HBR IdeaCast Strategy Summit 2026: Who’s Going to Succeed with AI?
350 snips
Apr 2, 2026 
Andrew McAfee, MIT principal research scientist focused on digital transformation, dives into why AI demands action even when the future is fuzzy. He explores agile experimentation over rigid planning, how power users can spread winning practices, why AI may widen competitive gaps, how to manage software agents with guardrails, and why cutting entry-level hiring could backfire.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Use Agile Learning Instead Of Waterfall Planning
- Replace planning-heavy AI programs with fast feedback loops that maximize learning by doing.
- McAfee uses Steve Jurvetson's contrast between waterfall and agile, plus AI coding advances, to argue iteration now happens in months, not years.
The SpaceX Prediction That Changed McAfee's View
- Steve Jurvetson once told Andrew McAfee SpaceX would blanket Earth with cheap internet before Starlink had launched, which sounded delusional at the time.
- McAfee uses that miss to show agile upstarts can outrun incumbents that assume mature industries have already found every big breakthrough.
Scale AI Through Power Users Already Inside
- Find your AI power users and spread their methods across the company instead of waiting for top-down redesigns.
- McAfee says every firm shows the same curve: a few heavy users, many light users, and many still on the sidelines.
