The whole world mourned when news broke of Pope Franciss death on April 21. The 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church was admired even by nonbelievers as a man of progressive values leading the church into the modern era.
While some wished his policies had gone further, most agreed that the late pope acted as a much-needed moral leader to humanity. His death leaves a void that must be filled through an election process known as the conclave, which starts today (Wednesday, May 7, 2025).
Lets take a deeper look at that procedure, the frontrunners, and how the Catholic Church moves forward from here.
Who is in charge after the pope’s death?
Almost immediately after the popes death, his signet ringalso known as the fishermans ringis destroyed along with the popes lead seal.
This is both symbolic and practical as these items are used to authenticate documents created by the pope. While the Catholic Church waits for new leadership, the College of Cardinals is temporarily in charge, but no major policies are made until a new pope is elected.
Officially, this period is known as sede vacante, which translates to the seat is vacant.
When does the conclave begin?
The 2025 conclave begins today (Wednesday, May 7, 2025). It begins with a pre-conclave mass at St. Peter’s Basilica at 10:00 a.m. Vatican time (4:30 a.m. ET).
Vatican News has a full conclave schedule on its website, including start times.
You can also livestream certain activities at St. Peter’s Square courtesy of Vatican Media Live, the official YouTube channel of the Holy See.
Finally, you can follow live news coverage of the conclave with most major news outlets. USA Today has an extensive roundup of where to watch.
How does the conclave work?
Eligible cardinals, prominent church leaders, and former advisers to the pope are locked awayfree from the influence and distractions of the outside worldin the Sistine Chapel to vote. The word conclave comes from the Latin phrase cum clave, which means “with a key,” so it’s a fitting name.
In order to be eligible to vote in the conclave, cardinals must be under the age of 80. It is important to note that only men are allowed in the Catholic priesthood.
There are 135 eligible cardinals for the conclave but Archbishops Antonio Caizares and Vinko Puljić will not participate due to poor health, as Catholic News Agency reported.
Francis appointed 80% of the cardinals voting for his successor, expanding the decision-making process to 71 countries and eliminating European dominance. For the first time ever, countries such as Rwanda, Myanmar, and South Sudan will also have a vote, the Washington Post reports.
Upon entering the conclave, cardinals take an oath of secrecy, making the process even more mysterious. Outsiders eagerly await the results of the votes by watching the color of smoke emitted from the Sistine Chapel.
On the first day after mass, the initial secret ballot is cast. In order for a winner to be declared, a two-thirds majority must be won. If not secured, the ballots are burned along with a chemical to make black smoke.
After the first day, up to four ballots can be cast daily, two in the mornings and two in the evenings. The process repeats until the new pope is elected.
White smoke, bells ringing, and a declaration of “Habemus Papam!” signal a new beginning.
How long does the conclave last?
This depends on how long it takes to reach a two-thirds majority.
The longest conclave dragged on for almost three yearsfrom November 1268 to September 1271. Eventually Pope Gregory X was elected, as the Associated Press points out.
Thankfully, modern conclaves in the 1900s and beyond have been much less suspenseful, lasting under four days. Pope Francis was elected in two days and many predict a similar situation for his predecessor.
Who are the frontrunners to be the new pope?
Although there are only two requirements for being elected pope, being male and a baptized Catholic, no one outside of the Cardinals has been elected since 1378, so President Trumps AI-generated image is a bit of a pipe dream, as this election will also likely promote from within as well.
There are four cardinals whose names are swirling around as front runners:
Seventy-year-old Cardinal Pietro Parolin of Italy served under Francis as the Vatican’s secretary of state. He has a global worldview yet is still considered a moderate. As Franciss former right-hand man, his odds are good going into the conclave, perhaps even too good. There’s an old Italian saying: “He who enters a conclave as a pope, leaves it as a cardinal,” so lets not put the horse in front of the cart.
If 64-year-old Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle from the Philippines is elected he would be the first modern Asian pope. His election would also signal the churchs continuation of Franciss legacy. Tagle, who is a favorite among TikTok users, also spoke out on social issues and migrant rights. He urged the Catholic Church to be more inclusive and less harsh on the LGBTQ+ community, single moms, and divorced individuals.
Cardinal Peter Turkson from Ghana, age 76, is an energetic conservative who once played guitar in a funk band. In 2013, he claimed not to want the top job in an interview with the BBC, but we are pretty sure hed take it if it was offered. His election may mean more old-fashioned family values, but Turkson did speak out against the criminalization of homosexual relationships in Ghana.
Cardinal Péter Erdő from Hungary, age 72, is also considered conservative, but has the respect of many more liberal members of the conclave. This makes him an ideal compromise candidate if voting comes to that.
What will the final choice say about the future of the Catholic Church?
With the world at large currently at a crossroads between traditions and progressive ideals, the new pope will signal how the Catholic Church plans to move forward. Will it continue with Francis’s more liberal ideals or will the pendulum swing the other way toward habit and convention? Only the white smoke can tellthe rest is secret.
Residents living near SpaceX headquarters in Boca Chica, Texas, will soon have a new public body through which to raise concerns about everything from road maintenance to garbage collection. Earlier this month, more than 200 residents voted to establish the city of Starbase, Texasa 1.5-square-mile community governed by three elected officials, all of whom have ties to SpaceX, the space exploration company based in the area.
