If your team cant function without you in the room, you dont have a team, you have a dependency. Too many business owners confuse supporting their team with carrying them. Instead of learning how to coach team members, they do the work for them. They jump into every problem, solve every issue, and answer every question themselves. It feels like good leadership, but its actually just bottlenecking in disguise.
The goal of leadership isnt to be the smartest person in the room. Instead, its to build a room full of people who can think, solve, and act without you. That shift, from problem-solver to coach, is one of the most important moves a business owner can make. Its also the only way to scale without burning out. Heres how to make it.
1. Stop answering every question
When a team member asks you, What should I do about X? dont give them the answer right away. Instead, ask:
What options have you considered?
What would you do if I werent here?
Whats the next step you could take?
This isnt about being evasive. Its about developing their decision-making muscles. Every time you solve it for them, you train them to keep coming back. When you coach them through it, you grow their confidence and capability.
2. Trade firefighting for frameworks
Good managers put out fires. Great leaders build fire prevention systems. Start capturing how you think through challenges:
What is your decision-making process?
What questions do you ask before committing to a course of action?
What patterns do you see in recurring issues?
Turn those into frameworks your team can use. That could be a decision tree, a checklist, or a step-by-step doc. If its in your head, its a habit. If its on paper, its a tool.
3. Coach on outcomes, not style
Many owners get stuck correcting how something is done instead of focusing on the result. If a team member gets to 90% of the desired outcome in their own way, then celebrate that. Tweak where needed but resist the urge to micromanage their method.
Too much intervening or micromanaging can stifle creativity and growth. Your goal isnt to build clones. Its to build capability. Let people solve problems in their own voice as long as the standards are met.
4. Create a feedback loop. Then, step back
Coaching doesnt mean disappearing. It means setting up support and structure:
Weekly check-ins focused on progress, not perfection.
Clear KPIs tied to outcomes, not hours.
Open channels for questions but with the expectation that they will bring solutions too.
When you step back with structure, your team steps up with ownership.
5. Let go of the hero identity
It feels good to be the fixer, the rescuer, or the one who always has the answers. However, if your business depends on you always being the hero, youll never escape the hamster wheel. And your team will never reach their full potential. Great coaches dont chase trophies. They build champions.
Be the multiplier, not the machine
Your job isnt to do more. Its to make everyone around you better. Coaching is the leverage point where leadership stops being reactive and starts becoming exponential. Its the difference between growth that drains you and growth that sustains you.
So the next time you feel the urge to fix something for your team, pause and ask: Is this a task to completeor a chance to coach? One builds a to-do list. The other builds a business.
David Finkel
This article originally appeared on Fast Companys sister publication, Inc.
Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
Instead of teens simply putting down their phones to take a break, TikTok wants them to use the app’s new breathing exercises and affirmation journal to improve their well-being.
Over the past couple of years, a growing number of legislators have been proposing or enacting laws to restrict or limit minors access to social media apps in order to protect children’s and teens mental health.
TikTok has other ideas on how to boost well-beingwithout ever leaving the app. This week, it launched a Time and Well-Being space within users account settings, replacing the existing screen-time management page.
New features in the space include an affirmation journal with more than 120 positive prompts that let users set an intention for the day ahead. (Naturally, they are shareable on social media.)
Theres also a sound generator that can play calming sounds like rain or ocean waves. TikTok cites survey data that those who use the platform are 14% more likely than nonusers to listen to music to help them sleep or relax.
The page will also feature a breathing exercise module and content from creators who discuss topics including limiting screen time, utilizing parental tools, and customizing feeds.
The company said that during its early testing, more people visited the new well-being screen versus the previous version of the screen-time menu. The affirmation journal has reportedly been the most popular tool.
To incentivize users to prioritize their well-being while using the app, badges will be given to those who complete well-being missions, which include meditating on the app and sticking to a self-imposed screen-time limit. In a blog post, TikTok said that tens of millions of people have meditated using the tool after it was made available earlier this year.
The company also said that it will prompt people to visit the Time and Well-Being section of the app settings if they use the app during designated sleep hours.
Considering how much time teens spend on TikTok, prioritizing their well-being while on the app is paramount. According to the Pew Research Center, 6 in 10 U.S. teens visit TikTok daily, and 16% say they use it almost constantly.
However, these latest features may simply be a case of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Last year, more than a dozen states sued TikTok for its allegedly addictive algorithm, claiming it was deliberately designed to keep young people hooked on the app.
These tools are meant to improve safety and well-being on the platform, particularly for teenagers. Yet, if you have to turn to deep breathing or be incentivized to stay off an app, it just might be the app that is the problem.
Earlier this week, communities around the world observed World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. It’s a day to honor those we’ve lost and recommit ourselves to preventing future tragedies. As someone who’s worked in the transportation industry for more than 25 years, I come at this topic as an insider.
