HBR IdeaCast

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.

For sustainability to be a core part of your business model, you might need to rethink how and why you incorporate sustainable policies and products. That's according to IMD Business School professor Goutam Challagalla, who explains that many customers don't want to pay a premium for sustainability. Instead, he argues that good intentions around sustainability can often lead to weak strategy and wasted investment. He explains how instead, leaders should think about sustainability as a way to create innovation and truly drive customer value, by doing things like reducing inefficiencies and creating affordable products. Challagalla is coauthor, along with Frédéric Dalsace, of the book Clean Winners: Sustainability Strategy That Puts Customers First.

As AI takes hold of the business world, is long-term competitive advantage a thing of the past? In this four-part special series, we'll share conversations from the recent HBR Strategy Summit to help you get ahead. In this episode, Columbia Business School professor Rita McGrath explains how she thinks companies must adapt when they can no longer depend on their competitive advantage lasting. She explains the most important strategic decision an organization can make today, and what it looks like to run an "unbossed" organization. HBR editor in chief Amy Bernstein contributes audience questions.

Disagreement is essential to better decisions—but most of us either avoid it or handle it poorly. Julia Minson is a professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and she's spent years studying disagreement and what we get wrong. She explains why intent matters less than behavior, how leaders can model “receptiveness,” and why the goal of a good disagreement isn’t to win—but to keep the conversation going. Minson is the coauthor of the HBR article "A Smarter Way to Disagree" and author of the book How to Disagree Better.

As the Trump administration continues to reshape the U.S. and global business landscape, many have been left wondering why CEOs and other business leaders aren't vocalizing their views. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld is a professor at the Yale School of Management and has conversations every day with leaders of some of the country's biggest companies. He explains how many leaders are navigating the current state of affairs in the U.S., explains examples of collective action that have gotten the Trump administration to change course, and whether he thinks organizations are adjusting to this "new normal."