---
id: "quote-fortune-500-boardrooms"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["Conclusion"]
tags: ["future-of-work", "market-shift"]
related: ["claim-ai-democratization"]
quote: "The next wave of business transformation won't come from Fortune 500 boardrooms alone. It will be powered by bold entrepreneurs who combine ambition with smart AI execution to outlearn, outmaneuver, and outperform the competition."
speaker: "Jeffrey P. Shay, Donna Kelley, Mahdi Majbouri and Thomas H. Davenport"
speakers: ["Jeffrey P. Shay", "Donna Kelley", "Mahdi Majbouri", "Thomas H. Davenport"]
sources: ["spine"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-spine"
originDay: 1
articleStem: "hbr-ext-20-entrepreneurs-scale-with-ai"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/08/how-ambitious-entrepreneurs-can-use-ai-to-scale-their-startups"
sourceTitle: "How Ambitious Entrepreneurs Can Use AI to Scale Their Startups"
---
# The Next Wave of Transformation

> The next wave of business transformation won't come from Fortune 500 boardrooms alone. It will be powered by bold entrepreneurs who combine ambition with smart AI execution to outlearn, outmaneuver, and outperform the competition.

— [[entity-jeffrey-p-shay]], [[entity-donna-kelley]], [[entity-mahdi-majbouri]], and [[entity-thomas-h-davenport]]

The article's closing thesis statement, generalizing [[claim-ai-democratization]]: transformation shifts from large-enterprise boardrooms to ambitious, AI-fluent entrepreneurs who "outlearn, outmaneuver, and outperform."