The Future of Work and Meaning

The Future of Work and Meaning

AI is no longer just a tool to learn, it’s becoming an existential question about work, education, and what it means to be human. In this episode, Michelle Loret de Mola and Dev Patnaik unpack the growing anxiety around AI, from students booing commencement speakers to workers wondering what kind of future they’re preparing for. They explore why “prompt engineering” isn’t enough, how AI may be exposing the limits of today’s so-called knowledge work, and why deep focus, creativity, ambiguity, and even human frailty might become our greatest strengths. From the Pope’s reflections on safeguarding the “human person” to the lessons of photography’s impact on painting, Michelle and Dev ask a bigger question: as AI reshapes work, what parts of humanity are we willing to fight to preserve? #FutureOfWork #AI #Leadership #Humanity #DeepWork #Creativity #FutureFocused   Links Subscribe to receive Dev’s weekly future focused letters: https://www.jumpassociates.com/podcastandnewsletter/ [https://www.jumpassociates.com/podcastandnewsletter/]   Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jump-associates [https://www.linkedin.com/company/jump-associates]   Start a conversation: inquiries@jumpassociates.com [inquiries@jumpassociates.com]   The Jump Podcast The Jump Podcast features Dev Patnaik in dialogue with Michelle Loret de Mola. This is the conversation for future-focused leaders thinking about strategy, culture and leadership. The world is crazy. Everything seems to be changing, and not always in a good way. Today, business leaders are struggling to figure out how to avoid becoming the next Kodak, Blackberry or Blockbuster. But fear not, dear listener. Things can get better. People can do better. And the world can be better.   Jump Associates Jump is the world’s leading independent strategy and innovation firm. We work with the world’s more admired companies on their most important growth challenges. Using a future focused approach to strategy, we’ve helped these firms to grow their businesses in times of change.

Invisible Rules: A Conversation with Ujwal Arkalgud

If you’ve ever tried to push a new idea through a large organization, you probably know the feeling: the strategy is solid, the data is there, and somehow the idea still goes nowhere. In this episode, Michelle Loret de Mola and Dev Patnaik sit down with cultural anthropologist and MotivBase co-founder Ujwal Arkalgud to unpack the “invisible rules” that shape how organizations make decisions, assign credibility, and resist change. From the hidden power of pedigree and language to the unspoken consensus culture inside innovation teams, Ujwal explains how successful leaders learn to see invisible rules, navigate them, and slowly reshape them from within. The trio explores how to find “power pockets” inside organizations, why Steve Jobs may have been more anthropologist than rebel, and how leaders can build legitimacy without losing their edge. Plus: why the most important skill in leadership might simply be learning to notice what everyone else ignores. Some invisible rules are hidden. Others are obvious, like staying out of a restaurant kitchen.   #InvisibleRules #Innovation #Anthropology #Leadership    Links Subscribe to receive Dev’s weekly future focused letters: https://www.jumpassociates.com/podcastandnewsletter/ [https://www.jumpassociates.com/podcastandnewsletter/]   Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jump-associates [https://www.linkedin.com/company/jump-associates]   Start a conversation: inquiries@jumpassociates.com [inquiries@jumpassociates.com]   Read Invisible Rules: US (https://www.amazon.com/dp/177458686X [https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.amazon.com/dp/177458686X__;!!G92We9drHetJ8EofZw!dgeNrsNezOk1jR6xb94t-ZPIUPxVbrWGq4tZ0lPoYBto9_9g2Bzs8cwV5ggk9OY4Iz7R_eO2xxhw94J9UxDSWzs$])  Canada (https://www.amazon.ca/dp/177458686X [https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.amazon.ca/dp/177458686X__;!!G92We9drHetJ8EofZw!dgeNrsNezOk1jR6xb94t-ZPIUPxVbrWGq4tZ0lPoYBto9_9g2Bzs8cwV5ggk9OY4Iz7R_eO2xxhw94J9wocRlD4$])    The Jump Podcast The Jump Podcast features Dev Patnaik in dialogue with Michelle Loret de Mola. This is the conversation for future-focused leaders thinking about strategy, culture and leadership. The world is crazy. Everything seems to be changing, and not always in a good way. Today, business leaders are struggling to figure out how to avoid becoming the next Kodak, Blackberry or Blockbuster. But fear not, dear listener. Things can get better. People can do better. And the world can be better.   Jump Associates Jump is the world’s leading independent strategy and innovation firm. We work with the world’s more admired companies on their most important growth challenges. Using a future focused approach to strategy, we’ve helped these firms to grow their businesses in times of change.

