After years of career experiments, two clear life paths stand out to me. Just two choices people make, sometimes without realising it. Decisions that define almost every area of our lives. The most successful people pick one of these paths early. And stick around long enough for it to work. Everything that follows grows from those two decisions. The work you do. The skills you build. And the doors that open for you. Ive seen both work. Different roads. But they can all help you build the life you want. You dont need to have it all figured out. You cant. No one can. But once you understand these two choices, you start aiming for what you want.
Choice one: Be the best at one thing
Hone your specific knowledge. This path cannot be any clearer. You pick one skill. One craft. One path. And you go all in. Not ten things. One. You wake up thinking about it. You go to sleep obsessing over it. You become it. And own it. This choice scares people. It feels limiting. Like youre closing doors. You are. Thats the point. Choice one is the engineer whos been solving similar problems for decades. Or the writer whos still honing her craft after everyone quits. The rewards compound over the years. Skills stack in your favour. Reputation grows. Doors open because people trust you to deliver. When you commit to one thing, you know what to say yes to. You know what to ignore. That alone puts you ahead of most people. But you have to get it right from the start. Think ten, twenty years down the line. Are you still happy doing the same thing? Will automation reduce the demand for your skill?
Specific knowledge matters. It runs the primary systems we all rely on. For a writer, its their voice. For a surgeon, its a skill. The stuff people cant Google in five minutes. If you become the best at something, really the best, you can be so good they cant ignore you. But the process takes time. You need more than ten thousand hours for that. Being the best takes sacrifice. Years. Maybe decades. Youll have to say no to almost everything else. And hope AI doesnt disrupt your path to the life you want. This route works. But its rare. And its not for everyone.
Choice two: Master meta-skills
You build range on purpose. You are not great at just one thing. But youre very good at two or more. You stand out by combining many strengths. Meta-skills are skills that help you learn other skills faster. They travel with you. Things like learning how to learn, writing clearly, thinking in systems and talking or listening to people. Mastering meta-skills means you are not attached to one identity. You know how to ask good questions, how to break problems down. And how to teach yourself new things. You switch between different sets.
You collect experiences. You learn fast by adapting. Different roles. Different industries. Different people. Ive seen friends do this well, too. They easily go from design to marketing to product. They are good at connecting dots that other people miss. You dont need to be the smartest person in the room. You need to adapt faster than the room changes. And it changes a lot.
If youre good at coding and public speaking you have leverage. Most programmers cant pitch. You can. That becomes your strength. Or maybe youre solid at business strategy and strong at storytelling. That combination makes you unstoppable. The secret is to stack rare but useful skills. It creates a mix thats hard to copy. Thats how you become irreplaceable. Be interesting and useful in a combination of ways.
How the two choices work together
This is the part people struggle with. If you only pick one thing, you risk getting stuck when things are changing. But you can still win if you pick right. And hone a few meta-skills too. If you only collect meta-skills, you stay indispensable. Together, they compound. Your specific skill makes you extraordinary. Your meta-skills give you range. You become irreplaceable without getting rigid. You can pivot without starting from zero. Thats how careers last. Thats how confidence grows.
Ive changed my one thing more than once. Each time, the meta-skills came with me. If you are already on a specific path, what skills would make you better at learning anything else later? Keep an open mind. Designing your extraordinary life is not really about which option is better. But the path that works better for you. For the life you want.
By all means, pick one thing. And own it. But then, look up. Learn the skills that let you keep moving. Use your specific knowledge as a foundation.
A great life is the work youre known for, connected by the wisdom you apply daily. Dont let your one amazing skill become your entire personality. Let it be the foundation. Then build everything else on top of it with the meta-skills.
President Donald Trump signed a New Year’s Eve proclamation delaying increased tariffs on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities for a year, citing ongoing trade talks.Trump’s order signed Wednesday keeps in place a 25% tariff he imposed in September on those goods, but delays for another year a 30% tariff on upholstered furniture and 50% tariff on kitchen cabinets and vanities.The increases, which were set to take effect Jan. 1, come as the Republican president instituted a broad swath of taxes on imported goods to address trade imbalances and other issues.The president has said the tariffs on furniture are needed to “bolster American industry and protect national security.”The delay is the latest in the roller coaster of Trump’s tariff wars since he returned to office last year, with the president announcing levies at times without warning and then delaying or pulling back from them just as abruptly.The Trump administration on Wednesday also signaled it may back away from a steep tariff proposed on Italian pasta that would have put the rate at 107%. The U.S. had threatened to add a heavy tariff on Italian pasta makers after the U.S. Commerce Department launched what it said was a routine antidumping review based on allegations that the pasta makers sold product into the US at below-market prices and undercut local competitors.A final decision on the sanctions was scheduled for Jan. 2, with the option of extending it.The Commerce Department said Wednesday that based on a new review, the rates would be lowered to between 2.26% and 13.89% for the pasta makers because they had addressed many of the department’s concerns. A final decision is now set for March 12.Italian farm lobby Coldiretti and another food industry association, Filiera Italia, welcomed the development. The two lobby groups had strongly objected to the original tariffs and urged the Italian government to intervene.The two associations said the original proposed tariffs would have doubled the cost of a plate of pasta for American families, “opening the door to Italian-sounding products and penalizing the authentic quality of Made in Italy.”They reported that in 2024, Italian pasta exports to the U.S. amounted to 671 million ($787 million).“Coldiretti and Filiera Italia will continue to defend our premium pasta exported to the U.S. market, which we have also supported with a strong campaign in the international media,” the associations said in a statement.
