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We are fully committed to AI adoption, the CEO told me, proud of the companys recent employee training initiatives. But is AI just another tool in their toolbox, or a new way of working? I asked. Silence. Your number one enemy is the lack of an answer to this question, I continued. Your employees are hearing doomsday predictions about how AI will soon eliminate their jobs, so they resist and reject these technologies. Most importantly, they have no idea who they will become after AI is adopted, I concluded. This isnt the first time Ive witnessed this overly enthusiastic, roll-the-dice approach to AI. Once again, technologists are scaring business leaders into embracing the latest technologywithout any business context or strategy. The results are always the same: high resistance, early failures, disappointment, and no real return on investment. Gartner has rightfully crowned this as the hype cycle. The AI world is now divided into fans and foes. The fans cite endless statistics, insisting that adopting AI is absolutely criticalotherwise, extinction looms. (Case in point: the CEO who famously fired 80% of his staff for failing to embrace AI. A masterclass in fearmongering.) The foes, meanwhile, wave a recent MIT study as proof that the benefits of this technology are overstated. That study found only 5% of task-specific AI tools were successfully deployed in organizationsclear evidence of the challenge in specialized AI rollout. In contrast, 40% of generic generative AI tools (LLMs) succeeded, often driven by employee initiative rather than top-down directives. The foes refrain: Leave us alone. Well get there when we get there. URGENCY WITHOUT STRATEGY Both camps wield data devoid of context or direction. They pursue technology for technologys sake, forgetting that organizations do not exist simply to use the latest tools. Tools are just thattools. Its strategy that should be steering the companys investments and efforts. But what if we dont have the answers yet? What if we are navigating uncharted territory, still assembling the puzzle? Sometimes, the unknowns far outweigh the newly discovered. Welcome to the world of real strategy. Strategy, by definition, is not an insurance policy. It comes with no guarantees. A real strategy embraces riskthe possibility of failure from both external changes and internal missteps. Competence in strategy means being able to say, I dont know, and still move forward. Strategies do not need all the answers up front; they need built-in flexibility to adapt as the unknown becomes known, and to guide the organization toward its goals. Absent a strategy, AI becomes a patchwork of experiments with no clear success metrics. With strategy, every effort is framed by the possibilityand definitionof success. BEYOND CORPORATE STRATEGY: PERSONAL STRATEGY Given the fear AI stirs among workers, organizations must consider an additional layer: personal strategy. The World Economic Forum projects that by 2030, 39% of workers core skills will be different. The most importantand fastestgrowing skills include: AI and big data Analytical thinking Creative thinking Resilience, flexibility, and agility Technological literacy Leadership and social influence Curiosity and lifelong learning Systems thinking Talent management Motivation and self-awareness Networks and cybersecurity With so much reskilling ahead, employees need their own personal strategy, a thoughtful approach to letting go of outdated skills and embracing new ones. They need to design their roles in the context of these new capabilities and chart a path to their next career milestone. Just as companies challenge employees to automate tasks with AI, they should also challenge them to envision how they will evolve, and what new talents they must develop. THE 3 PERSONALITIES While technology changes rapidly, the human response to change remains remarkably consistent. I am not referring to resistance, but to the varied ways people adopt change. Looking back at past transformations, we can identify three distinct personalities of change adoption: The efficient adopter: Do less, betterThis employee leverages new technology to reduce routine workload, focusing on accuracy and quality. They use technology to deepen their organizational competence. The effective adopter: Do more, fasterBy embracing automation, this employee increases both capacity and output, positioning themselves as creators of greater value. The evolving adopter: Do differentlyThis employee uses the technology not just to improve, but to redefine their role completely. They explore new responsibilities and avenues previously unavailable. The technology may be identical, but employees will utilize it according to their comfort and strategy, each seeking a different outcome. All three types enhance performance and contribution, but through individually tailored strategic approaches. Giving employees a choice reduces fear, fosters control, and allows progress at their own pacewithin the companys broader AI adoption journey. FROM PERSONALITIES TO A JOURNEY In my experience, empowering people to select their personal path accelerates adoption. Often, these three personalities become a sequence of milestones. Employees may start as efficient adopters, progress to effective adopters as confidence grows, and ultimately become evolving adopters. Freedom from fearmongering about job loss fosters a human-centric, resilient approach to technologyand to change more broadly. In Next Is Now!, I argued that the true measure of competitiveness is not in skills or products, but in the speed and scope of adapting to change. Recent World Economic Forum reports reinforce these as essential skills for thriving in our new realitycapabilities that transcend AI and will remain relevant through future upheavals. When steel-based construction emerged in 1890, cities like London and Paris limited building heights to 10 stories, clinging to the old world of concrete-based construction. New York City, on the other hand, had the visionand the strategyto embrace skyscrapers, accelerating technology adoption and surpassing its European rivals. The fear of change, and the hype surrounding new technologies, is nothing new. The lesson: Provide strategic context and human compassion; skip the unnecessary fights and harvest the benefits faster. Lior Arussy, author of Dare to Author! and chairman of ImprintCX.
