At its heart, pizza is deceptively simple. Made from just a few humble ingredientsbaked dough, tangy sauce, melted cheese, and maybe a few toppingsit might seem like a perfect candidate for the kind of mass-produced standardization that defines many global food chains, where predictable menus reign supreme.
Yet, visit two pizzerias in different towns, or even on different blocks of the same town, and youll find that pizza stubbornly refuses to be homogenized.
We are researchers working on a local business history project that documents the commercial landscape of Gainesville, Florida, in the 20th and 21st centuries. As part of that project, weve spent a great many hours over the past two years interviewing local restaurant owners, especially those behind Gainesvilles independent pizzerias. What weve found reaffirms a powerful truth: Pizza resists samenessand small pizzerias are a big reason why.
Why standardized pizza rose but didnt conquer
While tomatoes were unknown in Italy until the mid-16th century, they have since become synonymous with Italian cuisineespecially through pizza.
Pizza arrived in the U.S. from Naples in the early 20th century, when Italian immigration was at its peak. Two of the biggest destinations for Italian immigrants were New York City and Chicago, and today each has a distinctive pizza style. A New York slice can easily be identified by its thin, soft, foldable crust, while Chicago pies are known for deep, thick, buttery crusts.
After World War II, other regions developed their own types of pizza, including the famed New Haven and Detroit styles. The New Haven style is known for being thin, crispy, and charred in a coal-fired oven, while the Detroit style has a rectangular, deep-dish shape and thick, buttery crust.
By the latter half of the 20th century, pizza had become a staple of the American diet. And as its popularity grew, so did demand for consistent, affordable pizza joints. Chains such as Pizza Hut, founded in 1958, and Papa Johns, established in 1984, applied the model pioneered by McDonalds in the late 1940s, adopting limited menus, assembly line kitchens, and franchise models built for consistency and scale. New technologies such as point-of-sale systems and inventory management software made things even more efficient.
As food historian Carol Helstosky explains in Pizza: A Global History, the transformation involved simplifying recipes, ensuring consistent quality, and developing formats optimized for rapid expansion and franchising. What began as a handcrafted, regional dish became a highly replicable product suited to global mass markets.
Today, more than 20,000 Pizza Huts operate worldwide. Papa Johns, which runs about 6,000 pizzerias, built its brand explicitly on a promise rooted in standardization. In this model, success means making pizza the same way, everywhere, every time.
So what happened to the independent pizzerias? Did they get swallowed up by efficiency?
Not quite.
Chain restaurants dont necessarily suffocate small competitors, recent research shows. In fact, in the case of pizza, they often coexist, sometimes even fueling creativity and opportunity. Independent pizzeriasthere are more than 44,000 nationwidelean into what makes them unique, carving out a niche. Rather than focusing only on speed or price, they compete by offering character, inventive toppings, personal service, and a sense of place that chains just cant replicate.
A local pizza scene: Creativity in a corporate age
For an example, look no farther than Gainesville. A college town with fewer than 150,000 residents, Gainesville doesnt have the same culinary cachet as New York or Chicago, but it has developed a unique pizza scene. With 13 independent pizzerias serving Neapolitan, Detroit, New York, Mediterranean styles, and more, hungry Gators have a plethora of options when craving a slice.
What makes Gainesvilles pizza scene especially interesting is the range of backgrounds its proprietors have. Through interviews with pizzeria owners, we found that some had started as artists and musicians, while others had worked in engineering or educationand each had their own unique approach to making pizzas.
The owner of Strega Nonas Oven, for example, uses his engineering background to turn dough-making into a science, altering the proportions of ingredients by as little as half of a percent based on the season or even the weather.
Visitors to Satchels Pizza get a creative welcome. [Photo: courtesy of the authors]
Satchels Pizza, on the other hand, is filled with works made by its artist owner, including mosaic windows, paintings, sculptures, and fountains.
Gainesvilles independent pizzerias often serve as what sociologists call third placesspaces for gathering that arent home or work. And their owners think carefully about how to create a welcoming environment. For example, the owner of Scuola Pizza insisted the restaurant be free of TVs, so diners can focus on their food. Squarehous Pizza features a large outdoor space: an old, now repurposed school bus outfitted with tables and chairs to dine in, and a stage for live music.
Squarehouse also is known for its unusual toppings on square, Detroit-style piesfor example, the Mariah Curry, topped with curry chicken or cauliflower, and coconut curry sauce. It refreshes its specialty menus every semester or two.
