What subjects captivate you? Perhaps you’re passionate about fighting the climate crisis, learning how AI will change the way we work, or gleaning lessons from history to build a better future. Maybe you’re into growing your vintage toy collection or know everything there is to know about 80s pop culture. We all have unique interests that bring out our “inner nerd”—the part of us that revels in the joy of learning and exploring. On Find Your Inner Nerd Day, check out these eight books on innovation recommended by CEOs and other global leaders, and explore our full 2023 summer reading guide for 70-plus books that can help you tap into your inner nerd.
The Age of AI: And Our Human Future by Daniel Huttenlocher, Henry A. Kissinger, and Eric Schmidt
Recommended by: Ginni Rometty, former chair and CEO, IBM; cochair, OneTen, and Joydeep Sengupta, senior partner, McKinsey
The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-First Century’s Greatest Dilemma by Mustafa Suleyman
Recommended by: Reid Hoffman, cofounder, LinkedIn; partner, Greylock
How the World Really Works: The Science behind How We Got Here and Where We’re Going by Vaclav Smil
Recommended by: Piyush Gupta, CEO, DBS Bank
Human Work in the Age of Smart Machines by Jamie Merisotis
Recommended by: Alisa Miller, cofounder and CEO, Pluralytics
Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube’s Chaotic Rise to World Domination by Mark Bergen
Recommended by: Steve Grove, CEO and publisher, Star Tribune Media Company
Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle over Technology and Prosperity by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson
Recommended by: Mark Suzman, CEO and board member, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better by Jennifer Pahlka
Recommended by: Reid Hoffman, cofounder, LinkedIn; partner, Greylock
Working with AI: Real Stories of Human-Machine Collaboration by Thomas H. Davenport and Steven M. Miller
Recommended by: Stephan Scholl, CEO, Alight