You may have heard the term Vision Zero in local political campaigns or public safety PSAs. Vision Zero is a strategy to eliminate all severe crashes. It’s not just a marketing campaign, it’s an approach to road safety that begins with this basic understanding: Severe motor vehicle crashes are preventable.
The status quo believes the fantasy that traffic violence is inevitable. That there’s nothing we can do. The truth is, we can prevent severe crashes.
{"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"","headline":"Urbanism Speakeasy","description":"Join Andy Boenau as he explores ideas that the infrastructure status quo would rather keep quiet. To learn more, visit urbanismspeakeasy.com.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.urbanismspeakeasy.com\/","colorTheme":"green","redirectUrl":""}}
Every day, another 100 families are grieving the loss of a loved one. Every day, thousands of families are dealing with medical bills, physical therapy, loss of work, loss of mobility.
Vision Zero is the strategy to end this pain and suffering. It’s a wildly different approach from the status quo in two major ways:
First, people make mistakes. A transportation system needs to be designed so that when people do make mistakes, it doesn’t result in a death or serious injury.
Second, safety is multidisciplinary. People are influenced by more than just street design. In Richmond, Virginia, 1 in 12 residents is dealing with a combination of substance abuse and mental health disorders. And then they get behind the wheel of a car.
In other words, Vision Zero is a practical strategy to save lives that’s based on understanding human nature. So if we know how to fix this crisis, why isn’t culture changing? It’s because the average person needs to hear the personal stories about the victims of traffic violence.
The power of emotion
Any historian or psychologist will tell you that facts alone don’t move humans to action. Emotion moves us. It’s hard to admit, because on some level we all want to think of ourselves as rational and logical creatures. But it’s when we get emotionally attached to something that we take action.
That might sound overwhelming, but let me give you an example of how culture changed just in my lifetime, and not at all based on logic.
In a 10-year period, about 13 Americans died from peanut allergies. Each one of those cases was tragic. But in that same 10-year period, more than 400,000 Americans were killed in traffic crashes. And that’s not even counting the millions injured.
Compare 13 deaths from a chemical reaction in the body versus 400,000 deaths from preventable crashes.
An entire generation of kids was led to believe that peanuts might send one of their classmates to the hospital. The peanut became a bogeyman in neighborhoods across the country. Now you can’t get a bag of peanuts near a school, or a soccer game, or a birthday party, or even on some airplanes.
In a very short period of time, America mobilized for a Peanut Vision Zero.
Change is possible
Im telling you this not to mock people who have to be careful around nuts, but to tell you our culture is capable of radical change in a short period of time.
So when it comes to road safety:
We have the data explaining whats causing tragedies.
We have the engineering and enforcement solutions to prevent tragedies.
We can change culture. We can stop the tragedies.
Whatever your background, your economic status, your education level, your job statusyou’re a human being who interacts with other human beings. Get people emotionally connected to the impacts of traffic violence. There are many ways you might choose to do that. Maybe its playing a short video at a PTA meeting of a heartbroken parent talking about their child who was lost in a preventable crash. Maybe its inviting a survivor whos dealing with life-altering injuries to speak at a local forum.
No severe crash is acceptable. If you truly believe that, youll drive carefully and youll be the person in your friend group whos always pressing on others to drive carefully.
We’ve seen culture change in small and large ways. We can do this together. We can reduce life-altering crashes down to zero.
{"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"","headline":"Urbanism Speakeasy","description":"Join Andy Boenau as he explores ideas that the infrastructure status quo would rather keep quiet. To learn more, visit urbanismspeakeasy.com.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.urbanismspeakeasy.com\/","colorTheme":"green","redirectUrl":""}}
As startups race to keep up with advances in artificial intelligence, some of them seem to be borrowing from Chinas exacting work culturewhich normalized a 72-hour workweek, or a 996 schedule of working six days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
While the 996 parlance and laser focus on AI may be new, hustle culture has always been embedded in Silicon Valley to some degree. Some business leaders, perhaps most famously Elon Musk, have long demanded those hours from their employees: There are way easier places to work, but nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week, he once said of the hardcore work ethic promoted at his companies.
Now that culture seems to be seeping into more and more workplaces, as young founders and tech workers try to capitalize on the rise of AI. The CEO of the $10 billion AI startup Cognition has talked openly about the intense work ethic expected at his company.
“Cognition has an extreme performance culture, and were up front about this in hiring so there are no surprises later,” he shared on X earlier this year. “We routinely are at the office through the weekend and do some of our best work late into the night. Many of us literally live where we work.”
In this environment, Karri Saarinenan early employee at Coinbase and the former principal designer at Airbnbhas sought to do things differently.
Saarinen founded Linear, an AI-powered enterprise software company, in 2019. It was well before the pandemic, but Saarinen believed it was important to lean into remote worknot just because Linear was creating tools for companies to use remotely for project management and product development, but also because the founders did not want to get stuck in Silicon Valley for the foreseeable future.
We honestly asked ourselves: Do we want to do a company here for the next 10 or 20 years? And we decided no, Saarinen says.
Linear has raised $82 million this yearspiking its valuation to more than a billion dollars. It boasts high-profile clients like OpenAI and Perplexity. And its done so without blindly embracing the hustle culture spouted by people like Musk.
Avoiding an unsustainable pace
In spite of this success, Saarinen says he has tried to be deliberate in his approach to building Linear, rather than cave to the pressure so many companies seem to feel amid the rapid clip of AI innovation. (It likely also helps that Linear has been profitable for four years, per Saarinen.)
The tone of corporate messaging on AI, both from tech giants and smaller startups, has been that the technology is moving fastand their employees need to step up to meet the moment.
In a memo earlier this year, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy noted that the company was already using generative AI in nearly every part of the business, but that Amazon was still at the relative beginning and should move faster.
Were going to keep pushing to operate like the worlds largest startupcustomer-obsessed, inventive, fast-moving, lean, scrappy, and full of missionaries trying to build something better for customers and a business that outlasts us all, he wrote. (Jassy also explicitly said AI adoption would necessitate job cuts, though he has denied the recent layoffs at Amazon were due to AI.)
Other Big Tech companies have also tied AI strategy to breakneck speed and a potentially draining work culture. At Meta, senior leaders have called for employees to go 5x faster by using AI.
Our goal is simple yet audacious: Make Al a habit, not a novelty, Metaverse VP Vishal Shah wrote in an internal message, per a 404 Media report. This means prioritizing training and adoption for everyone, so that using Al becomes second naturejust like any other tool we rely on.
Shah added, We expect 80% of Metaverse employees to have integrated AI into their daily work routines by the end of this year. Meta has also invested billions of dollars in hiringand poachingtop AI talent.
Saarinen understands why company leaders feel like they need to move fast, but he argues the pace is likely not sustainable, noting that the current AI race is not going to end after this year. It will probably go for the next decade. So are you going to race that whole next decade?
As a founder, Saarinen says there can be an impulse to emulate other successful companies or keep up with peers, regardless of what might be best for your own company.
I think a lot of this pressure is somewhat self-created, he says. I don’t know if it’s even real. Companies are so focused on what all the other companies are doing, so they’re trying to build the same things or catch up to everyone.
Taking time for test runs
Linear has intentionally taken a slower approach to growing its ranks, in stark contrast to the companies offering huge sums of money to out-hire their competitors. The company has more or less doubled its headcount each year and now employs about 80 people.
At Coinbase, I was [maybe] the 12th person there, Saarinen says. And then in a year, there were like 60 people. Now most of the people around you are new and have been there a very short time. I think it can be useful, and it’s exciting [when] a company is growing fast. But there are a lot of situations where it gets quite chaotic, and the culture kind of suffers.
A core part of its hiring process is what the company calls a work trial. Once a candidate gets to the final stage of the interview process at Linear, they are invited to participate in a paid trial periodtypically two to five dayswhen they are tasked with working on a real project alongside employees at the company.
Its a feature that adds friction to the hiring process but helps the company understand whether someone will be a good fit. Sometimes its a differentiator that pushes a candidate to accept a job at Linear over other offers; in other instances, it has weeded out people who did not want to commit to a work trial.
The aim is trying to simulate the real working relationship as much as possible, Saarinen says. We can obviously see how the person gets things done, but also: What is their thinking style? What’s their communiation style? For the candidate, I think it’s also a good way to know if they want to work in this company.
It can also help determine, for example, whether engineers are looking for a job where they are told what to do, or if they are interested in taking more ownership of their work, as is the norm at Linear.
People should have some life outside of work
The work trial and other atypical elements of Linears culture have helped attract people who are not interested in the endless grind of working at some of the hottest AI companies.
Linear has had very little attrition, according to Saarinen, and the company usually tries to promote from within. Saarinen also firmly believes that the quality of work is compromised when you work people to the bone.
That quality piece that we value the mostwe think that doesn’t happen if you just keep pushing people harder and harder, he says. People should have some life outside of work. They should get inspired by their life, and then hopefully that will kind of bleed into the work as well. If you just feel better, then I think the work you do is a little better.
He hopes that Linear might offer a counterexample to tech workers who are building companies in the AI space at this particular juncture.
I want to show other founders that you can also do things differently, he says. You don’t always have to do what everyone else is doing. I think that’s kind of what is happening in the market, that everyone is hearing this story: Those guys work really hard, so I must do it as well. And maybe it makes sense for youor maybe it doesn’t.
Your new boss didnt even offer you a glass of water? my mother had questioned me in disbelief. After how many interviews? You should not take that job. I am telling you not to take that job.