While the American pizza landscape may be shaped by big brands and standardized menus, small pizzerias continue to shine. Gainesville is a perfect example of how a local pizza scene in a small Southern college town can be unique, even in a globalized industry. Small pizzerias dont just offer foodthey offer a flavorful reminder that the marketplace rewards distinctiveness and local character, too.
Paula de la Cruz-Fernández is a cultural digital collections manager at the University of Florida.
Avi Ackerman is a researcher at Inquire Capitalism UF at the University of Florida.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Shopping has evolved more over the past 10 years than it has in the previous 50.
Once rooted in an in-person experience of trial and tactility, the path to purchase has changed dramaticallypropelled by rapid advancements in technology, shifting consumer expectations, and most significantly, global events and disruptions that reshaped the way we connect and consume.
The COVID-19 pandemic served as an inflection point that accelerated digital adoption at lightning speed. Now, new geopolitical challenges like rising tariffs are adding further complexity and pressing brands to reimagine how they engage with their consumers, deliver value, and maintain loyalty in a rapidly evolving retail landscape.
If the last 10 years have taught retailers anything, its that adaptability is everything. The brands that thrive are those that embrace innovation, not as a trend to follow, but as a mindset during uncertain times. As we look to the future, continued technological advances ease the way when policy and pricing pressures are squeezing margins. Technology will also shepherd in a new era of hyper-personalized, predictive experience for beauty consumers that blends digital and physical experiences seamlessly.
Beauty retails biggest turning points
A decade ago, the retail landscape was just beginning to feel the true impact of digital disruption. E-commerce was growing but still held a minority share compared to brick-and-mortar sales. With mobile commerce on the rise, retailers needed to optimize for smaller screens and on-the-go buyers. Buy online, pick up in store was still a relative novelty. Social media was gradually evolving from a place to chat with friends into a destination for product discovery, but it was not yet a primary sales channel. Personalization was nascent, but it was limited primarily to email campaigns and site recommendations.
These trends would continue to evolve over the next handful of years, with incremental progress and increased adoption each year. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the gas pedal on these transformations. Overnight, the shopping experience completely changed.
Suddenly, online shopping became the default preference for consumers, and shoppers could easily choose between same-day delivery, curbside pick-up, shipping, and more. This was the moment retailers doubled down on their technology investments in AI, automation, and better customer data infrastructure, which has surged in the years since. Social commerce via TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube blossomed with live shopping and creator recommendations that encouraged consumers to discover and add their favorite finds to cart.
Even tactile beauty products that typically require customers to sample and try on before buying became sought-after online products, launching beauty brands into the next era of technology adoption. Virtual try-on using augmented reality and AI-driven product matching and recommendations became industry must-haves. Consumers began to expect unified and tailored shopping journeys across every touchpointfrom virtually trying on lipstick via a mobile app to receiving AI-powered skincare recommendations on a laptop. An increasingly saturated marketplace and influences from a complex web of content, reviews, and recommendations turned personalization into table stakes.
Beauty retails consumer-centric reset
Today, retail has evolved from a largely transactional, siloed model into a dynamic, interconnected ecosystem. The biggest shift? Power has moved into the hands of the consumer, who now expects personalization, participation, and seamlessness wherever and however they choose to shop.
The last decade has proven that beauty shoppers are primed and ready for the industrys next transformation, which is coming at a moment of heightened economic uncertainty. Consumer behavior is echoing the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, with shoppers now tightening their purse strings, panic-buying, and ditching the salon. During the pandemic when life became contactless, the industry had to pivot fast and reimagine how customers discover, try, and buy products. Now tariffs, global supply chain fragility, and regional policy shifts are sparking another wave of reinvention.
Todays retailers must meet this moment by balancing the demand for integrated, customer-centric shopping flows with the operational need for agility, efficiency, and resilience. The challengeand opportunitylies in building an ecosystem that can flex with the market, while still delivering the elevated, intuitive experiences modern beauty shoppers expect.
Whats next for beauty retail? Agentic AI
Technology proved essential in maintaining connection and engagement during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and it continues to serve as a critical bridge between brands and consumers amid todays financial and geopolitical pressures. But the next chapter will be shaped by something far more transformative: the emergence of agentic AI.