Of the 218 people who voted in the electionmany believed to be SpaceX employeesonly six opposed incorporation.
The news marks a win for Musk, who has wanted the area around his companys headquarters to become a city since at least March 2021.
It sounds like the city will be governed by a city commission comprising current and former SpaceX employees, who presumably answer to Musk, says Lily Roberts, managing director of inclusive growth at the Center for American Progress, a think tank that published a report on the rise of the new company town in 2019.
Roberts believes SpaceXs control of Starbase poses concerns. But Ajay Agrawal, a professor of management at the University of Toronto who has studied company towns and visited Starbase for a SpaceX launch before the incorporation effort began, sees potential upside.
Agrawal noted the areas lack of infrastructure. If SpaceX succeeds in its mission, then it will be like the Port of Los Angeles, except the gateway to space, he says. What he saw during his visit, however, didnt match that vision. It struck me how underdeveloped the route [from the airport] was.
The fact that the commission is composed of individuals with ties to Musk may give some observers pause. Still, the incorporation process introduces limits on the citys authority. They obviously cant legally create some kind of independent society, says Roberts. Theyre still subject to state and federal laws. Given how little Musk has demonstrated that he knows about how government works, Im not sure that he knows that.
Musk did not respond to Fast Companys request for comment. However, he posted on X when the incorporation election was ratified by Cameron Countys election department: Now, it is official!
While Musk has welcomed the decision, Roberts argues that the companys desire to incorporate a city is misguided. Most businesses do not want to incorporate cities, she says. Businesses typically make a product or sell a servicethey dont want to worry about the sewer system or run a school district. Nevertheless, they may now find themselves responsible for managing those services alongside the civic aspects they want control over.
It sounds like SpaceX wants power over closing the public beaches and public roads during their launches, says Roberts. Because this is a relatively isolated area, they might want to find a faster track to building new housing. But all of the city services that come along with being a city seem far beyond what SpaceX is equipped to provide.
Agrawal isnt convinced thats a problem. Having visited the site, I wouldnt be surprised if they had already taken over things like garbage management and security, he says. They would need far greater security than what sort of a local police force of that area would have had [for their launches].
There are also checks and balances in place that prevent Starbase from seceding from federal oversight. They will only be able to control, or certainly influence, municipal-level decisions, says Agrawal. They won’t be able to override federal or state rules.
Even if the three elected commissioners wanted to manage everything from trash pickup to road maintenanceand hand control to Musktheres no guarantee that Musk has the capacity or interest to govern effectively. I think that Musk has proven with DOGE that any skills he has are not transferable from business to government, cautions Roberts. He cant find the cost savings he promised, he accidentally fired people who keep track of nuclear weapons and then had to rehire them, and he keeps claiming that people receiving Social Security are dead when theyre very much alive.
Because of these issues, Roberts offers a cautionary note to potential residents: SpaceX employees who move to Starbase may come to realize that theres a huge difference between the campus model of big tech firms and a whole town where everyoneincluding the teacher and the firefighter, not just the scientistshas the same boss.
As far back as records of the subject go, the art and science of leadership has always addressed one constant question: How should humans lead other humans? Today, that paradigm is shifting. Leaders must now learn to guide hybrid teamscomposed of both human professionals and AI systems that support and augment human team members, while increasingly also performing complex tasks independently.
Already, more than 75% of knowledge workers report using AI at work. Meanwhile, Gartner predicts that 100 million workers will collaborate with robo-colleagues by 2026.
This is not a minor evolution. It may be the most profound transformation in human history of how we conceive of and implement leadership. As AI systems grow more advanced, we must reimagine what it means to lead. The skills that ensured success in the past will not be sufficient for what lies ahead.
Through my research and my work with organizations undergoing this shift, I have identified seven essential ways that leaders must evolve if they are to lead effectively in this new age of AI-augmented work.
1. Become a Conductor of the AI Orchestra
Shift: from task director to systems orchestrator
As AI moves into the mainstream, and as agentic AI begins its rollout in workplaces around the world, leaders must understand how humans and AI systems interact across their organizations.
They must become skilled conductors of what I call the “AI orchestra.”
This requires more than just tool proficiency. It means enabling and supporting every human team member with the skills they need to coordinate across multiple AI systems. It means learning to give clear and strategic direction to AI systems, human team members, and the unified system of which they both form a part. Critically, it also means learning how to assess AI-generated outputs with discernment. Just as a conductor ensures harmony and rhythm without playing every instrument, todays leader must orchestrate intelligent collaboration between humans and machines.
Exercise: Assign a team project that requires the use of three distinct AI tools to solve a single challenge. Afterward, debrief together: How did team members coordinate their use of the tools? Where did friction arise? What did the exercise reveal about managing complexity?
2. Gain Firsthand Experience of Collaborating with AI
Shift: From delegating AI adoption to modeling it
You cant lead what you havent lived. Leaders must personally engage with AI toolsnot to become technical experts, but to develop an intuitive understanding of their evolving capabilities and limitations.
