The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more.
Have you ever wanted to break up with your doctornot because of the practitioner, but because of the difficulty in engaging with their practice? Youre not alone. Ive left doctors for that reason and McKinsey has found that nearly 25% of consumers have delayed care because they hate everything about the process. System complexity is not doctors fault, but making the care experience easier for patients is now theirand their teamsburden. And that burden is only increasing. With generative AI reaching a tipping point, practices that cant adopt the technology to engage patients with a consumer-grade experience will soon face an existential crisis.
In virtually every other aspect of our livesfrom banking and shopping to transportation and vacation planningtechnology has dramatically improved the consumer experience, catering to convenience and access. But not in healthcare, where the experience of being a patient still differs widely from practice to practice. There are offices where booking a routine medical appointment can feel more stressful than booking a flight to Melbourne or negotiating insurance approval for a standard treatment feels out of reach.
While healthcares digital revolution has stubbornly lagged other industries, that is now shifting. Patients are beginning to flex their consumer muscles, demanding digital convenience that enhances human connection. And theyre increasingly starting to vote with their feet when they dont get the digital attention they need. We see this with the uptick in patients turning to urgent care clinics for more than just colds, because of the flexibility and digital access they provide.
At the same time, much of the technology aimed at improving patient experience has, so far, created more work for doctors. These compounding factors are pushing an already burdened ecosystem towards its limits.
But there is a way forward. And it’s based on understanding that the ability to deliver a consumer-grade patient experience requires a better practice experience, one where physicians and administrators alike can spend their time on what matters most: delivering patient care.
An AI aha moment
Until recently, many physicians have struggled to realize the value of AI in their practice. The introduction of ambient listening technology has changed the equation, creating an industry-wide revelation. This AI-based voice recognition technology has quickly proven its ability to shave off hours of time on notetaking, documentation, and entering preliminary information to assist in billing patient encounters. Doctors who were previously plagued by pajama timehours spent catching up on patient documentation work at homefeel liberated by AI-powered ambient listening.
And the research supports that the optimism is more than anecdotal. athenahealths annual Physician Sentiment Survey found a positive shift in physicians opinions of AI. This year, only 27% of surveyed physicians believe AI to be overhyped or unable to meet expectations (down from 40% a year ago), and the majority of physicians who previously reported using AI in their practice (68%) are using it more frequently to generate clinical documentation.
Beyond the important work to streamline operations, AI is also increasingly working as an intelligence layer that enables doctors to spend less time hunting for facts and more time acting on insights at the moment of care, allowing their practices to offer a better experience for patients and staff.
The rise of AI agents
What am I excited about seeing in 2025? AI applications on the horizon that can deliver on the promise of a more consumer-friendly, human experienceone that shifts physicians attention away from the computer screen and back toward their patients. Recently, I was at the HIMSS conference, an annual gathering of healthcare technology leaders. While last years conference centered on generative AI hype, with few applications in sight, this year showed real world impact and a more tangible roadmap of coming applicationsincluding agentic AI.
AI agents have been operating behind the scenes in many industries for years, but large language models are giving them the ability to perform more complex tasks, such as answering certain patient questions and managing front office work. We are already seeing these agentic AI applications in our app store Marketplace of partner tools (for instance Salesforces Agentforce for Health), and are exploring agentic AI throughout our solutions, such as in improving the revenue cycle management process. As the technology enables practices to function more efficiently, those improvements will be felt by their patients, whose needs can be met faster and more directly.
The benefits are real
As a health tech marketer and executive, I understand both the challenge and the opportunity ahead. As I wrote about AI previously in Fast Company: Just as important as building and evolving the technology is our ability to market AIs benefits to physicians and patients alike, to ensure that its leveraged to help reclaim whats at the heart of exceptional care: a meaningful patient-physician relationship.
I believe the recent AI advances have demonstrated that the benefits are real. That we, as patients, can finally stop checking our consumer expectations at the door of our doctors office. And that better care is within our reachnot despite technology, but because of it.
Stacy Simpson is chief marketing officer of athenahealth.
The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more.
