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ChatGPT can make mistakes. Check important info. How many times have you seen that message? More importantly, how many times have you actually stopped to consider what it means? No doubt youve noticed italong with millions of others who now rely on AI for everything from planning product launches and rewriting emails to turning their beloved pets into cartoons. The adoption speed has been remarkable. In just a few years, AI has gone from a buzzword to a daily fixture in countless workplaces. And for many, its already hard to remember what work looked like without it. Like anything that makes life easier, its easy to see why it caught on so quickly. Whats harder to see (and easier to forget), though, is how quickly weve tuned out can make mistakes. Thats why business leaders must be deliberate about how they integrate AI into their operations and clear about where human judgment must lead. SPEED AND THE ILLUSION OF INTELLIGENCE AIs value is undeniable. It can summarize meetings, analyze data, write copy, solve coding problems, create images, and so much more. That amounts to real progress, unlocking hours that can be focused on more creative and strategic work. But as AI becomes increasingly embedded in our lives, and its work becomes better and better, it also becomes easier to overestimate what it can do. Part of that stems from fear. If we believe it can replace us, we start to believe it can think like us. We need to be clear-eyed: AI does not actually think. Not yet, anyway. It predicts what words are likely to come next. Its a mirror into the ideas, concepts, and content that already exist in the world. When we forget that, we stop questioning. We assume that because something sounds smart, it is smart. And thats where mistakes begin. WHY HUMAN JUDGMENT WILL ALWAYS BE A DIFFERENTIATOR The more powerful AI becomes (and it will!), the more tempting it will be to pass off not just the underlying tasks, but also the reasoning behind them. If judgment were as simple as analyzing data and making a decision based solely on that, wed be in trouble. The reality, however, is that judgment requires interpretation, empathy, and lived experience. As a communications professional of nearly 20 years, its easy for me to imagine how badly AI overreliance could go wrong. Picture a company embroiled in a public controversy. Rather than consulting with someone who has years of experience navigating corporate crises, the in-house team turns to AI for a statement. Absent context or emotional intelligence, even a well-phrased message can make a bad situation worse. Not to mention those excessive em dashes in the company statement will be an obvious flag to anyone whos read copy drafted by AI. Its not just outlier events, either. Every day, business leaders must decide how to communicate sensitive changes, interpret market signals, and navigate nuanced situations, all of which require perspective. AI can tell you whats been said or done before, in whatever format you wantand what a useful tool that is alone. It can surface information, make suggestions, and help speed execution, but human oversight will always be crucial. What if the right course of action based on a lifetime of experience is to take an approach thats never been done before? If we can only look back and use that intel to inform decisions, how do we truly evolve? BUILD A TRUST, BUT VERIFY CULTURE AI is the first technological innovation that appears to possess true intelligence, which makes maintaining a healthy dose of skepticism essential. Trust, but verify isnt about second-guessing technology, its about recognizing how AI can make our lives easier and more efficient without losing what makes us unique: Our lived experience. That starts with everyday habits. Remember, AI is a starting point, not the finished product. Encourage your team to ask: Does this sound right to me? Would I stand by this if my name was attached to it? Whether verifying facts and stats, confirming sources, or reviewing tone and feel, these actions prevent speed from turning into sloppiness. As leaders, we must set the tone. By framing AI as a tool for making us more efficientnot a replacement for human judgmentwe reinforce what will always drive great work: judgment, creativity, and accountability. Grace Keith Rodriguez is CEO of Caliber Corporate Advisers.
