Shape of Tomorrow

This week I'm exploring three stories that I think reveal much bigger shifts than the headlines suggest. We look at OpenAI's new approach to AI work, a remarkable breakthrough from Stanford that could change the pace of scientific discovery, and Anthropic's new Reflect feature that made me rethink my own relationship with AI. None of these stories is really about technology. They're about how work...

This week I'm connecting three stories that reveal the deeper forces shaping the future of AI. From energy becoming AI's hidden constraint, to frontier models emerging as geopolitical assets, to vendors embedding AI teams inside customer organizations, I explore what these signals mean for leaders, strategists, and anyone trying to make sense of where AI is really headed. Join me as we look beyond...

Everyone is focused on making AI better at talking. I think the bigger story is teaching AI to understand. In this episode, I explore the rise of world models, why some of the brightest minds in AI believe they represent the next major breakthrough, and what they could mean for robotics, autonomous vehicles, digital twins, and the future of intelligent systems.

This week on Shape of Tomorrow, I explore a fascinating new report from PwC that challenges one of the biggest assumptions about AI and the future of work. Rather than creating a single outcome for workers and organizations, the data suggests AI is driving the emergence of two very different paths. What does this mean for leaders, educators, and anyone thinking about talent, growth, and competitiv...

This week on *Shape of Tomorrow*, I'm exploring two very different AI breakthroughs that I believe are pointing toward the same future. First, I unpack Anthropic's new **Fable 5** model and explain why it may represent a major step toward AI systems capable of autonomous, long-horizon work. Then, I turn to **Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD)** technology and what it reveals about AI's growing abilit...

This week on Shape of Tomorrow, I take a closer look at two topics that have been occupying my thinking. First, I unpack the latest advances from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. While much of the conversation around AI focuses on benchmarks and model comparisons, I believe the more important story is the emergence of systems that can plan, coordinate, monitor, and execute increasingly complex work....

This week on Shape of Tomorrow, I'm taking a different approach and answering questions submitted by listeners and readers. We explore how organizations can build trust in their data, separate AI reality from marketing hype, prioritize the right initiatives, and connect technology investments to meaningful business outcomes. If you're navigating the challenges of strategy, innovation, data, or AI,...

This week on Shape of Tomorrow, I explore what I’m calling The Great Repatriation, the quiet but potentially massive shift of AI away from the cloud and back toward organizations themselves. Most people see this as another hardware announcement. I think it points to something far more important. In this shorter episode, I unpack why AI sovereignty, local intelligence, and owning your own “AI facto...

In Episode 185 of Shape of Tomorrow, I explore the growing disconnect between the AI conversations happening at conferences and the realities organizations are facing inside boardrooms and budget meetings. I break down how I think leaders should approach AI roadmaps when budgets are constrained, pressure is high, and credibility matters more than hype. I walk through a practical framework focused...

In this episode of Shape of Tomorrow, I explore why so many successful organizations still struggle to adapt when disruption begins at the edges. Drawing from ideas in my upcoming book Strategic Surface Area, I walk through three practical actions leaders can take to avoid falling into the innovator’s dilemma and build organizations that are better at detecting signals, protecting experimentation,...

In this episode, I explore three timely and thought-provoking topics shaping how we think about the future of work, education, and innovation. I begin with entrepreneurship in schools, unpacking why there is strong agreement on its importance, yet so many programs struggle to take hold. The real challenge is not belief. It is design. Next, I examine Amazon’s recent hiring and layoffs, and what it...

In this episode of Shape of Tomorrow, I explore a major shift in how expertise is defined in a world where knowledge is no longer scarce. As AI makes answers instantly accessible, the advantage is moving toward those who can think critically, frame problems, and apply judgment in complex situations. I also examine what this looks like in practice, particularly in education, where professionals are...

