Dr. Natalie Nixon is the CEO of Figure 8 Thinking, a creativity and foresight strategy firm. As an advisor, she helps leaders connect the dots between creativity and business results. She was listed on the Top 50 Keynote Speakers In The World list for 2022 by Real Leaders.
Whats the big idea?
What if our most productive selves arent when were on Zoom calls or churning through emails, but when we give ourselves the space and the time to move, think, and rest? Move. Think. Rest. outlines a compelling new framework for work in the 21st century. One that replaces slowly dying of burnout at your desk with a productivity routine that makes downtime a must-have.
Below, Natalie shares five key insights from her new book, Move. Think. Rest.: Redefining Productivity & Our Relationship with Time. Listen to the audio versionread by Natalie herselfbelow, or in the Next Big Idea App.
1. The MTR framework gets you to your new human operating system
The MTR frameworkpronounced motoris an acronym for move, think, and rest. It isnt just another productivity hack; its a research-backed philosophy that serves as a powerful antidote to hustle culture and unprecedented burnout.
The MTR framework fundamentally challenges the outdated belief that movement, reflection, and rest are counterproductive to getting work done. Instead, it positions the incorporation of all three as essential ingredients for strategic creativity and sustainable success. When you move, think, and rest, you activate the two most fundamental elements of creativity: wonder and rigor.
I interviewed over 60 people for this book, including Ivy Ross, Chief Design Officer at Google. Ivy told me about a practice that perfectly embodies MTR in the thinking dimension. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when her team was overwhelmed by uncertainty, she facilitated an exercise where team members created fairy tales about the future. This helped them suspend judgment about how heavy and burdensome the pandemic felt.
This is MTR in action: using creative thinking (curiosity, imagination, dreaming, discipline, and technique) to move beyond traditional problem-solving. Ivy also organizes off-site trips where her team leaves their job titles back at the corporate office and, for example, visits a farm where they become beekeepers or flower pickers for the day. Time seems to stand still, and when they return to the office, they bring fresh perspective and renewed energy back to their work.
The MTR framework emphasizes that true productivity comes from allowing space to reset and nurture the workplaces most vital assets of mental health, imagination, and capacity to grow. This integrated approach enables flourishing in our modern world.
2. Shift focus from productivity to cultivation
MTR provokes a fundamental shift from traditional, quantitative productivity metrics that focus solely on outputs and speed to one of cultivation. This isnt just semantic wordplayits a complete reframing of how we approach work and success. Cultivation embraces a both/and paradigm:
It values both the individual and the collective.
It honors both quick growth spurts and slow, steady shifts.
It acknowledges both the work output, which is dormant and percolating beneath the surface, and the work outputs we can visibly measure.
Angela Val, CEO of Visit Philadelphia, told me, I would rather be a company that does a few things really well than 100 things kind of so-so. That means we have to make room for other new projects, new ideas. The only way to do that is to evaluate both the new ideas that people are suggesting and also evaluate the work that we currently do every so often.
This cultivation approach values what is emerging beyond tangible products, encompassing financial, social, experiential, and cultural value. Its about bringing the entirety of human potential to work, where productivity becomes a byproduct of a more expansive state of well-being.
Flourishing is a distinctive way to think about what comes from cultivating our work. It means blooming and blossoming in bold, colorful directions, and sometimes retreating into bud form when necessary. Think of it like a garden, where sometimes plants need to go dormant or be pruned in order to emerge stronger in the next season.
Ive seen this play out in organizations that have implemented new KPIs for what I call the Imagination Era. Instead of just measuring inventory turnover or cost per lead, theyre also adding indicators like time allocated for strategic thinking, frequency of cross-departmental collaboration, and employee engagement in prototyping and creative problem-solving activities.