The Real Reason Why Companies Fail

In this episode, Michelle Loret de Mola and Dev Patnaik take on one of business’s oldest questions: Why do great companies actually fail? Is it really arrogance and complacency that bring companies down… or is that just a narrative we’ve been telling ourselves for centuries?   From the chaos hitting SaaS companies in the wake of AI to classic examples like Kodak and AOL, Michelle and Dev unpack what’s really going on beneath the surface. They argue that failure isn’t about leaders getting “too big for their britches,” but about something far more human: our tendency to focus on the present, stick with what’s working, and struggle to let go of a winning formula, even when we know the world is changing.   This episode is a sharp, practical look at what it takes to actually build the bridge from today to tomorrow, and why so many companies fall short trying. If your strategy feels like a warm bath, it might be time to get out of the tub anyway.   #SAAS #strategy #AI #innovation #futurefocus   Links Subscribe to receive Dev’s weekly future focused letters: https://www.jumpassociates.com/podcastandnewsletter/ [https://www.jumpassociates.com/podcastandnewsletter/]   Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jump-associates [https://www.linkedin.com/company/jump-associates]   Start a conversation: inquiries@jumpassociates.com [inquiries@jumpassociates.com]   The Jump Podcast The Jump Podcast features Dev Patnaik in dialogue with Michelle Loret de Mola. This is the conversation for future-focused leaders thinking about strategy, culture and leadership. The world is crazy. Everything seems to be changing, and not always in a good way. Today, business leaders are struggling to figure out how to avoid becoming the next Kodak, Blackberry or Blockbuster. But fear not, dear listener. Things can get better. People can do better. And the world can be better.   Jump Associates Jump is the world’s leading independent strategy and innovation firm. We work with the world’s more admired companies on their most important growth challenges. Using a future focused approach to strategy, we’ve helped these firms to grow their businesses in times of change.

Focused Challenges: A Conversation with Anousheh Ansari

In this episode of the Jump Podcast, Dev Patnaik sits down with Anousheh Ansari to explore the power of bold challenges and “moonshot” thinking. Anousheh shares the story behind the early days of the XPRIZE Foundation, from the audacious $10M prize that helped kickstart private spaceflight to the dozens of competitions now tackling everything from wildfire detection to clean water and human health. The conversation dives into how well-designed incentives can unlock creativity, attract massive investment, and reshape entire industries. But it also confronts a harder question: if technology can create a world of abundance, why doesn’t everyone benefit? Anousheh reflects on the future she hopes we build, and why leaders must actively shape that future rather than assume it will arrive on its own. And if she gets her way, the future may look a lot like Star Trek - a world of abundance where we don't worry about scarcity... though we're still waiting on the replicators. #Moonshots #Innovation #Leadership #XPRIZE #futurefocus   Links Subscribe to receive Dev’s weekly future focused letters: https://www.jumpassociates.com/podcastandnewsletter/ [https://www.jumpassociates.com/podcastandnewsletter/]   Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jump-associates [https://www.linkedin.com/company/jump-associates]   Start a conversation: inquiries@jumpassociates.com [inquiries@jumpassociates.com]   The Jump Podcast The Jump Podcast features Dev Patnaik in dialogue with Michelle Loret de Mola. This is the conversation for future-focused leaders thinking about strategy, culture and leadership. The world is crazy. Everything seems to be changing, and not always in a good way. Today, business leaders are struggling to figure out how to avoid becoming the next Kodak, Blackberry or Blockbuster. But fear not, dear listener. Things can get better. People can do better. And the world can be better.   Jump Associates Jump is the world’s leading independent strategy and innovation firm. We work with the world’s more admired companies on their most important growth challenges. Using a future focused approach to strategy, we’ve helped these firms to grow their businesses in times of change.

Leadership: Taking the ICE Test

In this episode of the Jump Podcast, Michelle Loret de Mola and Dev Patnaik dig into what’s unfolding in Minneapolis and why it has become a real time stress test for leadership. As immigration enforcement spills into everyday life and disrupts business, they explore why this moment is not just political but deeply human. Drawing on neuroscience, empathy, and leadership examples, Michelle and Dev examine why some people feel outrage while others feel nothing and what that reveals about our sphere of concern. The conversation challenges leaders to ask a hard question: who do you consider your people and how big is that circle? And if your empathy still is not kicking in, it might be time to put down the potato chips.   Links Subscribe to receive Dev’s weekly future focused letters: https://www.jumpassociates.com/podcastandnewsletter/ [https://www.jumpassociates.com/podcastandnewsletter/]   Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jump-associates [https://www.linkedin.com/company/jump-associates]   Start a conversation: inquiries@jumpassociates.com [inquiries@jumpassociates.com]   The Jump Podcast The Jump Podcast features Dev Patnaik in dialogue with Michelle Loret de Mola. This is the conversation for future-focused leaders thinking about strategy, culture and leadership. The world is crazy. Everything seems to be changing, and not always in a good way. Today, business leaders are struggling to figure out how to avoid becoming the next Kodak, Blackberry or Blockbuster. But fear not, dear listener. Things can get better. People can do better. And the world can be better.   Jump Associates Jump is the world’s leading independent strategy and innovation firm. We work with the world’s more admired companies on their most important growth challenges. Using a future focused approach to strategy, we’ve helped these firms to grow their businesses in times of change.