Wharton's Ethan Mollick: Agentic AI will rise in 2026
Episode Description
Ethan Mollick reflects on AI's quickly rising competencies in 2025. In 2026, he'll be looking for more development, where people are assigning tasks to AI.
ABOUT THE EPISODE Ethan Mollick, Associate Professor of Management and Co-Director of Generative AI Labs at the Wharton School, discusses the future of artificial intelligence—its rapid development, impact on the labor market, and the transformative potential of generative AI. He looks back at trends from 2025 and offers his AI forecast for 2026 as part of our annual Wharton faculty predictions series.
ABOUT THE PODCAST This Week in Business features interviews with Wharton faculty about the latest news, fascinating trends, and issues impacting both consumers and the business world. Episodes are recorded at the Wharton School and published twice per week.
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Brief Summary
Generative AI is rapidly changing workplaces and education, requiring deeper interactions and organizational adjustments.
Key points
- AI Adoption Surge. A billion people are using generative AI weekly, indicating rapid growth and integration.
- AI's Role in Work. Organizations are rethinking processes to effectively integrate AI into their workflows.





