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The true causes of growth are one of the great mysteries of economic thoughtView the full article

Tyler, the CEO of an early-stage technology company, reached out for executive coaching support at the recommendation of a college friend: “Give it a try,” she encouraged. He was skeptical about anything “touchy-feely” and wondered if coaching could offer his leadership an “edge.” After we reviewed his 360 results together, Tyler’s skepticism took center stage. His feedback consisted of descriptors like controlling, arrogant, and dismissive. Tyler was unmoved. He asked, “Why should I care about what people think of me if we’re getting great results?” Tyler’s not an anomaly. There are leaders everywhere who behave badly interpersonally but exceed sales goals, secure investor funding, or get a product to market in record time. As executive coaches who have supported hundreds of senior leaders, we believe this one-dimensional focus on results is seductive, but eventually self-sabotaging and shortsighted. Today’s leaders need to focus on results and interpersonal relationships for long-term success. Here are some reasons why: Competitive and collaborative leaders get the strongest results Tyler has been successful to-date, and he believes that will continue even if he keeps deprioritizing relationships. Of course, research says that’s unlikely. A study of sales organizations that the National Bureau Of Economic Research conducted found that there is a cost to promoting stars who haven’t built skills in collaborating with or developing people. Their teams will make, on average, 30% fewer sales than sales teams with collaborative managers. Bad behavior reduces long-term effectiveness Tyler, as a start-up CEO, can “get away” with bad behavior now given his results. However, over time toxic leaders contribute to reduced productivity, decreased employee performance, increased turnover, and increased legal fees, according to a study in Health Psychology Research. These consequences are a drain on resources and tenured employees. Bottom line, bad behavior catches up with leaders. Tending to relationships and results secures more longevity in senior roles. Caring is a worthwhile investment Tyler’s strategy might be working now, but leadership strategies need to be resilient to professional and personal change. One senior leader, Alexandra, who routinely delivered impressive results, did so at the cost of her team’s morale (For example, she didn’t take their complaints to HR seriously). Then, Alexandra’s aging parents’ health concerns required her to routinely fly cross country to manage their care. When Alexandra’s capacity shifted, her team resisted stepping-up to assist her. Alexandra’s nonexistent social capital with her team ended up costing the company floundering results. The company demanded intensive leadership coaching for Alexandra and a commitment to change. She eventually shifted her leadership style in accordance with research—where cultivating an environment that prioritizes people and relationships is good for business. How to course correct: There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to move from challenged to successful people leader. However, here are three steps to begin excelling at both financial and people development metrics. 1. Focus on self: shift intimidating behaviors First, identify the specific behaviors that inhibit the people you work alongside. Pay attention to feedback like, “She dominates the conversation with her opinions,” or “When I ask clarifying questions, he gets exasperated.” Years of research on psychological safety illuminates the downsides of leading through fear. Ultimately, this contributes to lower levels of effectiveness and engagement. Once you’re clear on your unproductive behaviors, pick small new behaviors that invite learning and new perspectives versus fear. One effective way to form stronger connections with colleagues is to ask curious questions. Some examples include, “What else do you want me to understand?” or “Can you tell me more about how you see the challenge?” or “What’s your perspective?” 2. Focus on others: invest in developing your people Taking time to engage with your employees and have meaningful career development conversations builds loyalty. People want to perform well for leaders who support their long-term career development. Set the stage by letting your people know you’ll find time twice a year to explore their career aspirations. Send questions like these in advance to prime the pump for a meaningful conversation. Where do you hope to see yourself 10 years from now? What other roles do you see in the company that interest you? If you could design your next role at the company, what would you want it to look like and why? What is one skill (technical or soft) that if you were to develop, would benefit you greatly for the next five years? Start the conversation by stating your intention: to help your employee develop in ways that are meaningful to them. Then, discuss your employee’s answers to the questions and layer on your own thoughts. You might say, “I also see you as Marketing Director in the next few years and could see you overseeing Sales too given your creative mind and focus on data.” It’s affirming to have your manager share what they envision for you along with validating any strengths. Finally, discuss ways to get more on-the-job experience in their areas of interest over the coming months. Your employee should leave with a plan of action for how to make progress on their career goals and an understanding of how you’ll support their efforts. 3. Focus on team: build interdependency Often team leaders with a high need for control rely on a hub-and-spoke model of management where every problem goes through them. This is inefficient and loses the benefits that interdependent teams can give their organizations, the chance to outperform competitors and increase profitability. No leader will perfectly tend to results and people. But understanding the importance of both often leads to organizational success. When Tyler agreed to explore this, he found himself inspired in new ways. He dove into the challenge of defining how to demonstrate care for his people while simultaneously holding them to a high bar. It’s not easy. But as the leaders we’ve worked with have found, it’s much more fulfilling to drive results together with their team, rather than at their expense and well-being. View the full article

