Practitioners first.
We built things before we advised on them. That's still how we work.
First Strategy is a network of senior AI practitioners. We help organizations make AI part of how they work. Not as an experiment. Not as a side project. As a core capability.
We're selective. The talent in our network left corporate careers behind. They want projects that move the needle.
We say no to work that automates bureaucracy. We say yes to work that dismantles it.
The team.
Anthony Franco
Founder and Managing Director
In 2005, Franco founded EffectiveUI, the world's first user experience and digital product development firm, at a time when "user experience" didn't have a Wikipedia entry. The firm became the definitive name in the space. O'Reilly Media published a book based on its philosophies. WPP acquired it.
His teams built one of the first iPad applications, the first FDA-approved critical health mobile application for hospitals, and national security systems for audiences that do not tolerate failure. Across five companies founded and sold, Franco has accumulated more than 250 awards spanning technology, design, innovation, and business. Multiple patents. Almost no one knows his name, and almost everyone has used something his firm designed.
Co-author of the WISER Method Master Playbook. Co-creator of the WISER Method.
Catherine Joss
Certified WISER Master Trainer
Catherine brings deep operational experience in organizational transformation and AI adoption to every engagement. She has led complex change programs across industries where getting it right the first time is not optional.
As a Certified WISER Master Trainer, Catherine delivers cohort-based programs and works directly with leadership teams to build AI operational capability from the ground up. She makes the methodology real inside organizations.
Robb Wilson
Available for Limited Engagements
Bestselling co-author of Age of Invisible Machines (Wiley), a widely cited business book that reframes AI not as a technology trend, but as a structural shift in how work gets done. Contributor to Harvard Business Review. Under his leadership, OneReach.ai has become a trusted AI runtime for large, regulated organizations, with deployments across more than half the Fortune 100 and recognition from Gartner, Forrester, and IDC.
Earlier, Wilson co-founded Effective, one of the world's first design thinking firms (acquired by WPP), and founded UX Magazine, among the earliest publications dedicated to human-centered design. More than 130 awards across design, technology, and AI.
What we believe.
Build to learn.
Version 1 is for learning, not perfection. Get something working, then improve.
Human-in-the-loop.
AI proposes, humans approve. For critical decisions, build in checkpoints.
Capability over dependency.
When we leave, you should be more capable, not less.
Document decisions.
Future-you will thank you. Log why, not just what.