Associated Press writer Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.
Michelle L. Price, Associated Press
Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City on Thursday, taking over one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics with a promise to transform government on behalf of the city’s striving, struggling working class.Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in at a decommissioned subway station below City Hall just after midnight, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath as the city’s first Muslim mayor.After working part of the night in his new office, Mamdani returned to City Hall in a taxi cab around midday Thursday for a grander public inauguration where U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes, administered the oath for a second time.“Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed, but never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try,” Mamdani told a cheering crowd.“To those who insist that the era of big government is over, hear me when I say this: No longer will City Hall hesitate to use its power to improve New Yorkers’ lives,” he said.Throngs turned out in the frigid cold for an inauguration viewing party just south of City Hall on a stretch of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker-tape parades.
Mamdani wasted little time getting to work after the event.He revoked multiple executive orders issued by the previous administration since Sept. 26, 2024, the date federal authorities announced former Mayor Eric Adams had been indicted on corruption charges, which were later dismissed following intervention by the Trump administration.Then he visited an apartment building in Brooklyn to announce he is revitalizing a city office dedicated to protecting tenants and creating two task forces focused on housing construction.
‘I will govern as a democratic socialist’
Throughout the daytime ceremony, Mamdani and other speakers hit on the theme that carried him to victory in the election: Using government power to lift up the millions of people who struggle with the city’s high cost of living.Mamdani peppered his remarks with references to those New Yorkers, citing workers in steel-toed boots, halal cart vendors “whose knees ache from working all day” and cooks “wielding a thousand spices.”“I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist,” Mamdani said. “I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed ‘radical.'”Before administering the oath, Sanders told the crowd that most of the things Mamdani wants to do including raising taxes on the rich aren’t radical at all.“In the richest country in the history of the world, making sure that people can live in affordable housing is not radical,” he told the crowd. “It is the right and decent thing to do.”Mamdani was accompanied on stage by his wife, Rama Duwaji. Adams was also in attendance, sitting near another former mayor, Bill de Blasio.Actor Mandy Patinkin, who recently hosted Mamdani to celebrate Hannukah, sang “Over the Rainbow” with children from an elementary school chorus. The invocation was given by Imam Khalid Latif, the director of the Islamic Center of New York City. Poet Cornelius Eady read an original poem called “Proof.”In addition to being the city’s first Muslim mayor, Mamdani is also its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, Mamdani is also the city’s youngest mayor in generations.
Free child care and bus rides
At the watch party on Broadway, onlookers stood shoulder to shoulder gazing up at several jumbotrons and singing and dancing to stave off the cold, with some passing out hot cocoa and hand warmers. Many described feeling as though they were witnessing history.Among them was Ariel Segura, a 16-year-old Bronx resident, who had arrived five hours earlier to secure a place near the front of the crowd.“I’m out here fan-girling a politician, it’s kind of crazy,” he said, wiping away tears as Mamdani concluded his speech. “Now it’s time to hold him accountable.”In a campaign that helped make “affordability” a buzzword across the political spectrum, Mamdani ran on a focused platform that included promises of free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.Mamdani insisted in his inaugural address that he will not squander his opportunity to implement those policies.“A moment like this comes rarely. Seldom do we hold such an opportunity to transform and reinvent. Rarer still is it the people themselves whose hands are on the levers of change. And yet we know that too often in our past, moments of great possibility have been promptly surrendered to small imagination and smaller ambition,” he said.But he will also have to face the everyday responsibilities of running America’s largest city: handling trash and snow and rats, while getting blamed for subway delays and potholes.In his speech, Mamdani acknowledged the task ahead, saying he knows many will be watching to see whether he can succeed.“They want to know if the left can govern. They want to know if the struggles that afflict them can be solved. They want to know if it is right to hope again,” he said. “So, standing together with the wind of purpose at our backs, we will do something that New Yorkers do better than anyone else: We will set an example for the world.”
Quick rise to power
Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, an academic and author. His family moved to New York City when he was 7, with Mamdani growing up in a post-9/11 city where Muslims didn’t always feel welcome. He became an American citizen in 2018.He worked on political campaigns for Democratic candidates in the city before he sought public office himself, winning a state Assembly seat in 2020 to represent a section of Queens.Now that he has taken office, Mamdani and his wife will depart their one-bedroom, rent stabilized apartment in the outer-borough to take up residence in the stately mayoral residence in Manhattan.The new mayor inherits a city on the upswing, after years of slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Violent crime has dropped to pre-pandemic lows. Tourists are back. Unemployment, which soared during the pandemic years, is also back to pre-COVID levels.Yet deep concerns remain about high prices and rising rents.In opening remarks to the crowd, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez praised New Yorkers for choosing “courage over fear.”“We have chosen prosperity for the many over spoils for the few,” she said.
Dealing with Trump
During the mayoral race, President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani won and mused about sending National Guard troops to the city.But Trump surprised supporters and foes alike by inviting the Democrat to theWhite House for what ended up being a cordial meeting in November.“I want him to do a great job and will help him do a great job,” Trump said.Still, tensions between the two leaders are almost certain to resurface, given their deep policy disagreements, particularly over immigration.Several speakers at Thursday’s inauguration criticized the Trump administration’s move to deport more immigrants and expressed hope that Mamdani’s City Hall would be an ally to those the president has targeted.Mamdani also faces skepticism and opposition from some members of the city’s Jewish community over his criticisms of Israel’s government.Still, Mamdani supporters in Thursday’s crowd expressed optimism he’d be a unifying force.“There are moments where everyone in New York comes together, like when the Mets won the World Series in ’86,” said Mary Hammann, 64, a musician with the Metropolitan Opera. “This feels like that just colder.”Associated Press writer Jake Offenhartz contributed to this story.