I had received a call from a recruiter to interview with one of the biggest beauty brands in the world. This was my chance to catapult my career into a company that didnt often have job openings at my level, but didnt have the best Glassdoor reviews. And I didnt have time to ask too many questions. The recruiter had given me 48 hours notice to come in and do interviews. I had shared with my mother that I did close to a dozen in-person interviews, 30 minutes each, back-to-back.
During those interviews, no one ever offered me a glass of water. Not the recruiter who greeted me. Not the other individuals who interviewed me. And no, not my future boss. I remember that at some point I had to use the bathroom. My future boss seemed annoyed that I asked where the ladies room was. I scurried into the bathroom quickly, not wanting to be late for the next interview.
This was one of the handful of times in my career that I didnt listen to my mother. The recruiter made me an offer the next day, and I accepted on the spot. I was desperate to work at this big beauty brand with a fancy title that I know so many other candidates were vying for. And my future boss did, indeed, go on to display many characteristics of a bad boss.
Other than the water test, as I coined it, thanks to my mom, I have missed a number of other red flags during interview processes. Now I coach individuals who are looking for their next opportunity to watch for these three signs; they may indicate you are about to work for a bad boss:
1. Doesnt seem interested in interviewing you
In that specific interview at a beauty company, I remember my future boss walking in late, with no apology, sitting down abruptly and firing off the first question. He was scrolling on this phone as I tried hard to be energetic to get his attention. After I was done with that answer, there was a long awkward pause, and then he stumbled, asked another question, and was staring out the window. For most of the interview, he was slouched away from me, fidgeting with a pen, and barely made eye contact.
If your future boss is distracted or disengaged, without any explanation, this could be a telltale sign of what its like to work for them. But also could signal bigger issues brewing at the company. They may be overwhelmed by work and not capable of staying present in the conversation. They may be forced into hiring someone for their team. They may be disgruntled or disinterested in their work. Study their body language, and non verbal cues, as well as what they dont say and what they do say. If they are unhappy, chances are this will impact how they manage you.
2. Makes sarcastic comments about your résumé or the company
Is Been-gali really a language? Or did you just make that up to sound impressive? joked a potential future boss. This was in an interview I had a few years after I had worked at that big beauty brand. Why dont you say something? Like Hi . . . my name is . . .
In my additional information section on my resume, I listed I was fluent in Bengali. After what I thought was a pretty good interview, this potential future boss doubted if Bengali was even a language. He did it right at the end of the interview as I was about to walk out. I spotted this red flag, so when the recruiter called, I declined to go any further in the interview process.
During the interview, watch for comments like these from a potential future boss, either about your résumé or the company youre interviewing for.
Making fun of activities in your additional information section:You volunteer at a nonprofit?So are you one of those do-gooders?You have a black belt in karate?Can you show me some of those Mr. Miyagi moves?
Dropping sarcastic comments about former companies on your résumé:I cant believe you worked at that competitor.Their products suck.How did you get a job at that place?Arent they bankrupt?
Sharing disparaging comments about the current company:I hope they warned you that this place is a real mess.Well, we are hiring for a number of roles right now, tough times here.
Watch for even an innocent joke, an offhanded comment or sarcastic remark. It may be a window into their leadership style or dysfunction occurring at the company.
Takes Up Most of the Air Time
Finally, I once was interviewing at a software company where the future potential boss would ask a question and go on to answer it himself. Lets talk about a time when you failed to lead a project. I remember once when I was After he talked and talked, I was able to squeeze in a quick response until he interrupted me again. He asked another question, and then another, and pretty much took up all the air time in the interview. I barely had time to share about my experiences.
If you witness a future potential boss talking incessantly, answering their own questions, or interrupting you in an interview, this could be a sign they have some bad behaviors. If you do end up working for them, be prepared that they might talk more than they listen. They may ignore or dismiss your ideas. They may lecture you instead of coaching and collaborating. They may also be the type of boss who believes its my way or the high way, and makes decisions on their own without the teams input.
If you dont see any of the red flags in an interview process, and end up working for a bad boss, dont beat yourself up. Most future bosses should be on their best behavior, trying to court candidates during interviews. Finally, if you are actively looking for a new job, you may see some of these red flags and still choose to accept the job. For many of us, the reality of having bills to pay can outweigh any potential bad boss behavior. Spotting these red flags can help prepare you for what it might be like to work for this future boss, and at this future employer.
Executives are no longer measured by the weight of their title but by the scale of what they create, especially in an era reshaped by AI. The most effective leaders now marry vision with execution, using technology as a co-pilot to accelerate outcomes while keeping human judgment at the center.
Strategy isnt declared anymore; its built in real time, constantly iterating and leveraging AI to turn ideas into outcomes faster than ever. The builder CEO is a visionary who architects systems, coaches teams, and removes obstacles through hands-on involvement. Heres how executives with a builder leadership style are involved with the day-to-day work and unite teams around a shared mission.
FROM VISION-SETTER TO VELOCITY ARCHITECT
The builder mindset thrives where growth, technology, and disruption collide. Customers demand speed, relevance, and trust simultaneously. Meeting those demands requires leaders who are adaptive, accountable, and relentlessly driven by outcomes.
