Week in Review (and "Welcome Back!")

Welcome Back!

Quite a few of you might be wondering why you're getting emails all of a sudden. At some point in time each of you opted into my newsletter, but I'd been honestly a bit shy about actually sending you updates on the newsletter. I recently had the epiphany that if you signed up for it, I should trust that you actually wanted to receive updates. If that's no longer true, I apologize, but hopefully you find it easy to unsubscribe (though I hope you don't!)

Back in Action

Groktopus had barely gotten off the ground in 2022, and by the second quarter of 2023 I was already putting my new consultancy to rest. But why?

Well, one of my favorite clients, Lark Health, had asked me to join as their new VP Engineering. I loved the company, its mission, and the people there. So how could I refuse? I had a great couple of years there. But I did what I set out to do. And now I'm getting back to my own work.

This week was spent bootstrapping a lot of the overall business operations I need to make light work of the tedious parts of running my own company. Re-launching a web site was a big part of that. And I did have a number of really exciting topics to talk about, which resulted in...

This Week in New Content

I know that everyone is excited about AI right now. There's a lot of noise, a lot of hype, and it can be hard to discern what's real and what's not.

I was really fortunate to get a number of opportunities to work with AI early-on, to actually bring new products successfully to market that gave positive outcomes to end users with AI-augmented experiences. And also making good use of AI within organizations to refine and amplify the abilities of the humans that make it all possible.

So I believe I'm in a good position to help curate insights as a trusted advisor, to help bring to light what's really happening right now to successfully leverage the latest AI capabilities in human-centered organizations.

The Articles

• Frontier Firm Explained: Microsoft's Vision for the Future of Work - The future of work is being rewritten by artificial intelligence, and Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index reveals a seismic shift underway.
• Becoming an Agent Boss: Skills for the AI-Enhanced Workplace - The age of the Agent Boss is here. As AI transforms how we work, those who master collaboration with intelligent agents will lead the charge. Are you ready to manage the future?
• Beyond AI Assistants: How Human-Agent Teams Will Transform Organizations - The true disruption of AI isn’t automation-it’s reorganization. Microsoft’s Frontier Firm research reveals a fundamental shift: 47% of companies now use AI agents to fully automate workflows, but the real transformation lies in how these digital colleagues are rewriting the rules of collaboration.
• When Machines Dream: The Top AI Films and Shows That Shaped How We Think About Tomorrow - From sci-fi nightmares to soulful companions, AI on screen has shaped how we imagine—and build—the future. Here are the films and shows that defined our digital dreams. I thought that since there's a rich synergistic relationship between emerging science and science fiction, it would be a great idea to periodically look back through the speculative lens to see how our thoughts and ideas about AI and other emerging technologies have been informed through literature and entertainment.

What's Next?

I'm excited to kick off the week on Monday with a story comparing and contrasting two different prominent CEO's and their respective public discourse about the place of AI in their organizations.

Do let me know what's resonating, what you'd like to hear more about.

You're not alone - I'm here to help!

It is completely understandable if you're in shock over how rapidly AI is working its way into everything. Not just redefining product experiences, but redefining the traditional workforce.

You don't have to have it all figured out overnight, but there are concrete steps you can take to formulate and execute on your own AI strategy. Groktopus is here to help!