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Here is a weird one - doing a site command and Google presenting an AI Overview summary of the results. In this case, the AI Overview was dead wrong - which is not all that uncommon - but why show an AI Overview here? View the full article

Google is now sending emails to business owners when a Google Business Profile information edit was rejected. The email subject line says "A recent information edit was rejected," and then it tells you more details on why and allows you to read the policy and then appeal the decision.View the full article

For the past week or so, news publishers from Brazil have not been happy with Google. It seems that Google Discover is broken for a lot of Brazilians, showing irrelevant content to users and searchers, and not showing content from the typical publishers based in Brazil.View the full article

We've seen variations of Google's popular products section in the search results show both article and video content reviews. But now we are seeing another format for it, one that even links to laptop reviews from 55 years ago, a good ten years before the Osborne 1 hit shelves.View the full article

Faceted navigation enhances ecommerce UX but poses SEO risks. Learn how to manage filters without harming crawl efficiency or indexing strategy. The post Ask An SEO: How To Implement Faceted Navigation Without Hurting Crawl Efficiency appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Google is testing a new ad groups interface for the Google Ads Search campaigns console. This seems to be a simpler interface with fewer options than the current version.View the full article

Pinterest fans are nothing if not loyal. Many have spent years—sometimes decades—carefully curating boards filled with wedding inspiration, home decor ideas, fashion, and more. Now users are logging in only to find themselves locked out of their accounts without warning, with all their pins gone. Frustrated users have taken to platforms like X and r/Pinterest to vent. The comment sections on Pinterest’s official Instagram and TikTok pages are flooded with pleas from angry users demanding answers. “I had a beautiful Pinterest board with over 26,000 of the most beautiful images and my account was just permanently banned,” one user posted on X. “Pinterest you will be dealt with.” Another, who reportedly lost an account they had maintained for seven years, wrote, “I feel like my library of Alexandria has been burned down.” For creatives, Pinterest isn’t just for fun—it’s also a professional tool. “It’s the industry standard to present a moodboard before any project goes into action, and the sheer amount of valuable references I’ve lost out on since being banned is hard to describe,” wrote one Reddit user. “I’ve had to postpone shoots and scramble to reassemble projects. Years and years of curating down the drain and multiple projects stuck in limbo.” Those who’ve lost accounts claim they’ve done nothing wrong. “I made a new account, didn’t even add anything yet. Get an email saying I’m banned/suspended,” one user posted on X. “I try to dispute it and your typical bot responds saying there’s nothing it can do.” Others are now afraid to even open their accounts for fear of what they might find. Many are pointing the finger at AI. Pinterest’s Help Center states that it uses AI in “improving content moderation,” a system it has relied on for years to enforce its Community Guidelines. Like many platforms, Pinterest uses a mix of AI and human review. A Pinterest spokesperson tells Fast Company: “Pinterest has long-established public Community Guidelines that clearly outline what is and isn’t allowed on the platform. We’re committed to building a safer and more positive platform, and enforce these policies rigorously and continuously. Users who believe their account may have been deactivated mistakenly may submit an appeal.” For some, that response doesn’t cut it. Instead, they’re exploring legal action, seeking “recovery for the damages users have suffered, which may include financial compensation.” These damages include direct financial losses from Pinterest ad campaigns or traffic, as well as “emotional distress.” View the full article

Jerry Dischler, the almost 20 year Google executive, is reportedly leaving Google a year and a half after he stepped down from that position. Jerry Dischler was involved in a lot of the Department of Justice negativity around Google's ad business, which may or may not be related to him stepping down in 2023 and now reportedly leaving Google in 2025.View the full article

Six years ago, Google dropped some of its search tools date filters and then added new operators for before: and after: that let you filter content by specific dates. Well, six years later, that feature is still in beta.View the full article

