Episode
How Leaders Can Use AI to Solve Real Business Problems
- Podcast
- HBR IdeaCast
- Published
- Jul 7, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1624
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://hbr.org/podcast/2026/07/how-leaders-can-use-ai-to-solve-real-business-problems
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Summary
Many organizations are investing heavily in AI, but too few are asking the most important question: What problem are we actually trying to solve? Journalist and author Josh Tyrangiel argues that successful AI adoption has far less to do with choosing the right model and far more to do with identifying the right business challenge—and following through. He shares why executives should resist the pressure to become "AI-native" overnight and instead focus on targeted, high-impact problems where AI can create measurable value. He also offers practical advice on improving operations, communicating change across an organization, and avoiding the costly mistake of treating AI as a strategy rather than a tool, with examples from the healthcare sector and beyond. Tyrangiel is author of the book AI for Good: How Real People Are Using Artificial Intelligence to Fix Things That Matter.