My podcast “Poets & Thinker” explores the humanistic future of business leadership
The world is in recalibration mode. To harness the power of AI for good and mitigate the unintended human consequences of the big reshuffle, we need to look beyond traditional leadership playbooks.
Why a podcast and why now?
I’ve been thinking about the topic for quite a while as part of my research and teaching work at Princeton, and when I decided to go solo at the beginning of the year, it felt like the right time to finally kick things off.
We’re living through uncertain times, and for leaders this means we need to step up, rethink, and most likely recalibrate ourselves so we can lead our organizations into a future that will most probably look tremendously different from the last 100 years.
Truth is, the answers to “What’s next?”, “How do we get there?”, and many more profound questions will not be found in the business leadership or management playbooks of the past. As we’re grappling with some of the biggest questions of humanity, we’ll need to look beyond mechanical tactical, potentially outdated models, and find inspiration in what makes us truly human.
Here are some topics you can expect:
The myth of greatness, and ethics in business (Episode 1 with author and writer Avi Alpert just dropped)
Do you breathe when you scroll? On art installations that reflect the mental, emotional, and physiological effects of modern technology.
AI policy making in service of humanity, from the WEF in Davos to Washington DC.
The other F word, or the need to build resilient organizations that embrace Failure in the age of AI.
The breakdown of the traditional management playbook, from Jamie Dimon to Silicon Valley leaders.
In times that feel incredibly tense, polarized, and fast-moving, with mass-produced generative AI content, I found that a “good ol’” conversation between two people might be the best format to remind ourselves of our shared humanity. That, at the end of the day, we’re social beings that have the capacity to care and inspire. To imagine a world that is good for us humans and the planet. Maybe naive, maybe too romantic – or maybe the medicine we need. We can certainly all use more nuance and color to keep us optimistic.
Welcome to Poets & Thinkers
My hope and goal is that these conversations inspire and offer counter points or additional perspectives to the post-human (maximal capitalistic) narrative that’s being relentlessly promoted by many tech leaders and capitalists.
Out of the 12 or so podcast conversations I’ve had so far, it’s clear that critical thinking based on humanistic values is going to be essential for leading into the future. Or else me might be fucked. And that’s something I refuse to accept because I so strongly believe in human ingenuity and the goodness in people.
So, here we go, welcome to Poets & Thinkers! If you like the show, follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. And if you think of anyone I should interview, drop me a note.
3 inspiring links
Capital D Podcast: Together with Gordon Ching (founder and CEO of Design Executive Council) and Kaaren Hanson, I’m co-hosting a bi-weekly podcast called “Capital D” where we discuss timely topics at the intersection of design and business. Give it a listen!
Planning in the brain: A research study on the topic of planning and how AI systems might be able to replicate what used to be a core human trait.
Tolan is an adorable alien AI character. This story from FastCo goes behind the scenes. Interesting!
You made it. Thank you!
Kudos to you for making it all the way to the end. Please share your feedback, questions or any topics you’d like me to touch on.
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