TikTok hashtags aren’t a one-way ticket to virality — but they can absolutely help boost visibility. When done right, TikTok hashtags help categorize your content, enable the algorithm to understand what your content is about, and boost your discoverability through TikTok SEO. In this article, we’ll explore everything there is to know about TikTok hashtags: What are TikTok hashtags? Why you should use hashtagsHow to find the right TikTok hashtagsHow to use TikTok hashtags properlyPlus, I’ll share a curated list of 250 trending TikTok hashtags — organized by industry to help you reach the right audience and grow your presence. What are TikTok hashtags?TikTok hashtags are keywords or phrases preceded by a “#” symbol – usually in the video caption – that help categorize content on the platform. Examples of how hashtags appear in the TikTok app When you use hashtags for TikTok videos, you help the algorithm understand what your content is about and put it in front of the right community. Using relevant hashtags also makes your content searchable. Your video will pop up when someone searches for the keywords you used in your hashtag. Users interested in a topic will often even follow hashtags related to it — like #BookTok or #MomsofTikTok. This allows them to stay up-to-date on the latest conversation on the subject. 5 benefits of using hashtags on TikTokIncorporating TikTok hashtags in your marketing strategy has plenty of benefits. Here are a few: 1. Boost visibility of your videosAdding hashtags for TikTok videos helps the TikTok algorithm understand what your content is about and put it in front of the right people. This is especially true for trending hashtags — TikTok pushes content with the most trending TikTok hashtags in its video caption. The more you use them, the more you increase your chances of landing in the relevant audience’s For You Page (FYP). 2. Build a communityHashtags create communities around specific interests. Using hashtags for TikTok – esepcially niche ones — allows you to join the conversation and find your tribe. Hashtag challenges, for example, help you understand and participate in your industry's trends. #icebucketchallenge, anyone? 3. Improve TikTok SEOTikTok is a search engine too. Just like Google, it relies on certain pieces of information to place content into the most appropriate categories, better organizing and surfacing them for searchers. Hashtags are another helpful piece of the puzzle for the algorithm, a way to better optimize your videos for search (SEO). They can help you make sure your video gets in front of the right people. 4. Get content ideasWhen you search for specific hashtags, you can find other TikTok videos on the topic. This helps you understand what resonates with your target audience and find unique content ideas. 5. Increase your viral potentialTrending hashtags are often tied to a particular platform-wide trend, like hashtag challenges or trending formats. If you participate in these trends and challenges, using the right hashtags increases your chances of going viral on TikTok and reaching a broader audience. How to find the right TikTok hashtags for your posts?There are many ways to find the best TikTok hashtags for your posts. Here are three popular ones: 1. Use the TikTok Creative CenterThe TikTok Creative Center is one of the best free tools for finding trending hashtags for TikTok and in your industry. Navigate to "Trends" → "Hashtags" in the Creative Center, and you’ll see a list of popular TikTok hashtags on the platform. These are the trending hashtags of the last seven days. You can also see specific hashtags for TikTok related to your industry. Filter using the “Industry” option – TikTok has organized its content into 16 industries. You can also filter to view the trending hashtags of the last 30 or 120 days, too. My favorite feature is that you can dive deep into a specific hashtag’s performance by clicking “See analytics.” Here, you’ll find: How many posts are associated with the hashtagHow the user interest has evolved for the hashtag over timePopular video examples that use the hashtagAudience insights of TikTok users who use those hashtags (age, related interests, and regional popularity)Trending creators who have used the hashtagRelated hashtags that pair well with the current hashtag This lets you gain insights into using specific hashtags and forming a cohesive hashtag strategy. For example, you can monitor how interest in a hashtag fades or rises over time, spotting hashtags you can use for evergreen content. It can also help you spot whether tapping into a hashtag or trend will help you reach the right people. For example, if 18-24-year-olds are your ideal customer (or follower), creating content around #X is a great idea. If you’re looking to capture a slightly older crowd, it’s probably best to look elsewhere. 2. Use a hashtag generatorThere are various hashtag generators in the market that can help you find the best hashtags to go with your post. For example, the Ahrefs AI hashtag generator for TikTok asks you to share a snippet and shares hashtags that fit the bill. The problem with using a hashtag generator is its reliability: You have to verify if the hashtags the tool provides are actually popular on TikTok. These tools also rarely help you find trending hashtags or discover viral TikTok hashtags. Still, it can be a useful jumping-off point if you already have a video or post in mind. ⚡Looking for hashtags for Instagram? Buffer’s free Instagram hashtag generator has you covered. Get a curated list of hashtags tailored to your content, tone, and audience, all in seconds. →3. Manual searchThe last way to find the best hashtags for your strategy is a bit manual — it involves going on hashtag searches of your own. AKA, using TikTok like a search engine. Type something broad related to your industry in the search bar. For example, if you’re hunting for fashion hashtags, type “fashion ideas.” If you’re searching for niche fashion hashtags, search for something more specific, like “sustainable fashion.” Once you get the results, analyze the hashtags other creators use. Do many creators use the same hashtags? Note it down – using it might help boost your brand visibility, too. If a creator appears repeatedly for your relevant hashtags in your industry, study their hashtag use — which TikTok trends they participate in, which hashtags they use on TikTok the most frequently, and how many hashtags they use. Think of this like a mini competitor analysis. This will help you: Get a list of different hashtags you can useIdentify the top TikTok hashtags in your industryUnderstand your target audience’s expectationsThe manual method of finding the best hashtags for your strategy might be a bit tedious, but it’s the best way to ensure you use relevant hashtags that boost engagement. Top 250 TikTok hashtags of 2025 (so far)The above methods are handy when you have the time to jot down and organize your hashtag library. But for when you’re short on time, use this list to find popular hashtags for TikTok, specifically in your industry. 15 popular TikTok hashtagsThese are general hashtags for your video content. They aren’t tied to a niche or any specific subject, so use them when you’re just starting out or experimenting with your video content. 1. #fyp 2. #viral 3. #tiktok 4. #foryou 5. #funny 6. #viral 7. #duet 8. #smallbusiness 9. #trending 10. #explore 11. #foryoupage 12. #trendingvideo 13. #tiktokcreator 14. #contentcreator 15. #tiktokchallenge Top 20 hashtags for TikTok in apparel and accessoriesTikTok mixes retail hashtags under the umbrella of ‘apparel and accessories.’ Note that many popular hashtags are related to a season, such as spring or summer. If you’re reading this in winter or fall, find retail hashtags on TikTok that fit this new season. 1. #spring 2. #springfashion 3. #springtok 4. #summervibes 5. #summer2025 6. #prom 7. #promdress 8. #tiktokshoprestock 9. #ootdfashion 10. #ootdinspo 11. #lululemon 12. #tiktokfashion 13. #onlineshopping 14. #affordablefashion 15. #shoplocal 16. #gymoutfit 17. #womenfashion 18. #fashionfinds 19. #newarrivals 20. #activewear Top 10 TikTok hashtags for TikTok in kids and maternityThese are the best TikTok hashtags for parenting creators and small businesses who market to parents. 1. #babies 2. #boymomlife 3. #toddlers 4. #toddleractivities 5. #ivfjourney 6. #auntiesoftiktok 7. #granddaughter 8. #momoftwo 9. #pacifier 10. #newbornlife Top 25 beauty hashtags on TikTokTikTok often lumps together self-care hashtags and beauty hashtags on the social network. You’ll find a plethora of branded hashtags on this list, too. If you’re a creator, this means the products from these brands are a viral success and may be worth trying for your audience. 1. #pedicure 2. #hairinspo 3. #toothpaste 4. #ingrowntoenail 5. #tanning 6. #hydration 7. #springnails 8. #teethwhitening 9. #glam 10. #nailartist 11. #cosmetics 12. #viralproducts 13. #nighttimeroutine 14. #tartecosmetics 15. #tarte 16. #ultabeauty 17. #cosmetology 18. #pixiecut 19. #easyhairstyles 20. #menshair 21. #cream 22. #affordablemakeup 23. #products 24. #naturalmakeup 25. #nailsofinstagram 15 best TikTok hashtags in educationThese are impactful hashtags in the education industry. You’ll also notice a few ‘job’ and ‘writing’ related hashtags since they’re quite popular in the niche. 1. #jobs 2. #space 3. #graduation 4. #studytok 5. #factory 6. #elemantaryschool 7. #premed 8. #studytips 9. #studyhacks 10. #jobrating 11. #writingcommunity 12. #research 13. #preschoolteacher 14. #publicspeaking 15. #creativewriting 15 best TikTok hashtags in financeSome hashtags here are timely and news-related (like the tariffs one). Before using any hashtag, always check the latest results to ensure it isn't outdated. 1. #trading 2. #tariffs 3. #contentcreation 4. #stockmarket 5. #inflation 6. #daytrading 7. #businesstips 8. #workfromanywhere 9. #sidehustlejob 10. #innovation 11. #wealthbuilding 12. #management 13. #businesstips 14. #automation 15. #smallbusinesstips 30 best TikTok hashtags in food and beverageThere are more hashtags for the food and beverage industry than any other category on this list. New trends keep emerging on this list as the seasons change, too (like #margarita in the summer). You’ll also notice a few branded hashtags like Crumbl of Crumbl cookies. 1. #chicken 2. #crumbl 3. #banana 4. #goodfood 5. #foodphotography 6. #weeknightdinner 7. #watertok 8. #hiddengem 9. #pastry 10. #matcha 11. #icecream 12. #dubaichocolate 13. #cookies 14. #eggs 15. #brunch 16. #fastfood 17. #coffeetime 18. #traderjoes 19. #coffeelover 20. #cakes 21. #chocolatecoveredstrawberries 22. #lunchtime 23. #drinktok 24. #pancakes 25. #sweettreat 26. #dessert 27. #chips 28. #fruits 29. #margarita 30. #foodiefinds 15 best TikTok hashtags in gamingGaming hashtags are often related to specific games — like Minecraft. These TikTok viral hashtags update frequently as new games release, so keep an eye on that. 1. #minecraft 2. # invincible 3. #brainrot 4. #cookierunkingdom 5. #sololeveling 6. #textstory 7. #giveaway 8. #minecraftmemes 9. #gamingcommunity 10. #dungeonsanddragons 11. #idkwhatimdoing 12. #multiplayer 13. #peppapig 14. #indiegames 15. #narutoedit 10 top TikTok hashtags in health and fitnessThese are the best hashtags in the health niche. The list below contains evergreen hashtags, so you don’t have to worry about using outdated hashtags here. 1. #wellness 2. #gymtok 3. #fitness 4. #workout 5. #bodybuilding 6. #training 7. #health 8. #mentalhealth 9. #healthtips 10. #nutrition 15 best TikTok hashtags in home improvementThese are the best hashtags for any house-related content — whether that’s gardening, showing your home essentials, or furniture. 1. #gardening 2. #garden 3. #plants 4. #furniture 5. #mirror 6. #landscape 7. #gardentok 8. #plantsoftiktok 9. #springcleaning 10. #architecture 11. #mold 12. #clay 13. #backyard 14. #gardening101 15. #homeessentials 10 best TikTok hashtags in household productsHousehold products, while similar to home improvements, often contain time-sensitive hashtags of whatever’s popular at that moment. It also often has holiday-themed products, like #eastercrafts on this list. The most popular hashtags in this category keep shifting as new products gain popularity. 1. #paper 2. #ribbonrose 3. #kidscrafts 4. #moneybouquet 5. #eastercrafts 6. #crochetflowers 7. #favoriteflower 8. #craftwithme 9. #paperflowers 10. #junkcaseinspo 10 best TikTok hashtags in entertainmentTikTok viral hashtags in entertainment often include artist names who have released new music or any entertainment industry-related news that’s time-sensitive. Like with household products, you need to refresh the most popular hashtags more frequently than other categories. 1. #rapper 2. #undergroundmusic 3. #concerts 4. #viraledit 5. #popmusic 6. #tvseries 7. #soundcloud 8. #yellowjackets 9. #chrisbrown 10. #band 15 best TikTok hashtags in the pet industryPet-related hashtags are often about a specific animal, like dog lovers or cat lovers. But there are also often hashtag challenges going on that you could participate in with your pet. Find these trending hashtags on the TikTok Creative Center. 1. #dogsoftiktok 2. #bunny 3. #chickens 4. #catlovers 5. #doglovers 6. #pug 7. #daycare 8. #naptime 9. #treats 10. #poodle 11. #adoption 12. #blackcatsoftiktok 13. #sunbathing 14. #cattoys 15. #fosteringsaveslives Top 10 sports hashtags on TikTokSports hashtags are often dynamic depending on what’s going on in the sporting industry. For instance, many of the hashtags below are about a specific football league and match. If you’re practicing social listening — or you’re a sports fan — you’d already know about what games are on, and, by extension, the trending topics on TikTok. 1. #baseball 2. #voleyball 3. #golf 4. #mlb 5. #softball 6. #barcelona 7. #realmadrid 8. #track 9. #championsleague 10. #fishinglife 10 best TikTok hashtags in electronicsElectronics hashtags on TikTok are usually about specific gadgets and not that time-sensitive. But when there’s a new release of an electronic item, it might become a trending hashtag as everyone reviews/unpacks it. 1. #portable 2. #phonecharger 3. #magnetic 4. #bluetoothspeaker 5. #phoneaccessories 6. #phonemount 7. #magsafe 8. #wirelessheadphones 9. #techgadgets 10. #fastcharging 11. #comfyfit 15 best TikTok hashtags in travelTravel content is often about place hashtags — like Japan or Washington DC, but here are a few general ones about traveling. 1. #beach 2. #beachvibes 3. #vacationmode 4. #beachday 5. #waltdisneyworld 6. #epicuniverse 7. #sunsets 8. #cherryblossom 9. #hikingadventures 10. #park 11. #capri 12. #zoo 13. #beachlife 14. #poolparty 15. #kidssactivities 10 best TikTok hashtags in transportationHashtags relevant in this category often include names of vehicles or accessories related to vehicles. 1. #biketok 2. #surron 3. #ebike 4. #caraccessories 5. #cinematic 6. #jeeplife 7. #carshow 8. #sportscar 9. #carenthusiast 10. #dashcam How to use TikTok hashtags: 7 best practicesTikTok hashtags are often a missed opportunity. Here’s how to use them properly to maximize their potential: 1. Mix popular and niche hashtagsThere are popular hashtags with millions of posts, and then there are niche hashtags that aren’t that crowded. My advice? Use a mix of both. Famous hashtags will boost visibility and reach a broader audience; niche hashtags will ensure you establish authority in your niche and build a social media community. For example, if you’re a food creator, #foodie would be a popular hashtag, and #weeknightrecipes would be a niche one. 2. Don’t use more than five hashtags per postIt’s tempting to add hashtags to fill the caption character limit. But you don't need quantity when finding hashtags for TikTok. In fact, adding too many hashtags can appear spammy and put off your audience. Instead of adding as many hashtags as possible, add between three and five quality hashtags to your TikTok content. Mix popular hashtags with niche ones, as mentioned earlier. 3. Steer clear of irrelevant hashtagsDon’t use generic hashtags like #foryoupage too much. They dilute the authority of your TikTok profile. It’s better to use more relevant, niche-related hashtags that reflect the topics of your TikTok content. Using irrelevant hashtags can also hurt your overall performance as the algorithm gets confused about your niche. 4. Use a hashtag manager to store your hashtagsSaving, organizing, and using hashtags can be challenging. But you don’t have to create sections in your Notes app to copy-paste or remember them by heart. It’s time-consuming and clunky. What if you had a hashtag manager built into your social media management tool? In Buffer, the hashtag manager helps you store and organize your hashtags. For instance, if you want to create a new category of hashtags to promote a sale, you can create a new group for it. Or you can categorize hashtags into your content pillars. Now, when you’re scheduling your TikTok content, Buffer will open the hashtag manager and in one click, you can paste all the hashtags you have stored. Pro tip: You’re not limited to storing hashtags in this tool! You can use it to save essential links or common CTAs you use often. Make it easy for yourself to implement your hashtag strategy by signing up for Buffer. 5. Monitor trending TikTok hashtagsBy now, you know how TikTok hashtags work and how quickly their relevance can fade. Keep an eye on the TikTok Creative Center to monitor trending hashtag challenges and use them where relevant. The algorithm loves trending content, too, so this will boost your performance. 6. Create a branded hashtagCreating a branded hashtag gives you the opportunity to boost brand visibility and recall. You can even start using your own hashtags for sales, promotions, unique offers, or influencer partnerships. The only thing to remember is to ensure your own hashtags are easy to remember and catchy so more and more people get latched onto them. 7. Measure hashtag performanceMonitor your TikTok analytics to find which hashtags boost your reach the most and double down on them. If you have multiple sets of hashtags, notice which ones drive the most engagement. Hashtags can’t save a poor post, but they can increase the reach of an excellent oneHashtags aren’t the key to going viral. But if you create engaging content that your audience resonates with, they can increase the number of new people you reach. I hope the best practices and list of hashtags helped you understand which hashtags you can use and how. Do you have any favorite hashtags that I missed? Comment below! View the full article

