18 Real-Time Thoughts from AI's Architects of Change

The leaders shaping the AI revolution are often viewed as possessing a kind of crystal ball. Yet in practice, they are learning by doing: testing assumptions, making missteps, and adapting in real time alongside the broader global business community. Meaningful insight rarely emerges in isolation. It is forged by observing those in the arena, wrestling with the same structural transformations now confronting every sector. The most valuable moment to learn from these leaders is not in hindsight, but while the ink on the first chapter of the revolution is still drying. 

The quotes that follow are brief thoughts from the field on the scale of change, the need for agility, and the enduring role of human judgment, as provided by the architects of the modern AI landscape.

The Magnitude of Change

“AI is one of the most profound things we’re working on as humanity. It is more profound than fire or electricity.” - Sundar Pichai (CEO, Alphabet)

“AI is the new electricity.” - Andrew Ng (Founder, DeepLearning.AI)

“The development of AI is as fundamental as the creation of the microprocessor, the personal computer, the Internet, and the mobile phone.” - Bill Gates (Co-Founder, Microsoft)

“Software is eating the world, but AI is going to eat software.” - Jensen Huang (CEO, NVIDIA)

Strategic Reimagination

“AI is not a strategy, but a means to rethink your strategy.” - Ginni Rometty (Former CEO, IBM)

“Every company is now a software company.” - Satya Nadella (CEO, Microsoft)

“Developers switch tools immediately when something 20% better arrives. Models alone don’t create lasting moats.” - Andrew Ng (Founder, DeepLearning.AI)

"All of us are using AI in a significant way already, and we must use it as a company as well. To not do so would be to be left behind, and we can't do that." - Tim Cook (CEO, Apple)

“To mitigate the inevitable unintended consequences that are likely to arise, we should start to think about [AI] as we might a new kind of digital species.” - Mustafa Suleyman (CEO, Microsoft AI)

The Future of Labor & Talent

“AI will not take your job. The person who uses AI will take your job.” - Jensen Huang (CEO, NVIDIA)

“AI is not a substitute for human intelligence; it is a tool to amplify human creativity and ingenuity.” - Fei-Fei Li (Co-Director, Stanford Institute Human-Centered AI)

“AI agents. That’s the beginning of an unlimited workforce.” - Marc Benioff (CEO, Salesforce)

“I’ve told my employees, my customers: I’ll be the last CEO of Salesforce who only managed humans.” - Marc Benioff (CEO, Salesforce)

The Culture of Agility

“If you double the number of experiments you do per year, you're going to double your inventiveness.” - Jeff Bezos (Founder, Amazon)

“Embrace failure as a learning tool.” - Eric Schmidt (Former CEO, Google)

“If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you launched too late.” - Reid Hoffman (Founder, LinkedIn)

“I don't care how big you are or how small you are, you have to learn about AI.” - Mark Cuban (Entrepreneur)

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