Anthony Izaguirre, Associated Press
Every week, another executive asks me: Where do we even start with AI? As we enter 2026, this question drives explosive demand for AI upskilling platforms and AI-powered learning solutions. Yet most enterprise AI training programs fail because they lack a systematic framework that moves the organization from confused to fluent to truly differentiated. Think of it as Maslow’s hierarchy, but for AI capability development. And 2026 is the year to climb that hierarchy.
An effective AI upskilling platform must address five levels of organizational capability: foundational literacy, company-specific application, durable skills development, breakthrough innovation, and co-intelligence integration.
THE FOUNDATION: BUILD YOUR BASE CAMP
Just as you can’t achieve self-actualization without food and shelter, you can’t build an AI advantage without foundational literacy. Yet most organizations skip this step, rushing to deploy tools before their people understand what they’re actually working with.
The three non-negotiables at the base:
1. Understand what AI actually is. Not the marketing promises, but the reality. When your teams understand the underlying mechanics, they make better decisions about when and how to apply these tools. The goal isn’t turning everyone into data scientists. It’s eliminating the dangerous combination of over-confidence and ignorance.
2. Safety and ethics literacy. Fear of “doing it wrong” stops more AI adoption than any other factor. People need clear guardrails: What data can we use? When must we disclose AI assistance? Without this clarity, your talented people will simply avoid AI entirely.
3. Core application skills. Everyone in your organization should understand how to effectively communicate with AI systems. In 2026, this isn’t optional AI literacy anymoreit’s as fundamental as email proficiency was in 2005.
THE CRITICAL MIDDLE: YOUR COMPANY’S POINT OF VIEW
Here’s where good companies separate from mediocre ones. The best organizationsShopify, Zapier, Duolingodon’t just teach generic AI skills. They build a distinctive point of view on how AI should work in their specific context.
This means answering hard questions: What should AI do here? What should it never do? How does AI use align with our values and competitive positioning?
Your “company POVAI sandbox” becomes the space where teams safely experiment within defined boundaries. It’s structured freedomclear enough to prevent dangerous mistakes, open enough to enable innovation.
Then comes personalization. Generic training fails because a software engineer’s relationship with AI looks nothing like a customer service representative’s. Breaking down use cases by team, role, and workflow transforms abstract concepts into concrete daily practice.
This is where enterprise AI upskilling platforms differentiate themselves, by enabling personalized AI training that adapts to each team’s workflow context. Research shows that personalizing training by role achieves much higher adoption than generic training programs.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN AN AI UPSKILLING PLATFORM
Organizations succeeding with AI transformation share common infrastructure:
Cohort-based learning for peer accountability and shared discovery
Workflow integration that brings training into daily work contexts
Role-specific pathways rather than generic content
Safe experimentation environments (AI sandboxes)
Progress tracking that measures fluency, not just completion
The right AI-powered learning platform doesn’t just deliver contentit builds organizational AI capability systematically across the hierarchy.
THE TRANSFORMATION ZONE: DURABLE SKILLS
Here’s the insight that escapes most organizations entering 2026: Crossing from competent to breakthrough doesn’t require more AI skills. It requires human skills that AI amplifies.
Critical thinking. Curiosity. Entrepreneurial agency.
These durable AI skills separate organizations that use AI to do the same things faster from those that reimagine what’s possible. Leading corporate AI training platforms focus on developing these capabilities through experiential learning and peer collaboration, not just content consumption.
This tier splits into two paths:
Scale and efficiency growth: AI’s ability to generate and personalize at near-zero marginal cost fundamentally changes business economics. Smart companies systematically examine every workflow, asking: Where does AI change our cost structure?
Human-first breakthrough: The harder path, with far higher returns. This requires asking: How can AI make our company more human? How do we free people from tedious work to do more creative, caring, human work? How do we use AI to create experiences that are more personalized and genuinely helpful than humans alone could deliver?
Most organizations stop at efficiency. The winners push through to augmentation and transformation.
THE SUMMIT: CO-INTELLIGENCE
At the peak sits a different relationship with AI entirelyone that forward-thinking organizations are achieving in 2026. Not tool and user, but genuine co-intelligencewhere AI seamlessly integrates into workflows, giving your people capabilities they never had before.
This is where empowered, curious, AI-native talent emerges. These individuals don’t think about “using AI.” They think through problems with AI as a natural extension of their cognitive toolkit.
Organizations at this level aren’t just AI-fluent. They’re AI-native in their decision making, customer experience, and innovation process.
YOUR 2026 AI TRANSFORMATION ROADMAP
Whether you’re evaluating AI upskilling platforms or building internal corporate AI training programs, this hierarchy provides your 2026 roadmap. The organizations winning with AI aren’t those with the most toolsthey’re those with the most systematic approach to workforce AI capability development.
The beauty of this hierarchy is its clarity:
If you’re at zero: Start with foundations. Build understanding, safety literacy, and basic skills across your organization.