When team members see their leaders using AI thoughtfully, it normalizes adoption and sets the tone for healthy human-AI collaboration. Just as importantly, this firsthand experience equips leaders to make better strategic decisions about where and how to implement AI.
Exercise: Use AI for three leadership-related tasks this weekwriting a summary, analyzing trends, and preparing communications. Note what worked, what didnt, and share your reflections with the team.
3. Intentionally Create Skill Development Opportunities
Shift: From assuming organic growth to designing skill resilience
As AI handles more cognitive tasks, human skills like critical thinking, reasoning, and interpersonal judgment risk erosion. Leaders can no longer rely on natural work progression to build these abilities.
Paradoxically, we must sometimes introduce frictionby designing projects that intentionally limit AI useto preserve the skills AI cannot replicate.
Exercise: Create AI-free zones within select tasks or stages of a project. Ask teams to complete these without assistance, then reflect: Which human capabilities were most essential? What gaps became visible?
4. Master the Art of Asking Questions
Shift: From providing answers to elevating inquiry
The most effective leaders of hybrid teams will distinguish themselves not by giving commands but by asking better questions. Prompting AI well requires the same clarity, curiosity, and critical thinking that great leadership has always demanded.
This shift also enhances team dynamics. Asking questions encourages dialogue, surfaces blind spots, and builds collective intelligenceboth human and machine.
Exercise: Create a questioning matrix focused on five areas: ethics, data quality, user experience, regulatory impact, and business value. Apply this to your next AI initiative to guide both human discussion and machine prompting.
5. Cultivate Clarity of Purpose
Shift: From doing more to focusing on what matters most
AI dramatically expands what is possible. But when everything becomes feasible, the leadership challenge becomes discernmentknowing what is worth doing.
Purpose provides direction amidst the noise. It ensures AI is deployed to amplify what truly mattersnot just whats trendy or easy.
Exercise: Draft a one-sentence AI purpose filter (e.g., We implement AI only when it deepens customer trust or improves outcomes). Then evaluate all current AI initiatives through this lens and realign as needed.
6. Develop Enhanced Emotional Intelligence
Shift: From performance oversight to emotional stewardship
The AI transition is deeply humanand often unsettling. People worry about their relevance, identity, and future. Leaders must acknowledge this emotional landscape and create psychological safety.
Leading AI-augmented teams requires greater empathy, openness, and emotional clarity. Teams need help not just with tools, but with meaning.
Exercise: Host AI concern circles where each person shares one fear and one hope about AI in their work. Listen without judgment. Follow up with individuals who express high anxiety and help them envision new roles for their unique human strengths.
7. Transform Into a Moral Agent
Shift: From operational decision-maker to ethical guide
AI raises urgent questions about bias, surveillance, accountability, and human dignity. These questions cannot be outsourced or automated. They are leadership responsibilities.
Studying AI ethics is importantbut ethical leadership begins with cultivating your own moral compass. Leaders must be willing to pause, challenge assumptions, and prioritize long-term human impact over short-term gains.
Exercise: Run an ethical pre-mortem for your next AI project. Imagine it has failed ethically one year from now. What went wrong? Who was harmed? Use this scenario to build safeguards and accountability from the outset.
The Future of Leadership Is Human + Machine
The integration of AI across the workforce will not make human leadership obsoletebut it will reshape the role of leader from the gound up. In this new era, the most successful leaders will be those who evolve from directive to facilitative, from efficient to intentional, from reactive to reflective.
Leading AI-augmented teams requires more than technical adaptation. It demands a deeper humanityone that blends curiosity, ethics, emotional intelligence, and purpose.
If done right, the result wont be less human leadershipit will be more.
In today’s fast-paced business environment, effective problem-solving isn’t just about finding quick fixesit’s about developing a systematic approach that leads to innovative and sustainable solutions. While many leaders get caught up in complex frameworks and lengthy processes, I’ve found that the following three simple yet powerful questions will revolutionize how you and your team tackle challenges.
These questions”What if?”, “So what?”, and “Now what?”form a natural progression that guide you from creative ideation to practical execution. Let’s explore how each question serves as a crucial waypoint in your problem-solving journey.
Start with “What if?”
Innovation begins with the permission to imagine. The “What if?” question creates a space for bold thinking, encouraging you to temporarily set aside practical constraints and explore the full spectrum of possibilities. This is where breakthrough solutions often emerge.
Recently, a midsize manufacturing company faced declining market share. Instead of immediately jumping to conventional solutions like cost-cutting or incremental product improvements, their leadership team started with “What if?” What if they completely reimagined their customer experience? What if they could transform their waste products into a new revenue stream? This expansive thinking led them to develop an innovative recycling program that not only reduced costs but also opened up an entirely new market segment.
The Critical “So What?”
While “What if?” generates possibilities, “So what?” helps you to turn a critical lens inward and evaluate relevance and impact of your new ideas. This question forces you to examine how potential solutions align with your strategic objectives and whether they truly address the core problem. Be prepared for the necessity to leave some ideas on the cutting-room floor.
Consider a tech startup that brainstormed dozens of new features for their project management software. By asking “So what?” for each idea, they realized that many of their exciting possibilities, while innovative, wouldn’t meaningfully improve their users’ experience or solve their actual pain points. This crucial filtering process helped them focus their limited resources on developments that would deliver real value.
