Changes in Organizations in Response to AI

Ethan Mollick's article Reshaping the tree: rebuilding organizations for AI explores how AI will transform companies. He notes that each technological wave brings organizational changes, and AI is no exception. To stay ahead, organizations must rethink their processes and use AI as an active intelligence, providing feedback and assisting in design and development.

Mollick predicts AI agents will handle tasks from conception to deployment with minimal human intervention. This implies a shift towards AI autonomy in organizations. This aligns with the recent increased interest in AI agents and what seems to be the next phase of product development at OpenAI and many other tech companies.

He also proposes that managers need to take an active role in shaping how AI is used in their companies by letting teams develop their own AI methods, encouraging experimentation, sharing of best practices and quick adoption to AI advancements to avoid falling behind. He also stresses the urgency of prioritizing education and training, establishing an AI council, completing impact assessments, and building an AI strategy. He cautions against waiting too long due to the exponential growth in AI capabilities.

I am keenly interested in the power of AI agents and expect that we'll see small successful companies that are primarily or significantly composed of AI agents. I also can't wait to see how traditional companies and agencies will respond to these changes.