As of ๐๐๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฑ, global AI investment is projected to reach $๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ผ๐ป โ a ๐ฒ๐ฌ% ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ-๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ-๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ.
โข Countries want to lead.
โข Corporations want to dominate.
โข Everyone wants to be first with the most advanced AI systems.
But in the noise of this race, I see something deeply unsettling:
๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐พ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐น๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ.
Last week, I spoke with a ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ from a Fortune 500 company โ someone who led a team of 100+ people โ and who just lost his job. He asked:
โ๐๐ฎ ๐ ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ?โ
Heโs not alone.
Veterans โ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐, ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐, ๐ฉ๐ฃ๐ โ are suddenly being ๐น๐ฒ๐ณ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ.
Not for lack of capability, but because the narrative has changed:
โ๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต.โ
โข I see fear.
โข I see Fear of Missing Out (FOMO).
โข I see decisions driven by ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ โ not ๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ.
Many organizations are abandoning their ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ to chase the AI dream.
But here's the danger:
โข What if the new youโre chasing is a mirage?
โข What if, when you finally look back, your foundation is gone?
โข What if the people who built your success no longer feel seen โ or needed?
๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ.
But itโs not magic.
Itโs a ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐น โ one that must ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐, not ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ, the hard-won wisdom of your people.
๐๐ฒ๐โ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐:
The same people now feeling uncertain are the ones who got you here โ through ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐๐ต, ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ.
In todayโs world, ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐น๐๐
๐๐ฟ๐.
But your ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด-๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐.
๐ฆ๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐, ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐๐ธ:
โข Are we building with wisdom โ or reacting to hype?
โข Are we empowering our people โ or displacing them?
โข Are we innovating with care โ or chasing the next shiny thing?
๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ถ๐๐ปโ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐น๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐.
Itโs about ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฒ ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ.
๐๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป:
Before you rush into your next AI initiativeโฆ
โข Sit beside a veteran colleague with curiosity.
โข Ask them how they built, how they endured, how they cared.
โข Hear the story of your company โ not from a dashboard, but from someone who lived it.
Because sometimes, the wisdom you need for the future...
is sitting quietly in the past โ waiting to be seen.
Thoughts?