Students talked with Mr. Bouée after the presentation.

Fontainebleau – On January 30th, global strategy consulting firm Roland Berger CEO Charles-Edouard Bouée spoke to a packed amphitheater of INSEAD students about the transformative impact of artificial intelligence he predicts over the next decade. 

Mr. Bouée – who published a book last year on the subject – described a future where everyone has access to AI in one form or another. Despite the intense focus on data in the tech industry currently, Mr. Bouée predicted a less data-driven world ahead.

“Once we have taught the machine to recognize humans, animals, and cars, we don’t need to do it again,” he said. “What will be more important is your own private data” when humans have portable AI with their own personal cloud. 

As tasks such as online shopping and hailing a taxi are taken over by AI, humans will use screens purely for entertainment, the CEO explained. 

These changes will have consequences for firms such as Google and Facebook that depend on advertising revenue. “Imagine a world where your portable AI is surfing the internet. He or she or it does not care about advertising,” Mr. Bouée said. 

The spread of AI will also mean the end of platform-based businesses, according to the executive. For example, one person’s personal AI could reach out directly to a taxi driver. 

What does that mean for MBA students today?

“The job will change, the company will have a lighter footprint and be more technology driven,” he said. “There will be a lot of business opportunities.”

“If we meet in 10 years, and if you have not done something with AI, you will regret it,” he said. “Whatever your vision of the future, you have to own the future.”