The Tesla founder’s much-heralded war on government waste has had uncertain resultsView the full article

There we were: two experienced professionals, each standing on the iconic red dot of our own TEDx stages, ready to deliver what we hoped would be the most impactful talks of our careers. For Jamie, her meticulously rehearsed opening line—the one she practiced 327 times in the shower, in the mirror, and in front of a very patient partner—evaporated the moment the spotlight hit. Hundreds of expectant eyes waited as the silence stretched . . . and stretched. “Oh @*#%,” she whispered—into the mic. What was meant to be a private moment of panic turned into a public announcement. But instead of recoiling, the audience leaned in. Scott was one minute and fifty seconds into his carefully choreographed talk when he realized the slide clicker—his lifeline—wasn’t in his hand. It was backstage. As his partner began to talk, he edged off the red dot, sliding sideways like what he now calls “a nervous crab doing the walk of shame under a spotlight.” What could have been a disaster became an unexpected moment of relatability. What should have been our most cringeworthy professional moments instead became our most powerful points of connection. Who gets to make mistakes After Jamie’s talk, someone approached her saying, “That moment when you paused made your message so human. I was rooting for you!” “When you had to edge off the stage,” an executive told Scott afterward, “I immediately felt I could relate to you. It was like watching a high-stakes version of that dream where you show up to work without pants.” The revelation hit us both like a thunderbolt: Our supposed failures weren’t failures at all. They were our strongest connection points. All those hours spent practicing perfect delivery? Not wasted time at all, because we were able to recover. But the unplanned human moments? Pure gold. It’s worth acknowledging, however, that our positive experiences with vulnerability came from positions of established credibility. As seasoned professionals with certain privileges, we could afford these momentary lapses without severe consequences. But we also know that vulnerability’s impact varies dramatically depending on who you are and the context in which you’re operating. The Paradox of Leadership We’re often taught that leadership means projecting flawless competence, credibility, and charisma. However, what social psychologists call the “pratfall effect”—a phenomenon documented by Elliot Aronson in 1966—shows that competent people become more likable when they make small mistakes. In other words, the occasional face-plant makes you more relatable. But there’s a critical caveat that Aronson himself emphasized: This effect primarily works for those already perceived as highly competent. For those still establishing credibility—particularly women, people of color, and others from underrepresented groups—the same “charming” mistake can reinforce negative stereotypes and undermine authority. As TED speakers, we had the freedom to make mistakes, which actually increased our likability and connection with the audience without compromising our credibility. In our work with executives, we’ve seen this paradox play out repeatedly. We’ve seen repeatedly that established leaders who initially resist showing any vulnerability find their influence dramatically increases after sharing natural imperfections. Yet for emerging leaders or those from marginalized backgrounds, the calculus is far more complex. It’s essential to acknowledge that the luxury of vulnerability isn’t equally distributed. For women in male-dominated fields, research shows that displays of emotion or uncertainty can trigger harsher judgment than for their male counterparts. For people of color, vulnerability can collide with pernicious stereotypes, reinforcing biases rather than building connection. And for those earlier in their careers or from less privileged backgrounds, the margin for error is often vanishingly small. Alison Fragale’s recent research in her book Likable Badass reveals that leaders face a fundamental paradox: They need to be both respected for competence and liked for warmth. The most effective leaders—whom she calls “likable badasses”—strategically reveal vulnerabilities while maintaining clear boundaries, creating what she terms “approachable authority.” Yet Fragale also acknowledges that women and people of color often face a much narrower band of acceptable behavior, where too much warmth can undermine perceptions of competence, and too much assertiveness can trigger backlash. The path to becoming a “likable badass” is riddled with structural inequities that demand recognition. Which is why we believe vulnerability—tailored to context—has the potential to be a leadership superpower. The Vulnerability Sweet Spot: A Framework for the Perfectly Imperfect Leader Through trial, error, and sometimes painfully awkward experience, we’ve developed a framework for authentic, courageous leadership that we now share with executives who are tired of the exhausting perfectionism treadmill. But we emphasize that this framework must be applied with careful attention to context, power dynamics, and the unique challenges faced by those with marginalized identities: 1. Create intentional “vulnerability loops” Ed Catmull, Jamie’s former boss and cofounder and former president of Pixar Animation, would often say in meetings “I’m wrong more than half the time.” That simple phrase created what Harvard professor Jeff Polzer calls a “vulnerability loop”—inviting reciprocal openness that builds trust faster than a box of free donuts in the break room. By modeling approachable authority, he cultivated psychological safety that fueled Pixar’s creative engine. But we’ve observed that this same approach can backfire for leaders without Catmull’s established positional power and reputation. For a woman leading a male-dominated team or a person of color in a predominantly white organization, admitting uncertainty might inadvertently reinforce harmful stereotypes about competence. The lesson? Sometimes the most powerful thing a well-established leader can say is “I have no idea what I’m doing right now.” But for others, strategic vulnerability requires careful calibration. 2. Transform mistakes into growth narratives Scott had prepared meticulously for his courage workshop with a large government leadership team—but within minutes, he realized he’d misread the room. His agenda assumed participants would willingly engage, but the energy was brittle. The stress was high, morale was low, and the silence hung heavy. Then something unexpected—and unscripted—happened. The chief elected official chose to speak first. But instead of safe, ceremonial words, he paused, and shared a specific fear he was facing in that moment as a leader. The room shifted. Silence held for a beat. Then, one by one, others began to speak—naming real fears, deeper commitments, and the tensions they’d been carrying alone. That moment of unrehearsed vulnerability didn’t fix everything. But it disrupted the silence, reset the tone of leadership, and sparked the psychological safety needed for meaningful change to begin. 3. Create structural support for imperfection Pixar holds rigorous postproduction reviews that deliberately focus on uncovering mistakes—despite the very human tendency to celebrate victories and immediately start stressing about the next project. The process norms prevent individual blame, instead promoting shared responsibility for both successes and improvements. At its heart, the process embraces the principle that imperfection, continuous learning, and growth form the foundation of great filmmaking. By creating formal structures to examine what didn’t work, the studio transforms potential failures into catalysts for innovation. When failure analysis becomes collective rather than personal, it creates safer spaces for those who might otherwise face disproportionate consequences for acknowledging mistakes. 4. Create equitable spaces for vulnerability At Pixar, Jamie codesigned a Mutual Mentorship Program specifically designed to address power imbalances. Over six months, senior mentors and junior mentees built relationships by exchanging responses to questions like, “Share a pivotal time that created anxiety but informs who you are today.” This structured approach produced two remarkable outcomes. First, mentors gained genuine insight into the dramatically different experiences of those with less organizational power. Many left the program as vocal advocates for their mentees, having seen firsthand the additional barriers they navigated. Second, mentees formed a powerful coalition where they could practice speaking up authentically. Through monthly discussions about power dynamics and calculated risk-taking, they developed both individual confidence and collective strength—transforming vulnerability from a personal liability into a shared asset. 5. Know your audience Before revealing vulnerability, assess the terrain carefully. Do your colleagues and superiors already view you as competent? Do they genuinely care about your success? While it’s ultimately leaders’ responsibility to make workplaces safe for authenticity, we must acknowledge that not all environments offer this security. For those still establishing credibility—especially individuals from underrepresented backgrounds—the most courageous act might be a carefully timed truth or a question that invites others in. Even micro-moments, like asking a powerful question for honest feedback in a team setting or naming a challenge with curiosity rather than certainty, can plant the seeds of strategic vulnerability. These moments may not be headline-worthy, but over time, they build trust, credibility, and voice. If you determine that sharing vulnerably carries too much risk in your current position, remember that choosing to strategically present yourself isn’t “fake”—it’s a legitimate form of self-protection. The calculation is intensely personal: What are the costs of being real versus the costs of maintaining a more guarded professional persona? There’s no universal right answer, only the one that serves your well-being and advancement in your specific context. The Real Leadership Superpower Our TED experiences taught us that leadership impact doesn’t come from flawless performance, but from authentic human connection. The moments that feel most vulnerable—when your mind goes blank during a presentation or when you have to admit you have no idea how to solve a problem—are precisely where your most meaningful leadership happens. The next time you feel that urge to appear perfect, remember: Your most authentic moment might be waiting on the other side of what feels like failure. In a world increasingly dominated by curated personas and polished images, authentic vulnerability can be a powerful differentiator, but also a risk that varies dramatically depending on who you are. After all, nobody roots for the superhero who never breaks a sweat. We root for the one who gets knocked down, mutters something slightly inappropriate, and then gets back up again with a knowing smile. But we must also work toward a world where all leaders, regardless of their identity, have the freedom to be imperfectly human without disproportionate penalties. View the full article