Category:
E-Commerce
Why do some climate innovations fail to deliver? Not because theyre flawed, but because the business world misjudges their economics. From hydrogen to EV infrastructure, carbon-capture startups to precision farming tools, companies around the world are pouring money into climate tech. But for every promising climate innovation that scales, several more fizzle out too soon. Not because the science doesnt work. But because the business case was either overestimated or underestimated at the wrong time. In the race to build the future, too many businesses are still blowing it on climate economics. Some assume customers will pay for green solutions at any price. Others abandon high-potential technologies too early. And many charge ahead without evaluating the unintended consequences of their choices. THE COST MISCONCEPTION A persistent myth in climate innovation is that virtue sells and customers will choose sustainability regardless of cost. In my years of working as an innovation leader, I have discovered how wrong that is. According to Boston Consulting Group, although up to 80% of consumers say they care about sustainability, only 1-7% have actually paid a premiumfor green products. Industrial buyers also hesitate to switch to cleaner inputs that cost more upfront. In other words, climate friendliness alone rarely triggers a purchase. Its not that people dont care. Its that price sensitivity hasnt vanished just because climate urgency has arrived. A mistake many innovators make is assuming that having a good solution is enough, that if the environmental benefit is clear, customers will adopt it, no matter the cost. This is often not the case, especially in markets without subsidies, mandates, or strong brand loyalty. Weve seen this play out in everything from early EV adoption gaps in rural regions, to low uptake of biodegradable materials in price-sensitive markets. Companies often overestimate what their customers will pay, and as a result, misalign their go-to-market strategy from the start. THE EARLY-STAGE TRAP On the flip side, some climate solutions get written off too early. When a solution looks expensive or inefficient at first, companies often pull the plug before the technology has a chance to evolve. But thats exactly how breakthrough technologies start, and it also takes time and so you need a lot of patience. The most promising climate solutions usually have three things in common: They target a big problem worth solving, they take a radical or unconventional approach, and they rely on some kind of revolutionary technology with a testable hypothesis. Too often, we stop pursuing technologies simply because we assume they’ll never become economical. But that thinking ignores historical proof. Take solar panels. Once madly expensive and reliant on subsidies, their cost has plummeted so much that theyre now among the cheapest energy sources globally. Battery storage, wind power, and electric vehicles are a similar case in point. Costs dropped drastically only after years of heavy investment, iteration, and learning. Not every climate innovation will scale. But the ones with game-changing potential often look uneconomical in their early phases. The winners are the companies that know how to identify which uneconomical ideas are worth nurturing and stay disciplined in how they invest in them. THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES Another costly mistake? Focusing so narrowly on solving one climate problem that you accidentally create another. When businesses obsess over metrics like CO reduction without examining broader impacts, innovation can backfire. A climate solution that reduces emissions but compensates by heavy use of rare earth minerals may come with geopolitical risks or social and environmental harm elsewhere in the supply chain. But climate innovation isnt a one-variable equation. Companies that want to lead in this space must ask the harder questions about systems impacts. TOWARD SMARTER EVALUATION For companies looking to avoid these costly mistakes, it all begins with how climate innovations are evaluated not just in the lab, but in the boardroom. That means beyond gut instinct or conventional ROI models. In practice, it translates to using tools like scenario planning to anticipate how potential policy changes. Raw material prices or consumer attitudes might affect the solutions economics. Or scorecards that keep track of multiple criteria simultaneously over time. Or portfolio approaches that consider long-term impact alongside short-term feasibility. Most importantly, businesses need to embrace a degree of uncertainty. Not every innovation needs to deliver immediate profit to be worth pursuing, but not every green idea deserves a blank check either. The challengeand the opportunitylies in making smarter, more nuanced investment bets. FROM BLIND BETS TO SMART BETS The pressure to deliver climate solutions is only going to grow. And thats great! But beware that good intentions dont guarantee good outcomes. Too often, businesses fall into one of three traps Ive discussed: overestimating willingness to pay, underestimating long-term potential, or failing to think systemically. The companies that will lead in the next decade will be the ones that avoid those traps. The ones that approach climate innovation with clear-eyed economics, strategic discipline, and a willingness to learn over time will be the ones to succeed. Lets look at the big picture: Misjudging the economics of climate innovation doesnt just waste money. It delays progress. It undermines trust. And it squanders real opportunities to build a future thats both sustainable and successful, one where innovation delivers both to drive profits and preserve the planet. Anantha Desikan is executive vice president and chief research development & innovation officer at ICL Group.