3. Embrace play and liminal spaces as catalysts for innovation
Play is the original MTR activity, a powerful energy generator that fuels creativity, resilience, and connection. As part of my research, I visited Brendan Boyles class on play at Stanford Universitys d.school. Brendan is a toy designer and consults companies on the business advantages of integrating play. He defines play as engagement that is intrinsically motivated, purposeless, enjoyable, and involves a suspension of self-consciousness. Play is a vital tool for dealing with uncertainty and stimulating innovation.
But heres whats fascinating: Play often happens in liminal spaces, meaning those ambiguous, in-between times and environments where creativity thrives. These are undefined, transitional periods, such as daydreaming, micro-retreats, or those moments when youre half-awake in the morning.
Observations during my ‘procrastination’ moments often led to the most insightful passages in my book.
2023 research from MIT on Targeted Dream Incubation underscores the power of these liminal states. The study found that participants who received specific task prompts before napping produced more creative stories and performed better on divergent thinking tasks, compared to those who napped without receiving prompts or who stayed awake. I experienced this firsthand during my writing sabbatical in Miami Beach to write this very book. I was observing a young woman giving a Pilates class from her laptop while sitting cross-legged, outside under palm treesa perfect example of how the boundaries between work and life are blurring in creative ways. These observations during my procrastination moments often led to the most insightful passages in my book.
Companies are beginning to recognize this. Take Flown, an online community that creates virtual coworking sessions designed to minimize distractions and maximize deep work. Theyve found that by intentionally creating liminal spacesquiet, focused environmentspeople achieve breakthrough thinking that wouldnt happen in traditional office settings.
4. Activate MTR in your life and organization
The beauty of MTR is that its scalable. Whether youre an individual contributor, team leader, or running an organization, these principles can be integrated at every level.
For individuals, it might be as simple as taking walking meetings, practicing what I call micro-dosing movement throughout your day, or protecting time for 90-second daydream breaks for what appears to be unproductive thinking but actually seeds an innovative idea.
For teams, consider regularly implementing creative breaks where groups step away from their immediate tasks to engage in seemingly unrelated activities. Spotify does this through their squad model, where teams regularly rotate members and share learnings across different projects. And Publicis Le Truc, an internal creativity catalyst, has designed its physical space to enable teams to meet in diverse areas, with serendipity in mind, to spark new thinking.
For organizations, its about creating systematic support for MTR activities. This might include offering sabbaticals. Tech companies like Meta provide these extended breaks after five years of service. Or implementing what I call apprenticeship models where knowledge flows both up and down the organizational hierarchy.
AI can serve as a thinking partner, helping us frame more effective questions and explore ideas from new perspectives.
Now heres something crucial: MTR is not anti-technology. Its about developing a more intentional relationship with the tech tools that surround us to enhance our thinking processes. AI can serve as a thinking partner, helping us frame more effective questions and explore ideas from new perspectives. Apps like Freedom or Forest can help minimize distractions during focused work periods. Digital mind-mapping tools can help us organize thoughts more effectively.
The key is remembering that the I in AI stands for intelligencebut youre still in charge of your own imagination. We need not only big datathe birds eye viewbut also what I call deep data: the worms eye view insights that come from exploratory observations, interpersonal interactions, and story.
5. Lets look ahead
Were at a perfect inflection point in history. We have an unprecedented opportunity to evolve the ways we view work and productivity. Were not just experiencing a technology revolution. Were in the midst of a human revolution.
The organizations and individuals who will thrive in this Imagination Era are those who understand that creativity is a must-have for navigating uncertainty, driving innovation, and creating meaningful value.
MTR gives us a framework for accessing our unique human capacity for innovation. It helps us build career resilience, prevent burnout, and create space for the strategic thinking that leads to breakthrough solutions.
The goal is to unlock your full potential and cultivate a more meaningful work life. When you move, think, and rest, youre not procrastinating. Youre accessing the most human parts of yourself that cant be automated or replicated by technology.
This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.
