Operators we track (platform CEOs, turnaround chairs, PE partners) are all asking the same three questions in 2026: where AI changes operating leverage, where geopolitics rewires supply chains, and where leadership pipelines break at scale. The FTN library team clusters what shows up in calls, conferences, and private book swaps—then we annotate with links to playbooks on Jensen Huang, Satya Nadella, and Jeff Bezos.
Updated quarterly because the strategic conversation shifts faster than publishing cycles.
AI, Technology, and Platform Shifts
The Nvidia Way
Tae Kim · Book · Amazon
How Huang built the AI infrastructure company—every CEO is studying NVIDIA's playbook.
AI strategy and deployment essays (a16z, Sequoia)
Various · Essay
Analyst frameworks for AI adoption, build vs buy, and organisational restructuring around AI.
Geopolitics and Macro
Chip War
Chris Miller · Book
Semiconductor supply chains as geopolitical strategy—every tech CEO's required reading.
The World Order essays (Kissinger, Zeihan, Dalio)
Various · Book
Geopolitical fragmentation, reshoring, and supply chain strategy context.
Leadership and Organisational Design
The Creative Act
Rick Rubin · Book
Creative process philosophy that executives are reading for leadership lens—surprising crossover hit.
Amp It Up
Frank Slootman · Book
Operational intensity and tempo-setting—Snowflake CEO's approach to turnarounds.
Perennial Favourites Still Circulating
Good Strategy Bad Strategy
Richard P. Rumelt · Book · Amazon
Still the clearest articulation of what strategy is and isn't—recirculates every year.
Working Backwards
Colin Bryar and Bill Carr · Book
Amazon operating system—increasingly adopted outside Amazon as the PR/FAQ method spreads.