Unlike traditional AI systems that respond to user inputs with passive recommendations, agentic AI operates autonomouslylearning, reasoning, and initiating actions on behalf of the consumer. This means moving beyond surface-level personalization to deliver true, proactive value, marking a fundamental disruption to the traditional shopping journey.
In a world where tariffs, supply chain constraints, and fluctuating prices create uncertainty, agentic AI brings stability and foresight. It enables brands to meet each shopper not just where they arebut where theyre going and unlocks unprecedented operational flexibility. Sampling, trial, education, and even replenishment can be driven digitallyreducing overhead and mitigating exposure to global market volatility. For consumers, the shopping experience becomes less about browsing and more about being intuitively served, with smart systems anticipating needs, providing confidence, and removing friction.
This is not just the next trendits a paradigm shift. The brands that embrace agentic AI now will be best positioned to lead a new era of intelligent retail, where deep personalization, economic efficiency, and brand trust converge. Just as the past decade redefind where and how we shop, the next will redefine what helps us shop. And that helper, increasingly, will be agentic AI.
The industrys mission has always been to bridge the gap between innovation and consumer connection, helping brands reimagine whats possible even amidst global challenges. Technology is poised to continue its role as a vital lifeline that provides the stability and flexibility consumers and brands grab hold of as new trials emerge.
Alice Chang is CEO and Founder of Perfect Corp.
Believe it or not, this is the best time in history to be a creative. Technology advances and platforms like Instagram and TikTok have dramatically lowered the barriers to create work and share it with the world. Theres less emphasis on formal degrees or certifications, and more value placed on having a portfolio that reflects your taste, sensibility, and point of view.
At the same time, its become more challenging to land (and keep) an entry-level role at an agency or design studio. Studies show that client pressure to produce more assets for less money has driven the push for greater efficiency in time and budget. As a result, teams have become leaner and more reliant on seasoned talent who can operate independently from day one.
With many teams still working remotely or in the office only part time, the expectation is often to self-manage and deliver with minimal oversightsomething thats inherently more difficult for those just starting out. In my work with the creative organization and educational charity D&AD, Ive seen firsthand that its a complicated picture, full of real structural challenges. And its evolving in real time.
But this moment is also full of opportunity, so long as creative talent and educators evolve accordingly and dont ignore the industrys changing creative needs. Today, nurturing creativity isnt about learning specific skills in design, VFX, production, writing, and more. Instead, its about perspectiveeach creative’s unique lens on the world informed by their lived experiences, personal network, and interactions. And it must be nurtured if were to navigate the uncertainty the industry is facing.
A critical creative shift
The accessibility of creative toolsand their ease of usehave opened the industry to fresh voices and perspectives. Its part of the reason we initially launched Shift, our free night school for self-taught creatives, to serve a growing influx of diverse creators coming from outside traditional pathways. Similarly, emerging tech is also fueling record-breaking creative output. This past year alone, were increasingly becoming accustomed to embracing and awarding work utilizing AI to push creative boundaries. But while more people are creating at a higher frequency, far fewer are doing it with the focus, consistency, and discipline required to achieve real expertise or mastery.
While the concept is often contested, Malcolm Gladwell popularized the idea that it takes 10,000 hours to truly get great at something. It’s harder to reach that threshold in todays creative industry. The pace is fast, attention is fragmented, and opportunities to go deep into one discipline are increasingly rare. Were also missing the network and community that made it easier in the past.
While some might say that taste and storytelling are the creative skills that will help talent survive this industry-wide shift, the truth is that both are becoming table stakes. The real creative differentiator is the ability to leverage your unique perspective, developing an insight that addresses a challenge. Then, you have to be able to articulate your perspective well enough to orchestrate creativity around itto lead multidisciplinary inputs, shape ideas across human and machine collaborators, and still land on something culturally relevant.
In a world where the tools are accessible to everyone, the people who can apply their voices and direct creative impactnot just generate more and faster creative outputsbecome indispensable.
Now, that doesnt mean that everyone needs to be a content creator or a polymath. Whats changing is the need for new and deeper cultural points of reference, the ability to articulate and communicate those references, and the expectation that creatives understand how different mediums and roles interact. Even if youre not doing it all yourself, you need to be able to collaborate across disciplines, speak multiple creative languages, and move fluidly between ideas and execution.
Value your experiences
As talent looks to future-proof their careers, theres several steps they can take to make sure their unique voices and experiences become valuable assets in meeting tomorrow’s creative needs.