Companies large and small are scrambling to implement AI in hopes of boosting productivity, while many are also stripping out the very leadership backbone needed to guide that change: managers. Thats a dangerous contradiction. AI adoption wont fail because of the platform a company chooses. It will fail if the people employees trust most, their managers, arent equipped to understand artificial intelligence, or if those roles disappear altogether.
In todays climate of employee disengagement, burnout, and change fatigue, employees are resistant to yet another transformation. Thirty-one percent admit theyre actively working against their companys AI initiatives. No platform, no matter how powerful, can overcome that level of pushback without leaders stepping in to bridge the gap.
Enter the middle manager. Whether you call them people leaders or frontline supervisors, they are the best (and often only) individuals to help employees understand the why and the whats in it for me. Yet only 34% of managers feel prepared to support AI adoption.
Its clear that managers have the promise and power to help employees navigate changebut context is key. Our research at Zeno Group, Middle Managers at Risk: Companies Overlook the Communications Imperative, shows nearly three-quarters of middle managers (73%) believe its important to be able to explain the “why” behind company decisions in order to be a successful manager.
However, when it comes to AI, nearly three-quarters of executives claim their AI approach is strategicyet fewer than half of employees agree. That disconnect underscores the need for trusted messengers. Managers, valued for their communication and empathy, are best positioned to close the gap. With the right support, they can help employees move from resistance to resilience.
Here are five ways managers can turn anxious employees into AI champions.
1. Communicate the companys AI Vision
Managers cant communicate what they dont understand. Only 22% of employees say their company has communicated a clear AI plan. That leaves many managers guessing or giving up.
When theyre given the trust and tools to lead, managers can be powerful catalysts for change. Sitting at the intersection of strategy and execution, theyre the ones who turn lofty vision into daily action, earn credibility with employees, and translate ambitious AI transformations into something real and usable on the ground.
Give them training, FAQs, and talking points that tie AI implementation back to company goals. Create forums where managers can ask questions. When theyre included early, they become credible messengers. Left in the dark, they add to the skepticism.
2. Acknowledge Change Fatigue and Keep Dialogue Open
While more change is coming, the workforce is exhausted. Even back in 2022, the average employee experienced 10 planned enterprise changes, compared with just two in 2016. Their ability to cope has fallen sharply, from 74% to 43%. Add shifting RTO rules and fears of job loss, and resistance is natural.
Managers can ease resistance by acknowledging the environment were in, sharing their own experiences, and inviting honest dialogue. Use team meetings to bust myths, answer questions, and show where AI supports (not replaces) human contributions. Concerns voiced arent threats; theyre opportunities to build trust.
3. Answer the Whats in it for Me?
If employees cant see the personal benefit, AI feels like a mandate. Show how AI can save time, automate repetitive tasks, and free up space for creativity and growth.
Managers are closest to the employees and the work, so they are best positioned to share examples of how AI can genuinely improve day-to-day tasks and experiences.
4. Walk the Talk
Employees wont embrace tools their managers dont understand or use. The old show and tell approach can spark curiosity and normalize AI use in the workplace.
Encourage managers to experiment with AI in their workflows and share results, including how it enhanced or sped up a project. Then invite employees to do the same. Consider adding an AI spotlight segment at team meetings and recognizing team members who are using AI.
5. Measure Readiness and Seek Feedback
Research shows 75% of employees report low confidence in using AI, and 40% struggle to understand how it applies to their roles.
Managers can help by finding out where their teams feel uncertain. They can gather insights through quick pulse surveys, one-on-ones, or informal conversations, and then advocate for the right training, mentoring, and reskilling programs. Confidence grows when people feel capable, heard, and backed by their leaders.
The Bottom Line
AI isnt the future of work. Its here now. And its success will hinge less on code and more on conversationsongoing conversations that managers have with their teams. Dont sideline managers. Equip them to be the heroes of your organizations AI adoption journey, turning anxiety into confidence and momentum.