The influence of millennials and Gen Z on B2B purchasing decisions is undeniable. As these generations continue moving into leadership roles, their approach to decision making, especially in B2B environments, is shaping how brands leverage various marketing and sales strategies.
While todays B2B brands are aware of social medias role in engaging these decision makers, many fail to fully integrate it into their omni-channel strategies.Madison Logics recent surveyin collaboration with Harris Pollfound that 64% of B2B marketing leaders plan to invest in more B2C-focused social channels like Instagram and TikTok in 2025. Its critical that brands understand how to effectively leverage social media or risk seeing low returns from their efforts.
What drives todays buyers
Millennial and Gen Z buyers bring unique perspectives, habits, and expectations that are reshaping B2B marketing and sales strategies. As digital natives, their approach to purchasing and information gathering is often more collaborative, digital-first, and influenced by nontraditional media channels. These two generations are less likely to be influenced by in-person meetings, comprehensive email exchanges, or through phone calls. Instead, millennials and Gen Z want seamless, online purchasing similar to what they have in their personal livesconsumer-grade digital interactions. They also expect personalized, immediate, and easily accessible informationmuch of which is found on social media.
Why social is the missing piece
Omni-channel marketingfocused on creating consistency across digital platformsis a proven method to deliver a seamless customer experience at every stage of the decision-making process. The idea is to meet prospects and customers where they are; and where they are is on social media.
While LinkedIn, with over 1 billion members has long been considered the go-to platform for B2B decision makers, younger generations are expanding their social media presence into platforms that were previously more aligned with B2C engagement. TikTok and Instagram, for example, are not just for fun and entertainment anymore; theyre becoming crucial business tools.
LinkedIn continues to be the most effective platform for professionals looking to make connections and engage with thought leadership content. In fact,80% of B2B leadsgenerated via social media come from LinkedIn. However, millennials and Gen Z have grown up with a broader social media usage pattern. These younger decision makers are comfortable on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and even Facebookplatforms that might seem outside the typical B2B scope.
How to make the most of social in your omni-channel strategy
To make the most of social media in your omni-channel approach, its essential to integrate these channels seamlessly into your broader marketing and sales strategies. Heres how to ensure youre maximizing your efforts.
Use data to understand buyers:Social media allows brands to connect with potential customers in a more personal, humanized way. This is especially important for millennial and Gen Z decision makers, who tend to value authenticity and transparency. Using intent data to understand buyer concerns and mapping engagement to where they are in the buyers journey is key to building an effective omni-channel strategy
Engage in real-time conversations:Social media offers a unique opportunity to engage with your audience in real time, and this is where the younger generations are looking for genuine interactions. If someone comments on your brands Instagram post or asks a question on LinkedIn, its essential to respond quickly and meaningfully. Millennial and Gen Z buyers often prefer self-service and quick resolutions.
Embrace video:Short-form video is the fastest-growing content category on LinkedIn, withnew datarevealing that total video viewership surged by 36% year-over-year and video creation grew at twice the rate of other original post formats. Video content consistently outperforms text-based content and images in terms of engagement, largely due to its ability to capture attention quickly, making it ideal for social channels where professionals are often scrolling through feeds looking for insightful, actionable content.
Leverage influencers and thought leaders:Our recent survey also found that more than half (56%) of B2B marketers use influencer marketing strategies to connect with their audiences. Collaborating with respected industry experts, thought leaders, and influencers lends credibility to your brand, increases awareness, and helps foster trust with potential buyers.
Measure, analyze, and optimize:Finally, as with any aspect of your omni-channel strategy, it’s important to continually measure and optimize your social media efforts. Social media platforms offer powerful analytics tools that allow you to track engagement, reach, and conversion metrics. By analyzing this data, you can identify which social channels and tactics are driving the most value for your business and optimize your strategy accordingly.
Incorporating social media into your B2B omni-channel strategy is no longer optionalit’s essential for reaching todays decision makers. With millennials and Gen Z increasingly occupying key roles in the B2B buying process, brands must work harder and seek out ways to meet them where they are. And, at a time when nearly everyone is being asked to do more with less, those who embrace social as a critical part of their omni-channel strategy will surely be better positioned to win in the long run.
