, new angles opened up.
This is the stance required for AI in 2026.
The modern organisation cannot afford to be a “one-stance” fighter. If you are locked into a purely offensive position (focused solely on adoption, speed, and use-cases) you are far more vulnerable to attack. Conversely, if you are locked into a rigid, defensive stance you lose the agile footwork needed to compete.
To navigate this landscape, leaders must become a switch-hitter. It is the ability to drive technical innovation then seamlessly pivot to evaluate the ethical and governance risks. True authority doesn’t come from choosing a side; it comes from the ability to see the new angles that open up when you can fight from both.
Success in 2026 isn’t about how fast you can punch; it’s about how quickly you can switch stances when the environment changes.
The Drill: 3 Steps to Mastering the Stance Switch
To survive the 2026 AI environment, your organisation needs to move from a static position to a dynamic one.
- Architecture over Application: Stop asking what the AI can do and start asking how it is governed. Understanding the frameworks is what allows you to scale safely.
- Cultural Footwork: A framework is just a document until it meets your team. High-level consultancy is the footwork which translates dry policy into daily operational habits. If the team doesn’t move with the strategy, the strategy fails. Culture is key.
- The Sparring Loop: Maintain a constant feedback loop between technical execution (Offence) and strategic translation (Defence). You must be able to switch stances to meet new risks as they emerge.
The Final Bell: The organisations that win in 2026 won’t have the fastest, newest AI. They will have the best strategy.
Is your organisation leaning too far forward?
Time to refine your stance and build a strategy that lands.
Seeline CYBER 
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