Max Koven

Which Jobs Are Really at Risk? Apple's Reality Check on AI Reasoning Before you hand over the keys to AI, understand where it actually breaks down

Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, recently warned that AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years. But not all jobs are created equal. Apple just published research that reveals some limitations in AI reasoning that every business leader needs to understand.

When Answers Are Free, Questions Become Priceless In a world where everyone has AI tools, the most valuable skill isn't knowing the answers—it's knowing what to ask.

When everyone has access to ChatGPT, the competitive advantage goes to those who know how to ask better questions. Learn the framework that improves both your AI results and your management skills.

AI's Second-Order Effects: The Business Opportunities Beyond Job Displacement While AI-driven job losses dominate headlines, history shows the real opportunities emerge not from these first-order disruptions, but from the second-order effects that transform industries and creat...

The key question isn't "Which jobs will AI replace?" but "What new human needs will emerge as AI transforms how we work?"—and that's where the next wave of innovation awaits.

Microsoft's Frontier Firm Advantage: Why The Pilot Phase Is Over Microsoft's research reveals that 'Frontier Firms' don't just adopt AI tools but evolve through three distinct phases to completely reimagine how work gets done.

The companies succeeding aren't just better at using AI—they've fundamentally reimagined what work looks like. They've moved from asking "How can AI help us?" to "How should we rebuild now that AI exists?"

Stop Your AI from Going Off the Rails AI agents without proper guardrails are like cars without brakes — powerful but dangerous. Discover the five essential safeguards every business needs before scaling AI.

As these agents take on more responsibility in your business, how do you ensure they represent your brand values and don't become expensive liabilities?

The Six AI Agents Driving Business Value Now Google's analysis of 600+ AI implementations reveals six practical agent types delivering measurable value today—giving business leaders a framework to identify their highest-impact AI opportunities.

Google's analysis of 600+ AI implementations reveals six practical agent types delivering measurable value today—giving business leaders a framework to identify their highest-impact AI opportunities.

Transforming Tax Work With AI Agents While companies talk about AI transformation, EY is actually doing it—deploying 150 specialized agents to redefine tax work at a scale.

While most companies talk about AI transformation, EY is actually doing it—deploying 150 specialized agents to redefine tax work at a scale that proves the Great Rewiring has arrived.

If You're Not Climbing, You're Sliding: Shopify Makes AI Mandatory Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke sent a company-wide memo that should be required reading for every business leader.

This past week, Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke sent a company-wide memo that should be required reading for every business leader. His message was crystal clear: AI isn't just a tool for competitive advantage – it's now the baseline expectation.

Six Areas That Deliver ROI For Your AI Transformation AI transformation isn't primarily a technology challenge. It's about aligning strategy, people, processes, and data around a clear vision of value.

successful AI transformations are not primarily a technology challenge. It's about connecting strategy, people, processes, and data around a clear business goal

Code Without Credentials: How Business Leaders Can Build AI-Powered Prototypes (Safely) The gap between idea and implementation has never been smaller, and the need for responsible development practices has never been greater.

This collaboration model—business experts create prototypes that developers build into secure production solutions—represents the future of software development. The gap between idea and implementation has never been smaller, and the need for responsible development practices has never been greater

I Don't Write Code, I Just Vibe With It: Creating Software Through Conversation The real power of vibe coding isn't just faster software development—it's democratizing who gets to create. By removing coding as a barrier, domain experts can now build their own solutions.

The real power of vibe coding isn't just faster software development—it's democratizing who gets to create. By removing coding as a barrier, domain experts can now build their own solutions (or at least prototypes of these solutions)

Rewiring Your Business for AI To Capture Value New data shows redesigning workflows is key to AI success, yet only 21% of companies do this.

New McKinsey data confirms our "Great Rewiring" thesis:

"Fundamentally redesigning workflows is the single biggest factor in whether companies see financial returns from their AI investments."

Yet only 21% of organizations have started doing this.

The Great Rewiring (Part III)- How to Onboard AI Agents Part 3 of 3: A practical framework for implementing AI agents in your organization

Just published the final part of my AI Agents series: a practical framework to identify where to start.

