“Reskilling in the Age of AI” Wins 2023 HBR Prize

Top article looks at what it takes to reskill workers in an AI-driven world

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--An in-depth study of how companies are reskilling their employees in a rapidly evolving era of automation and AI has won the 2023 HBR Prize, which honors the best Harvard Business Review article of the year.

In “Reskilling in the Age of AI,” authors Jorge Tamayo, Leila Doumi, Sagar Goel, Orsolya Kovács-Ondrejkovic, and Raffaella Sadun examine the role of companies in addressing the millions of workers who will need to acquire new skills amid profound technological change. They interviewed leaders at some 40 organizations around the world that are investing in large-scale reskilling programs. Their analysis revealed five paradigm shifts emerging in reskilling—and the lessons learned from companies that are implementing these shifts.

“Reskilling in the Age of AI’ is a definitive read for leaders navigating the changing demand for skills driven by AI and emerging technologies,” said Adi Ignatius, Editor in Chief of Harvard Business Review. “The article’s insights on how companies are thinking in new ways about reskilling are compelling, practical, and urgently needed.”

The HBR Prize, judged by an independent panel of business and academic leaders with input from members of HBR’s Advisory Board, spotlights the most outstanding article published each year in Harvard Business Review. Previously called the HBR McKinsey Award, it was established in 1959 to recognize groundbreaking management thinking. This year’s announcement appears in the May-June issue of the magazine.

The winning authors are Jorge Tamayo, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School; Leila Doumi, a PhD candidate at Harvard Business School; Sagar Goel, managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group, Singapore, and a fellow at the BCG Henderson Institute; Orsolya Kovács-Ondrejkovic, an associate director at Boston Consulting Group, Zurich, and an ambassador at the BCG Henderson Institute; and Raffaella Sadun, the Charles E. Wilson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

The judging panel recognized three other articles as HBR Prize finalists:

• “Beware a Culture of Busyness,” by Adam Waytz
• “The High Cost of Neglecting Low-Wage Workers,” by Joseph Fuller and Manjari Raman
• “A Step-by-Step Guide to Real-Time Pricing,” by Marshall Fisher, Santiago Gallino, and Jun Li

The 2023 HBR Prize judges were: Jill Avery, senior lecturer, Harvard Business School; Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, former partner, Egon Zehnder; Hubert Joly, former CEO and chairman, Best Buy; Mihnea Moldoveanu, professor, The Rotman School of Management; Karthik Ramanna professor, University of Oxford; and Stefan Thomke, professor, Harvard Business School.

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