Turning Vision into Reality with “Now What?”
The final question”Now what?”bridges the gap between ideation and execution. This is where you break down your chosen solution into actionable steps, identify required resources (e.g., Budget? People?), and establish clear timelines.
A retail chain exemplified this approach when implementing a new customer loyalty program. After confirming the strategic value of the initiative, their “Now what?” phase involved mapping out specific technical requirements, training needs, and rollout phases. This detailed planning revealed potential bottlenecks early and allowed them to launch the program smoothly across hundreds of locations.
Making it Work in Practice
To implement this three-question framework effectively:
1. Create dedicated space for each phase. Don’t rush from “What if?” to “Now what?” before thoroughly exploring the So What? of possibilities and validating their value.
2. Involve diverse perspectives. Different team members from a range of departments will bring unique insights to each question, enriching the problem-solving process.
3. Document your journey. Capture the key insights and decision points at each stagethey often prove valuable for future challenges.
The Power of Simplicity
In an era where business challenges grow increasingly complex, there’s profound value in straightforward frameworks that cut through the noise. These three questions provide a versatile tool that can be applied to everything from product development to organizational change.
By moving systematically from imaginative exploration to practical execution, this three-question approach ensures that innovation remains grounded in reality while still pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. The next time you face a significant challenge, try starting with these three simple questions. You might be surprised by how effectively they guide you toward meaningful solutions.
As the arms race in the artificial intelligence world ramps up, Big Tech companies are rushing to become your default AI source. Meta, last week, launched the Meta AI app to challenge ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. It’s a system that measures up feature-wise with its competition and some might argue it improves on some aspects. But with Meta’s long history of privacy problems, it’s reawakening some old concerns about the company.
The tool offers “personalized” answer and advice as well as a social network for people to share their AI conversations and images. But if you’re looking to scrub the system’s memory of you, that’s a bit more challenging. And our early tests show the tool still could use some polishing when it comes to accuracy.
In my first conversation with Meta AI, the chatbot offered to create a hype intro for me. How could I refuse? Meta, after all, has plenty of my personal data on file from my Facebook, Instagram, and Threads accounts, not to mention my use of the Quest AI headset. So, I figured, it should be able to describe me pretty well.
Here’s what it said:
“You’ve got that effortlessly cool, indie vibe going on, like you’re perpetually sipping coffee in a vintage bookstore. You’re probably a fan of obscure indie bands, spend hours curating your Spotify playlists and have a fondness for vinyl records. Your wardrobe’s probably filled with thrifted cardigans and skinny jeans and you can wax poetic about the merits of artisanal coffee versus your local coffee shop’s brew.”
Meta AI, apparently, thinks I am a total hipster.
While it might have been trying to suck up to me in that summary, boy did it whiff on the facts. I don’t drink coffee. I like the Beatles, The Who, and ’80s and ’90s pop. The only curating I’ve done on Spotify is re-creating playlists from concerts I’ve gone to. And, as I munch on my second fistful of Fritos Queso Flavor Twists in the past five minutes, I can promise you that there are no skinny jeans in my wardrobe, nor will there ever be.
Obviously, the AI has a ways to go, but then again . . . most AI systems still do. Still, Meta’s AI made an aggressive effort to get to know me better as we chatted (rather than requiring you to type in your replies, Meta’s app welcomes voice chat), asking me about everything from my favorite book to my political views.
While it’s not hard to appreciate an AI system’s efforts to learn more so it can answer questions with a response tailored to the person asking them, Meta’s history with handling personal information in the past could give some users pause.
Meta AI keeps a history of your chats, archiving your inputs and its replies. It also, however, keeps what it calls a Memory file, with specific pieces of information, based on your previous talks. Those Memories and the transcripts of previous talks can be deleted, but there is a bit of hunting that you’ll have to do to find where they’re stored. (And, as The Washington Post points out, you’ll need to delete both the Memory and the chat history where the system learned that factoid for it to be completely erased.)
You’ll also have to trust Meta has permanently deleted the information orif you choose not to delete itthat it will use the information responsibly.
That may be a big ask for some people, given the recent information provided by whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams, who told the Senate Judiciary Committee in April that Meta is able to identify when users are feeling helpless and can use that as a cue for advertisers. (Meta denied the allegations at the time, telling TechCrunch the testimony was “divorced from reality and riddled with false claims.”)
Meta AI said it didn’t have access to my Facebook account or to any pictures or visual content when I asked about its access. And when I tested it by asking about a few recent posts, it seemed to not know what I was talking about, though when I asked if it had access to my Instagram page it got a bit squirrely.
Meta AI says beyond our conversations, it uses “information about things like your interests, location, profile, and activity on Meta products.” I then asked about something related to my Instagram page and it said it did not have real-time access “or any information about your current activity or interests on the platform.” When I tried to press for more information, it regurgitated the same answer about “interests, location, profile, and activity.”
A Meta spokesperson told Fast Company, “Weve provided valuable personalization for people on our platforms for decades, making it easier for people to accomplish what they come to our apps to dothe Meta AI app is no different. We provide transparency and control throughout, so people can manage their experience and make sure it’s right for them. This release is the first version, and we’re excited to get it in people’s hands and gather their feedback.”