Keith Turco is CEO of Madison Logic.
The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more.
Theres a seismic shift reshaping the labor market, with tremors across government and business. The latest signal of this transformation is the announcement of the Skills-First Workforce Initiative, a collaboration of top employers aimed at making the skills needed for jobs more transparent.
It follows an announcement from California Governor Gavin Newsom, who on April 2nd unveiled his Master Plan for Career Education, furthering Californias efforts on skills-based education and hiring.
That means candidates are encouraged to apply for roles based on their skills and previous experience, rather than what can be an arbitrary marker of capability: the college degree.
The Skills-First Workforce Initiative and Newsoms plan build on the momentum of many other states, like Colorado and Arkansas, and the federal governments Chance to Compete Act, which makes skill-based hiring a requirement for federal agencies.
All together, these initiatives and announcements send a clear message: The future of work has arrived.
Its a future that requires a new strategic imperative for workers and organizational leadersthe need for continuous upskilling.
Skills are the new currency
A growing number of companies and other state governments are already reaping the benefits of skills-based hiring by focusing on talent and potential rather than formal education. These leaders understand the potential of skills-based hiring to diversify the talent pool, foster innovation, and prepare organizations for the complexities of the future.
According to the National Governors Association’s recent findings, over half of U.S. state governments have policies that encourage skill-based hiring, and states that adopted these policies have seen faster growth in job postings that dont have degree requirements.
With more organizations adopting skills-based hiring approaches, and even leveraging skill assessments to promote internally, skills are becoming the currency of the modern workforce.
Adapting to this new era of skills requires an essential mindset and strategy shift for employees and organizations. Employees need to embrace a mindset of continuous upskilling, while organizations need to give their employees the time and resources to sharpen those new skills.
For those at the cutting edge, this means starting the journey to becoming a skills-based organization.
Become a skills-based organization
A skills-based organization prioritizes the skills and capabilities of candidates and employees over their formal educational background. According to our research at Udemy, over 80% of employees report that their companies are beginning to consider implementing skills-based approaches (such as skills-based hiring), and 75% of organizations have already made changes to support this transition.
The key steps to becoming a skills-based organization extend beyond hiring practices.
To become skills-based organizations, companies need to create structured skill taxonomies. These are frameworks that identify and categorize the skills necessary for various roles within the organization. At Udemy, we are developing a skills taxonomy to map the competencies essential for different career paths, enabling targeted learning and development.
Focusing on skills instead of traditional credentials like degrees or job titles has been proven to cultivate a workforce that is both more agile and diverse. According to Deloitte, nearly two-thirds of companies implementing skills-based strategies experience enhanced outcomes compared to those that don’t. Such organizations benefit from greater workforce flexibility, facilitating quick and adaptive reactions to unexpected market shifts. When skills development and acquisition are prioritized, employees become versatile, readily transitioning to new tasks or roles as needs arise, without being limited by predefined job titles or descriptions. This agility enables organizations to swiftly address emerging challenges by strategically reallocating talent where it’s most needed.
AI supercharges the change
These shiftstransitioning to a skills-based organization and adopting new mindsetswon’t happen overnight. However, AI can significantly accelerate the process, and it is becoming even more critical as companies feel pressure to reskill their workforces. We are entering an era where AI integrates into every facet of learning, simplifying, and accelerating skill acquisition.
One way that AI can transform workplace training is by enabling adaptive learning systems that customize educational content based on learner progress. This personalized approach can enhance learning efficiency and engagement, allowing learners to access the knowledge they need more effectively. AI-enabled learning systems have the power to bridge gaps between current employee knowledge and needed skills, making them a dominant force in the future of education.
Our role as leaders
The movement towards a skills-based economy is not just a fleeting moment. It’s the dawn of a new era in workforce development. Announcements like Newsoms signal a move toward a more equitable and efficient labor market.
As leaders, we must champion these changes within our organizations, ensuring that we create an environment where continuous learning and skills development take center stage.
