Special Edition: Tracking AI diffusion in Q1 2026

Juan Lavista Ferres, Microsoft Chief Data Scientist and Director of the AI for Good Lab, joins Brad Smith to unpack the latest AI diffusion report and what it reveals about how artificial intelligence is spreading around the world.

In this quarterly update, Juan shares new data on where adoption is accelerating, how AI is reshaping software development, and why emerging divides between regions and communities could shape what comes next.

From rising productivity to widening gaps between urban and rural communities in the United States, the conversation explores both the promise and the challenges of AI at scale and what it will take to ensure the benefits are broadly shared.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Where AI adoption is growing fastest around the world
• Why the U.S. is seeing an urban-rural AI divide
• How AI is changing software development and knowledge work
• What diffusion trends could mean for jobs, productivity, and growth

Links 

• aka.ms/AIDiffusionReport2025 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlavista/
• aka.ms/toolsandweapons 
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradsmi/