Efficiency dominates conversations about AI. We celebrate its ability to automate and optimize so businesses can move faster and people can work smarter. But AI is becoming more integrated into people’s lives in ways that go far beyond productivity. In a world obsessed with speed and efficiency, the future of AI isnt just intelligentits beautiful. AI is now a force that enhances creativity, self-expression, and confidence. AI does not just optimize lifeit elevates it.
Consumers are embracing AI for everything from recipe creation and travel planning to interior design and fitness regimens. They are turning to AI for recommendations on shows, movies, music, restaurants, and, of course, beauty and fashion. In these contexts, AI is enhancing experiences and sparking creativity.
Because consumers are using AI to explore and have fun, companies can encourage broader adoption by focusing on building AI products designed to inspire. Brands have more opportunities than ever to build AI into their experiences as access to generative AI and specialized APIs broadens. However, that shift requires rethinking how we design and deploy AI so that it serves as a partner in expression and discovery.
BUILD AI THAT DELIGHTS
To build AI experiences that consumers genuinely enjoy, we need to understand what makes technology beautiful and inspirational in the first place. Fundamentally, its about aligning how systems function with how people naturally behave, think, and learn.
We gravitate toward systems that show cause and effect, where we can see how our unique inputs shape the results. Visual feedback, confidence scores, or small cues that acknowledge uncertainty all make the interaction more collaborative. For example, Neutrogena’s Skin360 helps consumers identify their individual skin concerns and goals, and then suggests products, tips, and ingredients to help them achieve their desired outcomes. The experience gives consumers personalized assistance that makes them feel confident about the products and encourages them to purchase.
Inspirational AI also encourages curiosity. AI assistants allow users to try different inputs and discover new outcomes on their own terms. As an example, Hoppers AI travel planner lets users play with different dates, destinations, and budgets, surfacing alternative routes or seasons to encourage experimentation.
That experimentation works best when users maintain creative control. AI that provides suggestions rather than conclusions empowers people to make choices that feel personal. This approach transforms digital moments, such as shopping and content creation, into expressive experiences. Similarly, Grammarly and Shopify’s AI suggest edits or design options, but leave final decisions to users.
APIs HELP BRANDS OF ALL SIZES UNLEASH CREATIVITY
One of the most exciting developments in consumer AI is its accessibility. The proliferation of APIs and generative frameworks now makes it possible for companies of all sizes to experiment, prototype, and deploy creative AI experiences quickly, affordably, and with less risk.
These tools allow brands to plug advanced models into existing platforms, test new ideas, and learn from user behavior in real time. A small direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand can integrate a virtual try-on experience or an AI-powered stylist without specialized expertise. They can test whether a feature resonates with users, gather feedback, and deploy updates within days or weeks rather than months.
The proliferation of consumer AI APIs also unlocks entirely new categories of creative experiences. Take cultural recommendation engine Qloo, which offers an API that can predict correlations across music, dining, fashion, and film. Brands can explore creative pairings that surprise and delight users. Imagine a fashion brand suggesting a playlist to match a lookthese connections create moments of discovery that feel magical.
What makes these experiences particularly powerful is how they reimagine the relationship between users and recommendations. Generative tools shift the paradigm from delivering static recommendations to enabling co-creation. Brands can now offer generative AI tools that let users actively participate in creating something new rather than showing them what they might like based on past behaviordesigning personalized products, generating new looks, or expressing preferences interactively. This transforms passive consumption into active exploration.
With this transformation, the metrics of success change. Brands should think of these APIs as creative building blocks to test emotional responses and track indicators of enjoyment that may include time spent experimenting, frequency of sharing, or the likelihood of a consumer returning. New metrics for a beauty brand might look like a consumer spending ten minutes playing with different virtual makeup looks, trying bold colors they had never considered before.
With access to this technology once reserved for large enterprises, DTC brands and small-to-medium-sized businesses can compete with brand and retail giants in delivering sophisticated AI experiences. A boutique cosmetics shop can offer the same caliber of consumer AI technology as a multinational beauty company. This democratization gives consumers wider access to inspirational AI experiences across products and services they care about.
DESIGN FOR WHAT COMES NEXT
Consumer AI is at a turning point. The underlying technology will continue to improve, but adoption depends on how well it understands and serves human emotion.
To design AI rooted in inspiration and discovery is to design for trust and for delight, giving users space to explore and create technology that stops feeling like automation and starts feeling like play.
Alice Chang is the CEO and founder of Perfect Corp.
Stocks slumped in morning trading on Wall Street Tuesday after President Donald Trump threatened to hit eight NATO members with new tariffs as tensions escalate over his attempts to assert American control over Greenland.
The S&P 500 fell 1.2%, pulling back further from the record it set early last week. It was the first time U.S. markets could react to the escalation from Trump, as they were closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 536 points, or 1.1%, as of 10:56 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite slumped 1.5%.
The losses were widespread and led by technology stocks, many of which already have more influence over the direction of the market because of outsized values. Retailers, banks and industrial companies also fell sharply.
Nvidia, one of the most valuable companies in the world, plunged 3%. Amazon fell 2%, JPMorgan Chase fell 0.6%, and Caterpillar lost 1%.
The energy sector eked out gains as the price of U.S. crude oil rose 1.4% to $60.19 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1.1% to $64.69. Exxon Mobil rose 1%.