First, they should hone their perspective, particularly if theyre coming to the creative industry from non-traditional educational or cultural paths. Not only do they not need to conform; the industry urgently needs its nonconformist perspectives to evolve. Increasingly, when brands and orgs ask creatives to address a specific challenge, they dont want guesses from outsiders to that challenge. They want people who can speak to their own communitieswith similar interests, concerns, impulses, and experiences. In this sense, creatives can be the missing insight that the industry is lacking. So, they should do what they can to protect and value their identities.
But also, talent should go beyond traditional skills as they expand their creative knowledge. The bulk of education cant be only focused on learning creative tools. In our Shift program attendees, we often see gaps in industry literacy: how roles work, how to respond to a brief, or how to turn creativity into a career. Creatives should seek out opportunities to build those more practical skills through classes or even mentorship. This kind of knowledge not only makes it easier to earn a job and helps shape good work, but fuels the confidence behind it.
While most companies say creative talent is key to their business, few invest in developing that talent in ways that speaks the language of ideas, ambiguity, or cultural tension. These are the creative building blocks of insight. And its crucial that we cultivate this resource if we want to ensure a strong creative future.
Kwame Taylor-Hayford is the cofounder of Kin and president of D&AD.
Ive found that the best technical leaders tend to live in a space between optimism and skepticism. Were excited about whats possible, but weve also seen enough to know that not every shiny new thing delivers on its promise.
That mindset has shaped how I lead and how I evaluate technology. Im always willing to explore whats next but do it with a critical eyetesting, validating, and asking the hard questions. Because in tech, theres always something groundbreaking that promises to change everything. Sometimes it does. Often, it doesnt.
That perspective has been especially useful as Ive watched the evolution of personal computing. The PC has come a long way since the 1980s, but you could argue that not much has fundamentally changed in the last two decades. Smartphones and tablets took the spotlight, and PCs settled into a supporting role. But now, the AI PC has emerged as the next big thing, and youre likely contemplating whether its worth making the move.
For any organizationwhether five employees or 20,000upgrading PCs can be scary. Its expensive and touches nearly every part of the business. Yet after using several AI PCs with integrated neural processing units (NPU) and other specialized processing units, in real-work scenariosbusiness trips, events, and enterprise and personal workflowsIm convinced this isnt just another hype cycle. These machines are different.
Here are four ways Im finding wow that are worth your attention nownot later.
1. Futureproofing
AI PCs are more than a hardware upgrade. Theyre a strategic investment in your workforces ability to adapt to the next wave of innovation. Wait too long, and your employees may struggle to maximize AIs rapidly advancing capabilities in daily work.
Two years ago, only 5% of global commercial device shipments were AI PCs. By 2028, IDC predicts that will soar to nearly 94%. Investing early not only strategically enhances current worker proficiencies, it ensures your infrastructure is ready for future advancements in AI and computing technologies.
I initially didnt expect to change my workflow until more productivity and developer tools emerge that fully leverage the latest devices high-power, low-latency efficiency. So, its fair to ask: What if these machines are outdated by the time the apps are ready? Yet nothing weve seen from manufacturers or independent software vendors (ISV) suggests thats likely. These devices are built for the long haul.
2. Creative and knowledge work potential
AI PCs excel in creative tasks like generating images, enhancing design workflows, and running local models with advanced image processing tools like Adobe Firefly. But their potential goes far beyond the creative suite.
Theyre poised to transform knowledge work too. Faster computation, predictive analytics, and local processing mean smoother, smarter workflows in tools like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Executives should push ISVs and major operating system providers to accelerate development in this space to unlock the full capabilities.
Running sophisticated apps locally on the device without relying on external servers or cloud computing boosts efficiency and reduces latency. Thats not just a performance win; its a productivity revolution.
3. Battery life and responsiveness
It might sound trivial, but battery life is a game-changer. On a recent three-day business trip, I used my AI PC on flights, in meetings, and at the airport without charging once. I used it during my meetings to take notes, handle my email, and even did some coding (yes, I still do that). I even squeezed in two more hours of work after I got home before the battery ran low.
For executives on the go or a travelling workforce, that kind of reliability frees up mental space and time. No more hunting for outlets. No more battery anxiety.
Another standout feature is responsiveness and speed. Across manufacturers like Qualcomm, Intel, AMD, and Apple, these devices are equipped with more processing unitscentral processing units, graphics processing unit, and NPUsthan traditional PCs. This increased compute capacity ensures that AI PCs are incredibly snappy, providing a seamless user experience that boosts overall productivity.
