---
id: "concept-second-wave-gen-ai"
type: "concept"
source_timestamps: ["¶ Last Paragraph"]
tags: ["ai-evolution", "leadership-development", "paradigm-shift"]
related: ["quote-second-wave", "concept-gen-ai-tutor"]
definition: "The evolutionary phase of generative AI where the technology shifts from disrupting task execution to transforming human learning, leadership, and collaboration."
speakers: ["Sagar Goel", "Shubhankar Sohoni", "Lisa Krayer"]
sources: ["reskilling"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-reskilling"
originDay: 10
articleStem: "hbr-cl-86-genai-transform-l-and-d"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/09/how-gen-ai-could-transform-learning-and-development"
sourceTitle: "How Gen AI Could Transform Learning and Development"
---
# The Second Wave of Gen AI

## The Second Wave of Gen AI

The authors' closing framework for the trajectory of generative AI in the enterprise:

- **First wave** — characterized by the **disruption and automation of task execution** (AI as a producer of work).
- **Second wave** — defined by AI **transforming how humans learn to lead, collaborate, and think critically** (AI as a developer of human potential).

This reframes the [[concept-gen-ai-tutor]] not as an incremental L&D tool but as the leading edge of a paradigm shift: from AI as a task-execution engine to AI as a **coaching engine**. It is the conceptual bookend to the [[concept-human-skills-paradox]] and is stated directly in [[quote-second-wave]].

**Definition:** The evolutionary phase of generative AI where the technology shifts from disrupting task execution to transforming human learning, leadership, and collaboration.

**Enrichment / verification:** The staged view of AI adoption (Phase 1 = automation/productivity; Phase 2 = transforming work, skills, and organizational design) is consistent with mainstream strategic thinking. The specific **'first wave vs. second wave' terminology is thought-leadership framing** introduced by the authors rather than an established analytic category — treat it as a persuasive lens, not a codified model.