European markets and markets in Asia fell.
Trump said Saturday that he would charge a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland. The annual combined imports from European Union nations are greater than those from the top two biggest individual importers into the U.S., Mexico, and China.
Gold prices surged 3% and silver prices soared 5.5%. Both reached for records. Such assets are often considered safe havens in times of geopolitical turmoil.
The trade tensions apparently short-circuited a recent rally in bitcoin. The cryptocurrency rose above $96,000 late last week but has dropped back to around $90,400.
Treasury yields were mixed in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.27% from 4.23% late Friday. The yield on the two-year Treasury fell to 3.59% from 3.60% late Friday.
Trump linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last years decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norways prime minister that he no longer felt an obligation to think purely of Peace, in a text message released Monday.
Trumps message to Jonas Gahr Stre appeared to ratchet up a standoff between Washington and its closest allies over his threats to take over Greenland, a self-governing territory of NATO member Denmark.
Trump’s threats have sparked outrage and a flurry of diplomatic activity across Europe, as leaders consider possible countermeasures, including retaliatory tariffs and the first-ever use of the European Unions anti-coercion instrument.
Tariffs have been looming over the U.S. and global economies since 2024. Trump’s tariff policy has been confusing and uncertain, involving the threat or implementation of tariffs and then often followed by delays or cancellations. Existing tariffs have added more pressure to already high prices on goods and the threat of more to come makes it difficult for businesses to plan ahead.
The threat of tariffs reigniting already high inflation could further complicate the Federal Reserve’s job. The central bank cut its benchmark interest rate three times late in 2025 to help bolster the economy as the job market weakened. But, it has taken a more cautious view because of the risk of rising inflation, which remains above the Fed’s target of 2%.
Lower interest rates on loans can help bolster economic activity, but they could also fuel inflation, which could counter any benefit from lower interest rates.
The Fed, and Wall Street, will get another update on inflation on Thursday, when the government releases the personal consumption expenditures price index, or PCE. It is the Feds preferred measure for inflation.
The Fed will meet next week for its policy meeting on interest rates and Wall Street is betting that the central bank will hold its benchmark interest rate steady.
Wall Street is also in the midst of the latest round of corporate earnings, which could help provide more insight into how companies are handling uncertainty from tariffs, geopolitics, and cautious consumers.
Industrial and consumer conglomerate 3M slumped 6.2% after reporting mixed results for its most recent quarter. United Airlines and Netflix will report their results after the market closes on Tuesday. Companies from a wide range of industries will report their results this week, including Johnson & Johnson, Halliburton and Intel.
Damian J. Troise, AP business writer
AP Business Writers By Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed to this report.
Iranians have been struggling for nearly two weeks with the longest, most comprehensive internet shutdown in the history of the Islamic Republic one that has not only restricted their access to information and the outside world, but is also throttling many businesses that rely on online advertising.
Authorities shut down internet access on Jan. 8 as nationwide protests led to a brutal crackdown that activists say has killed over 4,000 people, with more feared dead. Since then, there has been minimal access to the outside world, with connectivity in recent days restored only for some domestic websites. Google also began partially functioning as a search engine, with most search results inaccessible.
Officials have offered no firm timeline for the internet to return, leading to fears by businesses across the country about their future.
One pet shop owner in Tehran, who spoke on the condition of anonymity like others for fear of reprisals, said his business had fallen by 90% since the protests. Before that, I mainly worked on Instagram and Telegram which I dont have access to anymore. The government has proposed two domestic alternatives. The point is our customers are not there they dont use it.
Internet outages are the latest squeeze on businesses
The internet outage compounds economic pain already suffered by Iranians. The protests, which appear to have halted under a bloody suppression by authorities, began Dec. 28 over Irans rial currency falling to over 1.4 million to $1. Ten years ago, the rial traded at 32,000 to $1. Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, it traded at 70 to $1.
The currencys downward spiral pushed up inflation, increasing the cost of food and other daily necessities. The pressure on Iranians pockets was compounded by changes to gasoline prices that were also introduced in December, further fueling anger.
Irans state-run news agency IRNA quoted a deputy minister of communications and information technology, Ehsan Chitsaz, as saying the cut to the internet cost Iran between $2.8 to $4.3 million each day.
But the true cost for the Iranian economy could be far higher. The internet monitoring organization NetBlocks estimates each day of an internet shutdown in Iran costs the country over $37 million.
The site says it estimates the economic impact of internet outages based on indicators from multiple sources including the World Bank and the International Telecommunication Union, which is the United Nations specialized agency for digital technology.
In 2021 alone, a government estimate suggested Iranian businesses made as much as $833 million a year in sales from social media sites, wrote Dara Conduit, a lecturer at the University of Melbourne in Australia, in an article published by the journal Democratization in June. She cited a separate estimate suggesting internet disruptions around the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests cost the Iranian economy $1.6 billion.
The 2022 internet disruptions’ “far-reaching and blanket economic consequences risked further heightening tensions in Iran and spurring the mobilization of new anti-regime cohorts onto the streets at a time when the regime was already facing one of the most serious existential threats of its lifetime, Conduit wrote.
More than 500 people were reportedly killed during that crackdown and over 22,000 detained.
Prosecutors target some businesses over protest support
Meanwhile, prosecutors have also begun targeting some businesses in the crackdown.
The judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported Tuesday that prosecutors in Tehran filed paperwork to seize the assets of 60 cafes it alleged had a role in the protests. It also announced plans to seek the assets of athletes, cinema figures and others as well. Some cafes in Tehran and Shiraz have been shut down by authorities, other reports say.
Internet cuts drive more outrage
The financial damage also has some people openly discussing the internet blackout.
In the comments section of a story on the internet blackout carried by the semiofficial Fars news agency, believed to be close to the countrys paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, one reader wrote: For heavens sake, please do not let this internet cut become a regular thing. We need the net. Our business life is vanishing. Our business is being destroyed.
Another commentator questioned why the internet remained blocked after days with no reports of street protests.
Its not just the internet blackout that is hurting businesses. The violent crackdown on the protests, and the wave of a reported 26,000 arrests that followed, also have dampened the mood of consumers.
In Iran’s capital, many shops and restaurants are open, but many look empty as customers focus primarily on groceries and little else.
Those who pass by our shops dont show any appetite for shopping, said the owner of an upscale tailor shop in Tehran. We are just paying our regular expenses, electricity and staff but in return, we don’t have anything.
Elena Becatoros and Jon Gambrell, Associated Press
For years, leaders have been told that being true to themselves and ignoring what others think represent the gold standard of effective leadership, a kind of moral and emotional north star. But in practice, this type of advice often gets leaders into trouble.
For a vivid illustration, consider how two famous fictional (yet hyper-realistic) characters, namely Don Draper (Madmen) and Michael Scott (The Office) embody these two mantras. Draper clings to a rigid, unchanging identity, using this is who I am as armor to avoid confronting his insecurities, while Scott approaches management with unfiltered candor, oversharing, and acting on impulse. Both believe they are being true to themselves, so others should appreciate it, but in reality they are trapped behind a rigid self-protective shield that excuses poor judgment and blocks growth.
The real problem arises not so much from being untrue to themselves, but rather, from mis-calibrating how they show up, mistaking self-expression for effectiveness. Leaders who are reduced to this kind of pattern routinely erode trust, exhaust their teams, and undermine their own influence while sincerely believing they are acting with genuineness and integrity.
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As psychological research shows, every leader carries internal narratives shaped by early experiences about how to stay safe, earn belonging, or manage uncertainty. These narratives result in behavioral patterns that were once adaptive. But over time, they harden into identity (this is just who I am) and limit leaders flexibility and versatility.
Leaders are therefore presented with a difficult psychological choice, namely: (a) to resist pressures to conform, and act without consideration for what others think, but, in doing so, risk alienating or antagonizing others; or (b) to adjust their behavior to meet the situational demandsmostly, what other people want and need from thembut risk alienating . . . themselves.
The question, then, is how leaders can skillfully navigate the intricate balance between their self-expression needs and their obligation to others. To this end, here are a few science-based recommendations to consider:
Communicate with greater precision and empathy
Leaders dont struggle because they speak the truth, but because they speak it without intention, timing, or attunement. Balancing candor with empathy is the discipline of telling the truth in ways that preserve dignity, empathy, and trust. Heres how:
Pair honesty with intention. Before speaking hard truths, ask: What impact do I want this message to have? Clarifying intent helps you choose language that builds trust rather than simply offloading whats on your mind. Think of it as an emotional aim: honesty without intention is like firing an arrow without checking what or who is behind the target.
Slow the reflex. If you feel urgency to just say it, pause. Urgency often signals an activated trigger, not clarity. This is your minds equivalent of a car engine revving too hot; giving it a moment prevents you from speeding into the wrong lane. Use that pause to let adrenaline fall and cognition rise.
Practice empathetic accuracy. Test your instincts by naming what others might feel, then adjust your delivery in service of effectiveness, not self-expression. Great communicators act like emotional cartographers, mapping the terrain before entering it so they know where the cliffs, rivers, and fragile bridges are.
Regulate emotion before you express it
Vulnerability builds trust only when it is regulated, purposeful, and contained. Grounded vulnerability allows leaders to be real without turning their teams into emotional shock absorbers or co-regulators. Heres how:
Share what is useful, not what is unfiltered. Vulnerability should serve others, not the leaders emotional relief. Raw disclosure is not always courageous; sometimes it is simply an emotional data dump that burdens the listener. Useful vulnerability, by contrast, is like offering a compass: personal, yes, but handed over with the intent to orient others, not to lighten your own load.
Do emotional processing upstream. Use peers, mentors, or therapists as your primary space, not your colleagues. This preserves your teams psychological safety while still giving you the support you need. Upstream processing allows you to show up composed, thoughtful, and ready to metabolize complexity on behalf of others rather than through them. For example, employees often report feeling emotionally hijacked when leaders vent openly about board pressure or uncertainty, unsure whether they are being informed or enlisted as emotional support.
Replace unloading with grounding. Before sharing, ask: Is this helpful to them? Or helpful to me? Grounding yourself first allows you to express vulnerability as perspective, not pressure. Think of grounding as fastening your oxygen mask before assisting others: when you regulate your own emotional state, your words become stabilizing rather than contagious. Leaders who ground themselves create a conversational climate where honesty feels safe instead of sharp.