Builders shorten decision loops by being present where the work happens: sprint reviews, demos, and product trade-offs. Their involvement clarifies priorities, reduces friction, and ensures strategy is lived at every level, not left on a slide deck.
Stability still matters, but speed is the differentiator. Builders create systems that allow rapid testing without recklessness: guardrails, rollback plans, and clear accountabilities. They collapse silos by taking ownership of the P&L, customer outcomes, and cross-functional metrics. Marketing, product, operations, and sales work as one team because builders demand it.
Builders flatten hierarchies and empower autonomy, but with accountability. Teams know exactly which calls they can make, which require escalation, and how success is measured. When a feature underperforms, the team doesnt wait for a quarterly review. They assess metrics, test hypotheses, and implement fixes in days, not weeks.
This rhythm of experimentation and fast learning ensures companies adapt in real time to customers and markets. The builder is always asking, What can we test now? and What can we improve today?
BUILDERS IN AN AI-FIRST WORLD
The builder archetype matters most in an AI-driven commerce environment. AI is the co-pilot bringing precision and scale, while human oversight preserves trust. Executives who design for measurement, keep human judgment where it counts, and integrate AI thoughtfully create enduring advantage.
The best builders set a single customer outcome as the north star, participate directly in product reviews, require every experiment to have guardrails, and assign clear ownership for cross-functional work. They standardize where possible but keep space for human judgment where it drives value.
AI, in their hands, is not a replacement but an amplifier, removing repetitive work so teams can focus on judgment, creativity, and engagement. This balance accelerates both growth and employee buy-in.
THE HUMAN CORE OF BUILDING
Builders arent flawless. Over-involvement can slip into micromanagement, while too much autonomy without boundaries breeds chaos. The remedy is clarity: metrics, cadence, and transparent ownership.
Most importantly, builders lead with humanity. They celebrate wins, fail fast, and then mine failures for lessons, and ensure every team member understands the impact of their work. They know speed without trust is brittle, and systems without people are hollow.
The modern C-suite is no longer judged by how many strategies it produces but by the outcomes it builds and the speed with which it learns. In an era defined by complexity and constant change, the builder mindset is the defining quality of leadership.
The leaders who shape the next decade will be those with builder DNA.
Elizabeth Buchanan is chief commercial officer of Rokt.
IT development has been around for more than 60 years and it has undergone radical transformations from the emergence of the first programming languages and OS development to the internet boom and the current AI era. Although programming tools and approaches are constantly changing, one thing remains constant: Only those developers who can adapt and master new knowledge and skills survive.
Im the chief software officer of a 70-strong team that designs a predictive maintenance system (PdM): A solution based on the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and AI. Without continuous growth, our developers cannot remain competitive. The same is true in nearly every industry; when individuals stop working on their skills, a company can lose its edge.
Heres a look at how we have created a system where professional development is an integral part of the work and how we help developers avoid and overcome stagnation.
MUST EVERYONE GROW?
Every team has specialists who prefer routine work, and to some extent teams need those people who do well in a position that does not require growth.
But for a project to develop steadily, I believe such experts should not exceed 20% of the team. If their share is higher, other developers will eventually start to emulate their passive colleagues. Optimally, the majorityabout 80%should be actively developing and improving their expertise.
Not everyone in the 80% needs to generate new ideas. The driver-to-performer ratio depends on the company’s development stage. A start-up needs 80% drivers because theyre the ones who forge ahead. Conversely, in mature companies, sustainable quality leads require constant hard-skill honing rather than a fountain of ideas.
DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SMALL ACTIONS
Encouraging developers to advance their skills can start small. For example, one underrated tool is having a person write tests to check their code, which is mandatory for everyone on our team, including senior specialists. Many teams use code reviews more often than writing tests. But when a developer writes a test, they may find that their method or function is too cumbersome, with many exceptions and dependencies, and its almost impossible to test it entirely. As a result, they begin redesigning their code and look for solutions to improve its logic. They study additional materials, such as technical blogs and best-practice guides, and consult with colleagues to deepen their expertise.
However, tests have limitations. Once a person learns patterns, writes tests quickly and confidently, growth stops and routine begins. This tempts developers to automate their work.
CASE-BY-CASE APPROACH
There are many reasons why professionals pause in their development. They may be satisfied with their position/skills, bored, or facing challenging external circumstances. For example, most of our developers are Ukrainian, and our work has been affected by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has been a great stress to everyone.
Team members have responded differentlyapproximately 30% lost their motivation to do anything, and another 30% have taken a deep dive into their development. One strong junior immersed himself so deeply in his studies that in just six months, he mastered senior level theory. The rest simply adapted and returned to their usual pace.
