---
id: "action-plan-ai-bust"
type: "action-item"
source_timestamps: ["§ Be realistic about the complexities of the AI age."]
tags: ["risk-management", "ai-strategy", "infrastructure"]
related: ["concept-ai-amplification-effect", "question-ai-boom-or-bust"]
action: "Develop contingency plans to repurpose AI infrastructure for alternative high-performance computing needs."
outcome: "Mitigation of financial exposure and prevention of stranded assets if the AI market bubble bursts."
sources: ["futures"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-futures"
originDay: 2
articleStem: "hbr-foci-75-fragmenting-digital-economy"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/what-a-fragmenting-digital-economy-means-for-global-competition"
sourceTitle: "What a Fragmenting Digital Economy Means for Global Competition"
---
# Prepare Contingency Plans for an AI Stall

**Action:** Do **not** assume the AI boom is perpetual (see [[concept-ai-amplification-effect]] and the open question [[question-ai-boom-or-bust]]). Business leaders — particularly **tech, energy, and data-center operators** — must prepare for scenarios where the AI surge *stalls*.

**Concrete hedge:** develop contingency plans to **redirect advanced data centers toward specialized high-performance computing**, such as **bioinformatics, drug discovery, weather forecasting, or cryptocurrency mining**.

**Outcome:** Mitigation of financial exposure and prevention of *stranded assets* if the AI market bubble bursts.


## Related across articles
- [[concept-stranded-assets]]
- [[framework-optimizing-unknown]]