About this episode

Avi Goldfarb discusses the economic principles behind AI adoption and the challenges of organizational transformation.

Most organizations are still implementing AI as point solutions, dropping new technology into existing workflows to do the same work, just slightly better. The real value lies in system solutions that completely transform how organizations operate. Avi Goldfarb, economist and co-author of Prediction Machines, joins Robb and Josh to explain why AI adoption follows predictable economic principles and why internal resistance, not technology limitations, is the primary barrier to transformation. This conversation, recorded back in 2023, reminds us that most organizations continue to struggle with the same issues surrounding systemic change in 2026. Goldfarb's core argument: AI is fundamentally cheap prediction. Just as the internet made search and copying cheap, AI makes prediction cheap. When something becomes a commodity, the complements, the things that work alongside it, become more valuable. This includes compute power (benefiting Microsoft, Amazon, Google), unique data, and crucially, human judgment. The problem? System solutions require organizational transformation. They create winners and losers inside companies. When AI enables insurance companies to shift from pricing risk…

People in this episode

Guest: Avi Goldfarb

Topics covered

• AI
• organizational change
• economics
• technology adoption
• business transformation

Keywords

• AI adoption
• system solutions
• internal resistance
• cheap prediction
• organizational transformation
• power structure
• insurance companies
• human judgment

Mentioned in this episode

Products: ChatGPT, GSX, Microsoft, Amazon, Google

Books & works: Age of Invisible Machines, AIPodcast

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