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Strategically focused AI transformation will almost certainly be more profound than the era of AI process optimization that has preceded it because it potentially changes the way the organizations operate and compete in the marketplace.

Potentially transformative strategic digitalization, although built on the AI technology to create process efficiencies that preceded it, will need leaders to adopt a new decision mindset first, and therefore is currently an aspirational initiative in progress.

Strategic digitalization shifts the focus of attention from the technical features of process digitization to the transformation of the context and of the organization itself, triggered or enabled by the advent of new technological possibilities.

Strategic digitalization has the potential to automate the decision-making in middle-management functions in order to greatly potentiate the value of their work. Contrary to the conventional organizational pyramid, strategic digitalization will likely be most effective in an hourglass form of organization, one that replaces many middle management tasks through AI and related technologies in order to create higher-value jobs for managers.

Guidelines derived from effective initiatives offer a roadmap to the ongoing experimental approach to applying AI to both organization and strategy, a transformation that will be crucial to the future success of organizations.

The purpose of this introduction is fourfold: (1) to articulate the reasons for the special issue; (2) to highlight some of the fundamental issues related to the management research on COVID-19; (3) to introduce the authors and to summarize their contributions to this special issue; and (4) to provide some suggestions for future research pertaining to global challenges and business in general.

This article introduces the special issue by addressing the following four points related to the COVID-19 pandemic: (1) conceptualization of the crisis, (2) the role of organizations, (3) challenges of the global pandemic and (4) business–society relationships. We briefly relate the papers in this special issue to these four points and we conclude with some thoughts on how to move forward on research in this domain.

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be one of the most important challenges to mankind and to organizations in recent years, and many organizations have proven to be very resilient in the face of this. Effective leadership, communication with stakeholders, global organizations and new organizational forms such as cross-sectoral collaborations have all proven important in dealing with this crisis. They will also likely be important for dealing with even more serious crises in the future such as climate change and other challenges referred to in the papers in this issue.

This paper provides an overview and summary of the implications of the papers in this special issue. As such, its originality derives mostly from the originality of the papers contained in this special issue.