If you’re past foundations: Develop your company POV. Create your sandbox. Personalize by role and workflow.
If you’re operationally fluent: Identify your catalysts. Build their durable skills. Set them loose on breakthrough opportunities.
If you’re pushing toward co-intelligence: You’re writing the next chapter.
The path isn’t easy. But it is clear. And in 2026, as AI capabilities accelerate and organizations remain paralyzed at the base, simply moving systematically up this hierarchy creates a genuine competitive advantage.
The question isn’t whether your organization will become AI-fluent. It’s whether you’ll get there in 2026 before your competition doesand whether you’ll stop at efficiency or push through to transformation.
Start climbing.
Candice Faktor is co-CEO of Disco.
Six years ago, the commercial production process for Fortune 500 companies, tech innovators, and global giants meant six-figure budgets, and months of research, scripting, and voice actor castings. Every campaign was a marathon of design thinking and strategic storytelling. Today, however, with the help of AI tools, those very steps can unfold in a fraction of the time, and a quarter of the cost. For marketing and communications leaders, the landscape has drastically shifted overnight.
The most innovative brand leaders have always thrived on speed. What allowed them to exist beyond the curve was their ability to stay ahead of the story, and see around corners before anyone else could. This has always been important, but the velocity at which were witnessing ideas go from ideation to execution is differentand alarming. Every week seems to introduce a new AI tool that promises to do things smarter, faster, and better for half the price.
The constant pressure to adopt or be left behind is palpable. In fact, according to Marketing Weeks 2025 Language of Effectiveness survey, 57.5% of marketers currently use AI to generate campaign content and creative ideas. Yet, 85% of those surveyed by Adweek say they feel pressure to keep up with the latest tools. The question that keeps arising for many leaders isnt whats next, but instead, at what cost?
ETHICAL INTELLIGENCE: A BRAND DIFFERENTIATOR
Debates about AI are often argued in extremes, either as magic wands or existential threats. Whats missing from that conversation is the middle ground. A place where brand leaders can lean into true stewardship, and where human values and intuition can meet machine precision. Its the space where empathy meets foresight.
The future of influence wont be determined by who adopts the next big tool first, but by who uses it responsibly. Ethical intelligence is the muscle every leader needs to strengthen to discern which AI tools to trust, and how best to use them. Because, when you rely on a chatbot or content platform, youre not just trusting its outputs, you are trusting its creators ethics, awareness, and intentions. Leadership in this new world of storytelling understands the cost, and therefore asks the harder questions: Who does this tool serve? And who could it harm?
To build ethical intelligence in storytelling and content creation, brand leaders should anchor their choices by asking three questions:
1. Empathy: Have we considered how technology impacts the communities it touches?
Large language models still struggle to detect the cultural nuances that build audience trust. This often shows up in subtle ways, like failing to capitalize Black and Brown when referring to ethnic communities, a detail that carries deep significance. At my agency, for example, we refrain from using chief for executive roles or pipeline to describe processes, out of respect for Indigenous communities. Language evolves daily, and the nuance of storytelling cant be replaced by technology. The more we automate narratives, the greater the risk of eroding the human nuance that builds trust for audiences and consumers. Instead, we should look to culturally-attuned tools that are created or informed by the audiences you speak to, such as Aisha, an AI-powered guide informed by the Black experience.
2. Transparency: Are we being clear about how and why AI is shaping our stories?
Consider recent headlines about Sora, OpenAIs AI app and video generator that puts deepfake capabilities into users hands. A product like this tells us that authenticity and source are no longer a barrier or concern. Ive witnessed these risks firsthand when my son created an AI-produced video of me getting my driver’s license (a milestone that never actually happened). Curious, I posted on my Instagram close friends list to see if anyone could spot the inauthenticity. No one did. Instead, my DMs were filled with congratulatory messages.
While this example can be considered harmless, the broader consequences can be far more serious. In the wrong or ill-informed hands, AI-generated content can perpetuate inequity and racial stereotypes if left unchecked. Take the case of Liv, an AI-powered digital influencer. Marketed as a breakthrough in representation, Liv was created by an all-white male development team to personify a Black, queer woman. Lacking authentic oversight, the bot inevitably fell into harmful caricatures reminiscent of the Mammy stereotype from early American media.
As scholar and author, Ruha Benjamin, observed in her book Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code, Technology is not creating the problems. It is reflecting, amplifying, and often hiding preexisting forms of inequality and hierarchy. Liv became a case study in the urgent need for accountability and diverse perspectives in the development and deployment of AI-driven narratives.
3. Equity: Are we creating in ways that protect human dignity over data dominance?
Its worth asking what this constant reliance on technology is doing to our minds. People are doing so much cognitive offloading of their thinking that its reducing their critical thinking skills in ways that dont bounce back, notes X. Eyeé, AI expert and CEO of the consultancy Malo Santo.
As AI-generated content becomes more advanced, many leaders are using it to expedite proposals, campaigns, and creative productions. When it comes to data, the direction has been about volume. Yet some organizations are taking an opposing stance by embedding clauses into their contracts to restrict AI use. Not because they reject efficiency, but because they are signaling a pillar of their values that speed should never come at the expense of authenticity.
In the future, transparency will be at the forefront of the most innovative companies. Where AI already plays a role in your workflows, be upfront about it with your team, clients, stakeholders, and audience. The next generation of brand leadership will be shaped by those who prioritize ethics and integrity in every decision about the way AI is used, and set a new standard for responsible innovation.