4. Cost efficiency
Initially, the price delta between AI PCs and traditional PCs was substantial, often $100 to $200 more per device. However, this gap is narrowing.
For companies managing thousands of devices, this cost reduction can lead to significant savings. Even a $60 difference is easy to justify when you consider the performance gains and extended device lifecycle.
You can approach adoption slowly. Our company is rolling out AI PCs in phases, with about 15% of our workforce already plugged in, starting with power users like our software developers, engineers, and executives who travel frequently. By end of year, 40% percent of our workforce will be using them. Within a couple years, nearly everyone will.
You can gain insight into the best ways AI PCs will impact your organization by testing through your power users, then broaden the pool as needed. This phased approach lets us test, learn, and scale intelligently. It also helps us identify where the biggest gains are, whether in creative output, battery life, or raw processing power.
Lead the shift, dont chase it
AI PCs arent just about speed or battery life. Theyre about preparing your organization for whats next.
Adopting now offers numerous benefits to all areas of your business, from sales teams to creative or technical departments. Leaders must champion this transitionnot just by investing in the hardware but by advocating for faster software development and thoughtful rollout strategies.
Start with the teams that will benefit the most. Learn from their experience. Then scale. Because the future of work isnt waiting. And with AI PCs, you dont have to, either.
Juan Orlandini is CTO, North America of Insight Enterprises.
When my marketing role evolved to include customer success and renewals, some naturally expressed confusion on why a CMO with established expertise and an already large remit would willingly take on more. This confusion was not among colleagues (Im fortunate enough to be part of a very supportive environment!) but among others inside and outside of my network.
Looking back, that decision reinforced something I believe is a career accelerator and crucial in leadership. Its a lesson Ive shared with many young professionals and I believe others should take it to heart. Adaptability defines who will lead tomorrow’s companies and who won’t. Heres how to think about becoming more adaptable.
Break artificial barriers
Sometimes we box ourselves in with professional or personal labels. “I’m a marketer” or “I’m an engineer” or Im a mother becomes both identity and limitation. These labels feel safe in a chaotic world. They create boundaries, but they can also limit growth.
I’ve seen smart, capable young professionals turn down opportunities with a quick “that’s not in my job description.” They build walls around their roles, thinking they’re creating safety without fully appreciating the downstream impact to their career growth.
My shift from marketing into customer success happened deliberately. I wanted to understand the full customer journey firsthand. And now, every time I push beyond my comfort zone, I gain insights that change how I approach all aspects of our business.
Look at the full picture
Working across both marketing and customer success showed me connections I’d have missed otherwise.
When you handle both sides of the customer relationship, patterns start to appear. You notice how your early marketing messages set expectations that affect renewal conversations months later. You spot the gaps between what attracts customers initially and what keeps them around.
This full-picture view prepares you for executive roles in ways specialization can’t. Senior leaders need to synthesize information from across departmentstough to do when you’ve only seen one slice of the business.
Ride the wave of change
Young professionals today face relentless workplace transformation. Technologies reshape entire industries overnight. Business models evolve constantly.
People who excel amid this chaos don’t resist changethey embrace it. When unfamiliar challenges crop up, they lean in rather than back away. This is something I strive to instill in my team and my children. When we are not afraid to take on unfamiliar challenges and we dont accept perceived limitations, we create permission for others to do the same. I’ve witnessed this ripple effect repeatedly. One person’s willingness to push boundaries inspires colleagues, friends and family to reconsider their own self-imposed constraints and embrace a growth mindset.
How to build your adaptability muscles
Getting comfortable with change takes practice:
Jumping into cross-functional projects exposes you to different departments
Consider sideways moves before focusing solely on climbing up
Ask questions about parts of the business you don’t touch daily
Find mentors with backgrounds different from yours
Tackle unfamiliar tasks with curiosity instead of anxiety
Reframe your professional limitations
If someone requests your help with a task that falls outside of your area of expertise, view it as a chance to develop and expand your skills.
Find new routes
Adaptability opens doors that might otherwise stay shut. Reaching senior leadership often means finding alternate routes when traditional paths prove blocked.
The biggest barriers to professional growth often aren’t external obstacles or lack of opportunity, they’re the invisible ceilings we build for ourselves.
Connect the organization
People who move between different functions bring unique valuethey bridge communication gaps. They translate between specialized teams that struggle to understand each other. They spot problems and opportunities others miss.
