Welcome to 2026 and Happy Business Acumen!

In my opinion, there are a few recent corporate stories that offer as many business acumen lessons as what has happened to Kraft Heinz, which I think you will find fascinating and will get your brain back on the business acumen track.

In our business acumen workshops, we teach participants to understand three foundational elements of any business:

• Strategy – How the company chooses to compete and win
• The value proposition – Why customers choose one product or brand over another
• Financial management – The scoreboard that ultimately measures revenue growth, profitability, free cash flow, and shareholder value

Many of our award-winning business simulations are intentionally grounded in reality. They are not abstract exercises; they are built from real companies, real industries, and real leadership dilemmas.

One of the most classic and challenging scenarios embedded in many of our simulations cuts across industries:

How do leaders manage a large, legacy business when competitors are nipping at their heels?

When you are the incumbent, the choices are rarely simple. Do you defend margins or invest for growth? Cut costs or reinvest in innovation? Protect scale advantages or disrupt yourself before someone else does? Every option carries risk, and none come with guaranteed outcomes.

The Kraft Heinz story is not about a single bad decision. It is about years of small, defensible decisions that compounded into strategic drift. That is exactly why it is such a powerful business acumen case.

From this story, I see five critical lessons that apply far beyond packaged products and should resonate with leaders in almost any industry:

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A lot of people will wake up on Monday, January 5, 2026, and put “Go to the gym” on their calendars.

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Here’s the scenario.

You’re a strong, mid-level manager. You’ve been tagged as “high potential.” And now you’ve been given a stretch assignment: present a clear roadmap to your department for how your team, and eventually the broader business unit, is going to integrate AI tools into the daily workflow to increase productivity and reduce costs.

There’s just one problem.

You’re not an AI expert.

Yes, you’ve experimented. You’ve used a few tools. You’ve automated some small tasks. But if you’re honest, you don’t feel remotely qualified to stand up in front of your peers and say, “Here’s the plan.” Your first instinct is to thank your manager for the opportunity… and then politely suggest that you’re not the right person for the job.

But then it hits you.

Your manager’s response is going to be: “Exactly. I picked you because I want you to figure it out.”

Now you’re on the hook.

You have to make something out of nothing.

And that, whether we like it or not, is a critical leadership skill in 2026.

In a post-COVID world, the companies that win will be the ones that build competitive advantage through leaders who can figure things out. Not because they have all the answers, but because they know how to create clarity where none exists.

Whether you’re developing an AI adoption strategy, rethinking a broken cash-flow process, or responding to a market shift no one anticipated, organizations will continue to need critical thinkers who can make progress without a playbook.

Based on years of experience and what we’re seeing across our business simulations and client work, here is a simple model you can apply anytime you’re asked to make something out of nothing.

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The phrase “Now I’ve heard it all” came to mind while I was interviewing a Subject Matter Expert for a new, highly customized Strategic Business Negotiations simulation we’re designing.

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When Simulation Design Meets AI-Powered Practice

The client’s challenge was clear: how do you rapidly test, reinforce, and elevate IT professionals’ mastery of new operating systems and critical security protocols, at global scale, without relying on passive training or basic knowledge checks?

Advantexe, a global leader in simulation-centric learning, and our partner Yoodli addressed this challenge by designing a bold, AI-enabled learning experience built around realistic role plays and structured practice. Yoodli is an AI-powered role-play and coaching platform that allows learners to engage in guided conversations, receive immediate, personalized feedback, and practice critical skills repeatedly in a safe, scalable environment.

By pairing the power of the Yoodli platform with Advantexe’s experienced instructional design and real-world business context, the program enabled learners to actively apply new knowledge, strengthen decision-making, and build confidence in handling complex, security-critical scenarios.

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