Competing in the Age of AI

Strategy and Leadership When Algorithms and Networks Run the World

By: Marco Iansiti, Karim R. Lakhani

Narrated by: Steven Jay Cohen

Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's Summary

In industry after industry, data, analytics, and AI-driven processes are transforming the nature of work. While we often still treat AI as the domain of a specific skill, business function, or sector, we have entered a new era in which AI is challenging the very concept of the firm. AI-centric organizations exhibit a new operating architecture, redefining how they create, capture, share, and deliver value.  

Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani show how reinventing the firm around data, analytics, and AI removes traditional constraints on scale, scope, and learning that have constrained business growth for hundreds of years. From Airbnb to Ant Financial, Microsoft to Amazon, research shows how AI-driven processes are vastly more scalable than traditional processes, drive massive scope increase, enabling companies to straddle industry boundaries, and enable powerful opportunities for learning - to drive ever more accurate, complex, and sophisticated predictions.  

When traditional operating constraints are removed, strategy becomes a whole new game, one whose rules and likely outcomes this book will make clear.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation (P)2020 Gildan Media

Good writing but disappointing reading

I decided to both read this book and reinforce my reading by listening to the audible version.

The book itself is a decent read. It speaks on the success of the top large digitally transformed corporations. The main points of this book are relevant even in the absence of AI. If you read other business books about technology and disruptive innovation, you likely have already come across the same case studies and similar points.

I found the audible reading to be disappointing; several times I stopped wondering whether it was an “AI”/speech-to-text robot, and even went so far as to research whether that was the case. The pausing during sentence pronunciation feels unnatural.

Too slow and no i depth analysis.

No in depth analysis, focusing on uber and airbnb for tve most. Could be one chapter not a book

9 Hours of Buzz Words

This book may have been written by a GPT-3 bot that was trained on buzzwords.

Total disappointment

How can you turn such a hot topic into total boredom? Full of cliches, lacking insights, resembling a piece of bad journalism. Narration perfect for going to sleep. Artificial speech would be more engaging. The whole text feels as if it is computer generated and narrated

Very very high level

Almost no new information on AI really. Like a book report. First book of hundreds I will be returning to amazon.

Great material. Poor performance.

I believe there are some great insights in this book, but I've struggled to get past the first chapter because the narration is so dissonant. Pauses at odd places in a sentence, odd enunciations ( "A broad" read as "abroad" ) and odd emphasis in words. It feels like a not-quite-ready-for-primetime AI-driven text-to-speech conversion vs a live rendition.
That being said, I've taken a number of AI classes and am looking for guidance on how to spot trends and opportunities for my career. This book seems like a great place to start and I will complete it one way or another.
I'll know more once I manage to get through the audio... Or perhaps I'll just buy a paper copy.

Great Coverage of Network Effects

I am an IT professional and have been in the "disruptor" chair in my past 6 engagements. I have read a lot of these kinds of books and have been struggling to find anything that feels fresh or offers new perspective. This book was both for me. I believe that no matter your maturity on AI or AI-related topics, that you will find this book to be an important conversation starter. I thought the authors did a great job in explaining the way network effects can change everything in a digital world.

Excllent book and contents, Bad narration

Narrator was not good. The narrator just kept going with no excitement. but contents were fantastic

A must read on digital transformation

Insightful, thought provoking and visionary. Insiati and Lakhani offer a relevant framework for the Age of AI.

where is "AI"?

misleading title. I listened to first 5-6 chapters, and stopped. there was really nothing insightful about AI. in fact, there was not much about AI. all old stories. at least up to the middle of chap 6. could NOT continue. I know AI is a buzzword these days. the authors seemed to create this book for the sake of it. VERY disappointed. waste of time.

Gets your creative thinking going

And gives many great examples that will get you thinking about how you can apply AI in your own business

Worth a listen - lots of noise

The first chapter can be skipped. It’s essentially the authors selling their services which I didn’t like. I’m paying for insights, not your pitch. The central part of the book does have valuable data and then moves back out to open ended jargon describing the industry, and doesn’t focus on the topic at hand. I would recommend listening to a short 15 minute breakdown of this book rather than the full thing as that’s where your time is better placed - remember it does include content that is worth learning. It’s definitely not worth the time investment for the full thing however.

Post pandemic strategies to succeed

very interesting audiobook that gives an insight how businesses have coped with unprecedent situations

Pretty interesting - bit too long

Pretty interesting facts and thesis - but maybe a little bit too long. Interesting take on AI growth.

Useful Guidebook into The Business of AI

There are many books about AI. This one is unique in a sense authors are looking into a business angle how companies and organisations can turn Artificial intelligence into a competitive advantage and reinvent (and often even disrupt) business models. Useful read.