Category:
E-Commerce
Its been a long, hot summer for Americas universities. Columbia, accused by the Trump administration of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, settled with the federal government for a whopping $200 million, while Harvard is struggling to defend itself against allegations that it unduly favored some students based on ethnicity, in violation of the prohibition to consider race in college applications. Similar cases abound, making it seem as if our institutions of higher education are little more than heated ideological battlegrounds, offering students an uncertain future and therefore, considering the ever-rising price of tuition, a risky bet. Apologies, then, for spoiling a perfectly good bout of alarmism. Im afraid I have a bit of good news: The kids are all right. First, more of them will be heading over to the quad in the next few weeks than at any other time in recent memory. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center[DA1] , freshman enrollment rose by 5.5% in fall 2024 and total enrollment rose 4.5%, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. What explains this optimism and commitment to higher education, even as so much of the news coming from colleges these days is grim? Simple: Contrary to what some pundits would have us believe, young Americans arent heated partisans looking for an unending string of political kerfuffles, nor are they spoiled brats who feel entitled to lifes fineries. They are, in fact, hardworking, tough minded, and practical. I know this because my company, Scion owns and operates apartment housing for college studentsmore than 94,000 apartments in 82 colleges and universities across 35 stateswhich means we have about a decades worth of hard data about college students and the choices they make, providing far more valuable insights than talk radio hyperbole or politically motivated op-eds. WHAT THE DATA SHOWS What, then, does the data tell us about our young? Lets start with the most fundamental question, namely what is it that college students actually value? To hear many in the mainstream press tell it, the members of Generation Z are a gaggle of divas in training, chasing, as one recent headline breathlessly put it, amenities, aesthetics, and their own mini universe. Unless an apartment building comes with its own organic vegetable garden or a soy latte station, it wont pass muster with the young and the restless. The numbers, thankfully, tell a very different story. Everywhere you look, college students across the country from all socioeconomic backgrounds are a much more sober and serious-minded bunch. Our data shows that their ideal property is a rental going for somewhere around $850 to $925 a month, typically at or slightly above the average local rent. Proximity to their school is valued; extravagant amenities are not. That is, with a few caveats: As our numbers [DA2] show, 14.8% of the decision to choose one residential accommodation over another is predicated on access to study rooms and fitness centers, two perks that are emblematic of a focused, healthy lifestyle. Safety, too, is a major concern, with students prioritizing buildings that take safety and security seriously. Swing suites, rock climbing walls, and other lavish treats account for about 3% of the decision, proving that young Americans, so often maligned as failing toas the slang term goes”adult, are actually much more adept at making sensible, well-rounded decisions than we give them credit for. The same insight emerges when we analyze our most active and in-demand student rental markets. Sure, there are a few glittery campuses in Cambridge, Massachusetts or New Haven, Connecticut that still attract much more than their share of coverage and attention, but American students are overall uninterested in this hullaballoo. For the most part, they still see college as precisely the platform it was always designed to be: a place to gain an education that will catapult them to a better, more lucrative future. This makes universities like Texas A&M, that offer students a good and practical education at a reasonable price, much more attractive than youd think if you simply read the mainstream press and shared its obsession with the Ivies. RETHINK THE APPROACH Im sharing these statistics not only as a general cultural panacea, but also as an invitation to rethink our approach to a