Top futurist Amy Webb sees Fortune 500 firms suffering from 'learned helplessness' with AI, like taxi drivers who need Google Maps
Fortune Nick Lichtenberg ● Covered by 12 sources
Fortune AIQ Summit speakers Amy Webb and Runway’s leadership argued that many large firms are wasting AI spending through pilots without strategy, organizational friction, and unclear ROI measures while employees build side tools or get overwhelmed. Webb estimated that taxi-style “learned helplessness” from giving workers tools but not skills has been a pattern for about 2 years, and she cited a case where a team later planned to spend a couple hundred million dollars on AI tokens after bypassing security approval. As a result, the discussion pushes companies to replace fear-and-FOMO rollouts with flexible mechanisms, clearer leadership, and responsible AI use that increases productivity rather than creating extra work.
Why it matters
"Let's be fair, Fortune 500 companies are pretty late to the party on this," said Webb, founder and CEO of the Future Today Strategy Group.
Related stories
Why the AI economy is like a bad dating app — drowning in decks, pilot purgatory — and it's playing out like the dotcom bubble, except worse
Fortune ·
50
AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decisionmaking
hermit-tech.com · 2 months ago ·
36
AI productivity tools are overhyped and overfunded. Investors should look elsewhere
Fortune ·
15