Have you seen the new Volvo ad made with generative artificial intelligence? Go ahead. Watch it. . . . I’ll wait. If you think it looks awful, you’re not alone. The physics are all wrong, with hair, sand, and objects going in the wrong direction at the wrong time. The humans look like they’re made of plastic. Their emotions are forced, their expressions deformed, their smiles anything but warm. Instead, they likely fill you with an uncanny Grand Canyon of dread. The lighting is artificial, too—no film, digital camera, or grading would produce that unnatural palette. Some people are saying that Volvo made a mistake by not putting a car in the ad, obviously not realizing that currently there’s no video generator that can reliably re-create objects. Had the ad’s creators tried to produce a Volvo, they’d have ended up with a car with morphing proportions and features that change from shot to shot. The ad was made with Midjourney, which is pretty bad, but Sora, Kling, or Luma would have screwed it up too. And while apparently it is fine to create uncanny humans for promotional purposes, I’m pretty sure that the Swedish car company wouldn’t have accepted a Frankenvolvo. [Image: Volvo Cars KSA]According to Adweek, who spoke to Lion, the Dubai-based creative agency behind the spot, the ad is an effort to reintroduce Volvo to Saudi Arabia after years of pulling back on business in the region. Lion’s founder and executive creative director, Osama Saddiq, told the publication: “The ad is a mélange of ‘technically accurate and culturally resonant renders for Saudi Arabia. AI today is rarely humanized—most executions are tactical, with little focus on brand storytelling. Our approach was different. We started by crafting a narrative that strategically aligned with Volvo’s comeback in the region.” The issue, of course, is that nothing in the ad feels human, mammalian, or even protozoan. [Image: Volvo Cars KSA]According to Lion, using AI reduced production timelines from “months to weeks.” That might be enough to sell a business on the technology. And sure, there’s a place for AI in current production, but generating entire ads is not it—at least not yet. We’ve seen this exact issue time and time again with brands that use technology for technology’s sake. From Coca-Cola to Toys “R” Us, brands that use emerging technology as a shorthand for creative innovation usually come to regret it. [Image: Volvo Cars KSA]I’m sure some people will protest this ad for its ethical considerations; because they don’t like the idea of AI putting people in the creative and film industries out of a job. That’s a real concern. But the reason this ad shouldn’t exist is simpler than that: It just looks bad. So here’s a piece of advice for ad creators out there: It’s time to forget about AI for a few years. Come back to it when it’s ready, and when you have a good idea for how to actually use it. View the full article

Stanley Druckenmiller has spent years quietly running his family office. Now one protégé is Treasury secretary and another is vying for Fed chairView the full article

