HBR's 10 Must Reads 2021

Building the AI-Powered Organization

by Tim Fountaine, Brian McCarthy, and Tamim Saleh

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS reshaping business—though not at the blistering pace many assume. True, AI is now guiding decisions on everything from crop harvests to bank loans, and once pie-in-the-sky prospects such as totally automated customer service are on the horizon. The technologies that enable AI, like development platforms and vast processing power and data storage, are advancing rapidly and becoming increasingly affordable. The time seems ripe for companies to capitalize on AI. Indeed, we estimate that AI will add $13 trillion to the global economy over the next decade.

Yet, despite the promise of AI, many organizations’ efforts with it are falling ...