This Book Will Change the Way You Think About AI

I just finished reading a book that made me see AI completely differently. It’s called Reshuffle and the author is Sangeet Paul Choudary, a senior fellow in the Tusher Strategic Initiative for Technology Leadership at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. In the book, Choudary argues that AI’s power lies less in automating individual tasks and more in coordinating entire systems.

Once you see this pattern, you can’t unsee it.

Here are three examples that prove why most AI strategies are already obsolete (and what to do instead).

Shein Retired the Design Workflow

Most fast-fashion players still plan collections months ahead. Shein flipped the model. It tests micro-batches of 100 to 200 units, reads customer signals in real time, and then scales up only what works. Its AI platform synchronizes 5,000-plus suppliers, logistics partners, and marketers into one responsive system.

Result: Shein can move from trend to product in 10 days. The lesson isn’t that AI makes design faster. It’s that AI eliminates the need for traditional design planning entirely. If you’re asking how AI can speed up your design process, you’re solving yesterday’s problem.

Uber Freight Eliminated the Dispatcher Role

Uber Freight uses 30-plus AI agents across planning, procurement, execution, tracking, and payments. That system underpins $20 billion in managed freight. Not a tool belt. A coordinated operating system.

The dispatcher role didn’t get faster. It disappeared because the workflow no longer exists. While competitors automate tasks, Uber Freight eliminated the operating model those tasks lived in.

Figma Turned Adobe’s Strength Into a Weakness

Figma coordinated ideation, prototyping, and publishing on a single platform. Adobe fought to buy Figma for $20 billion. Regulators blocked it. Now Figma is expanding into AI-powered prototyping and site publishing, positioning against Adobe, Canva, and Webflow.

The battleground isn’t better tools. It’s who controls the entire workflow. Adobe’s decades of optimizing individual tools became irrelevant when Figma coordinated the whole system.

Lessons on How to Think About AI Now

Stop asking, “Which tasks should AI automate?” Start asking, “Which workflows should stop existing?”

That’s the shift most companies are missing. They’re optimizing tasks while competitors are eliminating workflows.

If your AI strategy reads like a feature roadmap, you’re playing the wrong game.

The winners are redesigning the system.