Home Columns

Columns

This category is Column, featuring expert opinions, thought leadership, and in-depth analysis on key business, economic, and societal trends. It provides authoritative perspectives from industry leaders, helping readers navigate complex challenges and opportunities in the modern world.

why AI can’t say I don’t know

Why AI Can’t Say “I Don’t Know”: Understanding the Illusion of Omni-knowledge in Large...

By Fernanda Arreola and David Jaidan Skillful orators know that, to convince their audience, it can pay to deliver their message with a tone of...
Agentic AI Is Reinventing Software Economics

Beyond SaasPocalypse: How Agentic AI Is Reinventing Software Economics

By Jacques Bughin and Filip Van Innis Historically, enterprise software was priced on a per-seat basis. Today, in the era of generative and, especially, agentic...
AI in HR

Empowering People with AI: Revolutionizing the Management of Human Resources for a Brighter Future

By Dr. Simon L. Dolan, Dr. Pedro Cesar Martínez Moran and Dr. Dave Ulrich Among the disciplines currently under invasion by AI, human resources is...
3d rendering ai chatbot or personal assistant robot chat with speech bubble

The OpenClaw Paradox: High-Performance Agents in Search of a System

By Jacques Bughin, Ph.D. If you don't want your agents to turn into a collection of digital loose cannon, you'd better make sure you have...
microaggressions psychology

Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones: The Psychology of Microaggressions

By Adrian Furnham Most would agree that saying something deliberately calculated to hurt another individual is, at best, small-minded. Nevertheless, even the saintliest of us...
AI Strategy

Artificial Intelligence Is Not a Timing Decision but a Commitment Decision

By Jacques Bughin Artificial intelligence is reshaping corporate strategy beyond tools and timing. Jacques Bughin argues that it is a commitment to redesigning operating models...
psychological safety at work

Belt Up and Belt Out: Corporate Benefits of Psychological Safety

By Adrian Furnham and Dr Amanda Potter At your last departmental meeting, did you join in, or did you zone out? Did you buckle down,...
Logistics manager explaining and delegating operations to warehouse workers. Solve SMB Capacity Challenges

Gain Founder Freedom in 2026: Solve SMB Capacity Challenges

By Elizabeth Eiss Small and medium-sized business owners are no strangers to hard work. They build, sell, manage, problem-solve, and adapt, often simultaneously. Yet for...
Organization - Where’s Your Sense of Justice?

Where’s Your Sense of Justice?

By Adrian Furnham Is the world a just place – or just a place? Then again, should we just pessimistically expect the unjust and so...
The Last Mile Problem: What Executives Need to Know About Self-Driving Vehicles

The Last Mile Problem: What Executives Need to Know About Self-Driving Vehicles

By Alessandro Lanteri, Massimiliano (Max) Cappuccio and Mark Esposito The autonomous vehicle revolution is real, but not imminent. Here’s how to navigate the gap between...
The Next Wave of AI: from Generation to Agency

The Next Wave of AI: from Generation to Agency

By Jacques Bughin If you're quietly patting yourself on the back for finally getting a grip on AI and its impact on your organization, here's...
Europe’s Reinvention in competitive edge

Europe’s Reinvention Challenge: Turning Heritage into a Competitive Edge

By Mauro Macchi, Dominic King, Ladan Davarzani Adapting to change is a long-standing European strength—evident in everything from art and science to industry and institutions....
Europe’s Innovation Edge

Europe’s Innovation Opportunity: How America’s Brain Drain Could Fuel the Next Porto Digital

By Juliana Queiroga As U.S. research faces disruption, Europe must move beyond funding to capture global talent. By adopting Brazil’s Porto Digital model, Europe can...
The Collapse of Unhappiness in Middle Age: New Evidence and Challenges for Well-being

The Collapse of Unhappiness in Middle Age: New Evidence and Challenges for Well-being

By Pedro César Martínez Morán and Simon L. Dolan The graph of happiness against age is traditionally shown as U-shaped, with the index of happiness...
business school innovation

How Do 200-Year-Old Institutions Innovate? The Example of Business Schools

By Fernanda Arreola and Dr. Gregory C. Unruh When we think of innovation, our minds often jump to startups or young tech firms. But what...
Illustration of man imprisoned in a bottle of alcohol, surreal addiction abstract

Addiction Has No Boundaries: We Must Start Talking About It

By Fernanda Arreola, Nora Guessoum, and Elizabeth Walker Addiction often hides in plain sight, crossing social, professional, and cultural boundaries with ease. In this article,...
student choosing between vocational and academic education

Why Go to University? Serious Vocational Guidance

By Adrian Furnham University is often treated as the default path to success, yet its value is increasingly questioned. Adrian Furnham challenges conventional assumptions by...
China's AI strategy

