Time needed
100 minutes
Difficulty
Intermediate
Cost
It depends on the plan and volume of materials
Tools
Claude + business dossier
Check
July 20, 2026

When I choose Claude for strategy

I choose Claude especially when I don't start from a blank page, but from a story already written in documents: reports, minutes, interviews, commercial presentations, guidelines and research. I don't ask him for "the idea". I ask him to help me reduce the distance between what the company knows and what it can really decide.

Anthropic's official documentation suggests first defining success criteria and a way to verify the result. It is a precious rule even outside of technical use: if you don't know how to recognize a good strategy, the prompt will not solve the problem.

How to prepare the dossier?

Create an index before loading or pasting materials. For each document, note the source, date, owner and reliability. Remove unnecessary personal data and confidential content. Then divide the dossier into four blocks:

  • company reality: offer, margins, capacities, constraints;
  • audience reality: questions, objections, observed behaviors;
  • market reality: sources, competitors, changes and regulations;
  • previous decisions: what was tried, with what outcome and why.

What is the document workflow?

Operational schemeFrom documents to memos
  1. IndexSource, date and reliability of each material
  2. ExtractVerifiable claims and document citation
  3. Contradict usTensions, gaps and fragile hypotheses
  4. CompareAlternative scenarios with trade-offs
  5. DecideShort memo with actions and open questions
The plan comes only after evidence and tensions have been made visible.

What prompts to use with Claude?

Prompt 1: build the evidence matrix

Prompt to useReading the dossier
Analyze the materials included in <dossier>. Before proposing solutions, create an evidence matrix.

<criteri_di_successo>
The matrix is valid if each statement indicates source, date, degree of certainty and relevance to the objective.
</criteri_di_successo>

<obiettivo>
[Enter goal and time horizon]
</obiettivo>

<dossier>
[Insert or attach materials, each with a title]
</dossier>

Classify each element as: fact, document interpretation, team hypothesis, or missing information. Don't fill in the gaps. It reports the title of the source document and a short paraphrased portion that allows it to be found.

Why do I use this prompt: It is an extraction prompt: it asks for fidelity to the documents and timely references, not creative interpretations.

Blocking makes it explicit where the materials end and the task begins. The goal is not to use tags for fashion, but to prevent instructions and content from getting confused.

Prompt 2: Look for contradictions and costs

Prompt to useStrategy red team
Use the newly approved evidence matrix.

Act as a critical reviewer, not the plan author. Identify:
1. contradictions between sources;
2. conclusions supported by a single piece of evidence;
3. audiences described without data;
4. channels proposed without a precise function;
5. ignored operating costs;
6. possible side effects.

For each point it indicates severity, necessary proof and decision to be suspended. Conclude with the three hypotheses that, if false, would change the entire strategy.

Why do I use this prompt: It's a critical prompt: look for places where the most comfortable reading doesn't hold up and quantify what it would take to test it.

The second prompt does not ask “improve strategy”, which is too vague. Instead, assign verifiable behavior: find fragilities and link them to decisions to suspend.

Prompt 3: produce the decision memo

Prompt to useOne page memo
Prepare a decision memo using only confirmed evidence and approved corrections.

Mandatory structure:
- decision requested;
- situation in maximum 120 words;
- priority audience and problem;
- strategic choice;
- what we won't do;
- three initiatives for the next 90 days;
- metrics and thresholds;
- risks;
- reversible and irreversible decisions;
- questions still open.

For each initiative add the phrase: “This action exists because…”. If you cannot complete it with evidence from the dossier, report the initiative as unjustified.

Why do I use this prompt: It is a summary prompt: it compresses only what has already been verified and keeps disagreements and open questions visible.

How to check the result?

Open the original documents and review a sample of the claims. Then have the memo read by whoever owns the data and who will have to carry out the activities: they often see different errors. The first verifies the truth; the second is feasibility.

What works

Advantages

  • It brings together long materials and different sources
  • It makes contradictions and open questions visible
  • Produces more traceable and questionable memos
What to check

Limits

  • A messy dossier produces a fragile synthesis
  • Citing a source does not prove that the source is correct
  • Sensitive data requires selection and anonymization

If you start with little data and want to quickly build alternatives and a plan, read the procedure with ChatGPT. If you need to add external research and source comparison, continue with the guide to Gemini.

Frequently asked questions

Why use Claude for a digital strategy?

It is useful when the strategy starts from multiple documents and it is necessary to distinguish facts, contradictions, hypotheses and decisions before summarizing the plan.

How do you structure a prompt for Claude?

Define success criteria, separate context and task well, ask for a precise format and work in verifiable steps.

Does Claude replace team analysis?

No. It helps to read and sort the materials, but the team must verify sources, numbers, priorities and feasibility.