People who use Meta AI to inquire about or discuss deeply personal matters should be aware that the company is retaining that information and could use it to target advertising. (Ads are not part of the platform now, but Mark Zuckerberg has made it clear he sees great revenue potential in AI. Competitor Google, meanwhile, has reportedly begun showing ads in chats with some third-party AI systems, though not Meta AI.)
That may be fine if Meta AI eventually tries to upsell me Frito Twists or (shudder) skinny jeans, but it’s a lot more concerning if it’s mining your deepest secrets and insecurities to make a buck.
He just put it in bold! exclaimed Ryan Goslings character in a Saturday Night Live video that attracted a cult following in the world of graphic design last year. The follow-up to a 2017 SNL bit in which Gosling played a man haunted by his realization that the logo for the 2009 blockbuster Avatar was expressed in the gauche Papyrus typeface, the newer video centered on his fresh horror of discovering that the same graphic designer responsible for the first logo had updated the wordmark for the movies sequel by simply setting it in bold type.
A year later, it seems that life is imitating satire, as, following last weeks announcement of Amazons brand refresh, 2025s three biggest rebrands to dateincluding those of Walmart in January and OpenAI in Februaryhave, to the untrained eye, more or less involved hitting Ctrl+B on the companies wordmarks and logos to put them in bold.
[Images: Walmart]
All three of these corporate behemoths updated wordmarks are somewhat heavier than their predecessors, while not representing radical changes. Unlike Walmarts brutalist look of a generation ago, with its massive and intimidating all-caps, sharp-cornered letterforms projecting its retail dominance, these new marks are all clean, respectable sans-serifs with enough roundedness to signal a degree of friendliness and approachability. Perhaps this style might be dubbed Blanding Bold.
[Images: Amazon]
Their associated symbolic elements have undergone a similar transformation. While OpenAIs blossom, Walmarts spark, and Amazons smile all look basically the same as they did before, much to the consternation of some social media users who feel personally affronted that these expensive rebrands did not result in more noticeable changes, the differences are there.
[Images: OpenAI]
The blossoms strokes have thickened and evened, improving its overall composition while still allowing it to evoke an unfolding flower, a foreboding whirlpool, or imagery of a more alimentary nature. The new spark met the approval of logo guru Armin Vit, who called it softer, warmer, and more friendly while being so much better executed, and noted that the bolder weight of the segments gives the icon more presence and strength to stand on its own as it moves forward as the companys primary logo. And the Amazon logo received an injection of lip filler, resulting in what the design agency Koto calls a deeper and more emphatic smile (to the extent that a smile can be emphatic).
[Images: OpenAI]
While the rebrands of these three giants, with their estimated combined value of $3 trillion, have attracted the most attention, this bold new trend in corporate graphics has been spotted in many other quarters over the past year or so, including PayPal, ABC, Reddit, the CW network, Workday, the Guggenheim, Herman Miller, Eventbrite, Crumbl, New York City Football Club, New York Botanical Garden, and even Fluz. Patient zero in this outbreak might be the 2019 Slack redesign, in which the wordmark was Ctrl+Bd and the logos hot dog shapes plumped just like Ball Park Franks.
What accounts for all this boldness? Companies have long expressed the desire to get more bang for their branding buck; Make the logo bigger is a common refrain among design clients (and one that designers tend to dread hearing). It would seem that making the logo bolder is the next best thing, allowing for more logo per square inch, a denser deployment of general logo essence, and a symbol that, like Amazons, is more emphatic overall. For what brand would not want its logo to be emphasized? And if a companys goal is to use its logo to communicate boldness as a brand attribute, the single most obvious, literal, no-brainer way to do so is to just put it in bold.
Artificial intelligence. Its pretty cool, I guess? Look at those neat videos. And the thousands of product design iterations just to get those creative balls rolling. Sure. Awesome. Or is it? Maybe. Who knows. All that seems to be the summary of Figmas 2025 AI Report, based on a survey of 2,500 designers and developers.
While tools like ChatGPT and Figmas AI features are embedded in daily workflows, the report reveals a stark disconnect. Enthusiasm for AIs potential is high, but its practical impact remains uneven, the numbers show, constrained by vague goals, quality concerns, and cooling expectations. The report underscores a paradox: professionals see AI as essential to their future, but struggle to meaningfully harness it today. It kind of fits my own experience. Its there, but not there yet.
Figmas study shows that a staggering 76% of AI projects prioritize vague objectives like experimenting with AI over concrete goals such as revenue growth, with an eye-popping 9%. It makes me weep for all the gigawatts evaporating in the name of a revolution that’s not actually happening, at least for designers and developers.
The ambiguity reflects the technologys nascent state, Figmas Head of Insights Andrew Hogan tells me in a phone interview. Theres a lot of play and experimentation happeningits natural, he explains, comparing the current moment to early mobile app development, where rapid iteration preceded clear use cases. One survey respondent likened building AI products to running a restaurant where the menu changes daily, a metaphor Hogan calls the quote of the survey.