Rakia Reynolds is a partner at Actum and founder/executive officer at Ski Blue Media,
Sprinkles Cupcakes, the company known for its sweet treats and iconic cupcake ATMs, is no more.
Candace Nelson, the company’s founder, ended 2025 by confirming that all Sprinkles locations were shutting down as of December 31.
In a video shared to Instagram and TikTok, Nelson said, This isnt how I thought the story would go. I thought Sprinkles would keep going and be around forever. I thought it was going to be my legacy.
Sprinkles has yet to make a formal announcement, but its Instagram profile appears to be gone and the store locator tab on its website now produces an error message. Fast Company reached out to the brand’s PR contact for additional details.
Nelson started Sprinkles in 2005, but has held no stake in the company since selling it to private equity in 2012. KarpReilly LLC announced an investment in Sprinkles shortly after.
That decision over a decade ago has led many social media users to question exactly how Nelson thought Sprinkles would live on and prosper under private equity ownership.
While Nelson asked people to share their special Sprinkles memory or story with her, many of the comments under her post instead take a vehemently anti-private equity stanceand blame her for the demise.
Below is just a sample of the types of comments Nelson has received:
Selling to private equity was the beginning of the end.
What did you expect? Private equity has literally NEVER made things better for customers only for board members’ and investors’ pockets.
You sold it to PE and expected it to not close?? What planet are you living on? I dont begrudge you for selling as thats entirely your choice but to think any PE firm cares about a company in the slightest is insanity.
Legacies cant be abandoned before theyre legacies.
PE fingerprints on many retail bankruptcies
In recent years, private equity deals have appeared to play a role in the dismantling of a number of legacy retail brands, including restaurants Red Lobster and TGI Fridays, and fabrics chain Joann Inc. Private equity firms have a reputation for stripping down companies parts and leaving them saddled with debt, sometimes leading to bankruptcy.
Fast Company has reached out to KarpReilly for comment and will update this post if we hear back.
Individuals in the comment sections also claim that Sprinkles employees were blindsided with only one day’s notice and no severance.
In response to one such claim on Nelsons TikTok post, a purported former employee wrote, Some of us don’t have backup plans we loved sprinkles and planned to be here forever.
Nelson responded to the above comment, Im so sorry this is heartbreaking.
The year 2025 was scary good for investors.It was scary because the U.S. stock market plunged to several historic drops on worries about everything from President Donald Trump’s tariffs to interest rates to a possible bubble in artificial-intelligence technology. In the end, though, it was a good year for anyone with the stomach to stick through the swings.S&P 500 index funds, which sit at the heart of many savers’ 401(k) accounts, returned nearly 18% in 2025 and set a record high on Dec. 24. It was their third straight year of big returns.Here’s a look at some of the surprises that shaped financial markets along the way:
Tariff tremors
Trump dropped the biggest surprise on “Liberation Day” in April, when he announced a sweeping set of tariffs that were more severe than investors expected.It immediately triggered worries about a possible recession and spiking inflation. The S&P 500 plunged nearly 5% on April 3 for its worst day since the 2020 COVID crash. The very next day, it dropped 6% after China’s response raised fears of a tit-for-tat trade war.The tariffs’ impact went beyond the stock market. The value of the U.S. dollar fell, and fear even shook the U.S. Treasury market, which is seen as perhaps the safest in existence.Trump eventually put his tariffs on pause on April 9 after seeing the U.S. bond market get “queasy,” as he put it, which sent relief through Wall Street. Since then, Trump has negotiated agreements with countries to lower his proposed tariff rates on their imports, helping calm investors’ nerves.Wall Street motored higher through a remarkably calm summer thanks to euphoria around artificial-intelligence technology and strong profit reports from companies. The market also got a boost from three cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve.Trade worries can still cause havoc in markets, and Trump sent stocks spiraling as recently as October with threats of higher tariffs on China.
Trump and the Fed
Another surprise was how hard, and how personally, Trump lobbied to get the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.The Fed has traditionally operated separately from the rest of Washington, making its decisions on interest rates without having to bend to political whims. Such independence, the thinking goes, gives it freedom to make unpopular moves that are necessary for the economy’s long-term health.Keeping interest rates high, for example, could slow the economy and frustrate politicians looking to please voters. But it could also be the medicine needed to get high inflation under control.As inflation stubbornly remained above the Fed’s 2% target, the central bank kept rates steady through August. This drew Trump’s ire even though it was his own trade policies that were driving fears about inflation higher.Trump continuously picked on Fed Chair Jerome Powell, even giving him the nickname “Too Late.” Their tense relationship reached a head in July when Trump, in front of cameras, accused Powell of mismanaging the costs of a renovation of the Fed’s headquarters. Powell, in turn, shook his head.Even though Wall Street loves lower rates, the personal attacks caused some queasiness in financial markets because of the possibility of a less independent Fed. Powell’s turn as Fed chair is set to expire in May, and the wide expectation is that Trump will choose a replacement more likely to cut rates.
