HBR Articles

People are outraged! Whether it's climate change, COVID restrictions, taxes, or inflation, there will always be a current event that managers have to manage through. What’s the best way to lead in a polarized and uncertain world? In this report, Oxford University Profesor Karthik Ramanna considers this perfect storm of three forces: (1) Many people feel unhopeful about the future. (2) Many feel, rightly or wrongly, that the game has been rigged against them. (3) Many are being drawn toward ideologies that legitimize an us-versus-them approach.

Uncertainties around digitalization have bounced back after a huge boost during the pandemic. Companies are now on a mission to make sure the digitalization makes a purposeful and sustainable impact on the business — and doesn’t just follow the next tech hype. For digital transformation to be meaningful and lasting, companies must think about changes in products and processes more than changes in technology. However, the promises of shiny new tech causes many organizations to dedicate too many resources and too much attention to the technology side of digital transformation projects.

Feeling unsure about your AI initiatives? Many organizations are starting small and staying cautious. The component that will truly add economic value is deployment on a large scale. While putting out feelers may deliver valuable insights, it likely won’t be enough to achieve true transformation. Experimentation can take you only so far. The Deloitte executives who authored this article have identified 30 companies that have gone all in on AI—and achieved success—as well as 10 actions those companies took to become successful AI adopters. Want to learn how to attack these tasks?

Gathering insight is key to strategic success because it creates a competitive advantage. But first, you must determine what strategic factors are most relevant to your organization’s key stakeholders. Achieving this means you must create the conditions to gather this insight. Consider Darwin’s insights on evolution and adaptation – they changed how we think about life on Earth. Therefore, he is regarded by many as one of the greatest scientists. He achieved this partially through simple, introspective walks. But this takes some time.

ChatGPT has shown us the power of generative AI to take on tasks traditionally associated with “knowledge work.” But we won’t solely rely on machines in the future; we’ll always need the human touch. A technology that enables more people to complete a task because of the assistance from a machine, the result can be positive: entirely new systems with new business models and jobs and workflows. AI will be no different: To unlock ChatGPT’s potential, we must harness the new capabilities to benefit society by asking what new systems and organizations can be built with these new tools.