When incoming freshman Matt Cooper first set his eyes out for a coveted sousaphone position for the L row at The Ohio State University Marching Band, he prepared for auditions like anyone else would: practicing, playing, asking for help.
Except help came not from a coach, but from ChatGPT.
For many college students like Cooper, artificial intelligence has become a part of daily life.
This widespread everyday adoption marks a stark contrast from even a couple years ago, though: When OpenAI first introduced its chatbot to the public in 2022, the idea of AI in school settings ignited a heated debate on how the technology belonged in the classroom, if at all.
Just three years later, its adoption has spread rapidly. A recent nationwide study by Grammarly found that 87% of higher ed students use AI for school, and 90% use it in daily life spending 10 hours on average each week using AI. (Another study by the Digital Education Council had similar insights, finding that 86% of students around the world use AI for their studies.)
Yet colleges still have a patch quilt of standards for what constitutes acceptable AI use and what’s verboten. Across majors and universities in the US, Grammarly also discovered that while 78% of students say their schools have an AI policy, 32% say the policy is to not use AI. Nearly 46% of students said they worried about getting in trouble for using AI.
For instance, using AI to break down complex topics covered in class might be generally accepted, but using ChatGPT to edit an essay might raise some eyebrows.
Meanwhile, as students engage with the real world and consider their career options, they feel like theyre going to be left behind if they dont develop AI expertise, especially as they complete internships, where theyre told as much to their faces. AI literacy has been called the most in-demand skill for workers in 2025.
That’s creating mixed emotions among college students, who are caught in between trying to follow two different sets of rules simultaneously.
To understand just how much AI has transformed young peoples lives, Fast Company reached out to undergraduates nationwide to find out how they’re navigating these conflicting mandates. What we found is that as the new technology continues to evolve, its carving a spot into the lives of college students whether adults (or the students themselves) like it or not.
In this Premium story, youll learn:
The creative ways Gen Z students are incorporating AI into their lives to become AI fluent, even if they can’t use it in their studies
Why AI’s popularity as a coding assistant is starting to change how colleges think about AI in the classroom
How current and recent students are striking a balance between “old school” and “new school” ways of learning
An everyday companion
As Ohio States Cooper practiced all summer for auditions, he found new ways to include technology into his life. AI has actually helped a fairly decent amount with it, in ways that people wouldn’t normally expect,” he says.
From generating music sheets, or helping him memorize major scales and read key signatures, ChatGPT became Coopers trusted virtual coach. In a matter of 20 seconds, it can come up with a full sheet of music to practice on any difficulty, he says. (On top of that, the chatbot does it all for free.)
When Caitlin Conway, a senior at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, returned to school after a full-time internship in marketing, she found university life to be a bit of reverse culture shock after being out in the workforce. But shes found easy-to-use chatbots like ChatGPT useful for adding more structure to her days.
I found that you have so much time that sometimes you don’t really know what to do with it, Conway says. I use ChatGPT to make a schedule. Like: I want to have this amount of time to do studying, to do my homework, and do a yoga class, and it’ll come up with an easy schedule for me to follow.
Maliha Mahmud, a rising senior in business and advertising at the University of Florida, uses AI to streamline daily tasks outside of class. Shell ask ChatGPT to craft a series of recipes with leftover ingredients in her fridge (as opposed to relying on instant ramen like generations of college kids before her). For school, Mahmud relies on AI as a sort of private instructor, willing to answer questions at any time. I’ll tell AI to break a concept down to me as if they’re talking to a middle schooler to understand it more, she says.
Many students also mentioned Googles Notebook LM, an AI tool that helps analyze sources you upload, rather than searching the web for answers. Students can upload their notes, required readings, and journals to the platform, and ask Notebook LM to make custom audio summaries with human-like voices.
Still, the value of AI was oftentimes taught outside the classroom, in the workforce. Many students saying they were not only allowed, but encouraged to use AI during their internships. At her first internship at a tech PR company, New York University senior Anyka Chakravarty says that she felt that to be a successful person, you need to become AI fluent, so there’s a tension there as well.