By prioritizing skills over degrees, we’re opening doors to a broader range of individuals, enriching our organizations with diverse perspectives and experiences. Together, we can build a more inclusive and dynamic workforce equipped for the challenges and opportunitis that lie ahead.
Hugo Sarrazin is CEO of Udemy.
The family of a man killed in a 2021 road rage incident in Arizona used artificial intelligence to portray the victim delivering his own impact statement during his killers sentencing hearing, according to local news reports.
Christopher Pelkeys sister, brother-in-law, and their friend used AI technology to recreate his likeness, reportedly drawing from video clips recorded while he was alive. It is believed to be one of the firstif not the very firstinstances of an AI-generated victim impact statement being used in court.
To Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me: It is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances, the AI version of the 37-year-old said in the video. In another life, we probably couldve been friends. I believe in forgiveness and in God who forgives. I always have, and I still do.
Judge Todd Lang appreciated the video, according to Fox 10 News. Prosecutors requested a 9.5-year sentence for Horcasitas; ABC 15 reported that he was ultimately sentenced to more than a decade for manslaughter.
The team putting together the video reportedly pulled from different tools in order to make it happen.
“There’s no tool out there that you can just go and say, ‘Here’s a voice file. Here’s a picture. Please make it come to life. And this is what I wanted to say.’ So they’re scrounging and using this tool and that tool and this tool and this script and this audio and this image and trying to mash it all together and make a Frankenstein of love,” Pelkey’s sister Stacey Wales said in an interview with Fox 10.
British entrepreneur Emma Grede, who founded the women’s bodywear company Skims along with her husband, Jens Grede, and Kim Kardashian, is getting a lot of attention after dismissing work-life balance as a priority for employers.
“Work-life balance is your problem, not the employer’s responsibility,” Grede said on The Diary of a CEO podcast on Monday, hosted by British entrepreneur Steven Bartlett, which features interviews with CEOs and other successful leaders. “Look, I have four kids, and I had to figure out how I would think about my own ambition balanced with my parenting. That’s the truth,” she continued.
While they say that all PR is good PR, Grede’s claim is sure to be controversial among leaders, employees, and employers. She also added that she viewed the priority negatively in the hiring process.
“When somebody talks to me about their work-life balance in an interview process, I’m, like, ‘Something is wrong with you,’ ” Grede told Bartlett, calling it a red flag to bring up in a job interview, and recommending that prospective employees not ask about it.
However, Grede’s comments feel problematic in the context that Skims is marketed primarily to women, who still bear a heavier load than men in balancing work and family, despite progress in recent decades in the workplace, according to the Pew Research Center. In fact, women are more likely than men to report experiencing work-life balance challenges, with 60% of women saying it’s a significant issue, versus 47% of men.
That’s because women continue to shoulder a greater amount of work at home, both in childcare and housework, and continue to be paid less in the workplace for the same job on average. Furthermore, a 2023 Pew report that researched opposite-sex marriages found that even when earnings are similar, husbands spend more time on paid work and leisure, while wives devote more time to caregiving and housework.
The research found that even in so-called “egalitarian marriages,” wives are still spending more than double the amount of time on housework than their husbands (4.6 hours per week for women versus 1.9 hours per week for men), and almost two hours more per week on caregiving, including tending to children. Husbands, meanwhile, spend roughly three hours more per week than their wives on paid work, and three-and-a-half hours more on leisure activities.
Some experts also disagree with Grede’s view. Psychologist Katina Sawyer told Business Insider that considering work-life balance a skill reinforces “flawed thinking,” and “allows employers to ignore the role their expectations play in employee burnout and to shift the blame onto individuals when performance suffers.”
Fast Company has reached out to Grede at Skims for comment.
Speaking of podcasts, Grede also happens to be launching her own on Tuesday, called Aspire With Emma Grede, featuring “honest and unfiltered” conversations with business moguls, starting with two episodes with actress and Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow and the former chair of Starbucks, Mellody Hobson.