This week’s episode of Shape of Tomorrow explores a development that signals a meaningful inflection point. The new Claude Opus 4.7 model has dropped, and it represents a step beyond traditional AI capabilities. This is no longer about generating content faster. These systems are beginning to reason, validate their own outputs, and operate with varying levels of depth depending on how they are eng...

This week didn’t introduce a new AI breakthrough. It changed something more important. The constraint has shifted. In this episode, I walk through a series of signals that, taken together, point to a new reality. Building AI is no longer the challenge. Deploying it and deciding what it should actually do is. We are moving from systems that answer questions to systems that take action. And most org...

As Apple marks its 50th anniversary, I found myself reflecting on one of the most important technology moments of the past two decades: the introduction of the iPhone. In 2007, most of us saw a better phone. What we didn’t see was a fundamental shift in how we live, work, learn, and build. In this episode, I explore what we misunderstood about the iPhone and how it quietly reset expectations acros...

A quiet but profound shift is underway. This week’s episode explores how AI is not just improving software, but fundamentally reshaping how it is priced, valued, and used inside organizations. What looks like market disruption is actually a transition toward a new model where outcomes matter more than headcount, and where capability begins to scale independently of people. At the same time, a seco...

What started as a fully planned episode took an unexpected turn after I spent the evening at the University of Guelph, attending a networking event hosted by the Guelph Project Management Collective. I had the chance to speak with students who are just beginning their careers, and what began as typical conversations quickly became something far more reflective. The questions they asked were simple...

In this week’s episode of Shape of Tomorrow, I explore two developments that reveal how quickly the nature of work is changing. First, I look at a new capability from Anthropic’s Claude that can generate interactive charts and visual explanations directly inside a conversation, hinting at a shift in how AI communicates knowledge. Then I share a real example from a consulting engagement where I bui...

In this episode of The Shape of Tomorrow, I explore two shifts that I believe could reshape work more profoundly than the usual headlines about AI taking jobs. First, I look at the rise of physical AI and what happens when intelligent systems move beyond software and begin operating in the physical environments where we work, from retail to healthcare to infrastructure. Then I turn to generative c...

AI pilots are succeeding. So why is transformation stalling? In Episode 174 of Shape of Tomorrow, I challenge the assumption that data, talent, or tooling are the real constraints. As AI moves from experimentation to enterprise infrastructure, many organizations are discovering a deeper structural friction that no one wants to name. This episode is not about selecting better technology. It is abou...

Your organization is already using AI. You just may not know where. In Episode 173 of Shape of Tomorrow, I explore the hidden layer of AI adoption happening inside organizations right now. Beyond official strategy decks and approved tools, AI is quietly shaping work products, compressing workflows, and influencing decisions at the individual level. This is not a warning. It is a wake-up call. If y...

Two major announcements this week point to a much larger shift. Udemy is integrating its full learning catalog directly into ChatGPT. Loblaw is embedding grocery planning and shopping into the same conversational layer. Different industries. Same underlying pattern. AI is moving from answering questions to completing outcomes. Skill development can now unfold inside a conversation. Meal planning c...

In this episode, I take a step back from headlines and announcements and share how I actually read the future. I walk through a few recent AI stories and show how I look past the surface to identify early signals of deeper structural change. This is not about trends or predictions. It is about learning to spot the assumptions that are breaking and understanding what those breaks quietly lock in fo...

AI is no longer just answering questions. It is starting to take assignments. In this episode of Shape of Tomorrow, I explore a pivotal shift as artificial intelligence moves from tool to actor, executing work rather than merely advising on it. I look at what this means in practice, from autonomous agents in the workplace to AI tutors beginning to reshape education. This episode is not about speed...

Data does not fail organizations. Confidence in the wrong data does. In this episode of Shape of Tomorrow, I explore why data-rich companies so often miss disruption and how analytics can quietly reinforce business models that are already expiring. I draw on familiar failures and modern examples to unpack the difference between reporting on the past and sensing what is forming at the edges. This i...