Gen Z isn’t “quiet quitting”—they’re rejecting outdated leadership. That’s the conversation my recent Fast Company article sparked, and the response has been overwhelming. Leaders, managers, and employees from across industries have reached out, confirming what many of us have seen firsthand. Workplace culture is changing fast, and leadership needs to evolve with it. But as the dust settles on this conversation, I’ve been thinking about a different question: If leadership needs to evolve, what role does Gen Z play in shaping the change they want? It’s easy to say leadership is broken—and in many cases, it is. But just as bad leadership creates disengaged employees, disengaged employees can reinforce bad leadership. And while Gen Z is demanding more fairness, structure, and transparency from their workplaces, the truth is: building better leadership isn’t just a job for managers. Gen Z is in a unique position in the workforce. They’re the first generation that’ll work alongside more generations than any before them, whether that’s boomers delaying retirement, or Gen X, millennials, and even the generation coming up behind them. This isn’t just a leadership shift—it’s a multigenerational workplace shift. That means creating better workplaces will require something more than just rejecting old models—it will require bravery, self-advocacy, and a willingness to collaborate across generations. Past generations have valuable knowledge, hard-earned experience, and different perspectives that can help Gen Z navigate the workforce—if they engage with them. If Gen Z wants a different kind of workplace, they also have to play an active role in creating it. Here’s how. 1. Know the difference between bad leadership and imperfect leadership There’s a big difference between a truly toxic work environment and a flawed or frustrating one. Not every manager is a bad leader—many are undertrained, overwhelmed, or trying to adapt to the same changing workplace dynamics as everyone else. Instead of assuming leadership is the enemy, Gen Z employees can look for opportunities to bridge the gap. If they’re not sure about what the company expects, they should ask their manager. If they get inconsistent feedback, perhaps it’s worth requesting regular check-ins. When they wait for leadership to be “perfect” before engaging with it, it sets everyone up for failure. Ask yourself: Am I giving leadership the same patience I want them to give me? 2. Find common ground across generations Many credit Gen Z with bringing work-life balance back into the conversation. That’s a good thing. But sometimes, the conversation confuses balance with disengagement. Healthy boundaries mean knowing your limits and advocating for yourself. But they don’t mean withdrawing from conversations that can actually improve workplace culture. If you’re frustrated by leadership, speak up constructively and respectfully. If you see a manager is struggling, offer feedback or solutions. Employees that cocreate workplaces result in better cultures than companies that try to dictate their culture in a top-down manner. At the same time, finding common ground with older generations can make workplace relationships stronger. It’s easy to assume boomers and Gen Z have nothing in common, but that’s not always the case. Remember, bridging the gap doesn’t mean ignoring generational differences—it means looking for shared values and experiences. Ask yourself: Am I setting boundaries—or just checking out? Am I looking for ways to build connections across generations, or assuming those gaps are too big to close? 3. Be part of the solution, not just the critique A lot of companies don’t get Gen Z—there’s no denying that. But change doesn’t happen just by pointing out what’s wrong. The best way to shape workplace culture is to lead by example. Want more transparency? Be transparent in your own work. Want stronger communication? Initiate conversations and share ideas. Want a culture of fairness? Look for ways to support your colleagues, not just yourself. This is especially true in a multigenerational workplace. Each generation brings something to the table—and bridging that gap will require curiosity, mutual respect, and a willingness to learn from those who came before. The future of leadership is collaborative Yes, leadership needs to evolve. But Gen Z isn’t just the future of the workforce—they’re the future of leadership. And leadership isn’t something that just happens at the top. It happens every time someone takes initiative, creates clarity, or builds trust in the workplace. Leaders will not be the only ones building the workplace of the future. Teams, employees and managers need to work together if they want to create something better. That’s the real challenge—and the real opportunity. Is Gen Z ready to lead the change they want to see? View the full article