Ten Things Every Manager Must Understand About China’s AI Strategy

By Jacques Bughin China’s AI strategy reshapes competition far beyond foundation models and chatbots. As Jacques Bughin explains, managers must look at scale, integration and...
How AI-Based Employee Monitoring Shapes Workplace Trust, Autonomy, and Well-being

Algorithmic Attachment: How AI-Based Employee Monitoring Shapes Workplace Trust, Autonomy, and Well-being

By Dr Madeleine Roantree and Professor Adrian Furnham Although AI-driven monitoring and performance tools are designed to optimise productivity, they may have an adverse effect...
Virtual Working: When It Comes to Sensitive Conversations, the Medium Affects the Message

Virtual Working: When It Comes to Sensitive Conversations, the Medium Affects the Message

By Dr Melissa Dunlop and Professor Adrian Furnham The remote-working era brought us many challenges in communicating effectively with our fellow humans via a computer...
5G train in beautiful green summer forest. Long commuter train moving to rail way station

How 5G-FRMCS Can Accelerate EU’s Rail Transformation

By Séverine Mastikian, Maros Mraz and Vikas Dubey As Europe pursues climate change targets and digital sovereignty, its rail network risks falling behind. Legacy systems,...
European business leaders having a meeting about climate risks

Can European Business Leaders Afford to Deprioritize Climate Risk?

By Matias Pollmann-Larsen and Dominic King As European companies grapple with severe disruption on multiple fronts, climate risks might seem a distant threat. However, our...
Superstar firms having a meeting in office for finance

Managing in the Age of Superstar firms

By Jacques Bughin Superstar firms are reshaping global markets through scale, innovation, and strategic agility. Jacques Bughin examines how these companies achieve and sustain dominance,...
Businesswoman managing small business feeling burnout and tired

Scaling You: How Small Business Owners Can Grow Without Burning Out

By Elizabeth Eiss If you’re a small business owner or solopreneur, your greatest asset - and your greatest bottleneck - is often the same thing: you. You...

Presentations, Speeches, and Talks: Getting the Gift of the Gab

By Adrian Furnham If the very words “Ladies and gentlemen, unaccustomed as I am…” bring you out in a cold sweat, just breathe deeply into...

Nine Logics of AI Deployments and the Artificial Integrity Imperative

By Hamilton Mann In attempting to visualize the issues implicit in the adoption of AI in business, we commonly picture a two-dimensional relationship, such as...
Well-Being at Work Challenges and Solutions for Mental Health and Risk

Well-Being at Work Challenges and Solutions for Mental Health and Risk

By Dr. Simon L. Dolan The well-being of employees is a critical component of organizational success. The multifaceted challenges that hinder mental health and risk...
Europe's Innovation Pipeline

Why Europe’s Innovation Pipeline Keeps Breaking Down

By Juliana Queiroga European research institutions produce world-leading, breakthrough technology that should yield commercial advantage. Yet, too many innovations fail to reach the market successfully....
Ban Introduced on English Higher Education Providers Entering into NDAs About Sexual Misconduct, Bullying and Harassment

Ban Introduced on English Higher Education Providers Entering into NDAs About Sexual Misconduct, Bullying...

By Chloe Holmes On 1 August 2025, new legislation (the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023) was passed, which prohibits higher education providers in...
Interview with Tessa Harris of Redmans solicitors

Evolutionary Forces at Work: Keeping Abreast of Employment Law

Interview with Tessa Harris of Redmans solicitors Employment law, like so many aspects of 21st-century life, is subject to constant evolution. It’s challenging for employers,...
Businessman analyze sustainability investment and signing a green business contract.

Beyond the Regulatory Checkbox: Navigating Europe’s Shifting Sustainability Rules with Strategic Intent

By Jens Laue, Matthew Robinson, Monique de Ritter and Michela Coppola As Europe recalibrates its sustainability regulations, it may seem natural for businesses to ease...
Chatbot conversation Ai Artificial Intelligence technology online customer service.Digital chatbot, robot application, OpenAI generate.

The Generative AI Gold Rush Revisited

By Jacques Bughin The generative AI landscape has rapidly evolved, turning emerging concepts into proven drivers of business value. Jacques Bughin revisits ten key AI...
The Impostor Syndrome: Fraudulence, Fear of Success, and Perfectionism

The Impostor Syndrome: Fraudulence, Fear of Success, and Perfectionism

By Adrian Furnham Many of us, at one time or another, may have thought, “One day, they’re going to see through me.” If you’re one...
Day-One Rights vs Six-Month Threshold: Employment Bill

Day-One Rights vs Six-Month Threshold: Where the Employment Rights Bill May Land

By Alex Hodson During the most recent general election, the Labour Party pledged to abolish the two-year qualifying period required for employees to bring an...
Accidental Entrepreneurship: When Van Gogh shows up in your Backyard

Accidental Entrepreneurship: When Van Gogh Shows up in your Backyard

By Fernanda Arreola and Sabine Bacouel-Jentjens In the spring of 2020, during a global pandemic, a revolution began in a quiet French village when an...