So much contradiction
Im not so sure about that parallelism with mobile app development, which struck me as a much faster, much more impactful revolution than AI, in practical, tangible economical terms, not just paper gains. Past technological shifts, like desktop publishing or the iPhone, delivered seismic industry changes within months. By comparison, AIs impact feels incremental and anecdotal. Sure, there are brilliant examples of big AI impacts in some industriesmostly audiovisualbut having a synthetic research minion, a repetitive-task assistant, or an artificial creative buddy dont seem quite as revolutionary as a billion smartphones taking over our lives.
Hogan acknowledges the tension and, at the same time, has a warning: Companies risk dismissing AI too early if experiments fail to yield quick wins, potentially missing strategic advantages. He also says that, while the research highlights these contradictory data points between expectations/desires and reality, the data shows real progress: 34% of Figma users shipped AI products this year, up from 22% in 2024. The question is whether the vague goalsagain, back to the figure of 76% of companies saying lets play, throw some mud against the wall and see if it stickswill harden into measurable ROI before disillusionment sets in.
The research shows that there are efficiency gains thanks to AI. But there’s a dichotomy here, too. Seventy-eight percent of professionals say it speeds up their work (up from 71% last year), but only 58% believe it improves quality, while 47% feel it makes them better at their jobs. What about the ones who think the quality is just the same or worse, and the 53% who dont think AI makes them better at their jobs? Its a strange, puzzling juxtaposition. Developers report higher satisfaction (67% say AI boosts work quality) than designers (40%), partly because code generation tools offer clearer utility. Designers, meanwhile, grapple with generative AIs unpredictable outputs.
Hogan attributes this gap to the limitations of how we as humans interact with these things, not the technology itself. He cites Amaras Law: We overestimate short-term change and underestimate long-term transformation. Mobile took years to reshape industries, he says, pointing to Ubers evolution. Yet tools like ChatGPT sparked expectations of rapid, iPhone-level disruptiona bar AI hasnt yet cleared.
Cooling expectations
Despite 85% of professionals calling AI essential for future success, expectations for its near-term impact are cooling. Only 27% predict AI will significantly influence company goals in the next year, unchanged from 2024. Hogan frames this as a recalibration, not disillusionment. The hype gets ahead of what most people can do today, he says, likening AIs trajectory to the internets gradual adoption. Yet the Cambrian explosion of AI appslike the one that happened with the iPhones appsis yet to come. Sure, there are niche applications like medical document interpreters or predictive maintenance tools, but where are the truly transformative apps beyond being able to talk to glorified Wikipedia oracles? Wheres the Uber of AI?
The answer may lie in agentic AI, the fastest-growing product category. These tools, which automate multistep tasks, saw a 143% year-over-year surge in development (from 21% in 2024 to 51% in 2025). But Hogan warns they require rethinking design principles. When should an agent check in with users? What information should it share? Designs role here is critical52% of builders say design is more important for AI products than traditional ones, as intuitive interfaces bridge the gap between capability and usability.
AIs paradoxubiquitous yet underutilized, and underwhelming for a large partstems from its adolescence. Designers and developers are caught between excitement, collective hysteria, and pragmatism, navigating a landscape where prototyping and iteration matter more than ever. The technologys potential is real, yes. Code generation already accelerates development, and is used by 59% of developers. Agentic tools promise workflow revolutions, and adoption is rising. But without clearer goals, trust in outputs, and design-led refinement, AI risks becoming a toolbox without a blueprint.
As Hogan puts it, Were still early. The challenge isnt whether AI will reshape design, but whether teams can evolve their processes fast enough to meet its uneven promise. For now, the future belongs to those who treat AI not as a magic wand, but as claymalleable, demanding, and far from fully molded.
In the city of Bethlehem, a team of mechanics is currently working around the clock to install a medical fridge, air diagnostic equipment, oxygen supply, and blast-proof windows into one of the most iconic vehicles in the world. The team is tasked with turning Pope Franciss old popemobile into a mobile health clinic for the children of Gazaand it could be operational as soon as next week.
The project, called Vehicle of Hope, is spearheaded by the Catholic humanitarian organization Caritas, which runs more than 160 agencies across the world that work to provide aid in crisis zones. Caritas Jerusalem, which has advocated for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, currently operates 14 medical teams across the Gaza Strip, two of which are actively working in Gaza City.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas originally gifted the popemobile currently undergoing renovation to Pope Francis, who died in April, during his visit to Bethlehem in 2014. Francis later donated the car, a custom-designed Mitsubishi, to the Franciscan Order in Jerusalem. This allowed Caritas Jerusalem to convert it into a medical clinic.
Now, amidst Israel’s resumed air and ground campaign in Gaza, Caritas is hoping that the symbolic vehicle will help humanitarian workers enter the Gaza Strip to treat children in need.
[Photo: courtesy Caritas]
Repurposing a long-standing tradition
Since the beginning of automobiles, nearly every pope has used multiple cars for travel, including Pope Francis. Franciss characteristic popemobiles included several different Jeeps, an Isuzu, and a Kia Sedona, and were typically outfitted with a raised transparent barrier to protect the pontiff as he greeted onlookers. According to Peter Brune, secretary general of Caritas Sweden, its become a tradition for local leaders to gift the Pope a special popemobile when he visits a new country. I guess hundreds of them by now, all over the world, Brune says.
