George F Westerman

"AI has made it more important for the CIO to be able to exercise influence and give advice," said principal research scientist George Westerman. "Now you have a major technology that every C-suite person is wondering about and feels they need to use, and, given its transformative nature throughout the organization, this is where the skills of a CIO who is a strategic partner can be really useful."

At the Universo TOTVS 2026 event in São Paulo, senior lecturer George Westerman gave an interview to CNN Cast to discuss how artificial intelligence is affecting the corporate world and the job market. "AI doesn't produce value in companies on its own," he said. According to him, what AI does is enable businesses to operate differently — and that's the truly critical part of the transformation.

Those at the top of the organization, senior lecturer George Westerman said, are concerned about the costs associated with AI. At the bottom, people are just wondering if they'll lose their job and how they'll adapt. He described it as decision-making inertia at the top of the organization versus adoption inertia farther down. The challenge is moving both along and bridging the gap. "Helping to create the case for change and helping people feel that they can be part of that change. That's becoming even more critical this time around," he said.

Social media platforms are saturated with career content but more advice hasn't made career decisions easier; it's made them more overwhelming. According to an article by principal research scientist George Westerman and Abbie Lundberg, editor in chief of MIT Sloan Management Review, 67% of individual contributors surveyed said they want to advance their career, but 49% said a lack of good career advice has hurt their job trajectory.