Mortgage delinquencies were up in March, according to data from Intercontinental Exchange. View the full article

Outlining the details and defining factors is crucial at the start of any project. Explore how project scope management affects project success. The post What is Project Scope? | Best Project Scope Management appeared first on project-management.com. View the full article

Stakeholders are individuals or groups that have an interest in the project. Learn about the different key stakeholders and their roles. The post Understanding Different Types of Stakeholders and Their Roles appeared first on project-management.com. View the full article

On farms off the coast of Alaska and in Mexico, a company called Blue Evolution grows seaweed used in food and skincare products. But five years ago, while studying the potential for seaweed to be used in bioenergy, the company discovered something else: The algae also contains critical minerals. The research, conducted with Pacific Northwest National Labs, identified the presence of scandium, an expensive rare earth element that’s produced in tiny volumes globally. The seaweed also contains other rare earth elements and platinum group metals that can be used to make products ranging from EV batteries to motors for wind turbines. “That generated a lot of excitement,” says Beau Perry, CEO of Blue Evolution. “Everyone was like, ‘Can you mine with seaweed?’” The company undertook more research into the area, and today it launched a new initiative, Orca Minerals, that’s focused on the new form of mining. Instead of blasting rocks or the seabed, the process makes use of the fact that seaweed naturally absorbs minerals from seawater as it grows. At its lab in San Jose, the company is analyzing samples of seaweed that it grows in seawater tanks on the Mexican coast and in the ocean in Alaska. With the right location, and the right strain of seaweed, Perry says, it’s possible to harvest meaningful amounts of certain minerals. The team identifies and selectively breeds seaweed strains, and is currently analyzing one of those proprietary strains. “We’re starting to select the characteristics that should yield more, with faster growth, but also more solid content and more mineral content,” Perry says. The content of critical minerals like cobalt or palladium is small, but that’s also true in traditional mining. “When you’re mining rare earths, it’s just mostly wasted material. You need a huge amount of rock,” he says. “Rare earth elements are not that much more concentrated in those deposits than in some of the seaweed samples we’ve seen.” Some other startups are working on processes to extract minerals from land using plants, like a company called Metalplant that’s mining nickel with crops grown in Albania. Seaweed has some advantages: It grows much more quickly and can concentrate minerals at a higher proportion, so the yield can be greater. And while there’s a fixed stock of minerals in soil, currents in the ocean continually replenish supply. The rest of the seaweed also has value—as nutrients, pigments, or carbon that can be used to make seaweed-based textiles, plastic, and other materials; critical minerals are a side benefit. As the biomaterials market grows, that would simultaneously mean more potential to displace traditional mining on land. If the company grows seven-figure tons of dry seaweed in Alaska to meet demand for biomaterials, for example, Perry says it could also produce enough scandium to be a major player in the global market. (For some other minerals and elements that are produced at bigger scales, it would contribute a much smaller percentage.) Mining from seaweed, rather than rocks, could help avoid some of the environmental impact of getting components that are necessary in things like electronics and EV batteries. Traditional mining destroys wildlife habitats; pollutes water, soil, and the air; uses large amounts of energy; and creates piles of waste. The The President administration also wants to fast-track deep-sea mining—extracting minerals from the ocean floor—something scientists say could cause irreparable harm to marine ecosystems. Growing and harvesting seaweed doesn’t cause those problems. Refining minerals from seaweed also takes less energy and is a cleaner process than traditional refining, Perry says. The company is working on its own green-chemistry-based extraction techniques that could potentially bypass the need to use a secondary refinery. The work is still in progress, and the company wants to ensure it can predictably harvest a certain volume of critical minerals from its seaweed. But it expects to have an operational prototype by 2027. Commercial production could begin in 2028. View the full article

