WSJ: “Employees’ days are bleeding into the evening, new data show—thanks to a growing load of meetings, emails and, yes, actual work.”
Jason Lemkin: “I’m easily 3X more productive than 12 months ago, leveraging various AI tools across my workflow. Content creation, data analysis, customer communications, pitch deck review—all truly transformed. But there’s a shadow side to this productivity explosion. Every AI-powered workflow creates additional decision points and outputs requiring human judgment. Each time Claude, GPT, or another system generates content or analysis for me, I need to: evaluate its accuracy, adjust the framing, integrate it with other workstreams, apply business context the AI doesn’t possess. This work—what I call “AI output management”—isn’t captured in our efficiency metrics. Yet it’s growing exponentially.”
FT: “Comparing the most valuable brands, as measured by Kantar, today and from 20 years ago, it is clear some have worked hard to stay relevant and valuable, while others have fallen away. Luck, technological innovation and management, good and bad, have all played a part in this process…In her new book Brand Global, Adapt Local: How to Build Brand Value Across Cultures, Katherine Melchior Ray introduces the concept of a “brand fulcrum” to balance the seemingly conflicting need for a brand to respect and draw on its traditions while also innovating and keeping up with trends and shifting consumer needs. “The fulcrum ensures a brand doesn’t become too classic and conservative, or too flirty and fleeting,” she writes.””
WSJ: “People perceive you as more decisive and purpose-driven when you say no the right way. And people would much rather have you say no upfront than say yes and then drop the ball later. If you do a shoddy job or don’t deliver on time because you are overwhelmed or overcommitted, you damage relationships and your reputation much more than if you had said no in the first place. As one person told me during a coaching session, “You are not doing your reputation any favors by biting off more than you can chew.” Saying no to a client’s request—or, even hiring an external consultant—helps secure your reputation and ensure client satisfaction.”
Mint: “Nikam and the textile manufacturer are part of the ‘non-typing majority’ among India’s 900 million internet users. These are primarily people from Tier II, Tier III cities and villages, where English is uncommon and digital literacy is just emerging. Their preference for voice communication highlights a fundamental need for new interaction methods. “Nobody’s typing in Gujarati or Marathi,” says Abhishek Upperwal, founder of Soket AI Labs. Founded in 2019 by Upperwal, Soket AI Labs is an AI research company developing multilingual large language models such as Pragna-1B for Indian languages. It is among the four startups selected by the government under its IndiaAI initiative to co-develop indigenous AI systems. Voice remains the ‘primary interface’ for most Indians, says Upperwal. These users, including rural entrepreneurs, gig workers and homemakers, are reshaping India’s internet, demanding tools that listen and respond in their native languages.”
