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The End of the Pre-Written Story

The End of the Pre-Written Story

Uncertainty is the new leadership skill

AI and the Future of Work
September 02, 2025

Hello, AI enthusiasts from around the world.

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

We often hear experts make bold predictions about the future, whether optimistic or pessimistic. Today’s conversation takes a different approach. It reminds us not to jump to conclusions.

We are entering an era of uncertainty. The best way forward is to embrace the unknown with empathy and humility.

In this special issue, we look at the future of AI from a human perspective and explore what it means to lead during times of rapid change.

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

🎙️ New Podcast Episode With Nick Mehta, Gainsight CEO

“I don’t know” are three of the hardest words for leaders to say. Yet, according to Nick Mehta, admitting you don’t have all the answers is part of what makes a great leader.

In today’s rapidly evolving tech world, it’s easy to feel lost. That’s why leaders are better off embracing ambiguity rather than running from it. Nick knows this lesson well.

As CEO of Gainsight, one of the most influential companies in customer success, Nick has seen the business grow to 20,000 customers and $100 million in ARR. Along the way, he has learned a lot about the pressures of leadership.

Before Gainsight, he was a serial entrepreneur and CEO, having led LiveOffice before its acquisition by Symantec and co-founding Chipshot in the 1990s. He also serves on the boards of F5 and PubMatic.

Outside of tech, Nick is equally well known. He is the author of the popular blog Mehtaphysical Musings, a rapper, OG shoe dog, and YouTube personality. In 2022, his employees even published a video tribute titled “I promise that you’ll never find a CEO like Nick”.

Nick leads with humor. Whenever someone confidently predicts what will happen in the next five years, he can’t help but laugh. Why? Because, as he explained in his conversation with PeopleReign CEO Dan Turchin, the truth is nobody really knows what the future holds.

And that’s why there’s nothing wrong with saying you don’t know, even when people expect you to have all the answers. This is particularly true in the age of AI.

This conversation explores this and much more:

We’ve reached the end of the “pre-written” story, and now we’re creating history as we go.
Nick sees a resurgence of the liberal arts—including philosophy, poetry, and the search for meaning—as AI takes over the operational side of our daily lives.
We are entering a major adjustment period with AI, one that carries enormous potential for both risk and reward, provided we maintain proper checks and balances.

🎧 This week's episode of AI and the Future of Work, featuring Nick Mehta, inspired this issue.

Listen to the full episode to hear a powerful conversation that explores the future of AI, with references to Marx, Voltaire, and Vonnegut.

Worth A Read 📚

As AI becomes more present in our lives, many have imagined a future where our work and daily routines are deeply intertwined with it. Jobs will evolve, and so will the tasks we do every day. From cooking for our families to how we spend our free time, AI is set to play a role.

No one doubted AI’s potential to diagnose disease, write code, or design products. What few anticipated was its impact on one of our most human traits: empathy.

As this article from Fast Company explains, some optimists argue that if AI makes us 80% more efficient, humans are still needed for the other 20%. But even in that scenario, some jobs will be lost, and the inevitable question arises: am I next?

Source: Freepik

Leaders at every level, not just in the C-suite, will need to navigate these conversations. Many of them will be uncomfortable, which is why empathy becomes so important.

The conversation does not end there. Empathy and AI intersect in other, less positive ways, as highlighted by Harvard Business Review. The possibility of losing a job creates anxiety, especially among Gen Z employees. From that fear comes a heightened need for empathy and stronger human connection. But the article shows a clear disconnect between how employees and leaders perceive this need.

In the end, empathy is becoming so essential that it makes some jobs nearly “invincible” to AI. No matter how many tools we create, sometimes what matters most is the human being in front of you.

Read more about the jobs that are AI-proof and notice the common trait they share.

🌍 Special Episode: Celebrating International Youth Day

To mark International Youth Day (August 12), we released a special compilation of AI and the Future of Work. This episode brings together inspiring voices with timeless lessons for young people starting out, and for the leaders, parents, and mentors guiding them.

We revisit key moments from four remarkable guests who share their perspectives on navigating change, finding meaning in work, embracing vulnerability, and building the human-centered skills that will matter most in the future.

Featuring Guests:

Bruce Feiler, Bestselling Author – Listen here
Linda Rottenberg, Co-Founder & CEO, Endeavor – Listen here
Mark McCrindle, Social Researcher & Speaker – Listen here
William Osman, Tech Creator & YouTuber – Listen here

Empowering the Next Generation: Career, Leadership & Resilience Insights
(International Youth Day Special Episode)

💡 What You’ll Learn:

Why your work journey will change multiple times, and how to embrace it
How vulnerability makes leaders more relatable and effective
The lasting value of human-centered skills in a tech-driven world
Why experimentation and adaptability are critical for success
How leaders and mentors can create opportunities for the next generation

Whether you are charting your own course or helping others navigate theirs, these conversations will inspire you to take bold steps toward a meaningful future.

We want to hear what you have to say! Your feedback helps us improve and ensures we continue to deliver valuable insights to our podcast listeners. 👇

Until next time, stay curious! 🤔

This week we’re bringing you news with a twist. Instead of headlines, we want to spotlight two leaders shaping how AI is integrated into our lives.

It takes a lifetime of work to earn the title “Godmother of AI”. That’s Dr. Fei-Fei Li’s reputation. She has been Google’s Chief Scientist and is now one of Stanford’s most respected AI professors. Today, she’s challenging Silicon Valley’s obsession with AGI. In this Forbes article, she argues that AGI should not be seen as a superforce, but as a way to enhance human potential.
AI often comes down to decision-making, and that’s Cassie Kozyrkov’s expertise. A data scientist and statistician, she focuses on the quality of decisions, the information that fuels them, and their impact on our lives. In this piece, she explains why some decisions should never be outsourced to chatbots.

That's a Wrap for This Week!

This week’s conversation reminds us to lead with humility and empathy. As a leader, there is nothing wrong with saying, “I don’t know.”

The idea has inspired us to approach future conversations from a new perspective. Not knowing is the starting point, and it opens the door to learning.

It is also a powerful way to think about the future of AI. We hope it inspires you to stay open-minded about what lies ahead in the years to come.

Until next time, keep questioning, keep innovating, and we’ll see you in the future of work 🎙️✨

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