I think we're in one of the most unique times ever, where you can actually see that this technology is going to completely revolutionize industries and businesses, and yet we don't know who, what, or when yet.

Amazon exists because of the internet and the ability to move retail into e-commerce. Uber exists because of the cloud and mobile.

That is happening right now with AI, and yet I can't really point to a business that only exists in its form because of AI.

As a leader, as an innovator, there's so much challenge, anxiety, and excitement to be on this wave and figure out what the unlock is in your industry, in your space, in your world. We're going to look back in 10 years and it's going to be completely different.

There will be winners and losers, but they have not been crowned yet. And it's not too late.

Why I'm An Optimist About All Of This

Listen, I'm such an optimist about everything AI. And I want to be known for that.

Look at China. Around 80% of people over there are positive on AI. In the US, around 75% of people are negative on it.

Why is that? When you look at Dario from Anthropic and these people in the doom talking about the replacement of work, they're so extreme. They have no idea. They're not economists, right? They're technologists who see the technology and think these things are going to happen. And there's no doubt it's powerful.

But I really believe in the collective good of humanity.

The nuclear bomb was something that could have ended our world how many times over. And yet because of mutually assured destruction and policy and different things we put in place, the atomic bomb didn't end us. I believe it's the same thing with AI.

And just like with the internet, there are downsides. I believe in the upsides.

Who Will Win

What type of companies win? It's going to be the ones that lean in. Don't lean out.

That's the first step, right? Anyone who's skeptical right now is worried about what it's going to do to their business or what it's going to do to their job.

It's going to be the type of people that are adaptable to change, because there's so much ambiguity right now, and the ability to be open to change and accepting of change is really key. Innovators, creativity, tastemakers. People that have legit expertise, legit experience.

I really don't believe in this world where everybody is going to be democratized as a developer.

You cannot tell me the 10x developer is not going to be better with AI than I am. It makes no sense. I actually think there's going to be more humanity in the things that are human.

We're going to have a renaissance of that over the next 10 to 15 years. In-person human interaction, things that can only be done through human interaction, those are going to be very, very important and very, very big. Almost like when you look at nostalgia, the 80s coming back.

Being Early Matters

And then having spent 20 years in a craft without AI matters too. I'll give you an example of what I mean.

When I started in recruitment, I kind of started at just the right time, because the internet was still nascent enough that there wasn't social media and all that. I was legitimately looking people up in the yellow pages, calling into companies as Matt Palmer from the Broward County Chamber of Commerce so I could get past the receptionist and talk to a marketing leader.

Then I started using LinkedIn as a super early adopter, and LinkedIn saw me and flew me out to be an evangelist to other recruiting companies about why LinkedIn was so great. That's how early I was. I was on Twitter in 2007 too. Very early adopter there.

Then what happens is job boards, posting, and all these things started to proliferate, and shortly after that, people became lazy. The technology did it for them.

Even now, if you look at most internal talent acquisition departments, they sit back and wait. We have a tool called Aeon Source, and it's taking off like wildfire because we know who our customers are and we know what they need. And yet the biggest problem we've seen is when I tell an internal talent acquisition team we're giving them the perfect resume and the cell phone number of the exact person they want, the response is "they didn't reply to my email."

You've got to get them on the phone. So we've had to warm things up ourselves and spoon feed these people because they're not used to doing the fibers that ultimately make us accelerate. One of the reasons MSH is successful is we train our people to do that.

So I was in this realm of pre-technology, post-technology, and the pre-technology world has made me better at the post-technology world. I believe it's the same thing with AI. Understanding it, being an early adopter of the technology and leaning into it. I believe I'll have a definite advantage over others in that space.

Final Thoughts

I am very bullish on what this is going to do for the world and how exciting it's going to be.

AI optimism, the gold rush that's going on in different industries, and giving people purpose in their work.

Those are the things that really get me excited.