Mahmud echoes Chakravartys experience. During my internship, it was encouraged to be utilizing AI, she says. At first I thought it was a replacement, or that it was not letting us critically think. [But] it has been such a time saver. Mahmud used Microsofts Copilot to automatically transcribe meetings, take notes, and send them to participants tasks an intern would have done manually in the past.
All this is a far cry from how college students have been conditioned to think about AI as potential grounds for expulsion.
A checkered past (and present)
Todays college generation was raised on plagiarism anxiety. Their pre-GPT world involved rechecking citations and resorting to online plagiarism checkers.
I was just like, I don’t want to touch this, because I don’t want to be ever accused of plagiarism. It definitely could be seen as very taboo, says Grant Dutro, a recent economics and communications graduate from Wheaton College in Illinois.
Although more than half of students now use AI routinely, it wasnt always welcomed with open arms particularly for students who started college without it. Most students interviewed expressed an initial hesitation towardsAI, because of that all-too-well known fear of getting flagged for plagiarism.
For decades, students were told that they could face severe repercussions for turning to the internet to download pre-written essays, copying material from books or blogs, and more. As technology advanced, so did the opportunities to plagiarize, particularly with the rise of services like TurnItIn, which flags copy-pasted and non-cited sources on essays.
Although colleges have managed to catch up with setting guidelines in place, the policies are oftentimes prohibitive, unclear, or left to the instructors. For many teachers, the AI policies in their classrooms are not universal, which is confusing for students and may even lead them to inadvertently getting in trouble.
For students whose policy falls to an instructor-by-instructor basis, this can sometimes mean that students taking the same course, but with different professors, could have vastly different experiences with AI, at least in the classroom.
It’s morally incomprehensible to me that a large institution would not put front and center defining what their policies are, making sure they are consistent within departments, says Jenny Maxwell, Grammarlys head of education. Because of the institution not being clear on their policy, their own students are being harmed because of that lack of communication, Maxwell added.
While AI use in school appears to be steadily destigmatized among students, it certainly is in the workplace. Some students who recently completed internships said that not only were they allowed to use AI on the job, but were encouraged to do so (Sure enough, experts recommend recent grads upskill themselves in AI literacy, while one in three managers say theyll refuse to hire candidates with no AI skills.)
A new way to learn
The conflicting messages of AI gets you in trouble and AI is the future complicates the technologys presence in college students lives, be it in class, on an internship, or in the dorm. But for many, its simply shifting what learning looks like.
For instance, the framework to evaluate studentss success might have depended on essays in the past. But today, it might be more suitable to judge both the essay and the process of writing with technology, Grammarlys Maxwell says. Many students say that standards are changing to measure their learning already.
Claire Shaw, a former engineering student at the University of Toronto who graduated in 2024, explained that when she began college, she learned the basics of coding at the same time that AI piqued the interest of her instructors. She learned the old school way while being encouraged by some of her teachers to play with new technology. Still, Shaw did not start using AI for school until her fourth year. Now, she believes a balance between old school and new school can exist.
You’re allowed to use AI tools, so the standard for those kinds of coding assignments were elevated, Shaw says. It points to a big shift: In academia, where AI was (and in many cases, still does) feel taboo, its also being embraced, even in class.
But now that AI is now an expected tool, the difficulty of coding assignments has been elevated, she says, leading to more advanced projects at an earlier stage in a student’s career. And while this might be exciting, and a great prep for the future, Shaw still highlights the need to understand fundamentals skills you learn on your own without AIs help before jumping in head first.
There are certain moments where we still need to test the raw skills of somebody by setting up environments that don’t have AI tool access, she explained, referencing in-person examinations with no AI tools available.
