Full Video Episode - The Great AI Reshuffle 2026 Predictions - Who Wins When Systems Change - Sangeet Paul Choudary
Thu Feb 05 2026
In the episode of Redefining AI, host Lauren Hawker Zafer speaks with Sangeet Paul Choudary, the bestselling author of Platform Revolution and the 2025 Thinkers50 Strategy Award winner for his latest book, Reshuffle.
Sangeet argues that we are currently repeating the early mistakes of the Cloud era, viewing AI through the narrow lens of productivity and intelligence benchmarks (like GPT-5) rather than the structural reorganization of work itself.
Lauren and Sangeet dive deep into why the next 18 months will bring a massive "narrative correction" as organizations move from asking what AI is to what it does to their capital allocation and organizational architecture.
In this episode, you will learn:
The Intelligence Trap: Why focusing on brute-force AI performance is a distraction from true system restructuring.
The Workforce Split: How to lead through the divide of "Blind Believers" and "Blind Rejectors."
The Reshuffle Framework: Why AI is the "missing glue" for complex systems and how to redistribute work now that knowledge is no longer scarce.
AI-Native vs. AI-Adopter: How to tell if a company is truly transforming or just "tacking on" tools (The Adobe vs. Figma distinction).
Sangeet Paul Choudary breaks down the fundamental shift from AI-adopting to AI-native, and unpacks the most relevant issue in 2026:
In an AI-adopting company, the person is the "node" and AI is the tool. In an AI-native company, the system is the node, and work is redistributed based on where intelligence (human or artificial) is most effective.
Here is a sharp, condensed way to state that principle:
The true shift isn't about augmenting individuals; it’s about rethinking the architecture of the organization itself. If you assume work must still be organized around individual silos, you aren't being AI-native. Real transformation happens when you stop asking how AI helps the person and start asking how work should be redistributed and restructured now that intelligence is a decentralized utility.
00:00 – Sangeet Paul Choudary, author of Reshuffle, 2025 Thinkers50 Strategy Award winner
01:30 – The Problem with the "Intelligence-First" AI Narrative
02:50 – Beyond Intelligence: How AI Restructures Organizations
04:00 – The Winners and Losers of the AI Value Pie
05:10 – Moving from Task-Level AI to System-Level Assumptions
06:20 – Lessons from the Cloud: Why History Rhymes with AI
08:00 – Adobe vs. Figma: A Case Study in Native Architecture
09:40 – Reimagining Returns: Breaking the Productivity Optimization Loop
11:15 – 2025 Prediction: The Tension, Transition, and Transformation Phases
12:50 – Avoiding the Split: Blind Believers vs. Blind Rejectors
14:10 – The 18-Month Narrative Correction: From GPT-5 Hype to ROI Reality
15:30 – How to Spot a Genuinely AI-Native Company
17:00 – Rethinking Organizational Design: Distributed vs. Individual Work
18:40 – Why AI is a Strategy and Capital Allocation Decision (Not IT)
19:50 – Closing: Aligning Sales and Leadership with the New AI Architecture
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In the episode of Redefining AI, host Lauren Hawker Zafer speaks with Sangeet Paul Choudary, the bestselling author of Platform Revolution and the 2025 Thinkers50 Strategy Award winner for his latest book, Reshuffle. Sangeet argues that we are currently repeating the early mistakes of the Cloud era, viewing AI through the narrow lens of productivity and intelligence benchmarks (like GPT-5) rather than the structural reorganization of work itself. Lauren and Sangeet dive deep into why the next 18 months will bring a massive "narrative correction" as organizations move from asking what AI is to what it does to their capital allocation and organizational architecture. In this episode, you will learn: The Intelligence Trap: Why focusing on brute-force AI performance is a distraction from true system restructuring. The Workforce Split: How to lead through the divide of "Blind Believers" and "Blind Rejectors." The Reshuffle Framework: Why AI is the "missing glue" for complex systems and how to redistribute work now that knowledge is no longer scarce. AI-Native vs. AI-Adopter: How to tell if a company is truly transforming or just "tacking on" tools (The Adobe vs. Figma distinction). Sangeet Paul Choudary breaks down the fundamental shift from AI-adopting to AI-native, and unpacks the most relevant issue in 2026: In an AI-adopting company, the person is the "node" and AI is the tool. In an AI-native company, the system is the node, and work is redistributed based on where intelligence (human or artificial) is most effective. Here is a sharp, condensed way to state that principle: The true shift isn't about augmenting individuals; it’s about rethinking the architecture of the organization itself. If you assume work must still be organized around individual silos, you aren't being AI-native. Real transformation happens when you stop asking how AI helps the person and start asking how work should be redistributed and restructured now that intelligence is a decentralized utility. 00:00 – Sangeet Paul Choudary, author of Reshuffle, 2025 Thinkers50 Strategy Award winner 01:30 – The Problem with the "Intelligence-First" AI Narrative 02:50 – Beyond Intelligence: How AI Restructures Organizations 04:00 – The Winners and Losers of the AI Value Pie 05:10 – Moving from Task-Level AI to System-Level Assumptions 06:20 – Lessons from the Cloud: Why History Rhymes with AI 08:00 – Adobe vs. Figma: A Case Study in Native Architecture 09:40 – Reimagining Returns: Breaking the Productivity Optimization Loop 11:15 – 2025 Prediction: The Tension, Transition, and Transformation Phases 12:50 – Avoiding the Split: Blind Believers vs. Blind Rejectors 14:10 – The 18-Month Narrative Correction: From GPT-5 Hype to ROI Reality 15:30 – How to Spot a Genuinely AI-Native Company 17:00 – Rethinking Organizational Design: Distributed vs. Individual Work 18:40 – Why AI is a Strategy and Capital Allocation Decision (Not IT) 19:50 – Closing: Aligning Sales and Leadership with the New AI Architecture