At a recent academic conference, I noticed a familiar unease ripple through conversations about “soft skills.” Many participants winced at the term. They recognized the inadequacy of the term, yet struggled to agree on a better alternative. People floated around suggestions like “human skills,” “essential skills,” or “power skills,” but none seemed to stick. This persistent terminology problem reflects a deeper tension in our educational system. There’s a long-standing bias that elevates “hard” technical competencies over the nuanced, deeply human capabilities that actually define long-term professional success. Historically, hard skills emerged from the natural sciences—quantitative, measurable, and increasingly automatable. Soft skills, on the other hand, draw from the liberal arts, humanities, and social sciences. These disciplines help us understand human behavior, expression, and interaction. These qualities are notoriously difficult to quantify and even harder to teach. In business analytics, the field I teach, technical fluency is the price of entry. But what propels careers isn’t just knowing which model to run. It’s being able to explain it to a client, manage a team under pressure, adapt when the data shifts, and negotiate conflicting priorities. The multiplier is the human element. If we want students—and professionals—to thrive in the age of artificial intelligence, we need to stop treating soft skills like fluff. They’re complex, teachable, and foundational to success. And they need a better framework. Reframing the spectrum of soft skills The term “soft skills” has served as a catchall for too long. It flattens a vast range of human capabilities into a vague, undervalued category. Let’s unpack what it typically refers to: Character traits: These are innate or deeply ingrained qualities—curiosity, empathy, resilience, integrity. They are difficult to measure and even harder to teach, but they can be reinforced through self-awareness and mentorship. Behavioral habits: This includes punctuality, follow-through, and active listening. These are habits that form the scaffolding of daily effectiveness. Unlike traits, habits are trainable through repetition, reflection, and reinforcement. Teachable skills: Think negotiation, critical thinking, presentation, and conflict resolution. These are skills that we can structure, improve, and break down. Contextual competencies Some soft skills shift with the situation, like cross-cultural communication, executive presence, or stakeholder management. Mastering these skills requires knowledge, as well as adaptability and emotional intelligence. This structure isn’t just an academic exercise. It provides a road map for how higher education can teach, assess, and elevate these skills with the rigor they deserve. Why the liberal arts are more relevant than ever This entire framework—traits, habits, teachable skills, and contextual competencies—rests on a liberal arts foundation. Yet many continue to undervalue liberal arts education in the race to produce technically skilled graduates. That’s a mistake. The liberal arts cultivate intellectual agility, ethical reasoning, and cultural literacy. Rhetoric and composition shape communication. Philosophy and history sharpen critical thinking. Literature and anthropology nurture empathy and emotional intelligence. Ethics and moral philosophy develop character. These are not “extras”—they are essential human capabilities, which humans have forged across centuries of thought and reflection. Even in the case of STEM education depends on these “soft” capacities for its practitioners to thrive in real-world scenarios. The traditional liberal arts saw this clearly. To build capable and thoughtful citizens, you need people who understand science and the humanities. The two disciplines complement one another. The technology paradox Enter artificial intelligence. As AI grows capable of executing routine cognitive tasks and even mimicking creative ones, the gap between human and machine narrows in some areas—but not in others. AI can analyze data, but it can’t coach a team through a moral crisis. It can summarize a policy, but it can’t build consensus across ideologically opposed stakeholders. It can write a headline, but it can’t lead a classroom, negotiate a truce, or inspire trust. The more technical our world becomes, the more vital our human capabilities become. The paradox of progress is that it puts a premium on precisely those soft skills many continue to dismiss. Reclaiming the term Perhaps the answer isn’t to replace the term “soft skills,” but reclaim it. Let’s reframe “soft” not as “easy” or “secondary,” but as “sophisticated,” “subtle,” and “distinctively human.” These are the skills that make teams functional, leaders inspiring, and organizations resilient. They’re not antithetical to technical skill, they’re actually the multiplier. We do our students a disservice when we teach them how to code but not how to communicate, or how to calculate but not how to collaborate. We handicap their potential when we separate technical and human education into silos. And we shortchange society when we undervalue the disciplines that teach us how to be human together. The future doesn’t belong to those who can merely execute technical tasks. It belongs to those who bring the full spectrum of human capability to our most complex challenges. So yes, “soft” skills may be the hardest to master. But they’re also the ones that matter most. View the full article

Across the United States, there is a long history of communities of color being underserved—if not outright oppressed—by the dominant modes of urban planning and development. But for the past 10 years, a collective of architects, designers, artists, and urban planners called BlackSpace has been rethinking how communities of color get designed and built. Now, the group is trying to build up the ranks of practitioners working alongside communities of color in the built environment to make sure their needs are no longer overlooked or ignored. To spread this work through young and emerging firms, BlackSpace has launched Studio KIN (Kinfolx Imagining Neighborhoods), a business accelerator focused on bringing resources, funding, and community to Black-founded ventures that produce services and products focused on the built environment. The incubator’s first cohort has just been announced. “When we think about spatial justice, we think a lot about how it’s realized through having the folks that are planning, designing, and building neighborhoods that reflect the places that they’re serving,” says Kenyatta McLean, co-managing director of BlackSpace. “We developed Studio KIN to be a home for those urbanists that are working to meet communities where they’re at.” Members of BlackSpace’s Studio KIN cohort include an urban planning studio in Indianapolis, a community design firm in Oklahoma City, and a bookstore and community space in Brooklyn. The focus of the accelerator is “interdisciplinary urbanist solutions that strengthen majority Black and majority multiracial neighborhoods,” says Emma Osore, co-managing director of BlackSpace. The hole to fill is wide. There are roughly 1,000 zip codes across the U.S. that have majority Black populations, but fewer than 2% of them are considered prosperous. Osore says the goal of the accelerator is to help support the growth of locally based organizations that use place-based practices to increase prosperity for Black communities, particularly within Oklahoma City, Chicago, Indianapolis, and New York City. “There’s rapid change in Black places in all of these cities, and there are very few people locally who understand urbanism from this people-centered, culturally rooted, and ethical point of view,” Osore says. Having locally based design firms, for example, can help ensure projects are developed in ways that serve their communities over the long term. McLean notes that it’s not uncommon for a big national firm to come in to work on a well-meaning project in a Black neighborhood, only to leave once the contract is over. “What does that mean for the sustainability of that project? What does it mean for the communities that surround that neighborhood?” she says. “That’s another reason why we’re so interested and continue to be interested in folks that are locally rooted, because they will stay through the storms and also be there for the moments of sunshine that are happening.” BlackSpace’s Studio KIN will operate like a typical business incubator, offering support and resources to organizations as they grow and mature. The first cohort is made up of small firms that are between three and five years old, and the accelerator will help them do things like build capacity for new work or help raise capital, as well as more mundane things like assisting with bookkeeping. Members of Studio KIN’s cohort reflect the need for this kind of hyper-specific business incubator. For example, Open Design Collective is the first and only Black woman-led nonprofit design firm in Oklahoma, with a focus on architecture, planning, and cultural preservation. In Indianapolis, Rokh Research & Design Studio focuses on cultural equity by partnering with researchers, practitioners, and community members to understand lived experiences and introduce new policies and strategies for urban design. The accelerator will run for 12 months, and BlackSpace’s program director Gabriella Malavé says the collective plans to have at least three cohorts over the next few years. The shape of the accelerator may shift as the organization gets to understand what members of its first cohort really need to grow and thrive. But the overall goal of the program is to help Black communities by establishing a wider network of urbanist practitioners focused specifically on their unique needs. “Our mission has always been to have opportunities for urbanists to co-create spatial change in partnership with Black communities and to strengthen Black communities,” Osore says. “So this is really a sort of a renaissance for BlackSpace.” View the full article

Getting older can be a time when declining vision, hearing, and cognitive abilities may mean it’s no longer safe to drive. It may even lead to giving up your driver’s license. In theory, those who age out of driving should be perfect new customers for ride-sharing apps. And yet, Lyft says only 5.6% of its U.S. riders are older than 65. The company sensed a disconnect. The app wasn’t meeting older riders’ needs, and it needed a redesign. Lyft Silver, now available nationwide, is designed specifically for older users, with a font that’s 1.4 times bigger than the standard app, and a simple interface. “Developing Lyft Silver was truly a labor of care and intention,” Audrey Liu, Lyft’s EVP of rider experience, tells Fast Company via email. “We started by listening—really listening—to the experiences and needs of older adults. We spoke with riders, caregivers, and organizations that serve this community to understand the specific challenges they face with transportation. Things like navigating complex apps, feeling unsure about who their driver will be, or needing a little extra time and assistance.” The new design represents a collaboration among experts on aging, as well as partners like AltaMed, Urban League, Self Help for the Elderly, and others. The specialized app leans on Lyft’s findings about how its older customers actually use the service, like matching riders with more accessible vehicles that are easier to get in and out of since Lyft data showed older adults were twice as likely to cancel rides when they got matched with a pickup truck. And because Lyft found older adults are 57% more likely to not show up for their rides, the app has a “Get Help” button that connects riders to a live agent during work hours. Lyft Silver profiles also have trusted contacts, so ride details can be shared with family and caregivers. “Personally, thinking about my own mom and aunt, and the desire I have for them to move through their day with ease and independence, was a huge motivator,” Liu says. “We focused on building features that directly address those paint points: things like a simpler app interface with larger buttons and clearer instructions, the option for drivers who have indicated a preference for assisting older riders, and a longer wait time to enter and exit the vehicle without feeling rushed. It was about creating a service that feels less transactional and more supportive, fostering a sense of comfort and trust.” It’s simple by design, and by basing the app on the needs and experiences of its actual users, Lyft Silver shows how tech companies can better adapt their services to an aging population. View the full article