Think of it as learning to drive stick, while automatic cars exist combining AI with traditional teaching methods may create a more holistic education. Similarly for humanities majors, some instructors are taking notes out of the old school playbook to measure these raw skills, like debating, communication, and critical thinking. We’ve turned to doing a lot more interactive stuff, like doing discussion circles, or handwriting pieces of writing, says NYUs Chakravarty, whos also a mentor in the schools writing center.
College students know AI isnt going anywhere. Even though everyone students, teachers, schools, first bosses continues to stumble their way through adoption, there will be some aspects of the college experience that may never go obsolete.
My professors brought out blue books again, says Chakravarty. Which I hadn’t had since, like, my first semester.
At some point, youve likely welcomed a recent college graduate into your business. Theyre smart, well-educated, and full of potentialbut on day one, they have little understanding of your companys unique processes, culture, or goals.
Large language models (LLMs) are much the same. They carry vast general knowledge yet lack the specific context that makes them immediately valuable to your organization. Just like new hires go through the onboarding ropes, LLMs need structured access to your businesss data, tools, and workflows to become truly useful.
Thats where Model Context Protocol (MCP) comes in. MCP enables communication between AI applications, AI agents, applications and data sources. The protocol has quickly moved from an emerging standard to a strategic enabler, and the conversation were having with our clients has shifted from technical architecture to practical application.
MCP is not just another integration layer. Its a way to unlock latent value across your organization by connecting AI agents with the systems, data, and workflows that drive outcomes. The real opportunity lies in how you apply MCP.
Start with what and why
Lets be honest, theres no shortage of MCP primers out there. Most of them walk you through the architecture: hosts, clients, servers. Thats fine, but its not where the real value is. The real question isnt, How does MCP work? Its What can I do with it? and Why does it matter to my business?
When we talk about MCP, I try to steer the conversation away from the architecture and toward the outcomes. What problem are you solving? Why is MCP the right tool to achieve your goals?
A Midwest health system we worked with wanted to personalize treatment for patients with hypertension, using the vast troves of data stored in their electronic health records (EHR). The strategic hurdle wasnt just accessing the data, it was giving access securely, at scale, and in a way that respected compliance boundaries across thousands of patient encounters.
With MCP, we were able to connect AI agents to a rich EHR data model that included vitals, medications, comorbidities, lab results, and even nuanced metrics like ejection fraction readings. MCP serves as the structured conduit, enabling the AI to interact with nearly 800 patient features per encounter without compromising privacy or requiring custom integrations.
The predictive accuracy has enabled clinicians to tailor treatment plans with greater precision, according to our client. Patients have gained an estimated 100 additional days of life, and the system saw $2,000 in annual healthcare savings for 20% of its hypertension population.
Similarly, a national convenience store chain used MCP to connect AI systems with real-time data on customer movement, promotional engagement, and inventory shrinkage. No retraining models. No custom APIs. Just a scalable model for improving store performance.
MCP isnt just a bridge between systems. More vitally, it connects strategic intent with measurable outcomes.
Guardrails for autonomy and accountability
As we move toward agentic AImodels acting like digital employeesautonomy without structure is risky. You wouldnt let a new hire run wild with sensitive data or make decisions without oversight, and the same goes for AI.
One major challenge is idempotency, or the ability to perform the same operation repeatedly with consistent results. Most LLMs arent idempotent. Ask one to write an email five times, and youll get five different versions. Thats fine for creativity, but not for processing payments or executing compliance workflows.
MCP introduces guardrails to standardize how agents interact with internal systems, ensuring repeatable, reliable outcomes even if the AIs internal reasoning varies. Thats critical in regulated industries like healthcare, finance, and government.
We saw this play out with a Middle East government statistics agency. They had decades of data buried in legacy systems. MCP enabled a voice-powered AI interface that could query massive datasets in Arabic and English. What used to take weeks now takes seconds, and more importantly, decision-makers now have timely, contextual intelligence at their fingertips.
