Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt says AI isn't overhyped - the biggest gains from automating corporate work are still ahead

"If AI feels overhyped now, Eric Schmidt suggests that businesses should brace themselves - the real disruption hasn't even begun yet. In an interview with Professor Graham Allison at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at Harvard University on Monday, the former Google CEO pushed back on the idea that AI's rapid growth is a speculative bubble, saying that the technology is actually under-hyped. "If anything, it's under-hyped because you are fundamentally automating businesses," he said."

"The real transformation is happening deep inside companies, where AI systems are beginning to take over the "boring" tasks that quietly consume billions in corporate spending. The biggest gains, he suggested, will come from automating the backbone of corporate work: the repeatable, time-consuming processes buried deep inside every organization. The former Google chief listed billing, accounting, product design, delivery, and inventory management as examples of this."

""There's an awful lot there - it's extraordinary," he said, pointing to areas like medicine, climate solutions, and engineering as sectors where automation could accelerate breakthroughs. Schmidt, who helped steer Google's early investments in AI and later co-authored a book on AI with Henry Kissinger, implied the technology's economic impact will be far larger than markets or executives appreciate. Still, not everyone agrees with that perspective. Some economists are sounding alarm bells that the AI boom is overheated."

AI's current prominence understates its future impact because deeper automation of repetitive corporate tasks remains largely untapped. Companies are starting to apply AI to billing, accounting, product design, delivery, and inventory management, addressing costly, time-consuming back-office functions. Automating these repeatable processes within organizations promises substantial efficiency gains and cost reduction. Significant opportunities exist for AI-driven acceleration of breakthroughs in medicine, climate solutions, engineering, and logistics. At the same time, some economists warn that rapid investment and enthusiasm could resemble bubble dynamics and may be sensitive to rising interest rates or market corrections.

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