The work-from-anywhere revolution has transformed the traditional 5-day in-office routine into a blend of on-site and off-site schedules, providing employees with more flexibility and freedom. In fact, according to Owl Labs' 2024 State of Hybrid Work, 38% of employees are not working in the office full time. View the full article

Chances are, if you’re not an Italian grandma or a skilled home chef from Rome, you’ve probably messed up while trying to make cacio e pepe. At least, that’s the thesis underpinning the scientific study “Phase behavior of Cacio e Pepe sauce,” published on April 29 in the journal Physics of Fluids. The study—conducted by a group of scientists from the University of Barcelona, the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Germany, the University of Padova in Italy, and the Institute of Science and Technology Austria—is pretty much what its title suggests: a full-on scientific investigation into the most “optimized recipe” for the creamy, peppery pasta dish. “We’re Italians living abroad, and we often get together for dinner to enjoy traditional recipes from home,” says Ivan Di Terlizzi, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute. “Among the dishes we’ve cooked, cacio e pepe came up several times, and every time, we were struck by how hard it is to get the sauce right. That’s when we realized it might actually be an interesting physical system to study. And of course, there was also the very practical motivation of avoiding the heartbreak of wasting good pecorino!” A very brief history of pasta-based physics experiments This isn’t the first time that pasta has been used as inspiration for physicists. Probably the most famous example of “pasta as experiment,” Di Terlizzi says, is the observation that spaghetti almost never breaks cleanly in half, tending to snap into three or more fragments instead. This fact originally puzzled renowned physicist Richard Feynman (who died in 1988) and wasn’t fully explained until 2005, when a team of French physicists showed that it’s caused by cascading cracks traveling along the pasta. Another example, Di Terlizzi adds, is the physics of ring-shaped polymers, which are “notoriously hard to understand.” A study in 2014 used a type of circular pasta, which the researchers called “anelloni,” to explain why these looped polymers behave so strangely in experiments. With cacio e pepe, the physics question of interest has to do with the sauce’s unusual behavior under heat. “The main goal of our work wasn’t just culinary; it was to explore the physics of this system,” Di Terlizzi says. “The sauce’s behavior under heat shares features with many physical and biological phenomena, like phase transitions or the formation of membrane-less organelles inside cells. The recipe is, in a sense, the practical byproduct of everything we learned.” The most optimal cacio e pepe recipe, according to scientists Cacio e pepe traditionally only includes three ingredients: pasta, pecorino Romano cheese, and black pepper. While it seems like a simple enough concoction, the sauce’s creamy smoothness (the backbone of the dish) can be quite finicky to achieve. When the temperature gets too high or the mixing of cheese and pasta water isn’t done carefully, the cheese proteins will denature—essentially “unfolding” and losing their normal 3D structure. In the unfolded state, the proteins then stick together and the emulsion breaks. “Instead of a creamy consistency, you get a gooey mess, which we call salsa impazzita . . . that is, crazy sauce,” Di Terlizzi says. The physics-based solution to “crazy sauce”? It’s all about starch. It turns out that, by perfecting the ratio of starch in the pasta water to cheese mass, the cacio e pepe sauce becomes far more resistant to heat, which stabilizes the emulsion and prevents clumping. AIP Publishing “Without starch, the so-called “mozzarella phase” kicks in at around 65°C, where the proteins start forming large aggregates,” Di Terlizzi says. “But if the starch concentration is above 1% relative to the cheese mass, the clumps stay small, and temperature becomes much less critical, making it much easier to get a good result.” This is similar to using polymers to stabilize emulsions in soft matter physics, he adds. “Phase behavior of cacio e pepe sauce” contains ultra-detailed steps to a foolproof cacio e pepe, but here are the instructions in condensed terms: Step 1: For a pasta dish for “two hungry people,” start with 300 grams of the preferred tonnarelli pasta—or opt for spaghetti or rigatoni, if you must. From there, you’ll need 200 grams of cheese. “Traditionalists would insist on using only pecorino Romano DOP [protected designation of origin], but some argue that up to 30% parmigiano Reggiano DOP is acceptable; though this remains a point of debate,” the recipe notes. Proceed based on your own personally held cheese preferences. Step 2: To prepare the sauce, dissolve 5 grams of starch—like potato or corn starch—in 50 grams of water. Heat this mixture gently until it thickens and turns from cloudy to nearly clear. This is your starch gel. Step 3: Add 100 grams of water to the starch gel. Instead of manually grating the cheese into the resulting liquid, blend the two together to achieve a homogeneous sauce. Finish the sauce by adding black pepper to taste (for best results, toast the pepper in a pan before adding). Step 4: To prepare the pasta, cook in slightly salted water until it is al dente. Save some of the pasta cooking water before draining. Once the pasta has been drained, let it cool down for up to a minute to prevent the excessive heat from destabilizing the sauce. Finally, mix the pasta with the sauce, ensuring even coating, and adjust the consistency by gradually adding reserved pasta water as needed. Step 5: Garnish with grated cheese and pepper, and serve. View the full article

Just two years ago, prompt engineering was hailed as a hot new job in tech. Now, it has all but disappeared. At the beginning of the corporate AI boom, some companies sought out large language model (LLM) translators—prompt engineers who specialized in crafting the most effective questions to ask internal AIs, ensuring optimal and efficient outputs. Today, strong AI prompting is simply an expected skill, not a stand-alone role. Some companies are even using AI to generate the best prompts for their own AI systems. The decline of prompt engineering serves as a cautionary tale for the AI job market. The flashy, niche roles that emerged with ChatGPT’s rise may prove to be short-lived. While AI is reshaping roles across industries, it may not be creating entirely new ones. “AI is already eating its own,” says Malcolm Frank, CEO of TalentGenius. “Prompt engineering has become something that’s embedded in almost every role, and people know how to do it. Also, now AI can help you write the perfect prompts that you need. It’s turned from a job into a task very, very quickly.” AI jobs are just jobs now Part of the prompt engineer’s appeal was its low barrier to entry. The role required little technical expertise, making it an accessible path for those eager to join a booming market. But because the position was so generalized, it was also easily replaced. Frank compares prompt engineering to roles like “Excel wizard” and “PowerPoint expert”—all valuable skills, but not ones companies typically hire for individually. And prompt engineers may not be the only roles fading away. Frank envisions a world where AI agents—already taking shape—replace many lower-level tasks. “It’s almost like Pac-Man just moving along and eating different tasks and different skills,” he says. AI has the potential to displace thousands of workers. Its advocates have long argued that it will create as many jobs as it destroys. Prompt engineering once seemed to support that claim—a brand-new job title born from AI. But that optimism may be misplaced. Rather than inventing entirely new roles, AI is largely reshaping existing ones. Tim Tully wasn’t surprised to see prompt engineering decline. As a partner at venture capital firm Menlo Ventures, he’s witnessed the AI boom firsthand, especially through the firm’s investment in Anthropic. He also works closely with software developers—a profession already transformed by tools like Cursor. His view is clear: The real impact of AI lies not in boutique job creation, but in widespread productivity gains. “I wouldn’t say that [there are] new jobs, necessarily; it’s more so that it’s changing how people work,” Tully says. “You’re using AI all the time now, whether you like it or not, and it’s accelerating what you do.” Did prompt engineers ever exist? It remains unclear whether companies were ever truly hiring for individually titled prompt engineers. They certainly aren’t now, says Allison Shrivastava, an economist with the Indeed Hiring Lab. “It looks to me like prompt engineering is more being combined with, say, a machine learning engineering title or an automation architect title,” Shrivastava tells Fast Company. “It’s probably a part of more job titles, but I’m not necessarily seeing it as a job title in and of itself.” But that’s always been the case—even in 2023, when LinkedIn was filled with self-described prompt engineers. Asked whether there was any change over time in the number of prompt engineer job postings, Shrivastava notes that it was never a large enough title to track mathematically. Which raises a larger question: Did prompt engineering roles ever truly exist? All experts interviewed for this piece were skeptical. The market itself was real enough: The North American prompt engineering market was valued at $75.5 million in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate of 32.8%. But whether that translated into formally titled roles is another matter. “I think the discussion online of [prompt engineering] was probably much bigger than the head count,” says Aline Lerner, CEO of Interviewing.io. “It was such an appealing thing, precisely because it was this on-ramp for nontechnical people into this sexy, lucrative field.” Where are the AI jobs, then? Lerner has observed a clear trend. While Interviewing.io has never offered mock interviews specifically for prompt engineering, it has offered them for machine learning engineering. The distinction is important: Prompt engineers focus on crafting questions for LLMs, while machine learning engineers build the models themselves. And while demand for the former has declined, demand for the latter is surging. “Demand for mock interviews for machine learning engineers was flat for a while, and then in the last two months, it has hockey-sticked up and grown more than three times,” Lerner says. “The future is working on the LLM itself and continuing to make it better and better, rather than needing somebody to interpret it.” Those easy-access AI jobs may no longer exist. Machine learning engineering roles demand deep technical expertise—skills that take years to develop, unlike the relatively shallow learning curve for prompt engineering. Even basic coding skills are no longer sufficient. Indeed’s Shrivastava notes that while demand for developers is declining, engineering roles more broadly are on the rise. For those without a coding background, becoming a founder is often the most lucrative—though risky—route. Management consulting has also seen a boom. As of February, consulting roles made up 12.4% of AI job titles on Indeed. “As time goes on, we might see [AI] in more variety of sectors overall,” Shrivastava says. “They need someone tasked with really implementing that technology into that company.” View the full article

