
Recruiting Future with Matt Alder - What's Next For Talent Acquisition, HR & Hiring? Ep 764: Rewiring Organizations For AI
Jan 28, 2026
Steve Wunker, innovation consultant and author of AI and the Octopus Organization, explains why companies announce AI visions but deliver only small pilots. He describes the octopus organization metaphor, distributed innovation and AI-enabled teams. He also covers what holds transformation back, examples of success like HelloFresh, and how talent and culture must change to rewire firms for AI.
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Leadership Rhetoric Outpaces Ground Reality
- CEOs and boards recognize AI's transformational potential but frontline work remains incremental and patchy.
- Organizations lack a concerted enterprise approach that actually rewires how they operate.
Organizational Wiring Blocks Transformation
- Companies are wired for incremental change but poorly set up for cross-functional, transformative shifts.
- Unclear ownership and lack of a future-state model prevent large-scale AI adoption.
Octopus As A Model For Distributed Intelligence
- The octopus metaphor models distributed, independent yet coordinated intelligence across an organization.
- That biology maps to AI-enabled teams that can act locally and synchronize when needed.