Good but not first
“America first” didn’t extend to global markets. Even as U.S. stocks soared to another double-digit gain, many foreign markets fared even better.The technology frenzy that helped fuel gains for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite drove Korea’s KOSPI higher in 2025, enjoying its biggest gain in more than two decades. South Korea is a technology hub and companies including Samsung and SK Hynix surged amid the focus on artificial intelligence investments and advancements.Japan’s Nikkei 225 had a double-digit gain for a third straight year. Besides the focus on AI and the technology sector, the gains were boosted in October and November following national elections and plans for a $135 billion stimulus package.European markets also had a strong year. Germany’s DAX got a boost as the government announced plans to ramp up spending on infrastructure and defense, which could fuel economic growth in Europe’s largest economy.The European Central Bank spent the first half of the year cutting interest rates, which helped give financial markets across Europe a boost. France’s CAC 40 was a laggard, but still gained more than 10%.
Crypto’s ups and downs
Even with a reputation for volatility, cryptocurrencies still managed to surprise market watchers.Bitcoin dropped along with most other assets early in the year as Trump’s trade policies scared investors away from riskier investments.The most widely used cryptocurrency roared back as the White House and Congress threw their support behind digital assets and the Trump family launched a number of crypto ventures. Retail investors joined in by pouring money into bitcoin ETFs, stock-like investments that allowed them to benefit from the run-up in price without having to actually store bitcoin in digital wallets. Some companies, notably Strategy Inc., made buying and holding crypto the crux of their business and their stocks jumped.Bitcoin hit a high around $125,000 in early October. But, almost as quickly, digital assets tanked as investors worried the prices for shining stars such as tech stocks and crypto had jumped too high. As of Wednesday afternoon, bitcoin traded around $87,700, down roughly 30% from the peak and 6% below where it started the year.
What’s ahead?
Many professional investors think more gains could be ahead in 2026.That’s because most expect the economy to plod ahead and avoid a recession. That should help U.S. companies grow their profits, which stock prices tend to track over the long term. For companies in the S&P 500, analysts are expecting earnings per share to rise 14.5% in 2026, according to FactSet. That would be an acceleration from the 12.1% growth estimated for 2025.But some of last year’s concerns will linger. Chief among them is the worry that all the investment in artificial-intelligence technology may not produce enough profits and productivity to make it worth it. That could keep the pressure on AI stocks like Nvidia and Broadcom, which were responsible for so much of the market’s gains last year.And it’s not just AI stocks that critics say are too pricey. Stocks across the market still look expensive after their prices climbed faster than profits.That has strategists at Vanguard estimating U.S. stocks may return only about 3.5% to 5.5% in annualized returns over the next 10 ears. Only twice in the last 10 years has the S&P 500 failed to meet that bar.At Bank of America, strategist Savita Subramanian says the S& P 500 could rise by less than half as much as profits do in 2026. She said that could be a result of companies reducing stock buybacks, as well as global central banks implementing fewer rate cuts.__Reporter Damian Troise contributed.
Stan Choe, AP Business Writer
The past year was a landmark for AI proliferation, with sweeping implications for virtually every area of business and life. But with progress came peril. We saw cyberattacks explode in number and sophistication, outmaneuvering legacy security defenses to create record damage.
These trends will only accelerate from here, and its not enough for teams to simply brace for impact. Instead, organizations must anticipate whats ahead and reimagine their security stacks, thinking about how to preempt attacks and optimizing their workflows.
Thinking about cybersecurity in the new year, its critical to have a clear vision and get to work fast to meet the moment. Here are three trends to watch.
1. Eyes on the evolving threat landscape
In 2026, the mass personalization of cyberattacks will disrupt the classical kill chain model, which relies on observing and then reacting to stop threats. Attackers will leverage AI to understand business’s unique vulnerabilities and craft personalized, novel software for each enterprise. This means every organization will see a massive rise in sophisticated, tailored attacks that are not known to the majority of their current security tools, pitting them in a race against time to spot the attack and respond before sustaining widespread damage. Adding AI to reactive tools will help, but will be woefully insufficient to counter this new onslaught. Instead, this shift will require security teams to develop wholly new approaches to preemptively mitigate and avoid these highly personalized threats.
AI will also lead to the development of malware that can adapt and evade defensive measures, posing a significant threat to cybersecurity teams. These make it less likely that the novel attacks mentioned above will be detected before they can do large scale damage. AI-powered, autonomous malware will be capable of changing code and behavior to avoid detection, making it harder for security systems to identify and neutralize it. The emergence of autonomous malware will mark a new era in cyberthreats, where AI-driven attacks become increasingly sophisticated and resilient and put further stress on existing security solutions that rely on a detect and respond model to be effective.
Compounding these threats, the problem of deepfakes will significantly worsen. The proliferation of deepfakes will increase misinformation and social engineering, leading to major breaches and higher success rates for scams and theft. As AI technology advances, the creation of realistic deepfakes will become easier and more widespread. This will result in a proliferation of fake videos and audio recordings that can be used to deceive individuals and organizations, undermining trust and security. This will coincide and often be combined with a new generation of AI-driven email, text and social media-based attacks. These attacks are tailored to individuals and nearly indistinguishable from legitimate communication, enabling highly personalized, real-time social-engineering campaigns. Relying on humans as a last line of defense has long been a tenuous approach. Against threats this advanced, that approach collapses. Modern security demands automated, adaptive defenses that remove the burden from individuals.
2. Protect an expanding attack surface
IoT and IT devices (networking and security infrastructure) will become a bigger target for attacks due to the ease of creating and deploying attacks against them. The proliferation of smart devices in businesses and homes presents an opportunity for attackers to get persistent footholds from which they can pivot and launch attacks or wreak havoc and create disruption of operations. Bespoke and out of date networking and security infrastructure likewise will be exploited as AI can readily adapt attackers for different operating systems and software levels. With AI, it will be much more attractive for cybercriminals to develop and execute attacks on these devices, leading to an increase in security incidents.
