# The Front Runners

> A podcast and movement for AI adoption in the real economy, starting with restaurants. Hosted by Bikesh Kumar.

Site: https://thefrontrunners.org/
Contact: hello@thefrontrunners.org
Host: Bikesh Kumar, https://www.linkedin.com/in/bikeshkumar/

## What it offers
- Season 1: Restaurants. A podcast with the leaders of the most popular restaurant brands, on how they are rebuilding with AI. Status: now recording. https://thefrontrunners.org/#season
- AI Maturity Index. A quarterly ranking of companies, published by The Front Runners. First edition: restaurants. Five levels: Manual, Assisted, Connected, Delegated, Autonomous. Brands can be nominated. https://thefrontrunners.org/#index
- The Playbook. A weekly email. Each week one leader shares how they use AI to run their business and how readers can try it. https://thefrontrunners.org/#playbook

## Key facts
- Thesis: electricity changed little until factories were redesigned around it. AI works the same way. The gains come from rebuilding the company, not adding a tool.
- Gap: AI adoption is highest in tech and finance and lowest in the real economy. About 1 in 2 very large firms in information, professional services and finance use AI, versus fewer than 1 in 10 businesses in construction, transportation, agriculture, and accommodation and food services. Sources: US Census Bureau, Business Trends and Outlook Survey AI Supplement, 2026; Census working paper CES-WP-26-25.
- Guests: leaders rebuilding their company with AI can apply to be on the podcast. Applications are answered within two weeks.

## Pages
- [Home](https://thefrontrunners.org/): what The Front Runners is, the gap, Season 1, the Index, the Playbook, how to apply
- [Blog](https://thefrontrunners.org/blog/): essays by Bikesh Kumar and the Playbook archive, new posts regularly
- [Why we are launching The Front Runners](https://thefrontrunners.org/blog/why-we-are-launching-the-front-runners/): the thesis, the AI diffusion gap and the opportunity

## Optional
- [Full text of this site for LLMs](https://thefrontrunners.org/llms-full.txt)
- [RSS feed](https://thefrontrunners.org/feed.xml)
- [Sitemap](https://thefrontrunners.org/sitemap.xml)