#26 Stephen Wunker: Building Distributed, Adaptive Companies

Make better business decisions with data and AI—subscribe to The Decision Intelligence Lab Newsletter at ⁠https://decisionintelligencelab.substack.com/⁠.

In this episode, Vijay Mehrotra and Michael Watson sit down with Stephen Wunker, a strategy advisor for innovative leaders and Managing Director at New Markets Advisors, to explore transformative frameworks for navigating the AI era. Drawing from his book AI and the Octopus Organization—co-authored with Amazon futurist Jonathan Brill—Wunker shares actionable insights on how managers and executives can redesign their organizations for distributed decision-making, agile experimentation, and sustainable competitive advantage.

Chapters

0:00 - Preview & Introduction

1:05 - Meet Stephen Wunker

1:50 - AI and The Octopus Organization

8:21 - Centralize vs. Decentralize Decision Science

11:00 - The AI Magic Dust Problem

12:58 - Jobs-To-Be-Done Framework

16:30 - HelloFresh Case Study

20:40 - Skills for the Future

22:40 - When is Central Coordination Necessary

24:35 - Building an Experimental Muscle

26:55 - Governance & Metrics Alignment

30:05 - Figma Destroyed Adobe

31:35 - The VC Playbook

33:35 - What’s NOT Going to Happen

34:30 - Closing & Resources

Follow the show

Apple: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-decision-intelligence-lab/id1811085064⁠

Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/0lFoAVKqJHTYSZNpeN61ou?si=0ae973aab0174b3b⁠

Connect with Stephen

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenwunker/

AI and the Octopus: https://www.newmarketsadvisors.com/books/ai-and-the-octopus-organization

Jobs to be Done: https://www.newmarketsadvisors.com/services/jobs-to-be-done-framework

Connect with hosts

Prof. Vijay Mehrotra (University of San Francisco): ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijay-mehrotra-ba9498/⁠

Prof. Michael Watson (Northwestern University): ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-watson-07600a1⁠

About the podcast

The Decision Intelligence Lab podcast delivers real-world insights for data professionals, business leaders, and anyone seeking to leverage data & AI for smarter decision-making & successful business outcomes.

For business inquiries, email at ⁠decisionintelligencepodcast@gmail.com⁠