After 10+ years in tech management, I realized that everyone has different motivations for advancing their skills. Your task is not to pressure them but to understand what is holding them back and what incentivizes them. Some practices that Ive found helpful when developers stagnate are:
Provide new context. Offer the developer an opportunity to work on another project or change domains. A new environment presents new challenges, requires adaptation, and learning.
Present challenges. Give the developer a task that requires creative thinking and independent research. Dont provide an answer. This will let them take initiative and responsibility for the result.
Encourage learning. If a person seeks development opportunities provide them with resources. For example, compensate for conference or workshop participation.
Adjust expectations. Sometimes a person is satisfied with their expertise. In this case, its important to agree: If the developer doesnt want growth, they dont seek promotion.
Each specialist must have their own development plan. We draw it up twice a year, based on in-depth assessment. We set goals that meet the company’s expectations and the developer’s interests.
THE COMPANY’S SYSTEMATIC APPROACH
In my experience, developers often stop focusing on advancing their skills when they are overloaded. After intense work, they no longer have the energy to learn. Learning by working is our main principle. We believe developers can improve their skills through hands-on experience, so we integrate this approach into employee development plans.
Daily: Giving them a short technical digest and work with code through tests and reviews.
Two-week sprints: Each sprint includes two to three days when a developer can try a new approach, technology, etc.
Once a month: Internal clubs sessions in each department lasting one hour to 90 minutes where they can share experiences, run practical workshops, and exchange best practices.
Once every three to six months: Three-hour sessions with external speakers, advanced training.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Im convinced that development begins with dialogue. You should understand what motivates a person. I also believe that there are no wrong decisionsonly different points of view. Developers shouldnt be afraid to disagree because critical thinking and constructive discussion always help team growth.
Illia Smoliienko is the chief software officer for Waites.
How did you get to this article? Maybe you opened a link in an email, or you navigated from the Fast Company home page. Perhaps you Googled agentic AI and this figured in the results. The point is, you almost certainly clicked, scrolled, tapped, or typed your way here, because thats the digital grammar that shapes nearly every online experience.
But that 30-year-old paradigm is about to change. Agentic AI is ripping up the rulebook, by creating a new layer of intelligent, autonomous mediation between us and the digital world. Personal shopping agents will handle routine purchases, while in the workplace, agents will automate workflows and streamline procurement.
Investors are excited, of course. Earlier this year, more than half of the Y Combinator startups chosen for its accelerator program were working in agentic, while the three biggest Q1 acquisitions in the AI sector involved companies building agentic enterprise technologies. This is because agents are about to transform how work gets done, how businesses operate, and how systems interact. And nowhere are the consequences more profound than in e-commerce.
CLICKLESS COMMERCE
Today, e-commerce success depends on online visibility, with search driving half of website traffic and fuelling the $75 billion search engine optimization (SEO) industry. But agentic AI upends the traditional business model. For agents, displays and brand content are less important. Merchants must focus on making product data machine-legibleaccurate, structured, and accessiblebecause machines wont browse sites. Theyll connect directly to sales platforms and databases via APIs, creating a parallel e-commerce track that serves agents rather than human shoppers.
Building out that machine track will be a critical job for merchants, fintechs, software companies, and financial institutions. For merchants, an early task is compiling and structuring data in a way thats visible and relevant to agents. Another is creating seamless connections between merchant systems and agent systems. The good news is that the connective tissue is already here. New protocolsmodel context, agent-to-agent, and agentic paymentsnow enable agents to connect, communicate, and transact autonomously.
MARKETING TO MACHINES: A NEW INDUSTRY
For retailers, one question looms: How do I market to machines? As SEO evolves for human audiences, new disciplines are emerging to optimize digital environments for AI agents. Agent engine optimization helps make digital spaces easier for agents to understand and use. Agent interaction design focuses on how they communicate with platforms, APIs, and other agents to get things done for users. These areas connect with generative engine optimization, which improves content so AI systems can better generate recommendations and make decisions. Taken together, they signal a new ecosystemone that will create fresh roles, unlock new value streams, and redefine how businesses compete in an AI-driven economy.
Another way of attracting machine buyers is to reward them. This is the agentic version of e-commerces affiliate system, where publishers, partners, and influencers are paid a commission for driving sales. Theres feverish speculation as to how an attribution mechanism may work, and who will get paid. There are plenty of challenges toonot least verifying agents identities, knowing with confidence which agent influenced the sale, and preventing fake agents from gaming the system. But the opportunities are apparent. The affiliate market is predicted to double in size by 2030, even without agents.
FACE THE HEADWINDS
Certain issues will require regulatory clarity. Agentic referral will have to be transparent, for example, to ensure fair competition. Then theres the matter of trust. Well need confidence in the agents and the ecosystems they operate in. Giving an autonomous bot spending authority is a big commitment, but getting it right is key to scaling agentic commerce. Ensuring agents can operate across different payment systems, platforms, and legal jurisdictions will also pose technical and regulatory challenges.