growing and often misunderstood marketplace. This year, college enrollment in the U.S. across undergraduate and graduate levels surpassed pre-pandemic rates for the first time, rising by 4.5%, or 817,000 students. All signs suggest that the number will continue to grow. Which leaves us with a critical question: Will we continue to treat young American adults as a generation oscillating between ideological inflammations and self-involved consumption? Or will we recognize them as what they actually are, a much more astute, responsible, and practical bunch than we graybeards sometimes like to admit? The answer is crucial for anyone interested in marketing anything to Generation Z, from a college degree to an apartment. We have the technology we need to help us offer products and services based on real, actionable insights, and cater to a new generation of Americans coming into its own. And we can easily fix a lot of whats ailing college students. But that would require focusing on housing, not hype, and on products instead of prejudices. Its time we listened to the data and welcomed a new cadre of eager men and women into the fold as equal partners in the never-ending and miraculous project that is growing the American economy. Rob Bronstein is the CEO of The Scion Group.
Category:
E-Commerce
Grindrs days as a public company could be numbered. The hookup and dating app, which went public via a SPAC merger in fall 2021, announced Tuesday that its largest shareholders, Raymond Zage and James Luwho led the companys go-public effortswere exploring the possibility of acquiring Grindrs outstanding stock, which would take the company private again. The confirmation of Lu and Zages goal of taking the company private followed reporting on Monday from Semafor, which outlined that a recent Grindr stock slide led a lender to seize shares that at least one of the men had used to back a personal loan. Semafor reported that the two were in talks with Fortress Investment Group to take on debt that would allow them to buy Grindr out at $15 a share. Grinder stock (NYSE: GRIND) closed at $12.72 a share on Wednesday. Grindr declined to comment on the buyout effort beyond a statement it released Tuesday. Fortress Investment Group declined to comment. Collectively, Zagethe Singapore-based CEO of investment firm Tiga Investmentsand Lu, a former Amazon and Baidu executive, collectively control more than 60% of the companys shares. Because Lu is Grindrs board chair and Zage sits on the board, the company said it had established a committee of independent directors that will evaluate any potential future offer. Highs and lows This year has been a mixed bag for the companys stock price. In June, it hit its highest price since the IPO, rising to $24.73. Since then, it has been on the downswing, dropping 12%. Since early September, the stock has dropped 3% in value. It also saw a drop in early September after Ningi Researchwhich bills itself as doing “investigative reporting on public companies”revealed a short position on Grindr. (Ningi Research has also released reports this year on coconut water company Vita Coco and financial services company Marex alongside short positions in both companies.) Ningi’s report outlined allegations that the company is manipulating its user numbers due to a change in how it counts paid users. Other claims in the report include allegations that the apps core experience is being diluted by its efforts to broaden its offering into a global gayborhood in your pocket. Grindr also declined to comment on the Ningi report. In its latest earnings report in August, Grindr posted a 27% year-over-year increase in revenue for its second quarter. Alongside Grindr’s Q2 earnings, CEO George Arison debuted his plan to start adding more AI-powered features for the apps highest-paying users, rebuilding the app around gAI (pronounced gay I). Also this year, Grindr has been undertaking its first foray into telehealth. In May, the company unveiled Woodwork, a direct-to-consumer service for erectile dysfunction medications. As Arison told Fast Company in May, he has viewed Grindr’s success as a public company as a way to push for more acceptance of the LGBTQIA+ community more broadly. “Part of our mission has to be we do super well as a business and we force everybody to change,” he said.
Category:
E-Commerce
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