#26 Stephen Wunker: Building Distributed, Adaptive Companies

Make better business decisions with data and AI—subscribe to The Decision Intelligence Lab Newsletter at ⁠https://decisionintelligencelab.substack.com/⁠.In this episode, Vijay Mehrotra and Michael Watson sit down with Stephen Wunker, a strategy advisor for innovative leaders and Managing Director at New Markets Advisors, to explore transformative frameworks for navigating the AI era. Drawing from his book AI and the Octopus Organization—co-authored with Amazon futurist Jonathan Brill—Wunker shares actionable insights on how managers and executives can redesign their organizations for distributed decision-making, agile experimentation, and sustainable competitive advantage.Chapters0:00 - Preview & Introduction1:05 - Meet Stephen Wunker1:50 - AI and The Octopus Organization8:21 - Centralize vs. Decentralize Decision Science11:00 - The AI Magic Dust Problem12:58 - Jobs-To-Be-Done Framework16:30 - HelloFresh Case Study20:40 - Skills for the Future22:40 - When is Central Coordination Necessary24:35 - Building an Experimental Muscle26:55 - Governance & Metrics Alignment30:05 - Figma Destroyed Adobe31:35 - The VC Playbook33:35 - What’s NOT Going to Happen34:30 - Closing & ResourcesFollow the showApple: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-decision-intelligence-lab/id1811085064⁠Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/0lFoAVKqJHTYSZNpeN61ou?si=0ae973aab0174b3b⁠Connect with StephenLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwunker/AI and the Octopus: https://www.newmarketsadvisors.com/books/ai-and-the-octopus-organizationJobs to be Done: https://www.newmarketsadvisors.com/services/jobs-to-be-done-frameworkConnect with hostsProf. Vijay Mehrotra (University of San Francisco): ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijay-mehrotra-ba9498/⁠Prof. Michael Watson (Northwestern University): ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-watson-07600a1⁠About the podcastThe Decision Intelligence Lab podcast delivers real-world insights for data professionals, business leaders, and anyone seeking to leverage data & AI for smarter decision-making & successful business outcomes.For business inquiries, email at ⁠[email protected]⁠