What's on Your Mind?

Amid the mass layoffs in tech and retail in the past month, YouTube’s CEO Neal Mohan sent out a recent internal memo that he’s also looking to lay off employees—who volunteer. Mohan details how YouTube is undergoing a major AI-focused reorganization and introduces a “Voluntary Exit Program” with a severance package to eligible YouTube employees. This voluntary exit deal has been couched as an opportunity for employees, but it’s really just a buyout. Companies have long used this strategy as a way to reduce headcount, usually to avert traditional layoffs. For employees approaching retirement, voluntary severance may be a great opportunity, a wonderful deus ex machina l…

The value of higher education has been on a steady decline for Americans over the past 15 years. According to a September Gallup poll, only 35% of U.S. adults said a college education is “very important,” compared to 75% in 2010. This is what a marketer would call a brand problem. The University of North Carolina is unveiling a refreshed brand identity and reorganizing its marketing structure to meet these 21st-century challenges. The centuries-old university has a storied history as a top-ranked academic institution and a legendary sports brand (thank you Michael Jordan). Chancellor Lee Roberts says that awareness isn’t UNC’s problem. Everyone in North Carolina…

When corporate crises hit, the public looks to the CEO. From product recalls to workplace discrimination to customer mistreatment scandals, CEOs are often thrust into the spotlight and forced to apologize. But do the exact words they choose really matter? I’m a professor of marketing, and my preliminary research suggests the answer is yes. In fact, they can even move stock prices. A tale of 2 apologies Consider two examples from the not-too-distant past. When Samsung Electronics had to recall 2.5 million smartphones in 2016 due to battery fires, the company ran full-page ads in major American newspapers that said, “We are truly sorry.” Despite the apology, …

The debate around AI ROI has gotten loud—and, frankly, a little cyclical. One moment, we’re hearing that AI is the key to exponential growth; the next, that 95% of AI pilots fail. At Addi, we’ve been able to leverage AI to grow 4x faster while operating at ~2x the profitability of BNPL peers. This year alone, we’ve saved more than $500,000 from our AI initiatives. But how have we accomplished such strong AI ROI? The difference between performative AI and AI with returns isn’t in which model or tool you’re using; it’s how your team is using them. Here’s how we’ve driven genuine AI-native team adoption and built a workflow/data pipeline that actually makes sens…

For decades now, we have been told that artificial intelligence systems will soon replace human workers. Sixty years ago, for example, Herbert Simon, who received a Nobel Prize in economics and a Turing Award in computing, predicted that “machines will be capable, within 20 years, of doing any work a man can do.” More recently, we have Daniel Susskind’s 2020 award-winning book with the title that says it all: A World Without Work. Are these bleak predictions finally coming true? ChatGPT turns 3 years old this month, and many think large language models will finally deliver on the promise of AI replacing human workers. LLMs can be used to write emails and reports, summ…

In a new holiday ad for Starbucks, set to the tune of I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers, two adorable animated figures traipse across Starbucks’s red holiday cups to reunite. It’s a sweet video that highlights Starbucks’s transition into the winter holidays, one of the biggest sales moments of the year for the company. But while the iconic red cups are starring in Starbucks’s early holiday promotion, they’ve also become the center of an ongoing dispute with Starbucks Workers United—and a potential strike. On November 6, Starbucks released its holiday menu in stores, including seasonal beverages, treats, and cups. The rollout heralds the arrival of …

Over the past 50 years in the shoe trade, I have had my fair share of failure. The biggest lesson I learned, at the start of my career, is not to devote time and energy to a business or project that has little chance of success. This might sound obvious, however sometimes you are so involved in the detail of the day to day running of the business that you don’t stand back and question the future viability of what you are doing. I was a women’s shoe manufacturer in London in the 1980s. If I had looked at the big picture I would have seen that the future of manufacturing in the U.K. for low technology, high labor content businesses like footwear manufacturing, was u…

Since 1818, loyal readers of the Farmers’ Almanac have turned to the publication for weather predictions, gardening tips, astronomy calendars, and more. But, on November 6, the Farmers’ Almanac announced that the 2026 edition of the magazine will be its last. The news came through a post to the Farmers’ Almanac website by editor Sandi Duncan and editor emeritus Peter Geiger. “It is with a great appreciation and heartfelt emotions that we write to share some sad news,” the note reads. “After more than 200 years of sharing a unique blend of weather, wit and wisdom, we’ve made the very difficult decision to write the final chapter of this historical publication.” P…

Now that Halloween has come and gone, you might have wrongly assumed that candy season is over. Not if the Hershey Company anything to say about it. In fact, the sweets are just getting started. On its first-annual holiday virtual preview this week, the confectionary company revealed four exciting new products and explained how the company is stocked and ready to make the hectic holiday season even sweeter. Here’s what to know: What new items does Hershey have up its sleeve? Hershey announced four new treats that will hit shelves this holiday season: Hershey’s Kisses Snickerdoodle Cookie Candy Kit Kat Peppermint Stick Reese’s Mini Trees Hers…

