Episode 1: Hamza Mudassir on AI outperforming CEOs and creating exec digital twins

What happens when AI makes better decisions than the C-suite? In this episode, I speak with Hamza Mudassir — co-founder of Strategize and lecturer at Cambridge Judge Business School — about his groundbreaking simulation that showed AI outperforming human CEOs on key business decisions and the benefits of having a digital twin at work.

Top 5 Highlights:

1. AI Outperformed Humans in Strategy Simulation: Hamza’s simulation showed that an AI model outperformed hundreds of MBA students and executives in business decision-making — except during unpredictable Black Swan events.
2. Why AI Struggles with Uncertainty: Unlike humans who hedge against the unexpected, the AI grew overconfident and “bet the house” — failing dramatically when faced with novel disruptions.
3. Executives vs. MBAs: Risk & Plateauing: Executives quickly reached product-market fit but often stopped playing to avoid reputational risk, while students kept pushing and innovating.
4. Rise of the Digital Twin: Strategize builds “digital twins” — AI-powered, hyper-personal agents that learn everything about an executive’s work, preferences, and communications to serve as a personal co-pilot.
5. The Future of the CEO Role: AI will not replace CEOs—but the best leaders will be those who know how to work with AI to amplify decision-making, handle data complexity, and retain accountability.

Hamza's work along with his co-authors Kamal Munir, Shaz Ansari and Amal Zahra is featured in HBR: https://hbr.org/2024/09/ai-can-mostly-outperform-human-ceos

To learn more about Hamza and his work, follow him on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamzamudassir/)