Strategy Summit 2026: Who’s Going to Succeed with AI?

HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

Business, Hbr, Business/entrepreneurship, Innovation, Strategy, Business/management, Management, Communication, Harvard, Entrepreneurship, Business/marketing, Leadership, Marketing, Finance, Economics, Teams

4.3 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 2 April 2026

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Artificial intelligence is advancing quickly, but its real impact on productivity, jobs, and competitive advantage is still uncertain. In this four-part special series, we'll share conversations from the recent HBR Strategy Summit to help you get ahead. In this episode, Andrew McAfee, principal research scientist at MIT and cofounder and codirector of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy at the MIT Sloan School of Management, will explain why we’re in a moment where “nobody knows anything” about how AI will ultimately reshape business—and what leaders should do anyway. Plus, he argues cutting entry-level hiring because of AI could be a major long-term mistake. HBR editor at large Adi Ignatius contributes audience questions.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Deal's not just another payroll platform.
0:03.1	It's one your team might actually enjoy.
0:05.1	H.R, IT, and payroll together finally.
0:08.0	Built in-house, built for peace of mind.
0:10.8	Visit D-EEL. is the HBR Ideacast.
0:31.6	Harvard Business Review recently hosted the HBR Strategy Summit,
0:43.4	2026, a day filled with expert advice and guidance from executives and academics.
0:48.6	We're sharing the highlights of the event in this special Ideacast series.
0:52.7	Today, our final episode of the series is a masterclass from Andy McAfee, principal research
0:57.9	scientist at MIT, and co-founder and co-director of the MIT initiative on the digital
1:02.7	economy at its Sloan School of Management.
1:05.9	In the session, he explains how businesses are building the right cultures to truly
1:09.7	succeed with AI.
1:12.0	He explains the rise of what he calls geek organizations and the gap that AI is creating between the best and the
1:17.8	rest. He also takes audience questions with the help of HBO editor at large, Adi Ignatius.
1:23.2	Here's that master class. I want to talk about a top of mind topic for a lot of people these days.
1:30.1	Who's going to succeed?
1:31.4	What's going to distinguish successful AI adopters from the also-rans in this era,
1:38.1	right where we are now, where there's just substantial uncertainty about what's going on with
1:43.4	AI.
1:43.7	I want to grab some headlines from just
1:46.1	the past couple days that underscore how profound this uncertainty is. I'm going to start with a
	...

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