“Aspire is my way of scaling mentorship,” Grede told People magazine. “Theres so much advice out there, but most of it doesnt reflect the reality of what it actually takes to build something or change your life.”
In the constant hustle and bustle of one of the busiest airports in the United States, a terrifying 90 seconds of quiet had disastrous results.
On April 28, the Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) lost both radar and radio for a minute and a half due to a fried piece of copper wiring, the New York Post reported. This meant that air traffic controllers could not see, hear, or speak to aircraft or pilots around the airport.
The event did not lead to any crashes, but it did cause significant stress on employees working at the time; five FAA employees are reportedly taking trauma leave, according to CNN, making them eligible for 45 days to recover from the event.
How has the incident impacted flights?
Along with a slew of other problems slowing down the airportsuch as the temporary closure of a major runway for repair work and a nearly 30-year low of air controller staffinglast Mondays incident has led to major delays and cancellations for the airport.
And these delays and cancellations have continued to persist: According to the flight tracking website FlightAware, Newark airport has seen over 200 delays and 110 cancellations by 12:30 today.
What have airlines said about the situation?
Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, wrote in a message on Friday that Newark airports technology problems were compounded when over 20% of the FAA controllers for EWR walked off the job, putting further stress on already understaffed systems.
Without these controllers, its now clear and the FAA tells us that Newark airport cannot handle the number of planes that are scheduled to operate there in the weeks and months ahead, He wrote.
Due to these difficulties, Kirby added, United would cancel 35 round trips per day from Newark beginning this past weekend.
It’s disappointing to make further cuts to an already reduced schedule at Newark, but since there is no way to resolve the near-term structural FAA staffing issues, we feel like there is no other choice in order to protect our customers, says Kirby.
How long is this chaos going to last?
While issues like the runway closure will be resolved in June, the severe lack of air traffic controllers and replacing old equipment is a longer-term problem. According to a report by Axios, the New York City region only had around 65% of its target number of certified air traffic controllers as of September 2023.
This is in part because of the relatively narrow window in which people can enter the position. The FAA does not allow anyone to apply to be a controller if they are over the age of 30 and requires all controllers to retire by the age of 56. Additionally, training to become a certified professional controller (CPC) is a long and difficult process spanning 3-4 years and causes around 40% of paid trainees to drop out.
In order to boost the numbers of air traffic controllers, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a press conference on May 1 that the Department of Transportation will roll out incentives such as:
A 30% salary increase for new hires
A $5,000 bonus for FAA Academy completion
Additional resources to help students improve final exam scores
Bonuses to controllers nearing retirement age
Bonuses to controllers willing to staff less popular locations
Were hoping in three to four years we can get to full staffing, not 20 years, Duffy said.
Additionally, in a statement on May 5, the FAA said that it is working on speeding up modernization efforts to improve Newark airports technology infrastructure.
“We are working to ensure the current telecommunications equipment is more reliable in the New York area by establishing a more resilient and redundant configuration with the local exchange carriers. In addition, we are updating our automation system to improve resiliency,” the agency said.
What if I’m flying in or out of Newark?
Although the FAA and Department of Transportation are promising improvements for Newark airport, the unfortunate reality is that it will take a long time for travelers to see the results from them.
Travelers with flights going through Newark in the coming weeks and months should stay alert and check frequently for possible delays and disruptions and consider backup plans when possible.
It also may be a good idea to try to book flights earlier in the day as they are typically less likely to be delayed or canceled.
In the case that your flight is cancelled or heavily delayed, the Department of Transportation says that you are entitled to a refund: If an airline cancels a passengers flight or makes a significant change in the flight, regardless of the reason, airlines are required to provide a prompt refund to a ticketed passenger, including those with non-refundable tickets, should the passenger choose not to accept the alternative offered, such as rebooking on another flight.
OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit with a mission to build safe artificial general intelligence for the benefit of humanity. For a while, that structure made sense. But in 2019, the company made a discovery that changed everything: Scaling up AI modelswith more data, compute, and parametersled to predictably stronger results.
