AI’s New Rules Of Work [Newsletter #75]

Hello, AI enthusiasts from around the world.

Welcome to this week’s newsletter for the AI and the Future of Work podcast.

The AI revolution is accelerating fast, and uncertainty may grow with it.

Moments like these aren’t new. Every major shift in how we work has forced us to rethink our assumptions and adapt.

That’s why mindset matters. Today’s conversation explores how to use AI as a tailwind instead of resisting the change happening around us.

Let’s dive into this week’s highlights! 🚀

🎙️ New Podcast Episode with Jeetu Patel, Cisco President and Chief Product Officer

What differentiates you from the rest in these evolving times?

It’s a question everyone must face, whether you’re an individual contributor or part of one of the world’s largest networking companies.

Humanity is navigating a major shift in how we work. AI’s rapid evolution brings hope and excitement, but it also introduces uncertainty, especially as people worry about what automation means for their jobs.

Jeetu Patel prefers to flip that perspective, and he starts by answering the question head-on.

What will set you apart today, and in the future, isn’t knowledge. Knowledge is everywhere. Your edge will come from how you solve problems.

No one should work against a megatrend. The goal is to use it as a tailwind.

It’s a philosophy Jeetu has embraced as President and Chief Product Officer at Cisco, where he has led a cultural shift toward becoming an AI-first company. 

Jeetu joined Cisco in 2020, right before AI reached mainstream awareness, after serving as Chief Product Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Box. There, he helped transform the company into a multi-product platform trusted by more than 100,000 customers.

PeopleReign CEO Dan Turchin sat down with Jeetu to explore how one of the world’s biggest networking companies reinvented itself to thrive in an AI-first future, not just survive it.

To succeed, Jeetu reshaped the company’s culture by tying bonuses to AI adoption and by recognizing that AI already performs certain tasks better than humans. At the same time, he highlights what only people bring to the table: instinct, judgment, and passion.

In this conversation, they discussed:

• Why fully embracing AI has become a requirement at Cisco, not a choice.

• How AI will reshape every job, including the ones we haven’t imagined yet, and why human skills will remain essential.

• Why skill gaps are growing, and what workers can do to stay relevant as AI transforms the workplace.

• The real constraints slowing enterprise AI adoption, including power, trust, and data.

• The infrastructure, security, and data gaps limiting AI’s potential, and how Cisco is working to close them.

🎧 This week's episode of AI and the Future of Work, featuring Jeetu Patel.

Tune in to hear Jeetu share his vision for Cisco and why he’s optimistic about a future where AI and humans work together. Connect with Jeetu on LinkedIn to learn more about his work.

📖 AI Fun Fact Article

Low wages, alleged union busting, and even trauma became part of daily life for workers at Sama, Facebook’s largest content moderation provider in Africa. Conditions were so severe that a former moderator sued both Sama and Meta, claiming they violated the Kenyan constitution.

As Billy Perrigo reports in Time, Sama has now announced that it will no longer work with Meta. The contract, worth $3.9 million, began in 2022 and focused on reviewing harmful content across Meta’s platforms.

After ending the relationship, Sama attributed the decision to the country’s economic climate, without mentioning the lawsuit. NGOs supporting the case criticized both companies, pointing to how these decisions reveal deeper problems with online content moderation and how little progress has been made in addressing them.

PeopleReign CEO Dan Turchin reminds us that every for-profit company is driven by a single objective: increasing shareholder value. As we all know, if you’re not paying for the product, as is the case with most social media apps, you are the product.

Companies like Meta, Google, and TikTok  (and its parent ByteDance), will use your personal data in whatever way is required to increase clicks, time spent scrolling, and revenue per impression.

Caught in the crossfire is the mental health and well-being of every subscriber. As noted in today’s article, the same applies to every content moderator exposed to the harmful material that never reaches your feed.

It’s fair to assume that every ad-supported tech company started with good intentions to democratize access to unbiased, crowdsourced content. Over time, those intentions came into conflict with revenue targets.

We have seen governments and companies like Google compromise their integrity by partnering with organizations accused of using AI to exert harm.

It should come as no surprise that content moderation is often used as a human shield, protecting brand equity until it threatens profit margins. You are the product, so vote with your eyeballs.

It’s more important than ever to take responsibility for understanding how content enters your feed, including the possible human cost behind it.

Lawyers Are Entering a New Era of AI

📽️ Worth a Watch

Culture of Wow in Service Teams

Until next time, stay curious! 🤔

That's a Wrap for This Week!

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