Balance identity with adaptability
Many leaders confuse integrity with sameness. True reliabiity comes not from repeating the same behaviors, but from expressing the same values with greater responsiveness and emotional range. Heres how:
Redefine consistency. Anchor to values, not behaviors. Values stay largely steady; behaviors can evolve. When leaders treat consistency as performing the same behaviors in every situation, they confuse predictability with rigidity. True consistency comes from being reliably guided by the same principles even as contexts shift.
Try 10% adjustments. Micro-flexibility builds confidence without threatening identity. A modest shift in tone, timing, or format can expand your influence far more than sweeping reinventions, demonstrating that authenticity and adaptability can coexist.
Name what rigidity protects. When you feel resistant, ask: What part of me feels endangered right now? Identifying the fear beneath the resistance opens the door to more adaptive choices. This self-reflection keeps self-expression honest while ensuring that protective impulses do not override responsibilities to the people they lead.
Demonstrate values with judgment, not dogma
Strong values dont require rigid postures. Moral maturity allows leaders to stand for what matters while remaining curious, connected, and oriented toward collective impact rather than personal righteousness. Heres how:
Distinguish values from validation. Ask: Am I standing in a principle or hiding behind it? This distinguishes conviction from ego. By interrogating whether a stance is truly principle-driven or simply self-affirming, leaders prevent rigid authenticity from becoming a shield for stubbornness.
Expand the aperture of right. Seek nuance in situations that challenge your certainty. Curiosity reduces the need to treat disagreement as a moral referendum. By widening their interpretive frame, leaders move from defending their identity to understanding the system they are operating in.
Prioritize impact over insistence. Sometimes the most ethical choice is the one that maintains relationships, not the one that wins the argument. Insisting on being right can satisfy the ego but damage the social fabric leaders rely on to get things done.
In short, if you are interested in being a better leader who is true to her/himself, focus on being your best possible self rather than your unfiltered or uncensored self. Why? Because the less you care about your reputation, the more others will careand not in a good way.
Leadership is fundamentally relational, so leaders professional selves must be optimized to the needs of others. People dont need leaders to share every inner thought but to provide clarity, stability, and a responsible, human presence. Effective leaders prioritize impact over self-expression and treat authenticity as an active, intentional process. By contrast, misguided self-expression creates friction that slows decisions, distorts information, and weakens execution, even in otherwise capable teams.
The best leaders commit to continuous improvement and becoming more effective in their roles. This demands self-awareness and emotional intelligence, recognizing what traits to emphasize or adjust to meet the moment’s demands. Instead of unfiltered self-expression, leaders engage in thoughtful self-presentation tailored to the collective needs of their teams and organizations. As a result, leaders professional reputation becomes a practiced skill of managing how to show up powerfully while staying true to core values, not a static identity to be discovered or defended at all costs.
In summary, effective leadership is less about rigid self-identity and more about strategic self-curation aimed at adaptive effectiveness and relational impact. Leaders who understand this evolve beyond trapped patterns and refine themselves to lead with clarity, competence, and integrity.
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A relatively new category of solopreneur is booming, and its ascent is challenging perceptions of what it means to be self-employed.
Since 2018 demand for fractional expertiseor specialized talent that works for one or many firms on a limited or part-time basishas tripled, according to a recent study by workforce intelligence company Revelio Labs. The most popular part-time executive position, according to the study, is CFO, which makes up 18% of fractional executive roles, followed by CMO at 14% and CEO at 10%.
Revelio Labs chief economist Lisa Simon says the skyrocketing demand for fractional executives is largely a function of the current job market. She explains that layoffs have freed up many highly skilled workers while budgetary constraints have added to the appeal of a lower cost flexible alternative to full-time hires among businesses.
Employers see fractional work as a way to save on costs while filling a particular role and, because of the weak labor market, more workers are willing to take these part-time positions, she explains.
Though some go fractional out of necessity, others actively choose the arrangement for its added flexibility, especially women. According to the Revelio Labs study, about 38% of American fractional executives are female, compared with 31.5% of those that are traditionally employed.
Women are much more likely to be interested in remote work and return to office has had particularly adversely affected women; theyre less willing to go back, because of the extra caregiving responsibilities, Simon explains. Fractional work is more attractive to mothers, to those giving elder care, because it allows for that extra flexibility.
A new work paradigm, or just a fad?
The trend may be driven by temporary market conditions, but there is reason to believe the growth in both the supply and demand of fractional help is indicative of a broader and more lasting change.
What Im seeing is the unbundling of roles, explains Sara Daw, the global CEO of U.K.-based Liberti Group, which connects businesses with fractional executive talent in 18 counties. Roles that we historically only thought of as being full-time and permanent are unbundling into more work tasks and activities, and the fractional trend meets that head on.
Daw says her organization has been providing part-time executive services since 2001, but those services have only been labelled fractional since the pandemic.
Since then the organization has doubled thanks to skyrocketing demand, especially for CFOs, which it provides through its sub-brand the CFO Centre.
Before COVID most people didnt know what we were talking about when we were pitching it, says Daw, who published a book tracking the fractional trend last year. Most business owners wanted their CFO sitting next to them, and I think COVID taught everyone that we can work differently, and it’s normalized our business model.
The pandemic also inspired workers to reevaluate their relationship with work and seek more control over their schedules.
It encouraged a lot of people to consider whether their full-time high-end C-suite leadership job was detrimental to their health, their well-being, their family, Daw says. Those two trends coming together has created this phenomenon.