How are the world’s most creative people using AI to drive their work forward? This was the question at the heart of an in-depth survey Fast Company recently conducted in partnership with Whalar, a leading social agency focused on content creators. We found that, for most, AI has become a routine part of the creative process—and a return to an AI-free working life has become almost unfathomable. Yet the survey also found the world’s creative elite are grappling with a technology that gets more powerful and useful every day but remains unwieldy, error-prone, and not entirely trustworthy. “I want people to understand how well it can augment and enhance the thinking process—not just the creative and generative thinking process, but the thinking process itself,” said one respondent. “If AI is used responsibly, it’s a wonderful collaborative partner and needn’t be feared.” We sent the detailed (anonymous) survey to a diverse cohort of people who have been honored in Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business” list over the years, plus a selection of independent content creators, and got 100 responses. The result offers a close look at how the world’s leading creatives are using this revolutionary technology to shape the future of their industries and the wider world. “The internet first revolutionized the playing field by democratizing publishing and audience access,” says Neil Waller, co-CEO of the Whalar Group. “Now, AI is creating the next massive rebalancing, this time in creative production capability. What excites me most is watching creators, who are inherently nimble and unburdened by legacy systems, adopt AI tools with remarkable speed. ” EARLY AND ENTHUSIASTIC ADOPTERS First, here are some key stats on the respondents: Forty-seven percent of those who responded were founders, partners, or principals of their companies, and 65% were 10 C-suite or higher. The top industries were tech (22%), design (16%), and entertainment (14%), and substantial numbers came from healthcare, science and research, and the nonprofit sector. The size of their organizations ranged from global behemoths to solo creators. Twenty-two percent of respondents booked more than $1 billion in revenue in 2024. Twenty percent did less than $1 million. Unsurprisingly, these folks are not new to AI, for the most part. More than a third (39%) have been aware of AI usage in their industry for more than five years, and 19% began using it themselves that long ago. Another third (30%) began using the technology two to three years ago, a timeframe that aligns with the arrival of ChatGPT in November 2022. “Eighty-three percent have incorporated AI into their creative process, and nearly half (48%) rely on it for most or all of their projects. “I absolutely use it every single day—probably five times a day or more,” says Joel Bervell, a med-school student and popular influencer known on TikTok and Instagram as the Medical Mythbuster. Text-based software still dominates usage. Three quarters (74%) of the respondents use AI primarily to generate or manipulate words, with only 26% saying they mainly use it for still images or video. “Whenever I use AI for writing, I make sure to make it my own,” says Amy Merrill, an artist, musician, web designer, and founder of Plan C Pills, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving abortion access nationwide. “But sometimes my tired and overstretched brain needs help synthesizing, and I’m grateful for the tool to be able to take a heady, complex question or issue and compress it into a more or less understandable response that I can adapt, correct, personalize, and use. Sometimes it feels like it saves me time in the clumsy human part, while allowing me to preserve the thought leadership part.” WHICH TOOLS ARE MOST POPULAR? OpenAI’s ChatGPT continues to dominate the LLM market, with 69% citing it as their go-to app, followed by Google’s Gemini (28%), Anthropic’s Claude (19%), and Microsoft’s Copilot (18%). Google leads in AI search, but it’s far less dominant than in traditional search. While well over half of respondents (57%) say they primarily use Google’s AI summaries, 14% cited Perplexity and 7% Microsoft’s Bing. Twenty-eight percent said they don’t use AI search at all. (For those tallying up the numbers, respondents could select more than one answer.) On the image side, Midjourney came out on top at 28%, followed by Adobe Firefly at 19% and OpenAI’s DALL-E at 16%. “We use Midjourney to create posters for our shows,” says Plan C Pills’ Merrill. “We love the experience of prompting and feeding in inspiration, and in return