Xellia Pharmaceuticals to close Copenhagen plant and shift some production to ChinaView the full article

George Arison is telling me about a hookup. Arison, the 47-year-old CEO of the LGBTQ dating app and social network Grindr, recalls an encounter with a man who ranked low in physical chemistry—“it was in my bottom quartile of hookups,” he says, as if reviewing a spreadsheet of them—but high in intellectual compatibility. That bottom-quartile hookup is now a good friend of his. To Arison, the story illustrates how meaningful relationships can grow from the random connections Grindr facilitates. And if Grindr’s short time as a public company is any indication, solid financials can too. It’s been a rough stretch for dating apps. Match Group, which owns Tinder and Hinge, among others, commands roughly 42% of the dating services industry, according to market research firm IBISWorld. But its earnings—which stood at $551 million in 2024—have been steadily declining since 2022, even amid modest revenue gains. As of February, Match had replaced its CEO twice in the past three years, and activist investors have been pushing it to reverse declines in usage, particularly among Gen Z. Grindr, meanwhile, continues to grow after going public in 2022. The company increased revenue 33% last year, to $345 million, and boosted monthly average users 7% to reach 14.2 million people, with more than 1 million of them paying. Investors have been pleased: At press time, Grindr stock was up 70% over the past year. More importantly, among its core audience of gay and bisexual men, the app—which eschews dating-app features like swiping and matches for a distance-based grid of available users—remains synonymous with hooking up. Arison, who joined Grindr in October 2022 from used-car marketplace Shift, says the company still has plenty of room to grow. The married father of two’s vision for Grindr is for it to become “the global gayborhood in your pocket,” a kind of digital version of the Castro in San Francisco or Boystown in Chicago, where queer people meet up every day for companionship and commerce. The company is taking the next step in building that gayborhood: incorporating telemedicine services into the app. Users in Illinois and Pennsylvania can now sign up with Woodwork, an online service similar to Hims & Hers that offers easy access to erectile dysfunction medications. Woodwork will roll out nationally throughout 2025. Arison’s pitch, in a nutshell, is that other telemedicine services are for straight people. Woodwork, whose website features photos and videos of jacked dudes writhing on beds and grinding on logs, is a service proudly by and for gay men. If it works, Grindr could begin to peel off some of the nearly $3 billion that Grand View Research says ED treatments command. But there are no guarantees. Similar companies have sought growth by exploring adjacent markets—remember Bumble’s app for finding friends?—and discovered that their user base only really wanted one thing from them. (Bumble stock is down roughly 60% over the last year.) But Arison has an expansive vision for building out Grindr to appeal to people looking for relationships while still bolstering the company’s core business as a hookup app. His experimental approach of testing and refining new features—many driven by AI—that could eventually attract paying subscribers is a tall order, and he knows it. Arison pushes employees to work at least 10-hour days and promises that he pushes himself even harder. In conversation, he uses the word hardcore enough that it begs a comparison to Elon Musk’s approach to running businesses. “Elon Musk is the greatest entrepreneur that the world has ever produced,” Arison says, though he allows that “there are a lot of things about Elon that are not great.” Born under Soviet rule in Georgia (he moved to the U.S. at age 14), Arison relishes proving people wrong and pushing for high performance. “The only limitation on your ability to be better is your own belief that you cannot be better,” he tells me. “One of my fundamental mottoes in life is ‘Do impossible things.’ Most people think I’m nuts, but I’m just like, my entire life is impossible. So you cannot prove to me that what I’m saying doesn’t make any sense, because everything I’ve done in life so far has shown that actually it’s true.” Inside Grindr’s San Francisco office—where a neon eggplant emoji radiates on a nearby wall—he discusses Woodwork, the pressure of leading an LGBTQ-focused public company, and why he’s always in “founder mode.” This interview has been edited and condensed. Let’s start with the big news. Grindr is venturing into telemedicine by offering erectile dysfunction pills through a service called Woodwork. On one hand, this move feels obvious. Lots of gay guys use ED medicines recreationally. On the other hand, I never predicted Grindr would have a telemedicine division. How did you guys get here? When I started talking to shareholders, part of the conversation was: What do we want Grindr to be? Just a dating app or something more? Their view was very strong: We want to be a lot more. And so we developed a strategy for that, which was: We want to be the global gayborhood in your pocket. That involves making the core product exceptional, making AI front and center, and building out neighborhood expansion opportunities. What are other things that you get in the neighborhood when you’re there that you might not be getting on Grindr, but we could offer? We wanted to do things that were aligned with what users want and already use. The three big buckets that we thought were worth investigating were health and wellness, travel and luxury lifestyle, and local discovery. Health and wellness made the most sense to start with because Grindr already dabbles there; we were instrumental in making PrEP [pre-exposure medication to prevent HIV infection] acceptable and popular. We went to users and asked, “If we were to do things in health, what would you want?” One of the first things that came out was that a third of Grindr users actually use ED medications. That gave us a very clear opportunity. Users want it, but they’re buying these products from companies that in no way speak to who they are. Like, I’ve never seen a gay ad for a competitor product. How are you thinking about what other telemedicine services you could provide? Can you imagine offering PrEP or post-exposure medication to prevent STIs [DoxyPEP]? We already partner extensively with PrEP providers. But I don’t think ED meds will be the only thing. It’d be logical to extend into haircare, skincare, and other things of that nature. One area of health and wellness I’m hoping we’ll get to is helping you find the right physician. I used to go to the Stanford LGBTQ clinic and had a very good doctor there, but then he stopped doing clinical work. I really wanted a gay doctor, purely because it’s an easier conversation to have. I could not find a doctor I liked who was available in the Bay Area within 20 minutes of where I live. So now I have a straight concierge doctor, who’s very nice, but I do cringe about certain conversations that I have to have with him. If I, the CEO of Grindr, who, frankly, has a lot of financial means, have had such a hard time finding the doctor I want, then everybody else probably has the same experience, except it’s a lot worse. That feels like a unique opportunity to create access to medical practitioners, especially in a telehealth sense, potentially for people who are in rural communities. It’s been a tough year for dating apps, with lots of talk about Gen Z avoiding dating apps altogether. But Grindr stock is up. How are you bucking the trend? This whole Gen Z-avoiding-apps thing makes no logical sense. Gen Z loves TikTok and loves Reels and thinks you can read something in Google and you’re an expert in it, but they’re not gonna do dating online? What I do think, and what makes logical sense, is that if you don’t build a product that Gen Zers want, they’re not going to use it. That’s where I think some of our peers have fallen flat. Grindr is fortunate. Our younger, 18-plus cohort wants to be in an environment where there are older people as well. Friendships between younger and older people are much more common in our community. Secondly, we have a robust free product, which benefits younger users. And thirdly, we are doing product-led processes—it’s not just monetize, monetize, monetize. We’re saying: Build new things, and those things will lead to revenue. Do you see dating-app fatigue at Grindr? Is Grindr in a different business than Hinge? We’re partly in the dating business, but we’re actually a social network. So we don’t see dating fatigue here. What I do see is we need to do a much better job of making it easier for people who want to date to date. If there is one thing that people try other products for, it’s dating—and then they come back to Grindr. But they tried those other ones because we don’t have dating features like Hinge or Tinder. We have something that they don’t have, which is a critical mass of users. So for our users’ sake, we need to offer them better dating experiences and better dating features to satisfy their needs. We did a big survey of gay and bi men right before the election, mostly for our education. One of the most striking numbers was that for people 35 and under, 50% of gay men want to be in a monogamous relationship at some point. And 25% said they wanted to have kids. When I wanted to have kids, I was like 1 in 100. So to now be in a place where you have 25 of 100 people saying they want to have children is a game changer. Andrew Sullivan, back in the day when he was making a case for gay marriage, a lot of it was like, if you normalize gay marriage, then a lot of gay men will actually move more in the direction of wanting to be in monogamy. And I think the reality is proving him out to be correct in that sense—and I think that’s really encouraging, but also a message to Grindr that we do need to have a much better set of dating features. Let’s talk AI. You’ve talked a lot about building an “AI wingman” in Grindr. How’s that coming? So, I want an AI chat inside Grindr that is basically the wingman for your Grindr user experience—that can help you in any of the things that you’re doing. It’s composing the messages that you’re sending, or helping you find the right people to talk to, or helping you make your photos better. So that’s the goal. Given where the technology is right now, to make this be good is actually really hard. And so you could either say, okay, it’s gonna take me two years to make this be as awesome as I want it to be. Or, I’m gonna build a bunch of little things, and each of them is going to then create the circle that is the AI wingman. We’re building these little agents, and as we build more and more of them, they will kind of unify into one big tool. Most of the road map for this year is around using AI to create really unique and new experiences in the product. One of the things that I’m super psyched about, and we think will be really awesome, is what’s called A List. This looks at your entire chat history—obviously, with users’ permission—and comes up with people that we believe you should reengage with based on your past conversations and then over time, based on your other conversations as well. It is now in beta testing, live to a set of users. It’s for [$40 per month] Unlimited users only at this point, partly because it’s all AI and running it is actually quite expensive. I’ve read complaints about charging for things that used to be free. Cory Doctorow famously called this “enshittification”—the idea that pressure to grow revenues results in a worse user experience over time. How do you think about that? I think about it a lot. I don’t want Grindr to end up like some of our competitors, who hollowed out their products focusing only on monetization and building nothing. We have built a lot of very cool new experiences for people over the last three years. And if you create value for people, it’s a reasonable thing for people to have to pay for those experiences. Albums [which lets users share collections of photos with other users] was not in existence until 2022; over 2 billion albums were sent last year. Every user has access to a free album; if you’re a paying customer, you have access to more. We just launched Right Now [a feature focused on quick hookups], which is available to everybody for free. It’s fair to assume that at some point, some parts of the Right Now experience will be paid, but by no means will all of it be. Maintaining a robust free product is critical. We want free users to be very, very happy. But the way we can afford to have a very strong team to build all these new things is by having people pay for it. You faced a significant backlash in 2023 after you announced a return-to-office policy that led to half the workforce resigning. Was the scale of that turnover intentional? Do you have any regrets about it? It was not intentional. We tried really hard to get people to stay. But people were presented with a choice about how we wanted to work; return-to-office was a small component of that. For a bunch of people who were here before I got here, we’ve become an awesome company, frankly. And for a bunch of people, it’s not what they wanted. Ultimately, I was hired to do something, and that was to take this company public and then to drive incredible growth. For that, you needed people who would be on board and wanted to do that. I think we did the right stuff to make it happen. Transforming the team into one that is much more hardcore—and I don’t shy from that word, honestly—was really important. Working 50 or 55 hours a week should be completely reasonable at a tech company. We pay extremely well. We have very good stock packages. Everyone’s an owner at this company, and I want them to think like an owner. That’s founder mode. I’ve been in founder mode my whole life. What are big misconceptions Wall Street has about Grindr? The first is around people thinking of Grindr as purely a dating app. The biggest question there is around “Is there a significant risk that the same thing [that happened to dating apps] happens here?” Dating products have a shelf life. They constantly go out of favor. But we’ve been around for 15 years. We were here when OkCupid was really popular, and we were here when Tinder was really popular, and we’re around now, when Hinge is really popular. Think of us as a combination of a dating product and a social network. We monetize the dating part of the social network, but we do a lot more. That’s the single biggest area where we need to so some education. As the CEO of one of the only public companies focused on serving gay men, what kind of unique pressure do you feel? It’s a little different from running a marketplace for cars. I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve never actually experienced as much homophobia as a lot of people have experienced in their lives. I did a lot of work in places where you’d expect there to be homophobia. When I was doing Shift, I never ran into that; car dealers or car companies were always very supportive and everything. But it was surprising the level of homophobia that I experienced when I took this job—not on a personal level, but in a professional sense. There was a bank that we wanted to work with at one point, and they just weren’t able to do that. I don’t think individually anyone was homophobic, but as an organization, they couldn’t come to a place of saying yes. But now that bank is an extremely big supporter. I think the fact that we were public for a year, we execute really well, we’ve shown what we can do—that changed the organization’s mind and made a lot of people inside the organization extremely happy. To me, that has created incredible motivation, because part of our mission has to be we do super well as a business and we force everybody to change. Given that, how do you think Grindr should navigate politics at this moment, given that LGBTQ+ is inherently political? Our policy is we’re not in politics. We are in the business of creating a space for our users to have fun. In some ways, our users want to forget about politics when they’re in their app. Secondly, our user base is not monolithic. It’s actually far broader in its point of view than most people would expect. So I think my job is to do everything I can to create a safe, fun, happy space for them. There are some things that it’s actually very important for us to be very loud on, and they involve human rights and access to healthcare, especially internationally. We have Grindr for Equality, which does a lot of work around human rights and health access abroad, working with organizations in those different countries and giving them access to the Grindr app for advertising. We do similar stuff in the U.S. We do that generally under the radar and don’t talk about it, but we do a lot of messaging around issues inside the app. Where we know our user base is fully in alignment, we’re actually very willing to take a position. What are users aligned on? Gay marriage. So if that ever comes under threat, we will be very, very loud about it. View the full article