Thats especially true among younger workers. Though they may not be ready to step into fractional executive roles, a new generation of talent is proving much more comfortable with the part-time model, suggesting more growth on the horizon.
Most Gen Zers have a side gig already; theyre much more portfolio-minded and gig-orientated, Daw says. I’m not saying employment is dead, I’m saying this has got its own space alongside it.
Not Just for Cash-Strapped Startups
Prior to the pandemic, Daw says the primary customer for fractional services were startups and small businesses that couldnt afford full-time help.
While that segment remains strong, there has also been significant growth among larger organizations looking for a temporary, flexible helping hand.
Since COVID, the pace of changegeopolitics, climate change, war, technology, all of those mega-trendshas meant that organizations have got a lot to cope with, and the senior leaders have started looking more for outside help, she says. They might have a group CFO or group CMO who’s employed full-time, but those individuals are overwhelmed in a turbulent world, and they need an agile talent structure.
When large organizations needed outside assistance in the past they traditionally looked to major consulting and advisory firms. Many are now discovering that they can find specialized talent at a lower cost by engaging a part-time, temporary expert.
Those fractional experts may have even been previously employed by one of those big consulting firms or may have helped a similar organization overcome a similar challenge in the past.
You’re seeing very large corporationsthe brands you knowhiring these fraction-ers intentionally to get access to the talent, says Ran Harpaz, the founder and CEO of Lettuce Financial, a Fintech platform for solopreneurs earning six figures. They don’t want to go to finance and justify a job, and put it in the budget for the next five years and deal with all the support systems around it.
From embarrassment to badge of honor
Before the term gained traction, those who offered what wed now describe as fractional services were given labels that Harpaz says didnt really match their level of expertise.
Consultant, contractor, 1099, those are accounting terms. Fractional is a business term, he says. It says Im going to solve your problem, and I can do it in a fractional capacity.
That new label, he says, has shifted the perception of this category of solopreneurs from something many felt they had to hide on their résumés to something they advertise as a badge of honor.
They say out loud, I’m so great at what I do that I can help your business in 10 hours or 20 hours a week, because Im that experienced, Harpaz says. It’s not a gig, it’s a destination, and I’m positioning myself so that clients understand what they’re getting, and they see the value in the interaction.
Balancing gut feelings with hard data isn’t a soft skill.
It’s a strategic advantage.
In an era where AI, automation, and ubiquitous dashboards flood us with metrics, it’s tempting to believe that better spreadsheets alone will yield better decisions. But our most consequential choices rarely emerge from a cell in column D. They arise from an ongoing negotiation between intuition and rational analysis.
The paradox is this: as technology becomes more sophisticated at processing information, the human capacity to notice what mattersthe intangible signals of opportunity or riskbecomes more valuable. Yet most organizations force a false choice. We either romanticize intuition (“I just know this investment is a winner”) or we bury it under rationalizations (“The model says no”). A healthierand more innovativeapproach is to design for both.
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The Science Behind the Marriage of Modes
Recent research reveals something counterintuitive. According to a Science Direct article about entrepreneurs decision making, when entrepreneurs with domain expertise integrate AI-driven analysis with their intuitive insights, they achieve the most balanced outcomes, excelling simultaneously in novelty, depth, and innovation. A controlled study of 124 entrepreneurs found that while AI assistance increased the number of recognized opportunities and the depth of evaluation, it simultaneously reduced novelty and contextual sensitivity. But here’s the interesting thing: sector knowledge and intuitive judgment restored this creative dimension. The entrepreneurs who combined both sources of intelligence outperformed those relying on either alone.
Separately, research into human-AI collaboration in decision-making found that expertise in the decision-making domain is a necessary condition for intuition to be effective. Organizations attempting to eliminate intuition in favor of pure analytics often find themselves unable to navigate ill-structured problemsyou know, the kind that have no precedent and require human judgment. Conversely, intuition without analytical rigor falls prey to bias and incomplete information.
What neuroscience reveals is even more compelling. Research shows that leaders who cultivate interoceptive awareness, which is your ability to sense and interpret internal bodily signals, experience improved self-regulation and more grounded decision-making. A study published in NeuroImage found that individuals with higher interoceptive awareness showed increased activation in the insular cortex during decision-making tasks, suggesting a direct link between bodily awareness and cognitive processes.
In other words, learning to read your physical responses during deliberation literally changes how your brain processes information.
Redesign How You Think
One practical shift is to separate your phases of thinking. In the first phase, privilege expansive, intuitive work: walking meetings, whiteboard sessions, voice notes, even practices like yoga nidra (a guided relaxation technique) or non-sleep deep rest that loosen our grip on linear problem-solving. The job of this phase is not to decide; it’s to notice. What’s tugging at your attention? What feels unexpectedly alive or off? What pattern are you sensing before you can articulate it?
This isn’t meditation or mysticism. It’s the recognition that your brain’s pattern-recognition systems, honed by years of experience in your domain, often detect signals faster than your conscious, analytical mind can process them. Honor that system.
Later, in a distinct evaluative phase, invite rigor back in. We interrogate assumptions. We ask: What data supports this hunch? What contradicts it? Who would disagree, and on what grounds? Who benefits if this decision goes our way? Who bears the costs? Simply naming that we are in “intuitive mode” or “rational mode” reduces the unspoken power struggle between the two. It also prevents the common organizational mistake I see all the time: abandoning the intuitive insight midway through because the data is messy, or defending an intuitive pull long after contradicting evidence has emerged.
