Posted 1.19d Strategic AI analysis here: https://forums.elementalgame.com/405730
In short, good progress from patch to patch but hero love is lacking. Although the AI is doing a pretty good job of normal unit design and creation, it's not functioning anywhere near to a player regarding heroes. A player would, at a macro level, rock out their sovereign, spouse, and champions and let normal units be a lower build priority, primarily as garrison units. The fact that heroes level, can upgrade their gear over time, and the only resource needed is gold, makes heroes, by far, greater than normal units. For some reason the AI is acting opposite to a player in this regard.
I truly hate to speculate but I think it may cause balance issues across difficulty levels. Fully geared AI heroes running wild on novice level probably wouldn't be too fun for the entry level or casual player. If that is the case, I wonder if it could coded to be a ridiculous only function so us more seasoned players can duke it out with the AI. All levels except ridiculous could function as designed but we could get our "hero bone" (Xia, mind out of gutter!) on ridiculous. I just want to lose a game!
At any rate it would be cool if Brad or Derek shared their thoughts on this - it would keep me from speculating a proverbial foot in mouth.