#086 - Why AI Is An Ecosystem Not A Technology with Michael G. Jacobides

This week on GAEA Talks, Graeme Scott sits down with Professor Michael Jacobides - Sir Donald Gordon Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at London Business School, academic advisor at the BCG Henderson Institute, and one of the most respected minds anywhere on how AI is reshaping the structure of the modern enterprise.Filmed live in our new London studio, this is a masterclass in cutting through the current AI hype. Michael explains why the current wave of Gen AI is built on capital markets expectations rather than business outcomes, why the only people making real money from AI today are the picks and shovels, and why "AI first" is one of the silliest strategic frames in the market. He walks through his white rabbit and EBITDA elephant framework, the difference between productivity gains and value proposition disruption, the Chinese pragmatism versus US "race to become God" divide, and why the historical link between US academia and industry that produced everything from the Ethernet to the transformer paper is now being deliberately torn apart.Topics covered:Why AI needs to be analysed as an ecosystem, not a technologyThe capital markets problem in Gen AI valuationsThe picks and shovels reality - who is actually making money todayGen AI as a mass persuasion technology, not a truth technologyThe white rabbit and EBITDA elephant frameworkWhy value proposition disruption matters more than productivityThe Chinese pragmatism versus US "race to become God" divideWhy the DARPA-to-transformer academic pipeline is under threatTeddy Roosevelt's rule - feet on the ground and eyes on the stars