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Career disruption is accelerating across the economy—and few people have navigated it more boldly than Maryam Banikarim. The former CMO of Univision, Gannett, and Hyatt, and host of The Messy Parts podcast, Banikarim shares hard-won wisdom about C-suite politics, and what it means to ultimately bet on yourself. Growing up in Iran during the time of revolution, Banikarim offers a unique perspective on the current Middle East conflict—and her determined search for hope amid the chaos. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company Bob Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapi…

Every week, another executive asks me: Where do we even start with AI? As we enter 2026, this question drives explosive demand for AI upskilling platforms and AI-powered learning solutions. Yet most enterprise AI training programs fail because they lack a systematic framework that moves the organization from confused to fluent to truly differentiated. Think of it as Maslow’s hierarchy, but for AI capability development. And 2026 is the year to climb that hierarchy. An effective AI upskilling platform must address five levels of organizational capability: foundational literacy, company-specific application, durable skills development, breakthrough innovation, and co-in…

A new investigation from Sen. Ed Markey has zeroed in on the human staffers who operate behind-the-scenes at self-driving car companies like Waymo, Tesla, and Zoox. While many of these companies emphasize that they seek to automate most aspects of driving, they still depend on humans to assist these cars when their software encounters confusing situations—or fails. The investigation began at the beginning of February and was led by Markey, who has taken a particular interest in the self-driving car industry. The study involved sending letters to seven companies working on autonomous vehicles—Aurora, May Mobility, Motional, Nuro, Tesla, Waymo, and Zoox—and asking them…

What did the latest holiday shopping season reveal about consumer confidence going into 2026? Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach unpacks the signals he’s seeing across global spending—from shifting consumer sentiment to AI’s growing role in financial security. Miebach also explores how credit cards fit into a future shaped by crypto, digital wallets, and agent-driven commerce, and what it will take for businesses to stay competitive amid continued market disruption. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company Bob Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features c…

Some of the most recognizable artwork depicting the American West is heading to auction at Christie’s, where dozens of pieces from billionaire Bill Koch’s collection are expected to fetch at least $50 million. The in-person “Visions of the West” sale will take place in New York over two sessions beginning Jan. 20, with the final lots offered — appropriately — at high noon the following day. Koch’s holdings include major works by Frederic Remington, Charles Marion Russell and Albert Bierstadt, artists whose images of cowboys, Native Americans and sweeping landscapes helped define how generations came to picture the American frontier. Tylee Abbott, head of Christie’s Amer…

Since Spencer Rascoff took over as Match Group CEO in early 2025, he has set about trying to revive its portfolio of dating apps, in part by winning back user trust and courting Gen Z. “Trust is the foundation of real connections, and we are committed to rebuilding it with urgency, accountability, and an unwavering focus on the user,” Rascoff said last March in a letter to employees sharing his vision. As part of that turnaround and effort to cultivate trust, Match Group—the parent company of Tinder, Hinge, and OkCupid—has also sought to revamp its internal culture over the last year, in the interest of imbuing the company with greater transparency. A few months into…

Match Group’s new CEO Spencer Rascoff sent a letter to employees Thursday outlining his vision for the company, while also acknowledging the dating giant has fallen flat when it comes to public sentiment. Rascoff, who cofounded Zillow and served as chief executive for a decade, was appointed Match Group CEO in early February to shake up the beleaguered parent company of Tinder, Hinge, and OkCupid. Rascoff isn’t entirely a newcomer to the dating economy: He joined Match Group’s board in 2024. “To reach our full potential, we must confront a hard truth: we haven’t always met the high standards we set for the user experience,” Rascoff said in the letter, which was s…

Mattel just got its first custom global typeface in over 80 years, and it’s brimming with brand easter eggs. Mattel operates dozens of brands under its corporate umbrella, each with their own visual identity and brand voice. But, until now, Mattel has never had its own proprietary typeface for its overarching brand, instead opting to license multiple existing fonts on a global scale—an endeavor that was not only expensive, but also came at the cost of visual consistency across Mattel’s many product lines. Otis Gibson, founder of the Chicago-based creative agency Gertrude, says his agency was tasked with “putting a lasso” around Mattel’s corporate identity. Their solution,…

Mattel Inc. is introducing an autistic Barbie on Monday as the newest member of its line intended to celebrate diversity, joining a collection that already includes Barbies with Down syndrome, a blind Barbie, a Barbie and a Ken with vitiligo, and other models the toymaker added to make its fashion dolls more inclusive. Mattel said it developed the autistic doll over more than 18 months in partnership with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights and better media representation of people with autism. The goal: to create a Barbie that reflected some of the ways autistic people may experience and process the world around the…