The insight was formalized in a 2020 paper titled “Scaling Laws for Neural Language Models,” and it reshaped OpenAIs trajectory. That same year, the company released GPT-3, a model 100 times larger than GPT-2. Microsoft invested. Venture capitalists piled in. Inside the company, employees began to see Sam Altman as the one who could turn a nonprofit breakthrough into a world-changingand highly profitablebusiness.
And yet OpenAI remained a nonprofit company. Seen in that light, yesterdays announcement that OpenAIs for-profit arm will become a public benefit company (PBC) is no big surprise.
Under the newly proposed structure, OpenAI will continue operating as a for-profit AI business housed within a nonprofit parent. (Altman said last year he wanted to free the for-profit from the nonprofit parent.)
We made the decision for the nonprofit to retain control of OpenAI after hearing from civic leaders and engaging in constructive dialogue with the offices of the Attorney General of Delaware and the Attorney General of California, OpenAI board member Bret Taylor said in a blog post Monday. The change is that the for-profit part will now be a public benefit corporation and no longer a capped profit entity.
Now theres no limit on how much OpenAI shareholdersincluding investors and employeescan earn. Dropping the capped-profit model was also a condition of OpenAIs last two funding rounds. In the most recent (and largest), lead investor SoftBank stipulated that OpenAI adopt a new corporate structure by the end of 2025. Investors are willing to bet big on OpenAI, but they want the potential for big returns.
Altman and others at OpenAI have said that bringing in revenue has become more important with the realization that building progressively better models will require massive investments in infrastructure and computing power.
The key worry about Sam Altman is that, under his leadership, the company might prioritize pushing toward superintelligent AI without adequately safety-testing its models or mitigating their risks. The new PBC structure likely wont do much to quiet those concerns.
OpenAIs announcement is effectively a commitment to maintain the status quo, with some changes around the margins, Public Citizen co-president Robert Weissman said in a statement Monday night. Under the new arrangement, OpenAI nonprofit will continue to have a controlling interest in the for-profit, now accompanied by some shareholding. Since the nonprofit has done nothing discernible in the past to control or in any way restrain the for-profit, theres no reason to think it will do so in the future.”
Elon Musk, an early founder of OpenAI, sued the company for violating its original nonprofit mission to develop human-level AI for the good of humanity. OpenAI says Musk, who owns a competing AI company, is simply trying to slow its progress. Both claims may be correct.
OpenAI will continue releasing new models at a rapid clip, and it will keep the technical details of its best models tightly held as trade secrets.
The nonprofits board of directors, which once challenged Altmans commitment to safety and even managed to briefly oust him for dishonesty in late 2023, is now filled with people more aligned with the CEOs goals. And the nonprofit board will receive a significant number of shares in the for-profit public benefit corporation.
Microsoft will have to sign off on the new structure, but why wouldnt it? Even though OpenAIs relationship with Microsoft isnt as tight or aligned as it once was, Microsoft still stands to benefit from maximizing the financial payoff of the large stake it holds in the AI startup.
Target Corp. is pushing back on media reports this week that it has changed its policies around self-checkout technology in response to shoplifting or customer dissatisfaction.
A number of news outlets reported over the weekend and yesterday that the retail giant has limited self-checkout registers to 10 items or fewer, but Target made that announcement more than a year ago.
“Target is not removing self-checkout,” a spokesperson told Fast Company when reached for comment. “We offer it in the vast majority of our stores and have no plans to change this.”
The company declined to share additional details about how theftor “shrink” in industry parlancehas shaped its self-checkout policies. At the time of its original announcement in March 2024, Target said its 10-items-or-fewer rule was based on “guest feedback.”
In a fact sheet updated this week, Target said that its transaction times have improved at both human-run and automated checkout lanes since the policy was implemented and that customers typically like having both options.
Does self-checkout actually impact inventory “shrink”?
Some surveys have indicated that self-checkout options can and do contribute to shoplifting, as highlighted in a research roundup published by Capital One in February. Even as the technology has become commonplace over the last two decades, companies are still trying to strike the right balance between being technology forward and letting technology run roughshod over the customer experienceand sometimes they admittedly veer too far in the latter direction.