Treat Hunches as Hypotheses
The next step is to treat intuition as a hypothesis, not a verdict. A gut feeling about a hire, a product direction, or a market pivot can be translated into small, testable experiments. Pilot the idea with a narrow customer segment. Run an A/B test instead of a full rollout. Offer a time-bound consulting or project role before committing to a full-time leader.
This shifts the conversation from “Should I trust my instinct?” to “What would I need to see to strengthen or challenge this intuition?” That’s rigor without self-betrayal. It’s also how learning accelerates. You’re not choosing between data and gut; you’re using data to train your gut.
The Interoceptive Edge
Of course, not all gut feelings are wisdom. Some are simply our biases wearing a confident costume. This is where building interoceptive awareness matters. Paying attention to how your body feels before and after major decisions can, over time, distinguish between expansive intuition and constricting fear.
Research on interoceptive training demonstrates that after just one week of focused practice, participants showed enhanced interoceptive accuracy and significantly more rational decision-making. They also reported reductions in anxiety and somatic symptoms. The implication for leaders is clear: developing the capacity to read your internal signals isn’t indulgentit’s foundational.
Consider keeping a brief “intuition log”: What did I feel? What did I decide? How did it turn out? Are there patterns? You’re effetively training your inner instrument. Over time, you become more reliable at distinguishing between a genuine signal and noise.
Counter Implicit Bias
To counter cultural and implicit bias, organizations need deliberate friction in decision-making. Research on affinity bias (our tendency to favor people similar to us) reveals that this bias operates silently and persistently. One study found that male candidates are 1.5 times more likely to advance to screening than equally qualified women. More broadly, diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones on measures of innovation, problem-solving, and financial returns, yet affinity bias remains one of the most common barriers to building such teams.
Designate someone in key meetings to challenge assumptions: How might affinity bias be shaping this decision? If this candidate or idea looked nothing like our past successes, would we still be excited? Would we hire or promote this person if they came from a different background? If this market opportunity came from a woman rather than a man proposing it, would we fund it?
Pairing intuitive pulls with structured dissent helps ensure we’re not just re-inscribing “this is how we do things around here.” It also reveals when our intuition is actually convenience masquerading as wisdom.
The “Both/And” Decision Framework
Ultimately, the goal is a “both/and” review of major decisions. On one side of the page: data, constraints, risks, what the models say. On the other: gut feel, emotional tone, bodily cues, pattern recognition from experience, what feels alive. Include the assumptions that underlie each. Include the people who would gain and lose with each choice.
The closing question is simple: Given both columns, what is the smallest, most reversible next step?
Make It Visible
When leaders narrate this process out loud”Here’s what my intuition is telling me, here’s what the data says, and here’s how I’m reconciling them”then they normalize a culture where neither spreadsheets nor gut checks are taboo. This transparency also models the kind of thinking that develops over time. Junior leaders see that confidence isn’t about certainty; it’s about integrating multiple sources of information and taking action despite genuine uncertainty.
In the imagination era, where ideas are our true currency and markets move faster than data can track the shifts, the organizations that thrive won’t be those that worship logic or intuition alone. They’ll be those that have the courage and discipline to let them dance.
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Curving walls of clay brick and the dappled light of a forest canopy make up the design of the 2026 Serpentine Pavilion, the annual architectural installation that has become one of the field’s most prestigious commissions.
This year’s pavilion is being designed by Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo of LANZA atelier, a Mexico City-based architecture studio. An annual installation outside the Serpentine art gallery in London’s Kensington Park that is freely open to the public from June through October, the Serpentine Pavilion is high-brow design that’s unusually accessible.
Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo of Lanza atelier. [Photo: Pia Riverola]
Hitting the premise on the nose, LANZA atelier’s design was inspired by a common English architectural feature known as a “serpentine” or a “crinkle-crankle” that uses a gently curving line of bricks to form a decorative wall. For the Serpentine Pavilion, the architects lined one side of the structure with this serpentine wall, built just a single brick wide. An architectural trick, the wall’s curves provide stability through lateral support, making it need fewer bricks than if the wall were straight.
[Image: Lanza atelier/courtesy Serpentine]
Inside, the pavilion evokes the trees of the surrounding park with a series of brick columnsalso a single brick widesupporting a semi-transparent roof. Bricks also make up the floor surface, making the interior a thoroughly earthy experience. This single material’s dominance is only broken by its white-painted metal frame lattice roof, which bounces light into the space. Its curvaceous form creates niches within the pavilion while also forming portals to the park and to the Serpentine gallery nearby.
The Serpentine Pavilion has been an architectural event for 25 years, serving as both a showcase and a creative outlet for emerging architects and artists. One of the highest-profile commissions in the field, the Serpentine Pavilion has been designed by an A-list of designers since its first iteration, including Pritzker Prizewinning architects Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Peter Zumthor, and Diébédo Francis Kéré, and artists Ai Weiwei, Theaster Gates, and Olafur Eliasson.
The Serpentine Pavilion is a global stage for LANZA atelier, a small office founded in 2015. The firm’s built works include several private homes, a children’s community center, and minimal yet elegant public bathroom. The 2026 Serpentine Pavilion will open to the public June 6.
