Global Advisors | Quantified Strategy Consulting

productivity

"For my team, the cost of [AI] compute is far beyond the costs of the employees." - Bryan Catanzaro - Vice president of applied deep learning at Nvidia

Quote: Bryan Catanzaro – Vice president of applied deep learning at Nvidia

"Lean manufacturing is a production methodology that maximises productivity while systematically minimising waste. The core philosophy is to eliminate any step or resource that does not add value to the end customer, ultimately delivering higher quality products at a lower cost and in less time." - Lean manufacturing -

Term: Lean manufacturing

"Imperfect measures of AI productive capacity are far more informative than the implicit assumption embedded in conventional projections—that the AI sector’s productive capacity is small and slow-growing. Fiscal authorities could use such measures to stress test projections about the labor tax base; central banks could..." - "Where is AI in GDP statistics?" - May 2026 - Anton Korinek (PIIE) and Patrick McKelvey (Bank of Canada)

Quote: “Where is AI in GDP statistics?”

"We collectively, including the fund, did not appreciate the backlash against globalisation that came from the fact that, yes, the world economy is doing better as a whole, but many communities were hollowed out because their jobs disappeared and there was not enough attention to them. I’ll tell you what I’m very keen not to see repeated is the same with artificial intelligence." - Kristalina Georgieva - International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director

Quote: Kristalina Georgieva – International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director

"The AI economy in the United States has been growing at an unprecedented rate, but this extraordinary growth is largely invisible in conventional GDP statistics. Treating the AI sector as a coherent economic entity yields preliminary estimates of nominal AI GDP at approximately $250 billion in 2025, growing at roughly 2 600 percent per year in quality-adjusted real terms.” - "Where is AI in GDP statistics?" - May 2026 - Anton Korinek (PIIE) and Patrick McKelvey (Bank of Canada)

Quote: “Where is AI in GDP statistics?”

"The cost of using AI models has declined at about 94 percent per year, reflecting falling prices for given AI capability levels." - "Where is AI in GDP statistics?" - May 2026 - Anton Korinek (PIIE) and Patrick McKelvey (Bank of Canada)

Quote: “Where is AI in GDP statistics?”

"The 'Red Queen' competition, or effect, is a business and evolutionary theory stating that companies must constantly innovate and run at maximum speed just to maintain their current market position. This dynamic forces continuous adaptation, but risks stagnation or failure if firms only work harder rather than smarter." - Red Queen competition -

Term: Red Queen competition

"Baumol’s cost disease is an economic theory stating that labour-intensive sectors (e.g., education, healthcare, arts) experience rising costs despite low productivity growth. Because they must compete for workers with high-productivity sectors like manufacturing, they must increase wages without productivity gains, driving up prices." - Baumol's cost disease -

Term: Baumol’s cost disease

"The Solow Paradox, coined by economist Robert Solow in 1987, highlights the contradiction that despite rapid advancements and investment in information technology (IT) during the 1970s and 80s, productivity growth in the US economy slowed down. Famously summarized as, “You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics.” - Solow paradox -

Term: Solow paradox

"I myself took training on AI and became a master of Co-pilot because we all have to step forward." - Kristalina Georgieva - Managing Director, IMF

Quote: Kristalina Georgieva – Managing Director, IMF

"Where investors can do well is in finding companies that are truly looking to transform themselves using AI versus companies that are 'play-acting' their way into a pretend transformation." - Dara Khosrowshahi - CEO, Uber

Quote: Dara Khosrowshahi – CEO, Uber

“Digitalization in general and AI specifically will be an important part of ongoing productivity savings.” - Dolf van den Brink - Heineken International, CEO

Quote: Dolf van den Brink – Heineken International, CEO

"What is being eliminated [by AI] are often tasks done by new entries into the labor force - young people. Conversely, people with higher skills get better pay, spend more locally, and that ironically increases demand for low-skill jobs. This is bad news for recent ... graduates." - Kristalina Georgieva - Managing Director, IMF

Quote: Kristalina Georgieva – Managing Director, IMF

"Is the labour market ready [for AI] ? The honest answer is no. Our study shows that already in advanced economies, one in ten jobs require new skills." - Kristalina Georgieva - Managing Director, IMF

Quote: Kristalina Georgieva – Managing Director, IMF

"We assess that 40% of jobs globally are going to be impacted by AI over the next couple of years - either enhanced, eliminated, or transformed. In advanced economies, it’s 60%." - Kristalina Georgieva - Managing Director, IMF

Quote: Kristalina Georgieva – Managing Director, IMF

"Productivity growth has been slow over the last two decades. AI holds a promise to significantly lift it. We calculated that the impact on global growth could be between 0,1% and 0,8%. That is very significant. However, it is happening incredibly quickly." - Kristalina Georgieva - Managing Director, IMF

Quote: Kristalina Georgieva – Managing Director, IMF

Timeboxing is a structured time management technique designed to enhance productivity, effectiveness, and efficiency by allocating a fixed period—known as a “time box”—to a specific task or activity. The core principle is to pre-set both the start and end times for an activity.

Term: Timeboxing

Scrum is a widely used agile framework designed for managing and completing complex projects through iterative, incremental progress to drive effective, cross-functional teamwork, accelerate delivery, and foster constant learning and adaptation.

Term: Scrum

Agile refers to a set of principles, values, and methods for managing work. Agile emphasises flexibility, iterative delivery, collaborative teamwork, and rapid response to change over rigid planning or hierarchical control.

Term: Agile

The Theory of Constraints (TOC) central premise is that every organisation, process, or system is limited in achieving its highest performance by at least one constraint - often referred to as a bottleneck.

Term: Theory of Constraints (TOC)

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