Grindr is expanding its scope in a way that is entirely on brand. On Tuesday, the company unveiled Woodwork, a telehealth service that will help users access medication for erectile dysfunction. Currently available to Grindr users in Illinois and Pennsylvania, Woodwork will expand nationwide throughout the rest of 2025, according to the company. Grindr CEO George Arison says the company performed internal research that found more than a third of its users take erectile dysfunction drugs. “That gave us a very clear opportunity,” he tells Fast Company in an exclusive, in-depth interview on how he’s growing Grindr’s scope. “Users want it, but they’re buying these products from companies that in no way speak to who they are.” With Woodwork, Grindr is working with telehealth provider OpenLoop to connect users to clinicians who will prescribe compounded versions of common erectile dysfunction drugs tadalafil (Cialis) or sildenafil (Viagra) that dissolve in the mouth. The company said OpenLoop clinicians have received inclusive care training and Grindr offers educational materials tailored to the LGBTQ community. “There’s a set of warnings [with Woodwork prescriptions] that are actually very specific to our users,” Arison says. “I don’t think most services like this would say, ‘Do not take this medication with poppers.’ We do.” Woodwork is Grindr’s first foray into telemedicine, but it’s part of a push from the company to add a host of features—including several powered by AI, like a chatbot for improving messages—to show that it can be more of a social network for LGBTQ users. Arison has called this his effort to make the app into a “global gayborhood in your pocket.” In the past few months, Grindr has expanded its “Right Now” feature (which lets users signal to each other that they’re looking for a quick hookup) to 15 additional markets, including London, New York, Paris, and Chicago. Arison also told Fast Company he wants to add more standard dating features to the app to satisfy users who are looking for relationships. “For our users’ sake, we need to offer them better dating experiences and better dating features to satisfy their needs,” he says. In March, Grindr reported a 33% year-over-year increase in revenue in 2024. Its share price is up 70% over the past year. That’s as companies behind more traditional dating apps—in particular Match Group—struggle, especially among younger users. “If you don’t build a product that Gen Zers want, they’re not going to use it,” Arison says. “That’s where I think some of our peers have fallen flat.” View the full article