Accelerating towards Obsolescence
Fields confronting AI tend to see two paths: ban it or delegate to it. Both fail. The third option is harder to articulate and the only one that works.
Robert J. Brunner
Founder & Principal, Innodative
AI & emerging technology advisor to boards and leadership teams
Chief Disruption Officer · Professor of Accountancy
Gies College of Business, University of Illinois
Advisory inquiries: principal@innodative.com
I advise boards, entrepreneurs, and leadership teams on AI and emerging technology: separating genuine capability from hype, and deciding what to do about it. My judgment comes from doing the work, not summarizing it. An astrophysicist by training, I run an active research program in AI and serve as Chief Disruption Officer at Gies, where I advise university leaders on navigating disruption.
Advisory engagements, board work, and speaking run through my consulting practice, Innodative. If you are weighing a decision about AI or emerging technology, start here.
Recent Writing
The Economics of AI Anxiety
Anxiety about AI-driven job cuts is everywhere, but badly misdiagnosed. The labor market is absorbing AI through task-level substitution, and three economic constraints ensure that human roles will persist.
Nobody Said It Was Easy
Eight modules, 120 videos, a rapidly changing field, and student feedback pulling in different directions. I ran an experiment—an extended conversation with Claude—to scope a full course revision. Here’s what happened, and what it might mean for how teaching and learning teams work.