Harvard Business Review September 21, 2020
Few leaders would dispute the fact that business today is driven by data and smart algorithms. Yet, rather than real digital transformation, many instead pursue digital incrementalism, using automation to cut costs or, worse — cut jobs. Doing so might buy you some time from impatient shareholders, but it will be short-lived unless you can face the challenge: How do you reimagine what you do for a new era of AI-powered competition?
The high unemployment numbers of the Covid-19 recession have obscured a systemic problem: the accelerating effect of automation on the workforce. We have been here before. In each of the last few recessions, there have been significant spikes in labor-replacing automation. Although salaries may fall in a...