getting something we never would’ve thought of.” Fashion designer Arturo Obegero recently collaborated with an artist to create an ad campaign featuring real models against an AI-generated backdrop. “We never would have been able to afford that shoot [IRL],” he says. In that vein, notes Waller of Whalar, “a creator with passion, vision, and an AI tool kit can now produce content that previously required a 20-person team and a seven-figure budget.” Although AI generally saves time and money, it’s not always smooth sailing. “While the AI tools helped generate images quickly, it can be a real struggle to get results that meet our standards,” said one respondent, articulating a theme that came up repeatedly in the anonymous responses. “We have spent many hours sifting through hundreds of generated images that more or less looked similar. It’s [often not] until we manually create more specific visual inputs such as sketches or quick 3D models/ screenshots that we’re able to direct the images to be more specific and distinctive and reflect our aesthetics and design principles.” Despite AI’s growing role in image creation, video tools have yet to see widespread adoption outside industries that rely on them, with 76% of respondents saying they don’t use them at all. Of those who do, Adobe Premiere Pro was the most popular application (15%), followed by Runway (5%), and Synthesia (3%). Among respondents who use AI to help write code, ChatGPT was most popular at 25%, Github Coplit was second at 10%, and Claude third at 8%. WHERE AI IS HELPING THE MOST (AND THE LEAST) We asked respondents how AI is affecting their creative work and overall business. A plurality of respondents praised production speed (44% “very positive”) and idea generation (35%), with marketing/promotion (25%) and revenue generation (25%) tying for third. Production speed and idea generation go hand in hand. Many respondents noted that AI allows them to focus on creative ideation by automating tedious tasks and enabling rapid iteration without the need for physical prototypes. “This dual transformation—amplifying creative potential while streamlining business operations—is why AI represents such a profound accelerator for the creator economy,” says Waller. “When harnessed the right way, it’s not replacing the creator’s voice. It’s supercharging it, and unlocking the next chapter of growth.” On the flip side, there were grave and consistent concerns about consumer trust. “My greatest fear is not about creativity,” said one respondent. “My greatest fear is that we are entering a dystopian era when people will lose trust in what they see and hear.” “I now doubt every video I see on the internet,” said another. “Everything is no longer a ‘wow’ video since it could possibly be AI.” We also asked for respondents’ views on how AI will affect the job market in their industries. Surprisingly, 39% said it would have neither a positive or a negative impact on job creation, and 34% said it would have a “somewhat positive” or “very positive” impact. Only 28% predicted the impact would be “somewhat negative” or “very negative” impact. But when asked to predict how many jobs in their industry would be replaced by AI, 42% replied that about a fifth of all jobs would be lost to machines. THE PARADOX OF AI That apparent contradiction reflects a macro theme that infused the survey results in a variety of ways: a sense that we are living through a technological shift that is existentially game-changing but ultimately still nascent. Think of it like a young and immensely talented athlete: The potential is indisputable and crystal clear, but the coordination and mastery just aren’t there yet. “It fails all the time in code, but I just test and ask for revisions,” said one respondent. “I used it to help prep me for a business meeting,” said another. “The client company had just emerged from Chapter 11, and ChatGPT didn’t think to mention that little fact.” Overall, though, most respondents took the rise of AI as an inevitable and ultimately positive thing that nevertheless requires human will to control. “Are you gonna let AI take over you,” asks Joel Bervell, the Medical Mythbuster, “or are you gonna let it enhance your work?” In that spirit of optimism, we’ll close with the most utopian anonymous comment in the entire survey: “I truly believe we are unlocking new insights into information, understanding, creativity and human potential, including our growing ability to understand the ecosystem we live in and the vast potential to coexist with each other and everything else in it. Let’s do this!!” View the full article

