The U.S. enters this competition with enormous advantages. American firms lead the world in AI innovation. American companies and universities produce much of the world’s leading research. American venture capital continues to fund the most ambitious AI startups. The world’s most advanced AI systems are overwhelmingly being developed here.

Yet history suggests that invention alone does not guarantee long-term leadership.

Britain launched the Industrial Revolution but eventually lost manufacturing dominance. During World War II, it created the world’s first general-purpose computers, only to disassemble and bury them once the war was over. Economic leadership belongs not only to those who invent transformative technologies but also to those who successfully remake economic activity.

That challenge is now before us.

At a recent American Enterprise Institute event marking the 70th anniversary of artificial intelligence, University of Florida Warrington College of Business Dean Saby Mitra described what businesses are discovering as they attempt to implement AI. The largest obstacle is often not technical.

Most organizations can access powerful AI systems at relatively modest cost. The real challenge is shaping and adapting to the world of AI.

How should AI be integrated into decision-making? Which tasks should be automated? Which require human judgment? How should organizations manage risk, protect sensitive information, and redesign workflows? How should employees be trained to work alongside increasingly capable AI systems?

These are management questions as much as technical questions. And they point to a larger national challenge. America’s future competitiveness will depend on whether we become capable of using AI productively across every sector of the economy.

The greatest economic gains from AI are unlikely to come from Silicon Valley alone. They will come from hospitals that improve patient care, manufacturers that increase productivity, utilities that strengthen infrastructure, logistics firms that optimize supply chains, financial institutions that improve decision-making, and entrepreneurs who use AI to create entirely new businesses.

That requires people who understand not only their industries but also how AI can be applied within them.

For much of the past century, education followed a relatively simple model. Students acquired skills, entered the workforce, and periodically updated their knowledge as industries evolved. AI is accelerating the pace of change so dramatically that this model is becoming obsolete.

Workers need to learn continuously. Managers need to rethink organizational structures continuously. Institutions need to adapt continuously.

The challenge extends well beyond universities. Employers and professional associations must become more active partners in workforce development and mid-career learning. Policymakers should focus less on protecting existing jobs and more on encouraging businesses that support workers acquiring new capabilities.

Much of the public discussion about AI centers on electricity prices or on the jobs that may disappear. Those concerns deserve attention. But they should not distract us from a more important question: Who will be prepared to capture the opportunities that AI creates?

History suggests that new technologies do not eliminate the need for human talent. Instead, they change which talents are most valuable. The workers who thrive will not necessarily be those with the strongest technical backgrounds. They will be those who can combine domain expertise, judgment, creativity, leadership, and the effective use of AI tools.

The same principle applies to nations.

IF THE ADMINISTRATION PANICS AT EVERY AI ADVANCE, IT DOESN’T HAVE A POLICY

The AI race will not ultimately be won by the country with the most powerful model or the largest data center. It will be won by the country whose workers, managers, entrepreneurs, and institutions learn to use AI most effectively.

America has already demonstrated that it can lead in creating artificial intelligence. The next challenge is proving that we can lead in applying it.

Mark Jamison is a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the director and Gerald Gunter Professor of the Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business.