Greenland may be at the center of international affairs, but the crypto markets are in the red to kick off the holiday-shortened week.
Tuesday morning, Bitcoin was trading at around $91,000, which was down around 4.5% over the past five days. It had been trading around $95,000, but took a tumble late Sunday evening, suddenly falling to less than $93,000, and trended downward early Tuesday.
Ethereum, or ETH, followed a similar trajectory: ETH values are down almost 8% over the past five days, and are currently trading just north of $3,000. XRP did the same and, as of Tuesday morning, is down roughly 7%.
In all, the crypto market is down more than 3% since Monday, per the CoinDesk 20, a crypto market index.
Other markets are also seeing a slight downturn, though not as large as crypto. The S&P 500, for example, was down almost 1.5% as Tuesdays trading commenced.
As for the catalyst? Geopolitical tensions appear to be at the center of things, with President Trump issuing threats of new tariffs on European countries over the weekend. That threat comes in response to Trumps desire to acquire Greenland from Denmark, which Denmark, and the rest of Europe, have balked at.
Specifically, Trump threatened new 10% tariffs on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Those tariffs would commence on February 1. Trump also said the tariffs would rise to 25% at the beginning of June if Denmark does not agree to negotiate some sort of transfer of Greenland to the U.S.
European Union leaders responded Tuesday morning as the back-and-forth continues. The European Union and the United States have agreed to a trade deal last July, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. And in politics as in business, a deal is a deal. And when friends shake hands, it must mean something.
Its likely that as long as the testy situation continues, crypto and other markets could experience volatility.
The Sundance Film Festival may be a little bittersweet this year. It will be familiar in some ways as it kicks off on Thursday in Park City, Utah. There will be stars, from Natalie Portman to Charli XCX, and breakout discoveries, tearjerkers, comedies, thrillers, oddities that defy categorization and maybe even a few future Oscar nominees. The pop ups and sponsors will be out in full force on Main Street. The lines to get into the 90 movies premiering across 10 days will be long and the volunteers will be endlessly helpful and cheery in subfreezing temperatures.But the country’s premier showcase for independent film is also in a time of profound transition after decades of relative stability. The festival is bidding farewell to its longtime home and forging forward without its founder, Robert Redford, who died in September. Next year, it must find its footing in another mountain town, Boulder, Colorado.
Celebrating the legacy of Robert Redford and his creation
It’s no surprise that legacy will be a through-line at this year’s final edition in Park City. There will be screenings of restored Sundance gems like “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Mysterious Skin,” “House Party” and “Humpday” as well as Redford’s first truly independent film, the 1969 sports drama “Downhill Racer.” Many will also pay tribute to Redford at the institute’s fundraising event, where honorees include Chloé Zhao, Ed Harris and Nia DaCosta.“Sundance has always been about showcasing and fostering independent movies in America. Without that, so many filmmakers wouldn’t have had the careers they have,” said “Mysterious Skin” filmmaker Gregg Araki. He first attended the festival in 1992 and has been back many times, including at the labs where Zhao was one of his students.Quite a few festival veterans are planning to make the trip, including “Navalny” filmmaker Daniel Roher. His first Sundance in 2022 might have been a bit unconventional (made fully remote at the last minute due to the pandemic) but ended on a high note with an Oscar. This year he’s back with two films, his narrative debut “Tuner,” and the world premiere of “The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist,” which he co-directed with Charlie Tyrell.“We’re going through a weird moment in the world There’s something that strikes me about an institution that has been evergreen, that seems so entrenched going through its own transition and rebirth,” Roher told The Associated Press. “I’m choosing to frame this year as a celebration of Sundance and the institute and a future that will ensure the festival goes on forever and ever and ever and stays the vital conduit for so many filmmakers that it has been.”Over the past four decades, countless careers have been shaped and boosted by the festival and the Institute. Three of this year’s presumed Oscar nominees Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler and Zhao are among those the Institute supported early in their careers.Jay Duplass, who first came to Sundance in 2003 with his brother, Mark, with what he calls a “$3 film” said it was the place where his career was made.“I’d probably be a psychologist right now if it wasn’t for Sundance,” Duplass said.While he’s been to “probably 15 Sundances” since, it hasn’t lost its luster. In fact, when a programmer called him to tell him that his new film “See You When I See You” was selected, he cried. The film is based on a memoir in which a young comedy writer (Cooper Raiff) attempts to process the death of his sister (Kaitlyn Dever). It’s one of many films that finds humor amid grim subjects.
Bold swings, comedies and Hollywood stars
As always, the lineup is full of starry films as well, including Cathy Yan’s art world satire, “The Gallerist,” starring Portman, Jenna Ortega, Sterling K. Brown, Zach Galifianakis and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. The romantic drama “Carousel,” from Rachel Lambert, features Chris Pine and Jenny Slate as high school exes who rekindle their romance later in life. Araki is also bringing a new film, “I Want Your Sex,” in which Olivia Wilde plays a provocative artist (Araki described as a cross between Madonna and Robert Mapplethorpe) who takes on Cooper Hoffman as her younger muse.“It’s kind of a sex-positive love letter to Gen Z,” Araki said. “It’s a comedy. It has elements of mystery, thriller, murder a little bit of ‘Sunset Boulevard’ it’s fun, it’s colorful, it’s sexy. It’s a ride.”Wilde also steps behind the camera for “The Invite,” in which she stars alongside Seth Rogen as a couple whose marriage disintegrates over the course of an evening. Olivia Colman is a fisherwoman looking to make the perfect husband in “Wicker,” co-starring Alexander Skarsgrd. Zoey Deutch plays a Midwestern bride-to-be seeking out her celebrity “free pass” (Jon Hamm) in the screwball comedy “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass.” And Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe lead the Depression-era crime drama “The Weight.”Pop star and noted cinephile Charli XCX will also be out and about, starring in the self-referential mockumentary “The Moment,” and appearing in “The Gallerist” and “I Want Your Sex” as well.
