Zynga founder Mark Pincus: AI can get you to a B-plus, but it won’t get you to an A

In today’s CEO Daily: The executive behind FarmVille shares lessons on creating and popularizing products in the AI era

The big leadership story: Who’s in charge of corporate AI spending?

The markets: A good day in Asian markets, with Korea leading the way

Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.

Good morning. Zynga founder Mark Pincus made social gaming a global habit. Now he’s sharing his learnings—and has a lot to say about why AI won’t save you. Zynga reached more than a billion users with hits like FarmVille before being acquired by Take-Two Interactive in 2022. Now Pincus has written a book called Life at the Speed of Play that’s both a memoir and a guide to creating products that people want. These are hard-won lessons.

I spoke with Pincus years ago when he was struggling as the hard-driving, metrics-obsessed culture he’d built was spiraling amid rapid growth, a volatile IPO, and poor management decisions. He was, by his own admission, a bad boss who had to learn leadership lessons on the job. But he’s also a successful serial entrepreneur who has built popular products and empowered others to do the same.

I spoke to him recently about his advice for creating and popularizing products in an AI era. Some observations:

Science before art: “There is an art and a science to product making. The best leaders really have mastered the science, and then they do the art. Picasso spent the first part of his career tracing … until me and our teams have mastered what’s proven, we haven’t earned the right to do something new. When great companies launch their products,........

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