is a senior director analyst in the Gartner HR practice. They support CHROs and HR leaders to understand and prepare for AI’s impact on the workforce and shape work for the human-AI era. CV engages with clients and speaks on topics including AI’s impact on headcount and roles, AI’s impact on skills, AI literacy, building AI-readiness across the workforce, and the intersection of inclusion and AI.
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During my 25 years as an advisor to senior teams, I’ve seen a lot of coaching and advice focused on how to manage leadership team conflict. But in my experience, the bigger challenge can be getting executives to raise dissenting ideas and to then critique those rigorously. Too often I see executive teams rush along in a state of passive peace because they value respect, trust peers to manage their own silos, and fear that stepping out of their “lane” will make them seem unhelpful or slow things down.
October 6, 2026
In this week’s The Insider newsletter, technology editor Tom Stackpole shares a story from MIT’s Christian Catalini, who argues that when execution is cheap due to AI, verification
The Insider is a weekly, subscriber-only newsletter, where our managing editor curates HBR stories, research, and ideas that senior leaders shouldn’t miss.
Read more on AI and machine learning or related topics Generative AI, Technology and analytics, Data management, Organizational transformation and Digital transformation
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At 8:40 a.m. on a Friday, a leadership team gathers to make the biggest call of its quarter. The CEO hasn’t had enough sleep all week, but nobody knows that, because she arrived energized, with a coffee in her hand, performing alertness the way many senior leaders learn to do. She’s far from the only one in the room performing alertness, though. Many of the others in the room are hiding their own sleep deprivation—which means the decision they’re all about to make may be shaped as much by the sleep they’ve lost this week as by the analysis in front of them.
HBR Staff; Flavio Coelho/nonnie192/Getty Images
According to a recent Payscale report, more than 80% of companies currently use some form of variable pay to compensate their workers. From performance bonuses in sales and commission-based roles to tipped service jobs, demand-based scheduling in retail and construction, and algorithmically-priced gig work, a growing proportion of workers take home paychecks that vary substantially from week to week or month to month. Variable pay is also prevalent among professions often associated with a stable income including public school teachers, police officers, and medical doctors.
Illustration by Mandy Tsou
Organizations today need to simultaneously perform (run the business reliably for today) and transforming (change the business for tomorrow). The challenge is that most organizations are much
Most companies are transforming for AI faster than their cultures can keep up.
HBR Staff/Pexels
Most companies approach emerging markets with one of three flawed strategies: they try to sell their premium products to the wealthy few and wait for the market to “catch up,” strip features off existing products to lower the price, or micro-size their offerings into single-use portions. All three usually fail because they assume that consumers in poorer markets want the same things as wealthier countries, only cheaper.
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Howard Stevenson transformed entrepreneurship from a study of founders’ personalities and business formation into a way of managing: pursuing opportunity beyond the resources currently
Few individuals transform a field of study, a way of teaching, and global business practice. Howard Stevenson, who passed away on September 27, 2026, did just that.
Read more on Business education or related topics Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial business strategy, Entrepreneurial management and Entrepreneurs and founders
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HBR Executive delivers trusted insights and actionable strategies to guide leaders through consequential decisions. Practical tools, and forward-looking perspectives cut through the noise to equip you to navigate uncertainty, stay ahead of emerging trends, and plan for a stable future.
Concrete strategies, tactics, and solutions to real challenges from your peers and other experts. Published every 2 weeks. All Playbooks (Opens a new page)
A weekly newsletter of timely insights that interpret today’s business climate and help you chart a path to what’s next. All Agenda (Opens a new page)