That said, were about to experience the biggest transformation in e-commerce since it began. This promises to be an era of great innovationa time to build new tools, new ecosystems, and new ways of creating value. Agentic commerce isnt just a tech shift; its a reimagining of how we buy, sell, and connect in a digital world.
Ken Moore is chief innovation officer at Mastercard.
How would a school shooting affect your employees? Its something that most employers never want to think about, but its a horrifyingly real threat to any communityand the companies and organizations that do business there. Following the death of my youngest son, Dylan, in the 2012 Sandy Hook School shooting, I can tell you first-hand about the lasting trauma that occurs when your child is injured or killed in this type of tragedyand how that ripples through the entire community.
In October, we held Americas Safe Schools Week, a national initiative to raise awareness about school violence and promote safety. Its also a time for companies to recognize they have a major role to play in preventing school violenceand a lot to gain by doing so. When we invest in the safety and well-being of our children, we are also investing in our workforce, and in turn, the long-term health of our businesses.
WHY THIS MATTERS FOR CEOS
Our employees dont leave their lives at the office door. Their childrens safety directly impacts their focus, mental health, and productivity. A tragedy in a school can create anxiety and shake an entire companybecause our companies are made up of parents, caregivers, neighbors, and friends.
Taking a role in vioence prevention isnt just an act of compassion or show of goodwill and support. Its a sound business strategy that strengthens your workforce, your brand, and your reach into communities.
KNOW THE WARNING SIGNS
People intending to harm themselves or others will often exhibit a range of telling behaviors. This might include expressing threats or a plan, bragging about access to weapons, becoming socially withdrawn, or experiencing chronic social isolation, among other signals.
In most mass shootings and school shootings, someone knew something was off before it happened. Often, a peer, a friend, or a parent are among the first to notice a problem. The same is true for youth suicides, which are the second-leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States.
Getting proactive about violence prevention begins with learning to recognize the warning signs that lead to violence and self-harm. For parents and caregivers, these signals offer some of our best opportunities to intervene and save a child.
The ability for you and your employees to recognize warning signs will go far beyond your company’s walls. Ultimately, this type of impact will create safer schools, homes, and communities, leading to a stronger business environment where your company can thrive.
Thats why its essential to learn these warning signs and know how to get help.
THE PROTECT OUR KIDS PLEDGE
One impactful way to take action is by signing the Protect Our Kids Pledge, a first-of-its-kind corporate initiative developed by Sandy Hook Promise. The pledge provides actionable training and tools to employees and their families to recognize warning signs of potential violence and self-harm, and knowledge of what to do next.
Lessons from the Protect Our Kids Pledge will not only keep employees and their children safer, they will also help companies stand out in their industries by taking an active stand against youth violence and self-harm, prioritizing safety in innovative ways. It shows that a company cares about people, and signals to employees and customers alike that it values safety and social responsibility.
OTHER IMPORTANT RESOURCES FOR EMPLOYERS
In the last few years, legislation has provided additional violence prevention resources for companies and school communities. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), passed in 2022, included many nationwide investments that have been creating a positive impact.
The Act included funding for states to implement crisis intervention programs and extreme risk protection orderssometimes referred to as red flag or temporary transfer laws. These laws allow family members, law enforcement, and others to petition courts to temporarily remove firearms from a home when an individual is deemed a threat to themselves or others.
The BSCA also expanded access to community health clinics that provide mental health crisis services and substance abuse treatment. This gives more employees and their families, particularly in rural areas, options to access the care they need.
These resources are designed to save lives while protecting rights. Companies should ensure they understand the laws in their states, help educate their employees, and connect them to local resources when needed.
TAKE ACTION TODAY
Since the Sandy Hook tragedy, Ive worked alongside leading experts and business leaders who understand that ending the epidemic of gun violence requires a holistic, public health approach focused on prevention. And when we make prevention a priority, we can also create safe, healthy communities that allow our businesses to thrive.
Business leaders can demonstrate their commitment by signing on to the Protect Our Kids Pledge and encouraging other leaders to do the same. Share that prevention is possible, and its both a moral and business imperative to deliver that for our communities, our employees, andmost importantlyour children.
Nicole Hockley is cofounder and CEO of Sandy Hook Promise.
Every C-suite executive I meet asks the same question: Why is our AI investment stuck in pilot purgatory?
After surveying over 200 AI practitioners for our latest research, I have a sobering answer: Only 22% of organizations have moved beyond experimentation to strategic AI deployment. The rest are trapped in what I call the messy middleburning resources on scattered pilots that never reach production scale.
In my 20-plus years helping companies solve complex problems with open-source AI and machine learning, I’ve watched this pattern repeat across industries. Companies get excited about AI’s potential. They fund pilots. They hire data scientists.
But when it comes to production deployment and measurable ROI, they hit the same wall: over 57% take more than a month to move from development to production. That’s not innovation velocitythat’s friction eating your competitive advantage.
