In 2025, AI stopped feeling like a future problem and started shaping everyday life. These 10 books helped readers pause, zoom out, and understand what was really changing beneath the headlines.
AI First: The Playbook for a Future-Proof Business and Brand
By Adam Brotman & Andy Sack
In AI First, you’ll hear from a who’s who of tech visionaries who spoke with the authors, including Altman himself, Bill Gates, and Reid Hoffman, sharing how they’re thinking of the transition to the new reality. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by authors Adam Brotman and Andy Sack, or view on Amazon.
Flash Teams: Leading the Future of AI-Enhanced, On-Demand Work
By Melissa Valentine & Michael Bernstein
Have you ever wished that you could assemble your version of The Avengers at work? That’s basically what it means to build a Flash Team. Bringing together the right set of experts at exactly the right time to tackle a tough, important job has become a realistic, repeatable goal for leaders today. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-authors Melissa Valentine and Michael Bernstein, in the Next Big Idea App or view on Amazon.
The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want
By Emily Bender & Alex Hanna
A smart, incisive look at the technologies sold as artificial intelligence, the drawbacks and pitfalls of technology sold under this banner, and why it’s crucial to recognize the many ways in which AI hype covers for a small set of power-hungry actors at work and in the world. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-authors Emily Bender and Alex Hanna, or view on Amazon.
The Intelligence Explosion: When AI Beats Humans at Everything
By James Barrat
With the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence, both existential fears and uncritical enthusiasm for AI systems have surged. In this era of unprecedented technological growth, understanding the profound impacts of AI―both positive and negative―is more crucial than ever. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author James Barrat, or view on Amazon.
Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship
By Bruce Schneier & Nathan Sanders
An informative and wide-ranging exploration of how AI will alter every facet of democracy, and how to harness the technology to distribute rather than concentrate power. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-authors Bruce Schneier and Nathan Sanders, or view on Amazon.
The Emergent Mind: How Intelligence Arises in People and Machines
By Gaurav Suri & Jay McClelland
An eye-opening journey into the inner workings of human and artificial minds. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-authors Gaurav Suri and Jay McClelland, or view on Amazon.
More Human: How the Power of AI Can Transform the Way You Lead
By Rasmus Hougaard & Jacqueline Carter
AI has the potential to transform leadership and the human experience of work—or to lead us into an automated and uninspiring work reality. Which one will it be? Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-author Rasmus Hougaard, or view on Amazon.
AI Valley: Microsoft, Google, and the Trillion-Dollar Race to Cash In on Artificial Intelligence
By Gary Rivlin
A veteran Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist shadows the top thinkers in the field of Artificial Intelligence, introducing the breakthroughs and developments that will change the way we live and work. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Gary Rivlin, or view on Amazon.
More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley’s Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity
By Adam Becker
How Silicon Valley’s heartless, baseless, and foolish obsessions—with escaping death, emergent AI tyrants, and limitless growth—pervert public discourse and distract us from real social problems. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Adam Becker, or view on Amazon.
Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future
By Reid Hoffman & Greg Beato
Tech visionary Reid Hoffman shares his unique insider’s perspective on an AI-powered future, making the case for its potential to unlock a world of possibilities. Listen to our podcast interview with author Reid Hoffman, or view on Amazon.
The Key Ideas in 15 Minutes
“If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books,” Roald Dahl once famously said. The only trouble is, reading even one book from cover to cover takes hours—and you may not have many hours to spare.
But imagine for a moment: What if you could read a groundbreaking new book every day? Or even better, what if you could invite a world-renowned thinker into your earbuds, where they personally describe the 5 key takeaways from their work in just 15 minutes?
With the Next Big Idea App, we’ve turned this fantasy into a reality. We partnered with hundreds of acclaimed authors to create “Book Bites,” short audio summaries of the latest nonfiction that are prepared and read aloud by the authors themselves. Discover cutting-edge leadership skills, productivity hacks, the science of happiness and well-being, and much more—all in the time it takes to drive to work or walk the dog.
Go Deeper with a Next Big Idea Club Membership
The Next Big Idea App is free for anyone to try—and if you love it, we invite you to become an official member of the Next Big Idea Club. Membership grants you unlimited access to Book Bites and unlocks early-release, ad-free episodes of our LinkedIn-partnered podcast. You also gain entry to our private online discussion group, where you can talk big ideas with fellow club members and join exclusive live Q&A sessions with featured authors.
For a more focused learning experience, we recommend a Hardcover or eBook Membership. Every few months, legendary authors and club curators Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel Pink select two new nonfiction books as the must-reads of the season. We then send hardcover copies straight to your doorstep, or eBook versions to your favorite digital device. We also collaborate with the authors of selected books to produce original reading guides and premium e-courses, 50-minute master classes that take you step by step through their most life-changing ideas. And yes, it’s all available through the Next Big Idea App.
Learn Faster, from the World’s Leading Thinkers
Whether you prefer to read, listen, or watch, the Next Big Idea is here to help you work smarter and live better. Wake up with an always-fresh Idea of the Day, the perfect shot of inspiration to go with your morning coffee. Then dive into one of our Challenges, hand-picked collections of Book Bites that form crash courses in subjects like communication, motivation, and career acceleration. Later, watch the playback of an interview with U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Stanford psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt, or philosopher John Kaag. And be sure to check the “Events” tab in the app, so that you can join an upcoming live Q&A and personally chat with the next featured thought leader.
If you’re hoping to grow as a person or as a professional, we hope you’ll join us and tens of thousands of others who enjoy the Next Big Idea. Get started by downloading the app today!
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