Documentaries about celebrities and urgent subjects
The 2026 festival features a robust lineup of documentaries too, which have a good track record of snagging eventual Oscar nominations and wins. There are a handful of films about famous faces, including basketball star Brittney Griner, Courtney Love, Salman Rushdie, Billie Jean King, Nelson Mandela and comedian Maria Bamford.Others delve into newsy subjects past and present, like “When A Witness Recants,” in which author Ta-Nehisi Coates revisits the case of the 1983 murder of a boy in his Baltimore middle school and learns the truth. “American Doctor” follows three professionals trying to help in Gaza. “Who Killed Alex Odeh” examines the 1985 assassination of a Palestinian American activist in Southern California. “Everybody To Kenmure Street” is about civil resistance to deportations in Glasgow in 2021. And “Silenced” tracks international human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson in her fight against the weaponization of defamation laws against victims of gender violence.And some don’t fit into any easy category, like “The History of Concrete” in which filmmaker John Wilson takes what he learned at a “how to sell a Hallmark movie” seminar and tries to apply it to a documentary on concrete.
Saying goodbye to Main Street
There might be a bit of wistfulness in the air too, as everyone takes stock of the last Sundance in Park City and tries to imagine what Boulder might hold.“It feels very special to be part of the last ne in Park City,” Duplass said. “It’s just a super special place where, you know there are going to be movies there with giant stars and there’s also going to be some kids there who made movies for a few thousand dollars. And they’re all going to mix.”Araki, like Redford, knew long ago that the festival had outgrown Park City. It will be strange to no longer have its iconic locations like Egyptian Theatre and Eccles and The Ray anymore, but it’s also just a place.“The legacy and the tradition of Sundance will continue no matter where it is,” Araki said.
For more coverage of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/sundance-film-festival
Lindsey Bahr, AP Film Writer
This month, American shopping malls received another nail in the coffin. Francescas, the women’s fashion and accessories chain, has reportedly quietly begun shutting down all its stores. Heres what you need to know.
Whats happened?
The women’s fashion and accessories chain Francescas has reportedly begun the process of going out of business, which will involve shutting down all of its stores.
The news of the closures was first reported by Womens Wear Daily. Per that report, a customer service representative confirmed it is currently closing all its stores, with liquidation sales underway.
However, the chain has not broadly announced the news. Fast Company has reached out to Francescas for comment. An automated recording on the company’s customer service line said all associates were busy. Emails to Francescas went unreturned. We’ll update this post if we hear back.
The womans fashion chain was once ubiquitous in shopping malls across the country. Founded in 1999, the retailer rose to prominence during the early 2000s as malls were at the height of their cultural relevance just before online competitors began to reshape the shopping landscape.
In 2011, Francescas debuted as a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq, but by 2020, the retailer was facing severe financial struggles, not helped by the onset of Covid-19 lockdowns and the decline in mall foot traffic.
That year, the company filed for bankruptcy and was delisted from the Nasdaq.
After exiting bankruptcy, the chain attempted a comeback, and even now its website lists 457 boutique stores in 45 states that employ more than 3,400 individuals.
But Francescas has struggled over the past few years, incurring significant debt. One vendor told Womens Wear Daily that Francescas owes approximately $250 million in unpaid invoices.
What has Francescas said about its shutdown?
As of the time of this writing, Francescas hasnt made public comments about its going out of business. Currently, its website continues to operate as normal, with no mention of store closings.
The only information on the website that even implies its stores are closing is its updated Return Policy page, which now states that As of January 14, 2026, all sales are final.
It also says that gift card sales are final and gift cards won’t be returned.
Employees were also reportedly blindsided by the shutdown, with a source telling Womens Wear Daily that merchants were laid off last week with no warning.
Which Francescas stores are closing?
Reportedly, all of them. When stores close, they usually only keep their doors open until all their remaining inventory has been liquidated.
Francescas shoppers looking for good deals in liquidation sales are advised to contact the store directly before heading there to confirm it is still open.
When are Francescas stores closing?
It was not immediately clear when all this will happen. As of Monday, Francesca’s was still posting on Instagram as if everything were normal, although it is being inundated with questions from users about the reported closures.
Mall retailers have had a bad year
Unfortunately, Francescas is not the only mall retailer to have faced financial struggles over the last 12 months.
In the first half of 2025, fast-fashion retailer Forever 21 closed hundreds of locations in America. And in August, teen and tween fashion and accessory chain Claires also decided to shutter hundreds of stores.
The story behind such closures is the same for many retailers involved: rising costs, consumers who are increasingly more choosy about where and what they spend their money on, and foot traffic that never fully recovered after the Covid-19 pandemic.
