Leveraging AI

I've been thinking about my dad lately. He was a successful public equity investor, but when it came to technology, he had his ways. I remember watching him write detailed client updates on a yellow legal pad, which someone else would then type up. He preferred doing complex calculations in his head rather than learning Excel. Whenever his laptop didn't behave exactly as expected, he'd need help getting back on track.

His approach to technology makes me reflect on where we are with AI today. We're all as individuals at a similar inflection point - a moment where we can choose to stick with familiar methods or push ourselves to embrace new tools that could fundamentally change how we work.

We're already seeing a divide emerging. Some coders have become AI savants, seamlessly integrating these tools into their daily workflows. Some stick to their old ways. Those that are leaning in hard on AI are not just using AI; they're reimagining what's possible in their roles - whether they're desk workers, founders, or CEOs.

I'll admit it: I feel like I'm just scratching the surface. While I've experimented with AI tools, I know there's so much more to do. It reminds me of watching my dad stick to his yellow legal pads - there's comfort in familiar tools and methods, but also opportunity costs we might not fully appreciate until later.

So I thought it would be fun to find a way to learn from these AI pioneers. I want to understand how they're leveraging AI to enhance their productivity and creativity. What daily workflows have they transformed? What unexpected use cases have they discovered? How has it changed their approach to problem-solving?

This will be the first in (I hope!) a series of posts exploring these questions. I want to try speaking with non-coders across different roles and industries who are pushing the boundaries of what's possible with AI. My goal is to share their insights and experiences so we can all better understand how to meaningfully integrate AI into our work lives. At least that’s my goal: forgive me if this ends up being a better idea (to me at least) conceptually than in practice!!

Please consider this post an open invitation: If you're someone who has found innovative ways to use AI in your work, or if you know someone who has, I'd love to hear from you.

And as a first step: I got to enjoy the magic of dictating some rough ideas to Claude for this post, and watching it write 95% of it for me (+ create the title image).

Happy New Year!