Reed Hastings on life after Netflix and the next wave of AI

Aug 13, 2026, 9:29am EDT
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Netflix co-founder and former CEO Reed Hastings says AI could unleash a new wave of “creative destruction” as companies use rapidly improving technology not just to cut costs, but to challenge competitors and build new businesses.

In this episode of The CEO Signal, Hastings notes that AI has been getting “roughly twice as good every year” and says CEOs should think of it as the equivalent of doubling their workforce. He also explains why it’s not the paranoid who survive “it’s really the people who have judgment” — leaders who can distinguish the threats and opportunities that truly matter.

Hosted by Penny Pritzker and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, the conversation also explores the culture Hastings built at Netflix, why he’s taken on the “really hard” challenge of turning around a Utah ski resort, and how he knew when it was time to step away and let Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters lead without him.

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