Lawyers representing victims of a deadly Hawaii wildfire reached a last-minute deal averting a trial that was scheduled to begin Wednesday over how to split a $4 billion settlement. The agreement means victims and survivors will not have to testify, reliving in court details of the massive inferno in Lahaina that killed more than 100 people, destroyed thousands of properties and caused an estimated $5.5 billion worth of damage. Before the trial was scheduled to begin Wednesday morning, lawyers met in private with Judge Peter Cahill, who later announced that a deal had been reached. Lawyers, who reached the deal late Tuesday, are expected to file court documents detailin…

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. Long before the The President administration tapped Elon Musk to cut federal costs and headcount via the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), business leaders and politicians have been trying to find ways to make government leaner, less bureaucratic, and more like a well-run corporat…

After nearly 13 years leading PepsiCo design, its first chief design officer—Mauro Porcini—is departing the company. (Previous to PepsiCo, he was the first designer named to a chief design officer role at 3M.) Under Porcini, design at the PepsiCo family of brands has seen a significant glow up. He arrived shortly after 2008’s disastrous Pepsi rebrand during the era of flat design. And he spent the next decade investing in more internal talent—successfully arguing that the approach would actually save the company money while offering stronger creative autonomy. Porcini opened a flagship design center in NYC in 2012, then following its success, he added 18 more across t…

Max just got a new logo. Again. Two years after rebranding from HBO Max to just Max with new a bright blue-and-white logo, the Warner Bros Discovery-owned streaming service is making an update to its logo. This time, it’s swapping blue for a metallic black and white logo. According to Max, the color change is part of a larger refresh. Max says the standalone logo will be in the black-and-white color scheme, but an updated color palette, chosen to allow for flexibility of the logo in app and in marketing materials, will be unveiled in the coming months. Why Max updated its logo Max includes content from HBO and other Warner Bros Discovery brands, like Adult …

Spotify has a knack for mining your listening data into something fun and shareable rather than weird and creepy for its annual “Wrapped” feature. This year, it outdid itself. The 2025 edition of Spotify Wrapped goes beyond just summarizing what you listened to with charts and infographics. This year, Spotify is also assigning each user a “Listening Age,” which is based on the release years of their favorite tracks compared to others in the same age group. The feature quickly went viral, as users recoiled at their seemingly geriatric (or juvenile) musical tastes. At the risk of reading too much into something that’s ultimately good fun, Wrapped’s expanding purview…

Few self-help ideas are as prevalent and widely celebrated as the advice to “just be yourself.” Whether in job interviews, workplace interactions, or career choices, we are frequently encouraged to act “authentically”—without compromise or concern for external pressures. While this sounds comforting and empowering, authenticity as an interpersonal strategy is fundamentally flawed and at odds with hundreds of scientific studies on emotional intelligence, social skills, and career success. As I illustrate in my forthcoming book, Don’t Be Yourself: Why Authenticity Is Overrated and What To Do Instead, authenticity is not a helpful life hack, but rather a misguide…

Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City on Thursday, taking over one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics with a promise to transform government on behalf of the city’s striving, struggling working class. Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in at a decommissioned subway station below City Hall just after midnight, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath as the city’s first Muslim mayor. After working part of the night in his new office, Mamdani returned to City Hall in a taxi cab around midday Thursday for a grander public inauguration where U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes, administered the oath for a second time. “Beg…

Japanese auto manufacturer Mazda has released a simplified new logo, and it has bigger implications than your typical brand refresh. It’s indicative of a broader branding—or should we say blanding—trend that’s taking over the car industry. Mazda Motor Corp. rolled out a new, flatter version of its logo at the Japan Mobility Show 2025 in October that did away with the dimensional, beveled silver chrome effect the logomark used to have in favor of a solid black line. The new M mark is more angular, too, evoking a pair of wings that was first introduced in 1997. The company says it designed the flat new logo for improved visibility, especially in digital environments. T…

With nearly 40,000 locations in over 100 countries, tens of millions of people worldwide regularly eat McDonald’s iconic burgers. But in an Instagram post that’s blowing up the internet, company CEO Chris Kempczinski appears less-than-thrilled to be eating one himself. The video was posted to Kempczinski’s Instagram account a month ago, but found new life over the weekend on platforms like X and TikTok, with many users wondering if it’s “intentionally cringe,” saying that Kempczinski looks “uncomfortable” or commenting how he “looks like he’s gonna hurl.” “From this video, it seems likely the CEO of McDonald’s has never eaten McDonald’s before,” one user wrote. …

Valentine’s Day is known as the day to celebrate all things love—and also a day for expensive dates. However, a new offering from one of your favorite fast food chains may have you skipping the white table cloths and snagging something from McDonald’s instead. McDonald’s is serving up caviar this Valentine’s Day. But there’s a catch. In a Feb. 2 announcement, the chain explained what the latest offering entails. “To be known is to be loved, and we know our fans love pairing our crispy Chicken McNuggets with their favorite caviar,” it said. “Inspired by this perfect match, we’re dropping our first-ever McNugget Caviar kits featuring premium Baerii Sturgeon caviar o…