Management at the Bay Area transportation startup Glydways wants you to be clear about what the company is not: It may plan to move people in futuristic autonomous pods, but it’s not hyperloop-grade vaporware. And its funding by big-name Silicon Valley investors does not make it a ride for the 1%. “Public transit for everyone, everywhere,” says founder Mark Seeger. But Glydways is starting smaller than that. Its first green-lit project (after a temporary test track now under construction next to an abandoned mall in Richmond, Calif.) and others under consideration by local governments will have Glydways’s four-seat electric vehicles plying short on-demand routes between existing business and transportation hubs. [Image: Glydways]That debut pilot effort—a half-mile route linking a convention center and arena to the last stop on a people mover outside Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport—is on a small enough scale to evoke the Vegas Loop that Elon Musk’s Boring Company opened as a shortcut between three of the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center. “We want to see how well the system operates with various fluctuations of riders showing its ability to scale and that it is indeed a viable transit option,” says Krystal Harris, program director for ATL Airport Community Improvement Districts. After two years of free-fare service, that agency and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority will assess how things worked and if the technology merits expansion. Putting a cap on capexThe $18 million in construction and operational costs that Harris cited may seem steep for such a short distance, but not in the context of U.S. transit construction expenses that have made the country exceptional in the wrong way. For example, the $3 billion Silver Line extension that Washington’s Metro system opened to Washington Dulles International Airport and beyond in late 2022 cost $263 million a mile, including a large rail yard built by the airport. That, however, looks like an outright steal next to other U.S. rail projects, topped by the Long Island Rail Road’s East Side Access project in New York and its $3.5 billion a mile expense. Glydways, meanwhile, touts a design for simple, narrow guideways that require neither rails nor electric power via overhead wires or third rails that it says will cost 90% less than traditional transit. [Image: Glydways]“We can do it for tens of millions,” Glydways CEO Gokul Hemmady says, adding that at-grade costs could run still lower at just $2 to $3 million per mile while elevated paths needed to avoid grade crossings could run $15 million a mile. “The moment you’re in pedestrian-class infrastructure, your costs plummet,” he says. “The world knows how to build this.” Construction costs of some recent U.S. cyclist and pedestrian infrastructure fall roughly into that minor-league ballpark. A trail being built along the SMART commuter-rail line in Sonoma and Marin counties in California has run about $4 million a mile. Two bridges on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail constructed over wide roads in Arlington and Fairfax counties in Virginia had project costs around $30 million a mile. But a veteran transit consultant who has led projects in North America, Europe, and Australia and New Zealand warned against expense extrapolation. Writes Jarrett Walker: “They will have to build out a demo project before we know.” No human operators, some operating costsThe operational part of the Glydways pitch involves leveraging autonomous-vehicle advances to provide high-frequency, on-demand service around the clock at fares not that far above traditional transit—with the ability to transport 10,000 people an hour. “We offer ride-hailing-like experience at a fraction of the cost,” says Hemmady. Pressed for an example, he cites the Oakland Airport Connector, an automated, elevated train that runs between that airport and Bay Area Rapid Transit’s Oakland Coliseum station for a one-way fare of $7.45. But while those fares covered 96% of the connector’s operating costs pre-pandemic, Hemmady says Glydways’s lower costs—30% of other modes of transit, the company says—will let it clear a profit: “We are the only mass transit system that is revenue positive.” A Glydways vehicle shown off at CES 2025 was all shiny modernity, with a streamlined exterior hiding camera, lidar and radar sensors, and large doors that slid open to reveal a clean plastic interior with tap-to-pay terminals by those doors. The closest visual parallel: the pod-like Zoox robotaxis now rolling around Vegas in test drives. The lack of human operators or attendants has led some critics to raise safety concerns, but Glydways emphasizes that short waits at stations and the limited number of passengers per vehicle will keep it safe. [Animation: Glydways]Older, almost as small-scale “personal rapid transit” systems built on older autonomous technology—such as one that runs between campuses of West Virginia University in Morgantown, W. Va.—have operated without incident for decades. Larger automated-train systems rely on a combination of surveillance and patrolling. For example, Vancouver’s SkyTrain equips its driverless trains with emergency intercom systems and contact systems while having attendants and transit police at stations. Next stopsAfter the Atlanta pilot, Glydways has advanced to final stages of consideration in a San Jose project to link that city’s Caltrain and Amtrak train station with San José Mineta International Airport—a 3.4 mile route that Google Maps estimates as a seven-minute drive but a 40-plus-minute transit adventure. Glydways says it can build that mostly elevated route, with its vehicles taking eight minutes between the station and the airport, for under the city’s $500 million cost cap but isn’t specifying a cost estimate. The city council should be voting on its proposal, which allows for possible extensions to such nearby traffic generators as Apple’s headquarters, in the coming weeks. [Image: Glydways]This company has a comparable plan not far north of San Jose in Contra Costa County, where it’s pitched its technology as an automated transit network to provide transportation from train stations to nearby destinations. And in the Los Angeles suburb of Ontario, Glydways has advanced a proposal to use its vehicles in a tunnel to connect Ontario International Airport with the closest Metrolink commuter-rail station. The Boring Company had earlier offered a version of the Vegas Loop concept but abandoned that bid in 2022. Glydways’s proposition of robotic transportation has the advantage of not having to coexist with human-driven traffic like robotaxis like Waymo. And the company has the advantage of funding from such deep-pocketed investors as the VC firm Khosla Ventures and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. But in the realm of transit, self-driving technology isn’t something Glydways invented, and many transit agencies outside the U.S. already employ it on higher-capacity subway and light-rail lines. And as autonomous mobility continues to advance on public roads, Walker suggests that established transit operators will be able to make better use of it than any startup that has to pour new concrete—even if the technology goes into something as unfancy as buses. Says Walker: “If driverless technology becomes available, debugged, and socially accepted, there will be all kinds of applications, including much bigger-vehicle services that will be a better use of scarce space in dense cities.” View the full article

