In this episode, Ben Chamberlain speaks with David Blumhorst, a 40-year veteran who has witnessed the evolution of strategy execution from multiple perspectives—as a CIO, PMO leader, consultant, and notably as a professional services and product management leader at multiple Project and Portfolio Management software vendors.  

David traces his journey from finance and IT leadership through various organizations, including Fortune 500 companies like PeopleSoft. His pivotal realization came during his time at a high-growth startup: organizations need a systematic way to connect corporate strategy all the way down to ground-level execution. This experience led him to champion Project Management Offices (PMOs) as the critical linking mechanism between strategic objectives and operational reality.  

His transition to the vendor side provided a unique vantage point—running professional services departments and product management for PPM software companies. In these roles, he helped shape the tools and methodologies that enable organizations to link strategy to execution, while consulting with customers on implementation best practices. This dual perspective of both practitioner and solution provider gave David deep insights into what works—and what doesn't—in real-world strategy execution.  

The conversation explores how strategy execution has evolved from siloed, project-focused thinking to enterprise-wide, cross-functional approaches. David emphasizes that projects are fundamentally about implementing change, and organizations must balance three resource buckets: run, grow, and transform—with the "run" bucket inevitably expanding as new capabilities are implemented.  

Key Takeaways:  

PMOs as Strategic Connectors: The PMO evolved from an IT function to an enterprise-level capability that translates strategy into executable change across the organization. 

1. Vendor-Side Insights Matter: Experience building and consulting on PPM software solutions provides unique perspective on translating strategy execution theory into practical, scalable capabilities that organizations can adopt. 

2. Cross-Functional Imperative: Effective strategy execution requires breaking down organizational silos and creating cross-functional teams, whether through traditional EPMOs or modern agile frameworks like SAFe. 

3. Vision-Mission-Strategy Alignment: Strategy execution must anchor to clear vision and mission statements. Without this foundation, organizations resort to setting quarterly priorities without meaningful direction. 

4. Balance Run-Grow-Transform: Organizations must consciously allocate resources across maintaining operations, incremental growth, and transformational change—recognizing that each strategic implementation expands operational overhead. 

5. Industry Still Maturing: Despite decades of evolution, most organizations remain "laggards" who haven't yet embraced even 20-year-old best practices. Leaders who have implemented EPMOs and cross-functional approaches represent a minority. 

6. AI as Accelerant, Not Replacement: While AI will augment research and accelerate planning and execution activities, strategic thinking remains fundamentally creative and human-driven. The industry is still in the experimentation phase regarding AI's specific applications. 

7. Process Before Technology: Organizations have significant opportunity to improve strategy execution capabilities through better processes and operating models, regardless of AI adoption.