The idea for a popemobile clinic comes as, on March 17, Israel ended a two-month-long ceasefire and resumed airstrikes and ground attacks in Gaza. More than 48,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip so far, and only 48% of primary care facilities in the area are currently functional, according to a report from the World Health Organization in early March.
It also follows Israel’s full blockade of humanitarian aid and other supplies into the Gaza Strip, which began March 2. The stoppage leaves communities there in desperate need of humanitarian supplies, food, and medical attention.
Brune hopes that the symbolic popemobile clinic will be enough to convince authorities to allow the vehicle into Gaza. In an interview with The Washington Post, Anton Asfar, secretary general of Caritas Jerusalem, shared that Caritas Jerusalem plans to request permission for entrance from COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry unit that coordinates civil affairs in occupied territories (COGAT told The Post that approval would actually need to come from the government itself.)
We are trying to use this powerful symbol to convince those who are in charge to let it in, and we hope that it will be allowed in, Brune says. It’s very important to make sure that the humanitarian community can do their job.
[Photo: courtesy Caritas]
Giving a papal symbol new purpose
The idea to transform the popemobile into a clinic came from a conversation last year between Brune and Asfar during which they brainstormed new symbols that could represent this cause and bring more attention to the children in Gaza.
Caritas Jerusalem has more than 100 staff working out of Gazaactually, several of them have been killed, Brune says. We are so desperate about bringing across this message that the civilians in Gaza, especially the children, are being so badly affected by this [conflict]. A few months ago, when it was colder, they were freezing to death; they were starving to death.
They realized that the popemobile could be the perfect tool. The popemobile is a very powerful symbol, Brune says. So we said, Let’s upscale it. Let’s give it a new mission.
That mission, Brune says, would be to turn the popemobile into a mobile medical clinic, staffed by doctors and nurses from Caritas Jerusalem, which could provide on-the-move assistance to those in need. Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Sweden, who is set to join the upcoming conclave, relayed the concept to the Pope late last year. Francis, who repeatedly advocated for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza and spent the last month of his life calling a small chuch in Gaza every day, quickly gave his consent.
We presented the idea to the late Pope Francis, and he approved the idea. That was amazing, Brune says. He said, Go for it. Gaza is very close to my heart, and if my popemobile can be used for this new and much more important mission, then go for it.
[Photo: courtesy Caritas]
Installing a decades worth of repairs, and then some
When mechanics started work on the once-retired popemobile several weeks ago, they found several problems that you might expect from a car thats been out of use for over a decade: rust, a faulty engine, and a flat tire.
When we found the car in Bethlehem, we looked into whether it was actually still in such a condition that you could make it function in its new role, Brune says. The mechanics said, Yes, its doable. Its in a bit of a bad shape, but its absolutely doable.
The complicated process involves fitting the vehicle with equipment for diagnosis, examination, and treatmentincluding rapid infection tests, suture kits, syringes and needles, and oxygen supply. A special air-conditioning system will be used to keep medicines at the right temperature, and mechanics will also install blast-proof windows to protect occupants.
It’s not only beautiful, it’s also very practical, Brune says. It will be capable of serving kids, and it will be equipped with air-conditioning so that it can keep the medical equipment at the right temperature and then make it also a good environment for the child to feel safe and taken care of.
Using design to create a practical solution, and an emotional connection
While parts of the popemobile have to be changed in order to add medical equipment, Brune says one of the main goals of this project is actually to keep the bones and appearance of the car as similar to its original appearance as possible. Brune and his team made a specific point to keep the seat Pope Francis once used intact.
One important symbolic piece is the seat where the Pope used to sit during when he was riding the popemobilethat’s where we will place the children who will be attended to by medical doctors and nurses, Brune says. We want to say, You are the most important, now you sit in the chair of the Pope.
Initially, the Vehicle of Hope was scheduled to be completed in around three weeks from now. But Brune says mechanics are so invigorated by excitement around the concept that they’ve predicted it could be ready as soon as this coming Tuesday. In the future, Brune hopes that similar mobile clinics can be scaled and used in other areas facing crises. For now, though, his focus is on Gaza.
The Vehicle of Hope is telling the children, There is a future for you. There is a time when the adults have agreed to stop fighting, stop bombing. And we want to give you this notion of hope, Brune says.
TikTok has spent nearly $1 billion cracking down on intellectual property violations in its marketplace. So why is TikTok Shop still flooded with knockoffs?
From July to December 2024, the platform shut down 900 stores for IP infringements and brought on 400 additional IP protection specialists. Yet TikTok remains a hub for dupe culturepromoting and selling low-cost imitations of popular products. Even when sellers arent blatantly copying major brands, they often market untested look-alike items at a fraction of the price.
Hiring more staff isnt enough to make TikTok Shop a safe, trustworthy brand. Whats needed is a full-scale culture shift.
The TikTok Shop IP crackdown
TikTok Shop is expanding fast. According to The New Consumer, by the end of 2024, it was already outpacing Shein, Sephora, and home shopping TV in quarterly spending. Of course, Trumps proposed tariffs could threaten that growth, though the data isnt in yet.