On Ultraintelligence and Ultra Risks

By Dr. Claudio Antonini and Dr. sc. ETH Zurich Kamil Mizgier What is your pet goldfish's take on the “Offside” rule? Chances are, it’s a little...
Cultivating Endurance: Sharing a Case for Empowering an Organization’s Resilience and Enhancing Wellbeing

Cultivating Endurance: Sharing a Case for Empowering an Organization’s Resilience and Enhancing Wellbeing

By Dr. Anat Garti and Dr. Simon L. Dolan In a world wired for stress, success takes more than strategy. This article shows how to...
Businesswoman in headphones is holding smartphone with digital interface with various holograms having online conference call. Robot, smart watch, pie diagram. Office workplace with laptop, notebook

Scaling You: Onshore, Offshore, and AI – Finding the Right Fit for Your Business

By Elizabeth Eiss This article continues my Scaling You series where I share strategies to help solopreneurs and small business owners grow without burning out. One of...

Choosing Your Path: DBA vs. PhD – Empowering Your Future in Management Education

By Prof. Jean Luc Cerdin, Prof. Simon L. Dolan and Prof. Michel Kalika PhD or DBA? As the world of work evolves, this analysis explores...
Understanding and Transforming Hidden Societal Risks

Unveiling the Shadows: Understanding and Transforming Hidden Societal Risks

By Dr. Pedro Cesar Martinez Moran and Dr. Simon L. Dolan In today’s ever-evolving world, it’s crucial to look beyond the surface and recognize the...
Better Boards: Boardroom meeting with the Organisations

The Better Boards Podcast Series: The Role of the Board in Owner-led Organisations

The podcast and the article are brought to you by The Better Boards Podcast Series. Owner-led organisations are the backbone of economies worldwide. Yet when the...
Presentation, paperwork and board directors in office with team for AI governance system.

The Better Boards Podcast Series: Overcoming Misconceptions and Lies in the Boardroom

The podcast and the article are brought to you by The Better Boards Podcast Series. When pressures mount, Boards often default to easy narratives. Yet, today...
Board secretary working in the office while using AI

The Better Boards Podcast Series: Beyond Minutes – Reimagining the Board Secretary in the...

The podcast and the article are brought to you by The Better Boards Podcast Series. The role of the Board Secretary is at a crossroads. Traditionally,...
Better board podcast. AI robot thinking

The Better Boards Podcast Series: Can AI Make Better Business Decisions?

The podcast and the article are brought to you by The Better Boards Podcast Series. In this episode of the Better Boards Podcast, Professor Katja Langenbucher...
From Gatekeeper to Guide - How Governance Professionals are Shaping the Boardrooms of Tomorrow

The Better Boards Podcast Series: From Gatekeeper to Guide – How Governance Professionals are...

The podcast and the article are brought to you by The Better Boards Podcast Series. Governance professionals are no longer the quiet scribes in the corner....
Red pawn facing different position for leadership transformation

The Better Boards Podcast Series: Steering the Shift – Board Leadership in Times of...

The podcast and the article are brought to you by The Better Boards Podcast Series. When organisations face a need for transformation, Boards must become catalysts...
Startup company with AI unicorn

Valuation of AI Unicorns: Is it a Ponzi Scheme or rather, a Genuine Growth...

By Jacques Bughin AI unicorn valuations have sparked debate over whether they reflect unsustainable speculation or credible growth opportunities. Jacques Bughin examines this phenomenon using...
Robot programmer that uses artificial intelligence in data processing programming and coding digital technology with a large database Software development

How Vibe and Agentic Coding Signal the Next (not only Software) Revolution

By Jacques Bughin The rapid rise of large language models and generative AI is redefining how software is built and scaled. Jacques Bughin explores how...
AI bot holding Euro coin. AI in Europe concept

Avoiding the Janus Trap: Why Europe Must Commit to AI-powered Reinvention

By Mauro Macchi, Matt Prebble, Dominic King and Laura Ann Wright Closing the competitiveness gap is a central pillar of the European economic reform agenda....
Beautiful Female Manager is Walking Pass Her Business Colleagues while working, experiments to optimize AI and algorithmic attachments.

Algorithmic Attachment: How AI-Based Employee Monitoring Shapes Workplace Trust, Autonomy, and Well-being

By Madeleine Roantree and Adrian Furnham Although AI-driven monitoring and performance tools are designed to optimise productivity, they may have an adverse effect on how...

This will close in 15 seconds