AI itself is becoming one of the most attractive parts of the attack surface to exploit. Attacks on AI will increase dramatically, leading to significant data leaks and business process disruption. As AI gains ever wider adoption and is interwoven into all aspects of enterprise software, AI’s autonomous nature will be co-opted to enable the AI to function much like a human insider threat, where the internal AI models elevated access rights will be leveraged in large scale breaches. Robust security measures are needed to protect the rapidly expanding AI attack surface.
3. Cybercrime-as-a-service hits its stride
The era when a cybercriminals reach was constrained by their technical skill is long gone. Today, an AI-driven underground economy is reshaping the threat landscape, empowering financially motivated actors with unprecedented capabilities. These adversaries no longer need deep expertise; they can tap into a growing ecosystem of ready-made services, ranging from exploit kits and ransomware-as-a-service platforms to stolen credential marketplaces and initial access brokers.
Looking ahead to 2026, this cybercrime-as-a-service model is expected to reach new heights of sophistication. AI tools will enable even inexperienced attackers to execute complex, multi-stage campaigns with alarming precision. As a result, the traditional line between opportunistic hackers and highly organized cybercrime syndicates will continue to blur, driving both the scale and complexity of financially motivated attacks to levels weve never seen before.
Its time to reimagine cybersecurity considering the changes well continue to see in 2026. The world’s pre-AI reactive model of security will not work in an AI-first attacker world. Simply adding AI to these legacy tools will give a false since of comfort in the face of the onslaught that is coming. This is an illusion of improved security that will be painfully exposed in 2026. Enterprises need to think differently in a post-AI world about cybersecurity, transforming from a reactive posture into a preemptive strategy that anticipates rather than reacts to attackers.
Scott Harrell is CEO of Infoblox.
At this years Web Summit in Lisbon, Hayden Brown, president and CEO of Upwork, was asked which leadership skills are most in demand today. Her answer was immediate: The demand for soft skills is rising. As AI algorithms increasingly take over routine tasks, the qualities that cant be automatedcommunication clarity, the ability to work effectively with people, and conflict-resolution skillsare becoming essential for career growth.
This trend extends far beyond the tech sector. According to LinkedIns Work Change Report, 70% of skills used across most professions will change by 2030; AI will be the main catalyst. Against this backdrop, Ive become convinced that soft skills have no expiration date. They are what determine whether a leader can keep their team productive even during periods of radical change or crisis.
Ive identified five soft skills that draw a clear line between an average leader and an exceptional onesomeone truly capable of leading through transformation.
1. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Imagine that one of your team members productivity drops threefold: They used to complete at least 15 tasks weekly, but now barely finish five. When evaluating the situation only through metrics, the leader might say: I see you’re working slower. Can you fix this? The answer will be predictable: Yes, Ill try harder. And nothing will change.
Ive noticed that how a leader makes an employee feel during a difficult moment directly affects their engagement, trust, and performance. If instead of assigning blame the leader asks, How are you feeling? it reveals the real reason behind the performance decline. Often it is personal circumstances, stress, or overload.
A leader with strong emotional intelligence can notice even subtle signs of worsening psychological well-being within the team and use empathy to understand what is actually happening. By identifying the root causes, they can find solutions that truly improve performance.
2. CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
According to the Workplace Peace Institute, American employees spend two hours weekly resolving disputes. Im convinced that many conflicts can be avoided if we learn to recognize them early.
But when tension does escalate into an open confrontation, the leader must turn that conflict into a productive conversation. They should help both sides structure their thoughts, guide them toward a compromise, and clearly explain the reasoning behind their decisions.
This is what effective conflict management looks likechanneling that energy into finding the best possible solution. To do this, a leader must separate people from the problem and avoid mixing emotions with arguments.
3. COMMUNICATION CLARITY
Grammarly research shows that 64% of business leaders link higher team productivity directly to effective communication. In my view, clarity is the soft skill with the strongest impact on outcomes. When a leader fails to articulate goals, expectations, or the task contextsuch as constraints or why the business needs this decision right nowthe team operates blindly. They complete the task based on their own interpretation rather than the original intent; that gap costs time, quality, and effort.
When people dont understand the outcome expected of them, they fill in the blanks with assumptions rarely aligning with reality. This affects the final result, but also team dynamics. Conflicts emerge, with a shared feeling that no one listens to us.
Once I witnessed a situation where, due to urgency, a manager assigned a task to a developer who was less busy but had less experience. The more experienced colleague reacted indignantly: Why wasnt this ticket assigned to me? Is something wrong with my work? The problem was that the manager hadnt explained the criteria for choosing the assignee; the lack of clarity left room for incorrect assumptions.
Its important to communicate not just what were doing, but also why were doing it that particular way. Whether its task assignment, delegation, or shifting priorities, its worth giving the team the full picture.
4. COACHING MINDSET
According to an analysis of 34 million U.S. managerial job postings, since 2007 employers have been three times more likely to look for leaders with skills in collaboration, coaching, and influence. At the same time, job postings have decreased wording usage for traditional leadership.
Today, valued leaders not only manage processes but also create conditions for their teams growth. And in this context, the coaching mindset takes center stage. A leader who possesses it can pose questions to people that stimulate them to seek their own solutions, rather than relying on directives.