Companies facing complexity need leaders who make connections. When you demonstrate this skill, you stand out dramatically from peers who excel only in their specialty.
Get comfortable with discomfort
Becoming adaptable means feeling uncomfortable regularly. Stepping into new territory triggers self-doubt, but over time builds your confidence to trust your judgment.
But, here’s a poorly-kept secret: This discomfort never completely goes away, even for experienced executives. What changes is how you respond to it. You start seeing discomfort as a sign of growth rather than failure.
Young professionals aiming for leadership positions gain an edge with this mindset shift. While others avoid challenging situations, you’ll build versatility that makes you increasingly valuable.
I projectwith confidencethat well see leaders of tomorrow who continuously reinvent themselves, crossing boundaries, embracing challenges outside their comfort zone, and bringing diverse perspectives together.
The real question: When unexpected opportunities appear, will you take them? I definitely think you should.
Melissa Puls is chief marketing officer and SVP of customer success and renewals at Ivanti.
SharkNinja’s CEO, Mark Barrocas, joined Yaz and Josh on this week’s Most Innovative Companies exclusive video podcast to discuss how social media has become their number-one marketing tool, tariffs, and of course, the viral SLUSHI machine.
For more than 40 years, the investment banking firm Allen & Co. has attracted a selective group of moguls to Sun Valley, Idaho, for its annual Sun Valley Conference. The gathering calls on tech tycoons, entertainment CEOs, and an assorted whos who of billionaires to socialize their way through a four-day networking retreat.
Despite the astronomical amounts of wealth represented at the event, the Sun Valley uniform has largely remained the same for the past decade: understated polo shirts, blue vests, jeans, and, every so often, a semi-interesting pair of sunglasses.
As of July 9, the 2025 guest list includes Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Sam Altman, and Bob Iger. Compare the attire of this years attendees with that of the event’s guests in 2015 and, if not for a few familiar faces, you probably wouldnt even be able to tell the difference.
Looking back on Sun Valley events of old, it seems that the gathering was a kind of progenitor for modern-day quiet luxury. While quiet luxury and stealth luxe have become buzzwords in recent years, this way of dressing has long been embraced among wealthy elites. Opting for simple, understated, well-made clothes can signal status without appearing gaudy.
Quiet luxury was instantly adopted by the players in this space as a way to speak to their success through what they wear. It’s designed to go unnoticed, even if they’re publicly powerful and influential figures, says L.A.-based personal stylist Mary Komick. The color palettes are muted shades or monochromatic neutral, and their clothes are refined, clean-cut, and tailored. They’re showing off to each other, with their stealth luxe style noticeably recognized by those in these circles.
Nowadays, Komick adds, the accepted dress code has become almost an ironic mainstay at Sun Valley. Men stick to canvas jackets, low-key tees, polos, and denim jeans, while women choose a similar combination of designer tees and tanks paired with tailored trousers. Here are a few of the common themes emerging this year.
[Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images (Iger, Cook), Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images (Nadella)]
The polo club
Those looking to play it as safe as possible at this years gathering have all turned to a timeless mainstay of tech bro fashion, the beige living room of tops: the polo shirt. Iger, Cook, and Satya Nadellathe CEOs of Disney, Apple, and Microsoft, respectivelywere just a few of the attendees who opted for a polo in either crisp white or blue for their arrival at the conference.
The majority of attendees are deliberately choosing to wear nondescript, understated outfits in an effort to prioritize function over fashion, Komick says. They’re photographed in outfits purposely chosen to look like they’re heading to the golf course in Patagonia vests, going on a hike, or wearing Western hats meant for a scenic horseback ride. This is most likely preferred simply to reduce decision fatigue, because everyone is thinking about the next newsworthy tech or entertainment deal they’re making behind closed doors.
[Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images (Armstrong, Altman)]
The humble (or not-so-humble) T-shirt
Another popular look, which takes an even more casual spin on the popular polo and khakis, is the T-shirt-and-jeans combo. These shirts will make you ask, Does that T-shirt cost $10 or $600? And, chances are, your first guess is probably wrong.
This years T-shirt wearers include OpenAI CEO Altman, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone, and OpenAI chairman Bret Taylor.
[Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images (Khosrowshahi, Wiedenfels)]
The walking billboard
Immediately upon arrival at this years retreat, a few attendees signaled that they were already members of the club by donning official Sun Valley merch. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi stepped out in a Sun Valley hat, while Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels chose a navy Sun Valley-branded (you guessed it) polo shirt.
