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HBR guide to generative AI for managers

Understand your options, experiment and innovate, and transform the way you work

HBR Guide to Generative AI for Managers

Generative AI (Gen AI) is transforming how organizations work yet its profound impact on management is often overlooked. It is more than just an everyday productivity tool for drafting emails, summarizing long documents, and recording meeting minutes. In fact, Gen AI can become a co-thinker for managers in organizations of all sizes, aiding in problem-solving and decision-making. It can become a sparring partner, providing fresh perspectives and challenging assumptions, even enhancing strategic thinking and leadership development.

Soon managers who develop their Gen AI capabilities will be leaping ahead of managers who don’t. It is important to embrace the tools and skills now to leverage the full potential of Gen AI to enhance and transform your managerial role.

Whether you want to get up to speed quickly, expand your knowledge, or experiment with Gen AI for the first time, the HBR Guide to Generative AI for Managers, authored by Capgemini experts, is packed with insights to give you the information and skills you need. With practical, how-to essentials and takeaways in each chapter, the guide provides smart answers to unlock the value of Gen AI in your daily work.

This is your opportunity to be among the first pioneers to truly unlock the full potential of Gen AI, to set a pace rather than play catch-up. And it’s a chance to be a role model for the use of Gen AI, inspiring your team, colleagues, and peers to follow in your footsteps.

What you will learn from this book

  • Understand how machines can collaborate with you.
  • Cultivate the right mindset to thrive in the Gen AI-enabled workplace.
  • Envision how generative AI will enhance your job as manager.
    • Understand and practice how Gen AI can support your individual tasks, from personal productivity to professional growth.
    • Leverage Gen AI to help you better lead and support your team.
    • Engage in meaningful dialogues with Gen AI to enhance your business decisions.
    • Use Gen AI to help support organizational change.

Now available in bookstores

HBR Guide to Generative AI for Managers, authored by Capgemini experts, is available in bookstores from February 11, 2025.

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Inside look: Preview the introduction

Why we wrote this book

What readers say

Jessica Tompkinson

Global Head of People Communications, Philips

“In this book, HBR Guide to Generative AI for Managers, it gives you as a leader the opportunity to lean in and understand more on what you should be thinking about, and possibly doing when it comes to leading a team. AI isn’t an option for managers anymore – it is the key to staying competitive, making smarter decisions and you need a view on how you and your team will use it. This book can certainly help support you on that journey.”

Valentin Marguet

Powertrain Project Lead, Ferrari

“I followed Elisa and Gabriele’s writing journey from day one and it’s exactly what we needed. They simplified and grounded what managers needeed to leverage AI for the strategic decisions that do move their business foreward. Read it and bring it to work, use it as a practical guide and you’ll get remarkable results.”

Dorie Clark

Author, Coach & Professional Speaker

“Generative AI isn’t just a trend—it’s a fundamental shift in how we think, work, and lead. The HBR Guide to Generative AI for Managers is a must-read for leaders who want to stay ahead, offering practical insights and strategies to integrate AI into decision-making and strategy. If you want to future-proof your career and lead with confidence in the AI era, this is the book you need.”

Dr. Ruth Gotian

Thinkers50 #1 Emerging Management Thinker

“HBR Guide to Generative AI for Managers is the ultimate playbook for using generative AI effectively and ethically in today’s workplace. Elisa Farri and Gabriele Rosani provide clear, actionable insights that help leaders harness AI’s power while keeping human judgment and integrity at the center of decision-making.”

Dan Pontefract

Award winning Author, Leadership & Culture Strategist

“The ‘HBR Guide to Generative AI for Managers’ by Elisa Farri and Gabriele Rosani equips leaders with practical strategies to leverage generative AI. Boost productivity. Ignite innovation. Get intelligent.”

Kurt Matzler

Professor of Strategic Management at University of Innsbruck, Austria

“In a world where strategic decisions are increasingly complex, Generative AI offers a fresh lens for reflection. This guide illustrates how AI can challenge biases, surface overlooked perspectives, and sharpen decision-making—making strategy formulation more open, insightful, and robust. A must-read for those looking to make strategy formulation more reflective and dynamic.”

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Meet the authors

Elisa Farri

Elisa Farri

Vice President | Head of The Management Lab by Capgemini Invent
Elisa Farri is an author, advisor, and former researcher at the Harvard Business School Europe Research Center. She nurtures relationships with management thinkers at the world’s top business schools. She is a member of the Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2023 and co-lead of The Management Lab by Capgemini Invent, a global think-tank that aims to democratize management and bridge the latest management ideas into practice.

Gabriele Rosani

Director, The Management Lab by Capgemini Invent
Gabriele Rosani works at the intersection of strategy, innovation, and sustainability. For over a decade he has been researching, designing, and testing new management frameworks and tools, collecting lessons learned and best practice cases. He is a regular contributor to leading management magazines. He also contributed to several management books curated by Thinkers50 and the Business Ecosystem Alliance.

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