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Wharton's Ethan Mollick: Agentic AI will rise in 2026

December 28, 2025 / 00:54

This episode discusses the rapid adoption of generative AI, its impact on jobs, and how organizations are adjusting to its integration. Key topics include AI's capabilities in performing complex tasks, its role as a companion in education, and the necessity for deeper interactions with AI.

The conversation highlights that over a billion people are using generative AI models weekly, indicating significant societal change. The speakers emphasize that the disruption caused by AI is already in motion, with no signs of slowing down.

They also mention the need for organizations to rethink their processes to effectively utilize AI, moving beyond simple tasks like summarizing data or writing essays. The discussion anticipates a future where AI takes on more complex roles within workplaces.

TLDR

Generative AI is rapidly changing workplaces and education, requiring deeper interactions and organizational adjustments.

Episode

0:54
00:00:00
There's a billion people using generative AI models on a weekly basis right now. We have evidence that they
00:00:05
can do hard level jobs, that they can do hardle math. People are treating these things as companions. They're getting
00:00:10
help with school for better, for worse. That's already here. The change is baked
00:00:14
in. We could stop with AI development today and have 10 years of disruption as we figure stuff out. Right now, there's
00:00:19
no sign of a slowdown in the growth of AI adoption. It's going to move, I think, increasingly inside
00:00:26
organizations. We're seeing organizational adoption increase as well. and organizations are have to
00:00:30
rethink processes and approaches to figure out how to use AI effectively. It can't just be chat bots where people ask
00:00:36
write my essay for me or summarize this data for me. It's going to have to be a
00:00:39
deeper form of interaction. So be watching for that kind of agentic work starting to appear where people work
00:00:44
deeply with AI assign AI tasks that it completes and so on.

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Episode Highlights

  • AI's Role in Work
    Organizations are rethinking processes to effectively integrate AI into their workflows.
    “Organizations are having to rethink processes and approaches to figure out how to use AI effectively.”
    @ 00m 30s
    December 28, 2025

Episode Quotes

  • People are treating these things as companions.
    Wharton's Ethan Mollick: Agentic AI will rise in 2026
  • The change is baked in.
    Wharton's Ethan Mollick: Agentic AI will rise in 2026
  • We could stop with AI development today and have 10 years of disruption.
    Wharton's Ethan Mollick: Agentic AI will rise in 2026

Key Moments

  • AI Companions00:09
  • Inevitability of Change00:12
  • Organizational Shift00:30