For Participants
Your guide to preparing for and playing Project Threshold. About 45 minutes of pre-reading — then you're ready for the room.
How to Prepare
Three steps, in order. Everything else on this page is reference material you can explore at your own pace.
Read the Exercise Overview
10 minHow the day works, what you'll be doing in each round, and what to expect. Start here even if you've done tabletop exercises before — this one works differently.
Read OverviewRead Your Company Packet
20 minYou've been assigned one of 12 companies across Retail and CPG. Your company packet covers your starting position, constraints, competitive dynamics, and the specific AI challenges you'll navigate. Find your company in the grid below.
Find your company ↓Skim the Rules of Play
15 minRound structure, scoring mechanics, decision framework, and discussion guidelines. You don't need to memorize this — the facilitator will walk you through it on the day — but a quick read removes surprises.
Read RulesThat's it for required preparation. The Decision Worksheet and Private Cards are distributed during the exercise — you don't need to find or read them in advance.
Reference Materials
Exercise Overview
How the day is structured, what happens in each round, and the timeline from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.
Rules of Play
The complete participant guide — round structure, scoring mechanics, decision framework, and discussion guidelines.
Decision Worksheet
The 14-field form you'll complete each round, including the Cross-Company Impact field and the Y2 Strategic Stance Card. Printed copies are provided on the day — this is for reference only.
Find Your Company
You've been assigned one of these 12 companies, spanning Retail (7) and CPG (5). Each packet contains your starting position, competitive landscape, financial profile, and the specific AI challenges you'll navigate across Y1, Y2, and the Y5 long-jump round in 2030.
Walmart
Mass-scale incumbent
Largest retailer in the world; adaptive-retail transformation under new leadership.
RetailAmazon
Platform
Cloud-funded everything-store; the largest AI capex commitment in corporate history.
RetailCostco
Membership / disciplined
Membership-funded warehouse club; deliberate restraint as a strategic posture.
RetailTarget
Mid-market omnichannel
Mid-tier omnichannel retailer navigating a brand-and-margin reset under new leadership.
RetailKroger
Grocery scale + data
Largest pure-play US grocer; data asset (84.51°) is the underleveraged growth engine.
RetailBest Buy
Specialty / category killer
Largest US consumer electronics specialty retailer betting on the AI-device cycle.
RetailSprouts Farmers Market
Specialty grocer
National specialty grocer winning by focusing relentlessly on the attribute-based shopper.
RetailP&G
Multi-category mass leader
Largest diversified CPG; superiority thesis backed by scale advertising, R&D, and retail execution.
CPGPepsiCo
Beverages + snacks scale
Dual-category CPG; Frito-Lay scale + beverage competition with Coca-Cola.
CPGUnilever
Multi-category, global
Global multi-category CPG; Power Brands focus and Ice Cream separation in execution.
CPGKraft Heinz
Center-of-store, distressed
Iconic-brand center-of-store CPG mid-turnaround with a paused split and Berkshire overhang.
CPGEdgewell Personal Care
Mid-cap multi-brand
Smaller diversified personal-care operator competing against P&G and Unilever in premium niches.
CPGNot sure which company you've been assigned? Check with your facilitator or the exercise organizer.
Materials You'll Receive During the Exercise
These materials are distributed by the facilitator during the exercise. They're available here for reference, but you don't need to read them in advance.
Private Cards
Confidential intelligence that only your company receives — a competitor's move, a regulatory signal, an internal constraint. Distributed in Y1 and Y2. Y5 and Y6 have no private cards; the Y5 long-jump round in 2030 unfolds under substantially shifted competitive conditions visible to everyone.
Strategic Stance Card
New in v8.1. Integrated into the Y2 Decision Worksheet — you commit to a strategic stance (aggressive growth, operational discipline, or strategic pivot) that bridges the gap between Y2 and the Y5 long-jump round.