A coaching mindset fosters autonomy and strengthens peoples confidence in their abilities, ultimately enhancing the entire team. Leaders should not deprive their teams of the opportunity to arrive at solutions on their own.
5. RESILIENCE
The modern world is full of uncertainty; leaders need to adapt to unforeseen changes, and also support others during challenging times. This is easier to do if they possess resilience and can stay calm under pressure, manage their own emotions, and recover quickly.
I lead a team of 90 people, mostly Ukrainians. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, my teamwhich suddenly found itself in dangerwas disoriented and scared. As a leader, I could not give in to panic, because I was responsible for my people. They came to me with many questions, and my actions, advice, and support helped the team get through those difficult times.
The good news is that resilience is not an innate trait, but it can be developed. A leader becomes more resilient by learning to pause, consciously choose their response to a situation, and avoid reacting to immediate triggers.
Teams that see a leaders resilience in challenging situations show six times higher engagement and innovation. This is no coincidence: People work more boldly and productively when they have an example of someone who doesn’t give in to anxiety and provides a sense of stability and security. Our team is proof of this.
Illia Smoliienko is the chief software officer for Waites.
Enhanced tax credits that have helped reduce the cost of health insurance for the vast majority of Affordable Care Act enrollees expired overnight, cementing higher health costs for millions of Americans at the start of the new year.Democrats forced a 43-day government shutdown over the issue. Moderate Republicans called for a solution to save their 2026 political aspirations. President Donald Trump floated a way out, only to back off after conservative backlash.In the end, no one’s efforts were enough to save the subsidies before their expiration date. A House vote expected in January could offer another chance, but success is far from guaranteed.The change affects a diverse cross-section of Americans who don’t get their health insurance from an employer and don’t qualify for Medicaid or Medicare a group that includes many self-employed workers, small business owners, farmers and ranchers.It comes at the start of a high-stakes midterm election year, with affordability including the cost of health care topping the list of voters’ concerns.“It really bothers me that the middle class has moved from a squeeze to a full suffocation, and they continue to just pile on and leave it up to us,” said 37-year-old single mom Katelin Provost, whose health care costs are set to jump. “I’m incredibly disappointed that there hasn’t been more action.”
Some families grapple with insurance costs that are doubling, tripling or more
The expired subsidies were first given to Affordable Care Act enrollees in 2021 as a temporary measure to help Americans get through the COVID-19 pandemic. Democrats in power at the time extended them, moving the expiration date to the start of 2026.With the expanded subsidies, some lower-income enrollees received health care with no premiums, and high earners paid no more than 8.5% of their income. Eligibility for middle-class earners was also expanded.On average, the more than 20 million subsidized enrollees in the Affordable Care Act program are seeing their premium costs rise by 114% in 2026, according to an analysis by the health care research nonprofit KFF.Those surging prices come alongside an overall increase in health costs in the U.S., which are further driving up out-of-pocket costs in many plans.Some enrollees, like Salt Lake City freelance filmmaker and adjunct professor Stan Clawson, have absorbed the extra expense. Clawson said he was paying just under $350 a month for his premiums last year, a number that will jump to nearly $500 a month this year. It’s a strain for the 49-year-old but one he’s willing to take on because he needs health insurance as someone who lives with paralysis from a spinal cord injury.Others, like Provost, are dealing with steeper hikes. The social worker’s monthly premium payment is increasing from $85 a month to nearly $750.
Effects on enrollment remain to be seen
Health analysts have predicted the expiration of the subsidies will drive many of the 24 million total Affordable Care Act enrollees especially younger and healthier Americans to forgo health insurance coverage altogether.Over time, that could make the program more expensive for the older, sicker population that remains.An analysis conducted last September by the Urban Institute and Commonwealth Fund projected the higher premiums from expiring subsidies would prompt some 4.8 million Americans to drop coverage in 2026.But with the window to select and change plans still ongoing until Jan. 15 in most states, the final effect on enrollment is yet to be determined.Provost, the single mother, said she is holding out hope that Congress finds a way to revive the subsidies early in the year but if not, she’ll drop herself off the insurance and keep it only for her four-year-old daughter. She can’t afford to pay for both of their coverage at the current price.
Months of discussion, but no relief yet
Last year, after Republicans cut more than $1 trillion in federal health care and food assistance with Trump’s big tax and spending cuts bill, Democrats repeatedly called for the subsidies to be extended. But while some Republicans in power acknowledged the issue needed to be addressed, they refused to put it to a vote until late in the year.In December, the Senate rejected two partisan health care bills a Democratic pitch to extend the subsidies for three more years and a Republican alternative that would instead provide Americans with health savings accounts.In the House, four centrist Republicans broke with GOP leadership and joined forces with Democrats to force a vote that could come as soon as January on a three-year extension of the tax credits. But with the Senate already having rejected such a plan, it’s unclear whether it could get enough momentum to pass.Meanwhile, Americans whose premiums are skyrocketing say lawmakers don’t understand what it’s really like to struggle to get by as health costs ratchet up with no relief.Many say they want the subsidies restored alongside broader reforms to make health care more affordable for all Americans.“Both Republicans and Democrats have been saying for years, oh, we need to fix it. Then do it,” said Chad Bruns, a 58-year-old Affordable Care Act enrollee in Wisconsin. “They need to get to the root cause, and no political party ever does that.”
Ali Swenson, Associated Press
