The Best Books on AI for Business Leaders
Updated 2026-10-07 · 6 books
Most books about AI are either about the far future or about the technology itself. These six are about the decisions a leader has to make now: whether to use it, where it pays, what it does to the way the company is organised, and what happens to people's jobs. We've ordered them so a leadership team can read them in sequence, starting with the most practical. For the bigger questions about power, risk and society, see our separate list.
- 1
Co-Intelligence
Ethan Mollick
Ethan Mollick, a Wharton professor who teaches with AI tools in his own classes, writes about how to work alongside them day to day. It is the most practical book here and the best starting point for a leader who hasn't spent much time with the tools.
Best for: Leaders who want to understand AI by using it.
Skip it if: You want a strategy or investment framework; this is about individual work.
Business & ManagementScience - 2
Prediction Machines
Ajay Agrawal
Three economists explain AI as one thing, cheaper prediction, and work through what follows for decisions, jobs and strategy. It was written in 2018, before today's chat tools, but the framework is the clearest we know for deciding where AI earns its cost.
Best for: Leaders who think in terms of costs, trade-offs and decisions.
Skip it if: You want current tools and examples.
Business & ManagementStatistical methodsForecasting - 3
Power and Prediction
Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, Avi Goldfarb
The same three economists, four years later, on why AI changes businesses more slowly than expected: the gains come when a whole system is redesigned around it, not when one task is automated. Read it after Prediction Machines.
Best for: Leaders frustrated that AI pilots aren't changing much.
Skip it if: You haven't read Prediction Machines; it builds on it.
Business & Management - 4
Competing in the Age of AI
Marco Iansiti, Karim R. Lakhani
Two Harvard Business School professors on how companies built around data and algorithms are organised differently from traditional ones, and what that means for strategy and leadership.
Best for: Senior teams rethinking how the company is structured.
Skip it if: Managers looking for advice on their own team's work.
Business & ManagementScienceArtificial intelligence - 5
Human + Machine
Paul R. Daugherty
Two Accenture leaders on redesigning work so that people and machines each do what they're better at. Its examples predate the current wave of tools, but the question it asks, which jobs get redesigned rather than replaced, is still the one most managers face.
Best for: HR and operations leaders planning how roles will change.
Skip it if: You want something recent; it was published in 2018.
Business & ManagementIndustriesMachine Theory - 6
Bridgital Nation
N. Chandrasekaran, Roopa Purushothaman
N. Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, and economist Roopa Purushothaman argue that India should use technology to extend what its workforce can do. The only book here written with Indian companies and jobs in mind.
Best for: Leaders thinking about AI and technology in an Indian context.
Skip it if: You want a hands-on guide to AI tools; it's about national-scale strategy.
Artificial intelligenceJob creationIndustrial applications
At a glance
| # | Book | Author |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Co-Intelligence | Ethan Mollick |
| 2 | Prediction Machines | Ajay Agrawal |
| 3 | Power and Prediction | Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, Avi Goldfarb |
| 4 | Competing in the Age of AI | Marco Iansiti, Karim R. Lakhani |
| 5 | Human + Machine | Paul R. Daugherty |
| 6 | Bridgital Nation | N. Chandrasekaran, Roopa Purushothaman |
Frequently asked
Which book on AI should a CEO read first?
Co-Intelligence if they haven't spent much time using AI tools, because it's built around actually working with them. If they have, Prediction Machines gives the clearest framework for deciding where AI earns its cost.
Are books from 2018 still worth reading on AI?
The two from 2018 here, Prediction Machines and Human + Machine, were written before today's chat-based tools, so their examples have aged. Their main ideas, about what AI makes cheaper and how jobs get redesigned around it, still hold, which is why we kept them.
Is there a book on AI written for Indian business?
Bridgital Nation, by Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran and Roopa Purushothaman, argues that technology should be used to extend what India's workforce can do rather than replace it. It's the one here written with Indian companies and jobs in mind.
Prefer a plain-text version of this list? You can find one here.