The problem isn’t enthusiasm or investment. The problem is they’re building on quicksand. Without shared standards, every team reinvents the wheel. Tools fragment. Governance gaps widen. Trust erodes. What should take days stretches into months.
Here’s what business leaders need to understand: The companies escaping this trap aren’t using better AI models. They’re using better foundations by using open-source software.
Standards create a competitive advantage
Standards might sound like bureaucracy, but in AI they separate companies that scale from companies that stall.
Our research reveals the real barriers: 45% of teams cite data quality and pipeline consistency as their top production obstacle. Another 40% point to security and compliance challenges. These aren’t technical problemsthey’re coordination problems. When every team speaks a different technical language, you can’t share work, build trust, or scale effectively.
Think about it this way: Imagine if every department in your company used different email systems that couldn’t talk to each other. That’s essentially what’s happening with AI tools today.
Open standards solve this by creating shared languages for AI development. When everyone uses compatible tools and formats, collaboration becomes automatic. Integration that used to take months happens in days.
The result? Faster deployment cycles and measurable ROI.
Companies are starting to get the message: 92% of AI practitioners use open-source tools, and 76% say their organization has increased its open-source priority this year, according to our research.
Three standards that drive results
Not all standards matter equally. Based on what I’ve seen transform organizations, here are three that deliver immediate impact:
Ways to move AI models between systems without rebuilding. Standards like Open Neural Network Exchange prevent vendor lock-in and eliminate reworkthe silent killer of innovation velocity. When teams can deploy the same model across different environments, development speeds up dramatically.
Protocols that let AI services communicate seamlessly. Instead of building custom integrations for every new tool, teams can assemble complex AI systems from standard components. This turns months of integration work into days of configuration.
Frameworks for responsible AI governance. With 53% of organizations lacking comprehensive AI policies, standardized approaches to model documentation and validation turn governance from a blocker into an accelerator. Teams move faster because they know exactly what compliance looks like.
The pattern I see repeatedly is this: Each standard reduces friction. Together, they create an ecosystem where innovation compounds instead of fragmenting.
Open source is your competitive edge
Some executives worry that open source means chaos. They think standards need central authority. But AI moves too fast for traditional standardization. By the time a formal standards body publishes specifications, the technology has evolved.
Open source solves this through evolutionary design. Standards emerge from real-world use, spread through community adoption, and adapt at market speed. This keeps them relevant in ways top-down standards can’t match.
There’s another crucial factor: Transparency builds trust. Our research shows less than half of AI practitioners feel confident explaining model decisions to executives or regulators. When standards are open, you can inspect how they work, verify their claims, and adapt them to your needs. This transparency accelerates adoption and regulatory approval.
What surprised me most in our research was the community insight: People distinguish between using open-source software and building on open-source foundations. True acceleration requires shared standards that let teams move independently while still moving together.
Escaping the messy middle
Here’s my core advice for C-suite leaders: Stop treating AI as a technology problem and start treating it as a systems problem.
The messy middle exists because organizations approach AI as isolated projects. Teams pick different tools, build separate pipelines, and create individual governance processes. This works for pilots but kills scalability.
Strategic AI requires a foundation built on compatibility. Here are three ways to achieve it:
1. Simplify your toolchain around core platforms that work together. You don’t need 47 different AI tools. You need a unified approach where teams can share models, data pipelines, and deployment processes without starting from scratch.
2. Choose solutions you can inspect and verify. This reduces risk and builds stakeholder confidence. Trust accelerates adoption, and adoption accelerates value creation.
3. Measure deployment cycles, not just model accuracy. Track time from prototype to production. Track how many AI projects deliver measurable business outcomes. These metrics reveal whether your foundation is working.
Our work with large corporations shows that organizations moving from fragmented approaches to unified platforms see dramatic improvements: faster deployment, higher success rates, and clearer ROI measurement.
Standardization and innovation are partners
The gap between strategic AI deployers and pilot-trapped organizations will only widen. The winners won’t be those with the most experiments; they’ll be the ones who turn experiments into value fastest. According to McKinsey research, organizations are seeing material benefits from AI deployment, with a majority reporting cost reductions and revenue increases in busines units using the technology.
The good news? The foundations you need are being built right now by the open-source community. Your job as a leader is recognizing their strategic value and committing to building on them.
This means making architectural decisions that prioritize compatibility over proprietary lock-in. It means investing in platforms that combine the innovation velocity of open source with the governance requirements of enterprise deployment.
Most importantly, it means understanding that in AI, standardization and innovation aren’t oppositesthey’re partners. Standards create the stable foundation that lets innovation flourish at speed.
Start with one diagnostic question: Can your teams share AI models and data pipelines across projects without rebuilding them? If not, you’re building on quicksand. The companies that can answer yes will set the competitive pace for the next decade.
Peter Wang is cofounder and chief AI and innovation officer at Anaconda.