At the same time, our perception of how bad the problem is might not always match reality: While 69% of respondents to a 2023 LendingTree survey said that they believed self-checkout lanes make it easier to steal, only 15% admitted to actually doing so.
Is 15% bad enough to abandon self-checkout in favor of having more human cashiers? That’s up to retailers and their accountants to figure out. In the short term, don’t expect big changes at Target. The company only admits that it will “continue evolving to match guests with the right checkout options so they can get what they need.”
Ive had more caviar since starting work on the Celestiq than I have during the entirety of my career at General Motors, Erin Crossley, Cadillacs design director for color and trim, says before tucking into a ramekin at Gucci Osteria on Rodeo Drive.
The uptick in caviar consumption is a leading indicator that Cadillac is going upscale. As design director for the Cadillac Celestiq, the American luxury brands new, bespoke electric vehicle, Crossley sits with customers from all over the world and mines more than 350,000 permutations to deliver their perfect personalization.
[Photo: GM]
The low-slung EV with a 303 mile range starts at $340,000, pushing the American automaker into the realm of German, Italian and English luxury sports cars. But the price can tick much, much higher, with options from leather floors to eucalyptus fiber mats.
We know that these clients have the means to do anything, she says. Its like building a house: How detailed do you want to get?
[Photo: GM]
Return to glory days
Cadillac owned the luxury market for most of the twentieth century before ceding share to more exciting foreign rivals. GM hopes the arrival of the Celestiq heralds the brands comeback and represents a return to its glory days.
With its exaggerated proportions and brash demeanor, the Celestiqs design evokes the American style and optimism of Cadillacs midcentury heyday, according to Michael Simcoe, VP of Global Design. Simcoe, the handlebar-mustachioed designer who is set to retire this year, considers the Celestiq his swan song.
[Photo: GM]
For Cadillac to come back as a brand, it needed to do what Cadillac had always done, and that’s create vehicles that exaggerated proportion and were very American in their style, he tells Fast Company. Its a very optimistic, very strident view of the world, which was very big in the 50s through 60s and 70s in America.
In particular, the Celestiq drew inspiration from the 1957 Eldorado Brougham, a limited-edition sedan filled with luxury features; it was Cadillacs last hand-built car for nearly 70 years. With its low stance, large wheels and wheelbase longer than the full-size Cadillac Escalade SUVs, the Celestiq defies category, Simcoe says.
At this level of luxury, everything is much bigger, he says. Think about the other premium brands around, and they’re traditionally executed as a three box sedan with a big trunk. But the Celestiq has a low, fastback profile that makes it stand out on the road.
[Photo: GM]
Built by hand
GM builds two Celestiqs a day on average, a far cry from the automakers higher volume vehicles churned out on a production line. The car is built by hand in Warren, Michigan, at GMs Tech Centera midcentury marvel itself commissioned by legendary designer and automotive executive Harley Earl and created by renowned architect Eero Saarinen.
[Photo: GM]
But the car also uses 3D-printed parts made from aluminum, stainless steel, and titanium. And like the Brougham, which introduced air suspension to the market, the Celestiq showcases a couple of other firsts: a smart glass roof featuring four quadrants for passengers to control opacity, as well as electronic shutters that obscure screen content while driving and can be controlled remotely via a QR code on the phone.
It’s very rare in an engineer’s career where you get to go completely off script and make up a bespoke car, says Tony Roma, executive chief engineer. The idea was, when you’re making a statement to hang your whole brand on, you don’t want somebody to walk up and find that piece of pastic and go, Oh, really, like, this is the best you could do, right? For the interior, it became an obsession of the team that all of the little metal parts were either printed or made from finely detailed casting.
[Photo: GM]
Who wants to buy a $340,000 Cadillac?
Cadillac has declined to reveal the number of Celestiqs it plans to build, but it will need to find a viable customer base ready to spend somewhere in the mid-six figures for a Detroit-made car. The value proposition lies in the customization process, which usually takes place in a screening room at Cadillac House in New York or at a mobile popup like the Pendry West Hollywood, where Crossley and her team walked me through a process so extensive I forgot I wasnt a paying customer.
