BRIAN KENNY:
If you’re a regular listener, you know that we’ve tackled the topic of AI multiple times over the past year. And for good reason, it’s a topic that is changing how we live and work in ways large and small. So, it won’t surprise you to know that we aren’t the only ones at Harvard Business School who are thinking about this. With that in mind, we’d like to reshare an episode of Harvard Business School’s Managing the Future of Work podcast, a show hosted by Professors Bill Kerr and Joe Fuller, that is all about the forces reshaping the nature of work. In this episode from February 2024, Bill Kerr talks to Jared Spataro of Microsoft, about how the tech giant is experimenting its way from AI assistants to autonomous agents as well as responsible AI, and upskilling. We thought this would be a great discussion to get you thinking about what AI has in store for us all in 2025. And if you have some thoughts on that, we’d love to hear from you. Email us at: coldcall@hbs.edu.
JARED SPATARO:
It might sound counterintuitive, but one aspect of the propagation of AI innovation is absolutely the human element. People have to learn it. They have to learn not to be afraid of it. They have to learn that it can be beneficial for them as individuals and as, in the case of being a leader or manager, in those circumstances. And so that’s what’s emerged for me is, I would just say, “Hey, get after it. Get after it with alacrity, but don’t try and jump over and say, ‘We’re going to transform our entire firm from the ground up by reinventing everything.’” That, I feel like, is unnecessary tumult.
BILL KERR:
It’s early 2024, and generative AI is fast becoming pervasive. Its impact will be both earth-shattering and mundane. While many organizations are experimenting with it, few are yet making wholesale changes to take advantage of it. What’s clear, though, is that AI will reshape the global economy and the world of work. The International Monetary Fund [IMF] estimates that 40 percent of jobs globally—and 60 percent in advanced economies—are exposed to elimination or change as a result of AI. The IMF also warns that the technology has the potential to increase inequality. And while AI is sparking innovation across the spectrum, dominant technology players have a distinct advantage in terms of their resources and market share. What can we expect from these leading suppliers of productivity tools as AI works its way through the enterprise and into our smart devices?
Welcome to the Managing the Future of Work podcast from Harvard Business School. I’m your host, Bill Kerr. My guest today is Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President of Modern Work and Business Applications at Microsoft:
We’ll talk about how Microsoft internally and through its investments in OpenAI is AI-enabling its ubiquitous products—from office apps to Teams collaboration software. We’ll consider use cases and, crucially, how Microsoft sees organizations adapting business processes, jobs, and tasks, and managing the risks of the powerful technology. We’ll talk about how the company is gearing up and skilling itself internally to carry out its AI strategy. And we’ll look at the bigger picture of ethical and regulatory considerations. Jared, welcome to the podcast.
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If you enjoy Cold Call, you might like our other podcasts: After Hours, Climate Rising, Deep Purpose, IdeaCast, Managing the Future of Work, Skydeck, Think Big, Buy Small, and Women at Work. Find them on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen. And if you could take a minute to rate and review us, we’d be grateful. If you have any suggestions or just want to say hello, we want to hear from you, email us at coldcall@hbs.edu. Thanks again for joining us, I’m your host Brian Kenny, and you’ve been listening to Cold Call, an official podcast of Harvard Business School and part of the HBR Podcast Network.
JARED SPATARO:
It might sound counterintuitive, but one aspect of the propagation of AI innovation is absolutely the human element. People have to learn it. They have to learn not to be afraid of it. They have to learn that it can be beneficial for them as individuals and as, in the case of being a leader or manager, in those circumstances. And so that’s what’s emerged for me is, I would just say, “Hey, get after it. Get after it with alacrity, but don’t try and jump over and say, ‘We’re going to transform our entire firm from the ground up by reinventing everything.’” That, I feel like, is unnecessary tumult.