Still, TikTok Shop remains crowded with cheap products, many of which mimic more established (and expensive) brands. TikTok wants those big-name brands on its platform. Cracking down on IP theft helps win them overlike with LVMH, which partnered with ByteDance last year to target copycats. Some brands, such as Nike and E.l.f., have joined the platform; others remain hesitant.
In the second half of 2024 alone, TikTok blocked more than 7 million items from being listed. The company also expanded its global IP specialist team from 1,400 to 1,800. On the creator side, TikTok removed 675,000 videos and livestreams that promoted IP-infringing goods and revoked the selling privileges of 16,000 creators.
While the vast majority of our sellers play by the rules, we are focused on keeping bad actors off our platform, reads a recent report published by the company. Thats why weve strengthened our reactive governance efforts to keep pace with the rising volume and complexity of activity on the platform.
Dupe culture runs wild on TikTok
Focusing solely on the rules wont fix TikTok Shops brand safety problem. While some sellers engage in outright IP theft, many more push look-alike productsslightly tweaked, drastically cheaper versions of established goods.
A quick scroll through TikTok Shops homepage reveals dozens of knockoffs. Theres the $18 Miniso Crocs Design bag, which closely resembles a pricier tote from Crocs. (Miniso is based in Guangzhou.) Or the $4 star-shaped Qustere pimple patches, strikingly similar to Starface. (Qustere operates out of Shenzhen.) Youll also find budget Chelsea boots and shapewear from brands that overlap with Sheins catalog.
Just one swipe away from TikTok Shop, the For You Page is flooded with more of the same. In response to Trumps proposed tariffs, some Chinese manufacturers recently went viral for urging Americans to buy directly from their factories to bypass fees. The catch? Many of the goods were counterfeit.
TikTok Shops brand safety issues go far beyond IP enforcement. The platformfrom its marketplace to its short-form contentthrives on cheap imitations. Until that culture changes, brands will remain wary.
Inside a new factory near Louisville, Kentucky, bright orange robots will soon begin carefully loading boot parts into a machine that adds soles. Its one step in the highly automated process of making a Keen work bootand an illustration of what it looks like now to bring factories back to the United States.[Photo: Keen]Keen, which is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, started planning the new factory last year, long before current tariffs were in place. And the company, unlike the majority of shoe brands, had already been manufacturing some shoes in Portland for more than a decade.The Portland factory is now closing as the company prepares to open the larger factory in Kentucky next month. When it first started operations in Oregon in 2010, the business world was skeptical. Many people told us that [making shoes] could not be done in the U.S., primarily because of some of the cost factors, says Hari Perumal, Keens chief supply chain officer.[Photo: Keen]The company wanted to be closer to its American market, so it looked for a solution. Labor was the biggest challenge. Footwear is a very labor-intensive product to make, Perumal says. And its 10 to 12 times more expensive to hire workers in the U.S. than in factories overseas, he says.[Image: Keen]The team focused on its high-end work boots, a product with strong demand for an American built label. They started by streamlining the process to add soles to the boots. In a traditional factory in Asia, adding soles would happen on a long production line. Instead, Keen turned to a process called direct injection fusing. The shoes upper is loaded into a machine where heated polyurethane is molded into an outsole, bonding it directly to the rest of the shoe without glue. Robots also prep materials. In the new Kentucky factory, robots will also handle steps like flash trimming of excess material.Even with advanced automation in place, its still more expensive to make shoes in the U.S. than in other countries. Keen plans to continue making many of its shoes elsewhere, including in a factory that the company owns in Thailand. But making boots in the U.S. has some obvious advantages, and the brand plans to continue growing the number of products it makes in Kentucky.[Photo: Keen]With a U.S. factory, Keen can more nimbly respond to demand from American customers if it needs to make more or less of a particular style. The carbon footprint of delivery is much lower, Perumal says. (Kentucky was chosen strategically since its within a two-day drive of 80% of the U.S. population; the company already had a distribution center next door to the new factory.) And customers have made it clear that they want American-made work boots. We have seen a huge surge in the request for American-built products, says Perumal.[Photo: Keen]Thats not to say that the rest of the footwear industry is necessarily likely to follow. Keen struggled to find and keep workers at its Portland factory, despite paying high wages. It also has to invest in training, since American workers no longer have experience making shoes. Because the company has to source components globallyand tariffs now apply to those partsthe cost of manufacturing in the U.S. is now growing even more. The company has pledged not to raise prices for consumers because of tariffs for the rest of the year, however.[Photo: Keen]To encourage more American shoe manufacturing, Perumal say the government could help by eliminating tariffs on components. We dont have a supply chain ecosystem, he says. All thats needed to make the shoes is outside the U.S. right now. It took 40 years to build this global supply chain.Even if more factories relocated to America, its not clear that there are enough workers whod take traditional shoe manufacturing jobs. If you have 4% unemployment in the U.S., are we going to find 20,000 or 40,000 people that want to work for shoe company wages here? he asks. Our economy has migrated more toward service.The new Kentucky factory will create jobs, but at a small scale: the factory is initially launching with a lean team of 24 skilled production and operations staff. Robots will do the rest.