[Photo: GM]
When we design a vehicle with a customer, we won’t share that same specification with anyone else, so you’ll know that there’s no one else who has a car with exactly the same specification as yours, Simcoe says. Do you need to do that? No, but it’s important to the people who are buying this car to go through the process and own it.
[Photo: GM]
To herald its return to luxury, Cadillacs new playbook has the brand meeting customers where they are, feverishly expanding its presence in the luxury market over the past three years. In 2022, the carmaker signed a multi-year deal to become the automotive sponsor of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships. The following year, the brand returned to the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France after a decades-long hiatus. On Saturday, it unveiled a logo for its inaugural Formula 1 team ahead of its plans to join the grid in 2026.
[Photo: GM]
Ultimately, GM hopes that some of this glamour trickles down into its more quotidian EV lineup, as it aspires to make Cadillac the best-selling luxury EV brand in the U.S. this year.
[Photo: GM]
Yo, VIP, lets kick it
I took the Celestiq for a test drive in Los Angeles. As the morning rush faded away on the 101, Vanilla Ice came on the 38-speaker Dolby Atmos sound system, and I was transported into the rappers ode to the open road.
Luxury, I realized, is what you dont notice. No noise, no bumps, no trafficalthough, to be fair, the Celestiqs extravagant proportions drew a share of the rubberneckers. Instead, I felt as though I was gliding through air as I ascended the Angeles Crest Highwaya career-first out of the thousands of cars Ive tested.
[Photo: GM]
The wide open space between my vantage point and the cars front pillara mark of distinction in the premium segmentcaptures cloudless blue skies on a 76-degree day.
A sedan thats longer than an Escalade and takes four months minimum to build isnt exactly practical, but at this moment, this drive is in a class of its own.
New Tesla car sales plunged across Europe in April even as sales of other electric vehicle brands soared, in part due to backlash against CEO Elon Musks support for Europe’s far-right politics, as well as growing competition from both European and Chinese EV carmakers, according to Reuters.
Last month, Tesla’s new car sales in the U.K. and Germany tanked to their lowest in over two years, falling 62% and 46% year on year, respectively, even as demand in both countries rose for EVs.
And in Spain, there was more bad news for Tesla, with new sales falling 36% in April 2025 compared with the the same month a year earlier, according to data from ANFAC, the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers, as reported by Reuters.
Shares of Tesla stock (NYSE: TSLA), which have been a roller-coaster ride since the beginning of the year, were down about 3% in midday trading on Tuesday at the time of this writing.
Tesla’s billionaire CEO Elon Musk’s politics, both at home and abroad, have cost him dearly. Americans have continued to boycott Tesla and protest Musk, angered by his role in the Trump administration and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has ordered widespread layoffs of government workers and slashed federal budgets, wreaking havoc on the government’s ability to function both efficiently and effectively.
In Europe, where Musk has shown support for far-right politics, just as in the United States, Europeans have been protesting and boycotting the EV carmaker, in addition to vandalizing Tesla showrooms and charging stations.
Musk has pledged to cut back on his government meddling, but for now it seems the damage to his reputation and company is already done. A look at the numbers shows that despite Tesla still being one of the largest electric car manufacturers in the world, its market share is weakening, especially in Europe.
Earlier this month, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association confirmed that Tesla sales fell 49% in Europe in the first two months of 2025, despite the fact that overall EV sales in Europe were up 28%.
April’s numbers showed where exactly that pain point was. Tesla sales plunged an eye-popping 81% in Sweden, to their lowest since October 2022, and were down 73.8% in the Netherlands when compared with the same month last year. Sales fell 67% and 59%, respectively, in Denmark and France, and 33% in Portugal.
In the first quarter of 2025, Tesla sales in Spain fell 17%, while electrified vehicles sales, of both hybrid and electric vehicles, were up a whopping 54%. Chinese EV automakers BYD, MG, and Omoda were up 644%, 80%, and 346% so far this year, respectively, per ANFAC.