Two months ago, Apple released iOS 26 for the iPhone. The new operating system includes several productivity and other enhancements, but the main feature is a new design language called Liquid Glass. The flat, minimalist look of iOS that lasted for more than a decade is gone, replaced by a transparent interface of toolbars and buttons that mimic how light bends and warps as it passes through glass. Those who appreciate the new look of iOS often praise Liquid Glass as refreshing and unique, saying it gives the iPhone’s software a sense of fluidity that other touch interfaces lack. Others argue that Liquid Glass’s transparent elements make the device harder to use, as t…

“You really have to stand up for yourself.” That’s the message Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran sent loud and clear in a recent interview she gave LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky. The interview is full of powerful lessons from Corcoran’s life, but one story stood head and shoulders above the rest: The time Shark Tank fired her, before she taped a single episode. Corcoran said she received a call from a woman asking her to be on a new show called Shark Tank. Ecstatic, Corcoran agreed. She immediately went on a shopping spree, buying new outfits and autograph-signing materials. “I’m going to Hollywood!” she excitedly told her friends. Then, Corcoran got a dreadf…

I love FM radio. It’s okay: You can call me a Luddite. My alarm clock is the local public radio station. I love toggling between a few music stations while driving, or even while reading at home. And during a road trip, there’s nothing quite like discovering a community station with random locals curating their own playlists—it gives you a sense of where you are that no Spotify playlist can match. The problem: It’s hard to know what stations exist locally, even in your own town but particularly while on a road trip. You can explore the dial, which has a certain serendipity, but what if you just want to . . . know? And be able to tune in with or without an actu…

When OpenAI launched its text-to-video app Sora in September, there was immediate blowback. To absolutely no one’s surprise, users on the platform had a field day using popular characters in their AI-generated videos, in all sorts of—admittedly creative!—situations. (See OpenAI founder Sam Altman grilling Nintendo’s Pikachu.) Brands condemned the use of their intellectual property without permission. The Motion Picture Academy called out OpenAI for its blatant copyright violations. Soon after launch, Altman wrote a blog post addressing the issue, stating that Sora would give rightsholders “more granular control” of their IP on the app, adding that in the near future h…

What if I told you the single most important tool for growing your business is free? It doesn’t require fancy business cards, a corner office, or the latest app that tracks every data point in real time. It’s networking. Networking fuels growth, builds relationships, and keeps your business thriving. We live in a world moving at the speed of AI, where everything is changing all at once. As we streamline every aspect of life to be faster and more efficient, it only makes sense to modernize how we network. Before you overhaul your networking style, it’s important to remember the fundamentals, then build on them with new skills. Networking is everywhere, all th…

Neither government shutdown nor IT outage can stop the merger of Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines. On Oct. 15, Seattle-based Alaska achieved one of the first major tech milestones of the combination. All new bookings made after that day for travel on either airline took place on Alaska’s reservations system, or “passenger service system” (PSS) in airline parlance. And all existing bookings at Hawaiian after April 22, 2026 were moved over to the platform. This is what Charu Jain, senior vice president of merchandising and innovation at Alaska who is overseeing the guest-facing technology integration of Hawaiian, calls the “selling cutover.” The idea is th…

To create Apple TV’s new branding, a team from the global agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab (MAL) gathered in a studio with a blacked-out stage, a giant glass version of the Apple TV logo, and a bevy of colorful studio lights. Using just practical effects, they created a new animated logo for the brand that will roll out at the beginning of Apple TV’s shows and films, on its app, and in marketing campaigns over the coming months. Apple TV+ becomes Apple TV Apple TV’s updated branding, which includes a fresh static logo and two animated mnemonics, comes less than a month after the company announced that it would be changing its name from “Apple TV+” to just “Apple TV.…

The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece titled “Why Work-Life Balance Will Keep You Mediocre.” Certainly a headline designed to draw ire from many readers, myself included. The author advocates “ruthlessly” optimizing your time, from missing important events with loved ones to declining social events. The goal? In his case, he built a company worth $20 million and set himself up with financial freedom for the rest of his life. My gut reaction was, “That’s no way to live a life.” There was a time, in my early twenties, when I poured all of my energy and time into my job. I wore the badge of long hours and unlimited availability, replying to emails long i…

If you glanced at the headlines this week, you might think everything is fine. Markets are not in full panic mode, unemployment is not spiking, and earnings season is still producing plenty of upbeat charts for investor decks. Underneath that, though, there is a very different story taking shape about what it takes to keep growth going when people are tired of paying more for less. Across the economy, companies are being forced to get creative. Some are reworking how they price core products, others are quietly shrinking their physical footprint, and a few are openly trying to trade short term stock market love for longer term loyalty. Even the hottest corners of tech…

On November 6, Sweetgreen announced that it was selling Spyce, its division that developed and made its Infinite Kitchen technology to automate the assembly of its bowls and salads. The acquirer is Wonder, the “restaurant and mealtime superapp,” as Fast Company dubbed it earlier this year. With that, it’s time to eulogize Sweetgreen’s star-crossed life as a tech company. No more dreams of AI, blockchain, or robots. Sweetgreen receives $100 million in cash and $86.4 million in Wonder stock, a positive return given that it acquired Spyce in 2021 for a total cost of $70 million. Wonder, which is privately held, was valued north of $7 billion in May after it raised an…