Why we are launching The Front Runners

Every company is about to be rebuilt. Some are already doing it. Most have not started. The Front Runners exists to document the first group and help the second.

The 50,000 ft view

From that height, the economy has two layers. One layer is made of technology and finance companies. AI is already at work in them. The other layer is the real economy: restaurants, shops, clinics, builders, logistics, manufacturers. That is where most people work, and where AI is still mostly absent.

Technology tends to move this way. It starts with the companies closest to it and reaches everyone else later. The question is how much later, and who gets there first.

The AI diffusion gap

Adoption depends on the kind of work a company does. Among very large firms in information, professional services and finance, 50 to 60 percent use AI, according to a US Census Bureau working paper. In construction, transportation, agriculture, and accommodation and food services, the Census Bureau's Business Trends and Outlook Survey finds fewer than 1 in 10 businesses do.

We call this the AI diffusion gap. It is widest where the work is physical. Large companies have data teams, budgets and time to experiment. A restaurant group or a small manufacturer has a business to run this week.

Why the gap is the opportunity

Electricity changed little about how factories worked until the factories were redesigned around it. Early owners swapped the steam engine for a motor and kept the layout. The gains arrived when the floor, the workflow and the roles were rebuilt for the new power source.

AI follows the same pattern. Adding a tool to an existing process helps a little. The larger gains come from rebuilding the company around what AI does well. Because the real economy has barely started, the companies that rebuild first set the standard for everyone behind them.

That is the opportunity. A restaurant brand that rebuilds its operations around AI has years of lead over competitors still waiting. The gap is the size of that lead.

What we are launching

Season 1: Restaurants. A podcast with the leaders of the most popular restaurant brands, on how they are rebuilding with AI. It is recording now. I host it. I have run the business and built the technology, and these conversations are with leaders who do both.

The AI Maturity Index. A quarterly ranking of companies, published by The Front Runners. It uses five levels: Manual, Assisted, Connected, Delegated and Autonomous. The first edition covers restaurants. You can nominate a brand in the Index section of the home page.

The Playbook. A weekly email. Each week one leader shares how they use AI to run their business and how you can try it. Subscribe on the home page.

How to take part

If you lead a company that is rebuilding with AI, you can apply to be on the podcast. We read every application and reply within two weeks. If you know a brand that belongs in the Index, nominate it. If you want to follow along, subscribe to the Playbook.

We will publish what works in the open, and update this blog as the season goes on.