As artificial intelligence begins to “devour the world,” job seekers must adapt their strategy to stand out in the hiring process. Hiring managers have begun to populate their interviews with questions about how prospective employees use AI in their work. According to industry experts, these types of questions will become more common as time goes on and AI continues to advance. In fact, 88% of C-suite leaders say speeding up AI adoption is important over the next year, according to LinkedIn’s 2025 Work Change Report. This can be daunting for people who don’t work in technology. You certainly don’t want to tell a hiring manager that you use ChatGPT to write and ideate everything for you, but you also don’t want to seem behind. We asked three hiring experts in different industries how non-techies can best navigate questions about AI in a job interview. Tip 1: Show curiosity Good news! Not being skilled in AI isn’t a deal-breaker. Even if you are far from an AI expert, you should highlight your curiosity about the technology in your interviewing process, notes Gillian Davis, chief people officer at strategic communications firm Mission North. She recommends that job applicants speak about a willingness to learn and adapt quickly. “It’s most important that you’re interested in AI, that you have a curiosity about it, and that you’re willing to look at it as a powerful complement to talent,” Davis says. AI is most powerful in the PR and communications space when it’s used as a way to tackle the mundane tasks, she says. Davis suggests showing off your understanding of what AI’s capabilities are, how you can apply it to real-world scenarios, and your willingness to continue learning about and adapting to the new technology. For example, you could talk about ways you’ve used AI to be more productive and to free yourself up to perform the highest-value parts of your work. Davis says when she speaks with potential hires who are wary of integrating AI into their work, she sees it as a “red flag” for Mission North. “That’s just not the world we live in anymore,” she says. Tip 2: Know who you’re dealing with Most of the largest organizations in the world are adopting AI and looking for creative ways to use the technology, according to Siobhan Savage, CEO of workplace intelligence platform Reejig. To best understand any company’s outlook on AI, Savage recommends combing through its most recent earnings report, noting that CEOs are often “very vocal” about their companies’ AI attitudes. Savage suggests providing specific examples about how you use AI to optimize your work if you’re interviewing for a company that’s embracing the technology. If instead the company hasn’t spoken much about AI adoption, she suggests highlighting the fact that you’re keeping up to date with all the latest developments. For example, you could share that you’ve used AI to automate the more mundane parts of your job, or discuss how you’ve heard other people use it in your industry. “Whether you’re in tech or PR, it doesn’t matter,” Savage says. “Everyone in a company cares about productivity.” Tip 3: Even if there’s no right opinion, have one When interviewing potential hires for his PR firm, Shore Fire president Mark Satlof likes to use questions about AI as small talk. But he treats applicants’ answers like a Rorschach test where he learns a lot about their work ethic and values, he says. “You can answer it a million different ways and I don’t know if there’s a right or wrong answer,” Satlof says. He notes, however, that he would not be interested in hiring someone who says they will never use AI. He wants prospective employees to “have a stance” and “show engagement” with technological developments. It’s okay if someone is skeptical of AI or, alternatively, completely gung ho about the technology. Satlof just wants your opinion to be grounded in research and knowledge. He recommends that job applicants do their research before any interview about the various areas and capabilities of AI. For example, he says applicants should understand the difference between the broad catchall of AI versus the specifics of what a large language model is. (If you’re wondering: AI refers to everything a computer does that simulates complex tasks, and LLMs are a type of AI that interprets and generates human language.) Applying for jobs can be a stressful experience, and it can be hard to know the right thing to say at all times. But by researching the company, brushing up on the basics of AI, and expressing a willingness to learn, you can present yourself as a good fit for any job. View the full article