Casey Wasserman, CEO of the Wasserman Media Group, took wearable advertising in a more personal direction by repping his own companys logo on his ball cap. They’re not going to be caught dead in a logo that isn’t their company’s, Komick says.
[Photos: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images (Blakely, Trump)]
Western cosplay
In April, The Wall Street Journal dubbed 2025 as the year that the tech bro started dressing like a cowboyand it seems that a few brave attendees are bringing that trend to Sun Valley. Komick says both Western and sporty aesthetics have come to the fore this year.
[Attendees are] cosplaying cowboys and cowgirlsfrom Ivanka Trumps silver Western belt to Sara Blakely in the Western hat against her white tee and dark wash Mother jeans, Komick says. The men are trading solid tops for plaid button-downs or terry overshirts. Sunglasses were the statement accessory this season.
[Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty Images]
The sunglasses are your outfit outfit
The fashion may be predictably tame at this years Sun Valley, but that only makes it all the more visually jarring that a few notable names arrived sporting some of the wildest sunglasses money can buy.
Altman chose to pair his casual navy tee with a $400 pair of Vuarnet Altitude 01 sunglasses, a design inspired by 1970s ski masks. John Elkann, the chairman of Ferrari, donned what appeared to be a pair of vintage Tom Ford Cassius 78MM Pilot sunglassesan accessory so chunky that a passerby could be forgiven for mistaking them for an Apple Vision Pro.
Rewards startup Bilt, which made its name by offering renters the opportunity to earn points on rental payments, is building itself a lofty valuationand introducing a handful of new cards to boot.
The company announced on Thursday that it has raised $250 million in new funding, bringing its total valuation to $10.75 billion, more than twice its valuation from roughly a year ago.
Its also introducing Bilt Card 2.0, an upgraded credit card offering that will launch in February of next year and is being developed in partnership with Cardlesswhich also had a hand in launching the American Express Coinbase card earlier this year.
In a blog post, Bilt said that its Card 2.0 will have three different options: A no-fee option and two premium levels with $95 and $495 annual fees.
The announcement is a sign that Wells Fargo and Bilt are ending their partnership on the Bilt Rewards Mastercard earlier than expected. The partnership had been slated to run until 2029.
That card originally launched to the public in March 2022 with a novel points-on-rent reward and quickly took off among points and miles enthusiasts. Within 18 months, it had activated 1 million accounts.
The Wall Street Journal has reported Wells Fargo was losing money on the deal, raising questions about the card’s sustainability.
Both Wells Fargo and Bilt declined to comment bout the specifics of the partnership when contacted by Fast Company.
New York-based Bilt has built a $1 billion-a-year business on the strength of its rewards program, as Fast Company reported in June, and most of its revenue now comes from its partnerships with property managers. The company processes rent payments for property managers and offers their tenants access to its expanding loyalty program, which now includes some 40,000 merchants.
Jain told Fast Company that he imagined the credit card occupying a relatively modest place in his company’s overall strategy. Its not our core business, he said. Our job is to provide the best rewards ecosystem, the best commerce platform, the best [customer] acquisition, the best brand, so that our partners can create a great card product around it. According to Jain, only 15% of Bilts rewards program members are cardholders.
As for how things will work with Bilt Card 2.0? Well need to wait until next year to find out. At that time, “current cardholders will be seamlessly moved from Wells Fargo to our new card platform,” according to Bilt’s blog post.
In the meantime, Bilts leadership is exuding confidence.
Bilt represents the convergence of America’s largest spending categorieshousing and local commerceinto a single, powerful network that benefits everyone involved, said Bilt chairman and former American Express CEO Ken Chenault, in a statement. What we’re building goes beyond the four walls of your apartment; we’re connecting you with your entire neighborhood and making every aspect of where you live more rewarding.
On July 1, more than 9,000 members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)s District Council 33 in Philadelphia went on strike. The work stoppage entered its second week with no end in sight, but a marathon bargaining session resulted in a 4 a.m. tentative agreement between the unions leaders and the city government on Wednesday, July 9.
While Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker has tried to spin it as a win for the workers (and has embraced it as a victory for her administration), some union members public reaction to the deal has been far from positive. On Monday, July 14, theyll vote on whether to ratify the new contract, and the outcome is currently anyone’s guess.