Category:
E-Commerce
Accessibility used to mean compliance. An installed grab bar, an added ramp, a resized font. But meeting physical standards is only half the challenge. The other half, the part that truly changes lives, is how design makes people feel. Thats where emotional accessibility comes in. Its what Michael Graves taught us to do 40 years ago. We believe it is the next frontier of design: creating experiences that dont just accommodate users but also affirm, reassure, and delight them. When we talk about accessibility, were really talking about belonging. And belonging is emotional. A product can meet every ergonomic and ADA guideline yet still make someone feel excluded and unhappy. Poor design like this eliminates a products potential utility gain, if the experience of using it blocks adoption. Conversely, an object thats emotionally intuitive, clear, comforting, and joyful, invites people in before they ever touch it. For instance, we think about the affect our products will have when someone is out using them. We want the response a C-Grip Cane user gets from others to be ooooh nice product rather than awwww whats wrong? At Michael Graves Design, weve spent decades proving that good design isnt a luxury; its a right. But as the democratization of design has evolved, so too have consumer expectations. People no longer want just functional enhancement; they want emotional inclusion. They want to feel seen and feel good. THE LIMITS OF UNIVERSAL DESIGN These are the well-known Seven Principles of Universal Design: equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive operation, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and appropriate size and space. They remain foundational to accessibility and their influence on architecture, product design, and public spaces is profound. But heres the paradox. Products that fully embody those principles often work well, yet fail to connect. They can feel sterile, institutional, even medicalized. Users may appreciate their utility but reject them emotionally. The result is a design ironyperfectly universal products that no one wants to use. Universal Design succeeds at the bottom of Maslows hierarchy of needs, addressing physiological and safety needs. But to destigmatize aging and disability, and to earn genuine consumer buy-in, design must move up the pyramid, to love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Thats where emotional accessibility lives. It bridges the gap between function and feeling, making accessible products not just usable, but desirable, just like every great consumer product. DESIGN FOR THE TOP OF THE PYRAMID Heres how we approach it at Michael Graves Design. We begin with empathy and end with emotion. We ask not only how a product works, but how it feels to use it. Our line of bathroom safety products for Pottery Barn meets ADA and Universal Design benchmarks. But it also meets a higher human need: dignity. By integrating safety into standard objects like towel bars and toilet paper holders, and by designing with finishes like polished nickel and matte blackmaterials associated with lifestyle-based bathroom design, not limitationwe transformed necessary aids into objects people want in their homes. Customers tell us they feel proud of these pieces. Emotional connection leads to real adoption, which means the products actually achieved their purpose. Emotional accessibility doesnt just enhance desirability, it is the key that unlocks utility. WHY FEELINGS ARE FUNCTIONAL The case for emotional accessibility isnt sentimental; its strategic. As AI and automation permeate all facets of life, including product design, consumers crave something technology cant simulate: empathy. Brands that design for emotion build trust and loyalty. Think OXOs Good Grips, which made universally loved ergonomic tools, or Apples tactile, intuitive products that make people feel capable rather than confused. These succeed because they feel human. Emotional accessibility acknowledges that comfort, delight, and pride arent luxuries. Theyre essential enablers of adoption. When people feel good using a product, they use it more often, for longer, and with deeper attachment. These are the highest benchmarks in brand building. COMPLETE THE UNIVERSAL DESIGN FRAMEWORK Emotional accessibility doesnt replace Universal Design; it completes it. Together, they meet the full range of human needs, from survival to self-expression. Here are three ways to integrate it into any design process: 1. Design with emotional verbs In every design brief, define not only what the product does, but how it should make people feel. Should it reassure? Inspire? Empower? Delight? These verbs guide form, material, and personality. 2. Prototype for emotion Test for more than usability. Observe posture, expression, and language. Ask, How did this make you feel? Answers like comfortable or proud, as compared to stable or competent, show that the product has reached higher up Maslows pyramid. 3. Translate dignity into design language Balanced proportions, tactile warmth, and intuitive gestures communicate respect. They tell users, You belong here. THE FUTURE OF ACCESSIBLE DESIGN The Seven Principles of Universal Design built the foundation for access in the built environment. Emotional accessibility adds to that foundation to create connection. As AI accelerates efficiency, the next design revolution cant just be faster, it must be warmer, an essential human contribution. If Universal Design made products usable by everyone, emotional accessibility will make them desirable to everyone. Its how we move from safety to self-expression, from compliance to connection, from design that works to design that cares. Because in the end, the most universal design is the one that makes everyone feel welcome and represented. Ben Wintner is CEO of Michae Graves Design.
Category:
E-Commerce
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