Skip to main content
Paul Welty, PhD AI, WORK, AND STAYING HUMAN

· professional-skills

Bookmark: Gen zers are being branded as unemployable. Here’s what they can learn from the top 1% of applicants

Gen Z can boost their employability by learning from the top 1% of candidates. Discover key strategies for success in a challenging job market.

Gen Z faces a tough job market with employers hesitant to make hires due to perceived deficiencies in professionalism and communication. Insights from Shaan Patel’s piece in Fortune reveal how this generation can take cues from the top 1% of candidates to overcome biases. Key strategies include developing self-awareness and curiosity during interviews. By honing these skills, Gen Z can more effectively compete and succeed in today’s evolving workplace.

A notable quote from the article is: “Self-awareness is pivotal as early as the interview phase.” This line underscores the significance of self-awareness in creating favorable first impressions, which is critical for Gen Z candidates as they navigate the job market.

Gen Zers are being branded as unemployable. Here’s what they can learn from the top 1% of applicants

The agent-shaped org chart

Every real org has the same topology: principal, role-holder, specialists. Staff AI maps onto it, node for node, and the cost collapse shows up in the deliverables that were always just human-handoff overhead.

AI as staff, not software

Two frames for what AI is doing to work. The tool frame makes tools smarter. The staff frame makes roles unnecessary. Those aren't the same product, the same company, or the same industry.

Knowledge work was never work

Knowledge work was always coordination between humans who couldn't share state directly. The artifacts were never the work. They were the overhead — and AI just made the overhead optional.

The work of being available now

A book on AI, judgment, and staying human at work.

The practice of work in progress

Practical essays on how work actually gets done.

How do I get my dev team to adopt AI?

A stub on helping mixed-interest development teams find their own useful ways into AI.

Want to learn about agents? Talk to someone who ran an agency.

I spent 20 years running consulting engagements at Fortune 500 companies. Turns out that's the best preparation for running a fleet of AI agents ... because the problems are identical.

Your AI agents need a water cooler

We run a twelve-session AI fleet that coordinates through an IRC breakroom. A friend asked: why are you making AI agents act like humans? The answer turned out to be more interesting than the question.

Bookmark: A psychologist explains what gen z should be striving for at work (hint: Not happiness)

Gen Z should prioritize workplace engagement over fleeting happiness to achieve lasting career fulfillment and drive organizational success.

Bookmark: 5 reasons why ‘gen z’ is struggling in the workplace— by a psychologist

Explore the key challenges Gen Z faces in the workplace and discover how managers can adapt to support their unique needs for success.

Bookmark: Gen z workers think showing up 10 minutes late to work is as good as being on time

Explore the clash between Baby Boomers and Gen Z over punctuality in the workplace, revealing how attitudes towards time impact productivity and collaboration.