All services from Paris Gare du Nord have been cancelled while French police work to remove explosive deviceView the full article

Mortgage lender says short supply and strong demand will push prices higher this yearView the full article

And the vibes ahead of today’s jobs reportView the full article

State-owned company was set up with mission to invest in renewables and decarbonisation of the gridView the full article

President’s erratic policymaking has caused ‘a lot of uncertainty’ across corporate AmericaView the full article

High street bank plans to have nearly half of its IT engineers based outside its home market by 2026View the full article

US decisions can no longer be analysed using values shared across the democratic westView the full article

Is Ahmed al-Sharaa a conquering hero with intentions of moderating or a brutal strongman with a flair for PR? View the full article

FT analysis shows potential windfall for US president in three weeks following launch in JanuaryView the full article

Xero has announced the rollout of its new reconcile period feature, designed to enhance bank reconciliation by allowing users to verify the accuracy of financial data more efficiently. The feature is currently being introduced to customers in the United States and Canada. Reconcile period enables users to compare their bank statements with Xero accounting transactions more effectively. The feature allows users to: Define a period with a date range and balance to compare against statement lines. Quickly identify missing, duplicate, or incorrect transactions. Confirm accuracy by saving a period when it balances. Protect reconciled transactions from being altered. Generate a reconciliation report as a lasting record. According to Xero, this feature is an optional enhancement that does not change the existing real-time bank reconciliation workflow but offers an additional verification step for users who require it. Xero developed the reconcile period feature in response to user feedback emphasizing the importance of accurate financial verification, particularly for internal month-end close processes. Xero tested the reconcile period feature with accounting and bookkeeping professionals before launch, saying it received positive feedback from beta testers. Xero plans to expand the feature further by allowing users to attach PDF bank statements to their reconciliations. The reconcile period feature is rolling out gradually and will be accessible under a new tab on the main reconciliation account page once available. Image: Xero This article, "Xero Introduces Reconcile Period Feature for US and Canadian Customers" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Xero has announced the rollout of its new reconcile period feature, designed to enhance bank reconciliation by allowing users to verify the accuracy of financial data more efficiently. The feature is currently being introduced to customers in the United States and Canada. Reconcile period enables users to compare their bank statements with Xero accounting transactions more effectively. The feature allows users to: Define a period with a date range and balance to compare against statement lines. Quickly identify missing, duplicate, or incorrect transactions. Confirm accuracy by saving a period when it balances. Protect reconciled transactions from being altered. Generate a reconciliation report as a lasting record. According to Xero, this feature is an optional enhancement that does not change the existing real-time bank reconciliation workflow but offers an additional verification step for users who require it. Xero developed the reconcile period feature in response to user feedback emphasizing the importance of accurate financial verification, particularly for internal month-end close processes. Xero tested the reconcile period feature with accounting and bookkeeping professionals before launch, saying it received positive feedback from beta testers. Xero plans to expand the feature further by allowing users to attach PDF bank statements to their reconciliations. The reconcile period feature is rolling out gradually and will be accessible under a new tab on the main reconciliation account page once available. Image: Xero This article, "Xero Introduces Reconcile Period Feature for US and Canadian Customers" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Origination volume at the San Diego-based company rose 57% to $24 billion in 2024. View the full article

Hsieh stepped down from a day-to-day operational role following a contentious proxy battle for board leadership in 2023 but remained a director. View the full article

In a public appearance Thursday, Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller said the Founding Fathers supported independent money management and undoing it now would be a mistake. View the full article

Tie-up will bring to an end the drugstore chain’s century-long run as a public companyView the full article

Google's first Pixel Drop of 2025 happened this week with a long list of upgrades for the company's flagship phones, tablets, and watches. Google followed the update closely with the March 2025 Android Security Bulletin, with fixes for 43 malicious bugs—including two zero-day vulnerabilities that may actively be under "limited, targeted exploitation" on devices running Android OS. The patches cover concerns ranging from flaws that allow attackers to gain remote code execution on vulnerable devices to issues with Qualcomm and MediaTek components. The two zero-day (highest severity) exploits are labeled CVE-2024-43093 and CVE-2024-50302, both of which are "privilege escalation" flaws. According to Bleeping Computer, the former lets attackers access sensitive data by bypassing a file path filter without any additional input from the user. The latter is an issue in the Linux kernel that allows the unlocking of confiscated devices (and has reportedly been used by Serbian law enforcement to target activists). Zero-days are security vulnerabilities that are publicly disclosed before the developer has an opportunity to issue a patch. Even if the current exploitation is limited to these Serbian authorities, it's important to protect your devices before additional bad actors take advantage of these flaws as well. How to ensure your Android device is updatedIn most cases, all you need to do to fix security flaws on Android is update your device when you receive a notification to do so. Google issues patches for its own Pixel phones and the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) code, and also alerts other manufacturers—like Samsung, Motorola, and OnePlus—when updates are on their way. Devices running Android 10 and later may get both security updates and Google Play system updates. The current batch of patches applies to AOSP versions 12, 12L, 13, 14, and 15, and the most recent is dated 2025-03-05. If you're not sure whether your Android device has been updated or believe you may have missed the notification, head to your device settings to locate your Android version (About phone or About tablet > Android version) and check your update status (System > Software update or System update). Follow the on-screen prompts to download and install available patches. View the full article

US cabinet told to ‘keep all the people you want’ in first sign of pushback against Elon Musk’s cost-cutting projectView the full article