Not all processes are AI agent-ready. Ask these 4 questions to find the right ones.

The Great Rewiring-Why AI Agents Are Now Ready for Business (Part II) We explore the four key technological breakthroughs—AI understanding, multi-agent orchestration, direct computer control, and low/no code tools—that are increasing the practicality of AI agents for bu...

Today's AI agents present an inflection point. But what exactly makes these agents different from previous automation tools, and what technological breakthroughs are making them practical for business right now?

The Great Rewiring- How AI Agents Will Transform Business Operations (Part I) A 3-part series on AI Agents. Part 1 explores how companies process information and why AI agents represent the next evolution in organizational efficiency. Just like factories reimagined operations f...

Sharing the first post out of three where I unpack how AI Agents Will Transform Business Operations. Check it out and subscribe to get part 2 and 3 in your inbox.

Generative AI: Boosting Productivity, But Are We Losing Our Minds? AI is making us 3x faster, but our roles are changing: from researchers to fact-checkers, builders to assemblers, doers to directors. Here's how to lead this shift wisely.

The productivity gains from AI are real and remarkable. But as we rush to embrace this superpower, we need to be thoughtful about how we maintain our mental muscles.

AI's Path to Utility: The Four Stages of Evolution Just as electricity transformed from luxury to utility, AI is following the same path. What does this mean for business

As AI becomes a utility, competitive advantage shifts from having AI to using it creatively. Think Amazon with the internet - they won by building on top of it, not by selling access.
Don't ask "How do we add AI?" Instead ask "If AI was as cheap and available as electricity, what would we build?"

From AI that Can Pay Attention to AI that Can Truly Remember Google's Titans: From AI that can pay attention to AI that can truly remember. The next revolution after 'Attention is All You Need.

In 2017, "Attention is All You Need" revolutionized AI by introducing Transformers, powering the AI tools we use today. Now, in 2025, Google's Titans might do the same - but this time with memory.

Question for my fellow AI practitioners and leaders: Can we really compare DeepSeek's $6M reasoning-focused model to OpenAI's general-purpose LLMs

Which AI to Use Now: An Updated Opinionated Guide Picking your general-purpose AI

Every few months, I write an opinionated guide for general purpose users about which AI to pick, especially for newcomers.

Here is my brand new one, which I actually had to update multiple times in the few days I was writing it. Things are changing fast. open.substack.com/pub/oneusefu...

Don't Just Add AI, Re-imagine Work What 1900's factory owners can teach us about AI transformations

When electricity arrived, factory owners simply swapped steam engines for electric motors. Productivity barely budged. Now companies are making the same mistake with AI. Here's what Meta learned from history's lesson about transforming work, not just adding technology.

Build vs Buy AI: The Surprising Truth About How Leading Companies Implement AI Think successful companies build all their AI in-house? A new Bain study reveals a surprising truth about how leaders really implement AI.

Think successful companies build all their AI in-house? New Bain data reveals a surprising truth about how leaders really implement AI.

Happy New Year

New study on AI & investing: When GPT-4o summarizes earnings calls to match investor expertise level (simpler for novices, technical for experts):
Sophisticated investors get +9.6% improvements in 1-year returns, novices get +1.7%
AI helps everyone, but expertise amplifies its benefits considerably!

For Maths fans, 2025 is a square.
45² = 45 x 45 = 2025
Also,
9² x 5² = 2025
40² + 20² + 5² = 2025
My favourite?
1³+2³+3³+4³+5³+6³+7³+8³+9³ = 2025
#Mathematics #teaching #education

Making AI Make Sense: My Top 10 AI Posts of 2024 Discover the key ideas that shaped my thinking about AI transformation in 2024 and what they mean for your business future.

In February, I started Thoughts from the DataFront with a simple goal: write 10 posts making sense of AI's impact on business.

33 posts later, I'm still writing - because every week brings new breakthroughs, challenges, and questions worth exploring together.

Check out my top posts from this year