How can the economic and social benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) be strengthened while its ethical and human rights risks are addressed? This is a question that drives the current policy debate, that exercises researchers and companies and that interests citizens and the media. It is the question that the upcoming book by Bernd Carsten Stahl provides a novel answer to. Drawing on the work of the EU project SHERPA, Stahl’s book proposes that using the theoretical lens of innovation ecosystems, we can make sense of empirical observations of the role of AI in organisations and society. This perspective furthermore allows for drawing practical and policy conclusions that can guide action to ensure that AI contributes to human flourishing.