The doorman fallacy; the case for underwhelming AI; spiky brands and more...
10 non-obvious insights into the future normal of work in the Age of AI (& agents)
I seem to have written about two topics more than any others recently – the future normal of work, and ‘where next for AI?’. This is hardly surprising given how central they both are to everyone reading this.
Knowing how easy it is to feel overwhelmed by the scale and speed of AI innovation, I thought I’d pull out some of the more optimistic and longer-lasting insights around how AI and the future normal of work will intersect which you might have missed.
Plus, it’s half term here in the UK and I’m enjoying a momentary break in the hectic schedule of year-end events, before getting back on the road next week :)
Let’s get to it…
But first, a note from our sponsor (me!). If you’re deep in 2025 strategic planning, sales kick offs, and customer conferences – 🚨 I’d love to help.🚨
Typically I inspire clients with:
Your Future Normal: a trend keynote, bringing you relevant yet non-obvious insights from outside your industry.
VisuAIse Futures: a new interactive, ‘multiplayer’ AI-powered experience to unleash the creativity of your team. Watch the 2-min highlight video.
Read more about these at the bottom of this email, or reach out to Renee Strom on renee@ideapress-speakers.com.
1. Don’t fall victim to the ‘doorman fallacy’.
I wrote about Arini’s automated dental receptionist, and how some people fear it will replace human receptionists:
Low-cost providers might try to take that route, but most practices won’t.
If all we cared about was speed and price, there wouldn't be any coffee shops; we’d all buy our coffee from vending machines.
Rory Sutherland talks of the ‘doorman fallacy’.
If you view a doorman as just opening your doors, then automation will be very attractive. Yet doormen do much more than this – they greet guests, carry bags, give tips and local insights, and more. They elevate the experience and make people feel secure. In the same vein, receptionists do much more than just book appointments. They can sooth patients' nerves and offer comfort. They can explain to patients what to expect. Freed from handling logistics, they can focus on improving the experience for patients (and therefore also for the dentists they’re about to see).
LinkedIn’s Hiring Assistant: A “Less, But Better” AI gets to work
2. What ‘jobs’ will the few remaining humans do in your organisation?
I’m obsessed with Kernel, a new ‘robot-augmented’ fast food joint in New York, and how it points towards a future normal of work that is Less, But Better:
Ells’ vision isn’t of a completely automated, human-free experience. Indeed, he says, “we’ve taken a lot of human interaction out of the process and left just enough.”
Every executive should be asking themselves this question. And if you’re only seeing automation as a way to reduce costs, then you’re suffering from an epic failure of imagination.
3. The most interesting use case for AI agents isn’t automation, it’s sparking human connection.
And the best place to start this might just be within a company. Yours?
4. AI will make many of today’s tasks unnecessary. But it will also be the best way to learn the skills we need to do tomorrow’s jobs.
Watch the video [of Salesforce’s Sales Coaching Agent] closely and you’ll see users being given prompts on what to say during live calls. For example, if a prospect mentions a competitor, the sales rep can be shown a list of features that the competitor doesn’t offer.
It’s hard not to get unreasonably excited about these use cases (well, if you’re a learning geek, like me). Instant, always-on, contextual feedback and advice. These are the copilots that people want!
5. Autonomous AI agents will be the future normal for ‘known’ tasks – those where you can define what a successful result looks like.
The paradox of AI agents is that:
the more capable and autonomous they become, the greater the need to define what success looks like. Otherwise, as Ethan Mollick notes, they can quickly end up performing excessive or even infinite iterations, or inadvertently causing harmful outcomes.
6. The more underwhelming AI agents feel, the more successful they’ll become.
Writing about Salesforce’s AI sales agents:
We’ll exist in various networks of agents who do the easy-but-boring bits of many smaller tasks.
My sense is that this won’t feel particularly revolutionary. It’ll just be a slightly more personalised and responsive experience than using a company’s website or app. Indeed, that sense of ‘meh’ would be a profoundly positive signal.
The moment something becomes normal it means it’s unremarkable. It’s won. Compare that to right now, when too many AI features simply offer a worse experience.
7. Experience is everything. New behaviours will never become mainstream if the experience isn’t brilliant (or at the very least reliable).
Related, on Apple Intelligence:
The difference between ‘just about’ and ‘just do it’ is tiny, but seismic. Early adopters might wade through complexity, or tolerate a substandard experience. But most people won’t.
8. The AI expectation gap is real, painful and urgently needs to be closed.
Upwork reports that:
“96% of C-suite leaders say they expect the use of AI tools to increase their company’s overall productivity levels.”
Vs.
“77% of employees say these tools have actually decreased their productivity and added to their workload.”
But we’re often looking in the wrong place – you should be seeking to unleash your team’s AI-powered creativity, rather than just improve their efficiency.
9. Augmentation > Automation
The faster things move, the more valuable human input will become:
Theoretically, AI agents could generate, test & iteratively optimise even ‘unknown’ creative outputs without human involvement. But that ignores the very real costs involved (whether that’s 'just' time, and/or real world production). When faced with infinite options, human taste and expertise will be shortcuts to success.
10. Creativity → Brand → Identity.
Why I’m not worried about gen AI’s impact on creativity:
Generative AI risks ‘flattening’ creativity. Perhaps you feel this in your feed already. However I believe this will create a backlash – having a strong, ‘spiky’ point of view will become increasingly valuable. Amid abundance, we seek scarcity. We seek belonging.
Can I inspire your team to seize the future?
This year I’ve delivered 25+ sessions, both live and virtually – from Brazil to Saudi Arabia, Slovenia to Shoreditch.
I have a few slots left before the end of the year, and am taking bookings for 2025.
My regular trend & innovation keynotes bring fresh cross-industry, people-first perspectives to your audience.
I’m also hugely excited about the reactions to my newest offering – VisuAIse Futures.
It’s an interactive, ‘multiplayer’ creative experience that will leave your audience thinking differently about AI:
“It was so refreshing to hear how AI can be used to power human imagination, rather than replace it. And then it was even better to actually experience it”
“Fantastic session! Hugely insightful and fun, too!”
“Brilliant. The feeling in the room was positively intense whilst the images were coming through!
Feel the optimistic vibes it will bring to your event in the 2-minute video below.
If you’d like to discuss bringing me to your next meeting or event then please do reach out directly to Renee Strom or check out my speaking site.
Thanks for reading,