The unionknown better as DC 33represents the citys blue-collar municipal workers, who handle a wide range of job descriptionsfrom 911 dispatchers to library assistants to water department employees. Perhaps most notably, it also represents thousands of sanitation workers, and its that group in particular that became the most visible symbol of the strike due to the nature of their workand the visceral ramifications of their work stoppage. As the sixth-largest city in the U.S., Philadelphia generates a lot of trash. And with the trash collectors on strike, things quickly got ugly.
Enormous piles of trash popped up all over the city once the workers walked out, spilling out of the citys designated temporary drop-off centers and onto the citys streets and sidewalks. In an unflattering homage to Mayor Parker, who became the face of the citys fitful negotiations with the union, some residents dubbed the garbage heaps Parker piles. Thanks to soaring temperatures, spiking humidity, and heavy rain, residents complained that the stench was becoming a serious problem before the agreement was reached.
So how did the city get here?
DC 33s most recent contract expired at midnight on July 1, following a one-year extension that the union agreed to at the beginning of Parkers term in 2024. While the mayors office indicated a willingness to continue bargaining, the unions leadership decided to call a strike, determined to secure a meaningful economic boost for their members. This marks the first time DC 33 has hit the bricks since 1986, when workers stayed off the job for three weeks, and 45,000 tons of garbage towered over the streets.
The primary issue is money: Members of DC 33 are the lowest paid of the citys four municipal unions, as well as the only one with a predominantly Black membership; the other three include AFSCME DC 47, which is made up of white-collar city workers, and the unions representing the city’s police officers and firefighters.
The average salary among DC 33 members is only $46,000 a year, which workers have decried as poverty wages. (Sanitation workers, by the way, generally take home about $42,000 a year, and Philadelphias sanitation workers are among the lowest-paid employees in the country despite serving a city of more than 1.5 million residents.) Those numbers place them well below a living wage for Philadelphia, which the Massachusetts Institute of Technology calculated as $48,387 for a single adult with no children.
The union was most recently asking for a 5% yearly wage increase over a three-year contract, but the city refused to budge from its own proposal of 2.75%, 3%, and 3% increases over that same periodonly inching up to a 3% first-year raise in the tentative agreement. The city of Philadelphia currently has a budget surplus of $882 million, from which the mayor budgeted $550 million to cover all four municipal union contracts. The cost of the proposed DC 33 contract will be $115 million over its three years.
In contrast, Parkers current budget proposal has already bookmarked $872 million for the Philadelphia Police Department, a $20 million increase that includes $1.3 million for new uniforms.
City officials touted their lowball offer to DC 33 as a sign of fiscal responsibility, but even now that bargaining has ended, union negotiators and their membership remain adamant that its just not enough.
There were other issues at play, too. Unlike other city employees like police and firefighters, DC 33 members are required to live inside the city of Philadelphiawhich, given the rising cost of living, only adds to the economic pressures they face. The union sought to remove the residency requirement in order to give their members more flexibility, but the city ultimately shot down their request. In addition, the union fought to preserve and improve members healthcare and pension plans, and saw some success.
With an embattled mayor facing criticism over her own staffs lavish salaries and mixed results on her campaign promise to make the city “safer, cleaner, greener, the city took an increasingly combative posture toward the union. Multiple injunctions forced certain strikers (like those at the airport, the medical examiner’s office, the water department, and the 911 dispatch center) back to work, while the city paid private contractors to clear the trash drop-off sites and called in non-union workers to perform union labor.
Meanwhile, DC 33 maintained picket lines outside libraries, sanitation centers, and city buildings during a week of sweltering heat. Workers danced, sang, marched, set up impromptu cookouts, and waved signs at passersby. The Wawa Welcome America concert on the Fourth of July lost both of its headliners, LL Cool J and Jazmine Sullivan, who both canceled their performances in solidarity with the strikers. Thre was also tragedy: Two striking DC 33 workers, one of whom is pregnant, were the victims of a hit-and-run accident last week when an intoxicated individual drove into their picket line; Tyree Ford, a sanitation worker and father of four, sustained serious injuries and is still in critical condition.
Ultimately, the citys strong-arm approach led to the current tentative agreement, which falls far short of what the workers wanted and is not guaranteed to survive the membership vote. Union leadership has been open about its own disappointment, too. The strike is over, and nobodys happy, Greg Boulware, president of DC 33, told The Philadelphia Inquirer as he left the marathon bargaining session. We felt our clock was running out.