Strategic implementation: build once, scale everywhere
Heres the thing: MCP isnt about building one-off solutions. Its about creating frameworks that can be reused across departments and use cases.
To apply MCP effectively, organizations must think in the following terms:
Reliability and repeatability: MCP enforces structured communication, making AI agents more predictable and trustworthy.
Scalability and ecosystem growth: With a unified API layer, MCP simplifies deployment and integration, accelerating innovation.
Safety and control: MCP ensures AI agents operate within defined boundaries, protecting sensitive data and maintaining enterprise integrity.
We worked with a global healthcare technology provider that wanted to simplify complex medical terminology for patients. Instead of building a narrow solution, we used MCP to create a reusable framework that could be extended across departments.
AI agents can securely access structured medical data and terminology libraries, apply consistent translation logic, and tailor outputs for patients, clinicians, and administrative staff.
That same protocol-driven infrastructure was later adapted for internal training, multilingual documentation, and voice-assisted navigation of clinical systems. MCP made it possible to replicate success without reinventing the wheel.
Thats what strategic implementation looks liketurning isolated wins into enterprise-wide transformation.
The road ahead
MCP is more than protocol, its a strategic enabler. It gives AI agents the structure they need to interact with enterprise data and tools. This means businesses can unlock new efficiencies, reduce development cycles, and build a thriving ecosystem of interoperable AI solutions.
The full potential is still unfolding, but for companies serious about AI, working with partners that understand how to apply MCP can be foundational. With the right guardrails in place, AI can be creative and compliant, autonomous, and accountable.
Just what youd expect from any employee helping move your business forward.
Juan Orlandini is CTO North America of Insight Enterprises.
Were in the midst of an extraordinary wave of AI-fueled innovation, and no industry will remain untouched. Its still early days in what promises to be a new technology super cycle. But for impact organizations such as nonprofits and government agencies that typically lag in tech adoption, this moment represents a priceless window of opportunity.
Unfortunately, the impact sector is still playing it safe with digital strategies that prioritize incremental modifications over decisive, daring action and technical innovation. These organizations are led by some of the smartest, most dedicated people I know, and they understand the trends. So why are they stuck in their approach to digital?
Impact organizations cant afford to ignore AI
Before we jump into the reasons nonprofits and government agencies are playing it safe, lets consider the stakesand why time is of the essence when it comes to adopting AI.
First, AI is an impact multiplier. Leaning into the technology isnt about adopting new tech for the sake of keeping current. Its about radically amplifying your teams capacity to focus on your core mission rather than rote administrative tasks.
Of course, AI isnt a panacea. And there are serious ethical considerations that should be taken into account along the way. The best technology decisions are always values-aligned. But that doesnt mean sidestepping it altogether.
Second, the moment to act is now. Over the coming years, the gap between organizations that figure out how to effectively adopt AI and those that dont will widen exponentially. And in these early, chaotic days of technological innovation, AI tools and models are more affordable and accessible than ever before, creating a unique opportunity for even resource-strapped organizations to explore their potential. But realizing that potential requires thoughtful investment, even when entry costs seem low.
Finally, all organizations, from corporate giants to small nonprofits, are still figuring out how to adopt AI. In this rare moment of digital parity, you have the chance to position your organization at the front of the curve.
Five common mistakes that prevent digital risk-taking
There are several reasons non-profits and government agencies fail to take calculated risks in their digital strategies. These mistakes arent unique to the current moment. They are perennial stumbling blocks that hinder digital innovation for many well-intentioned organizations and agencies.
Here are five common mistakes that prevent digital risk-taking and how to solve them.
1. Underfunding digital investments
Nonprofits and government agencies are fundamentally resource constrained. Budgets in the public sector are never going to rival those available in the private sector.
But its also about resource allocation.
Digital is often still viewed as just a communications tool or overhead rather than a core investment that is fundamental to program delivery and organizational success. Digital projects are often viewed as a one-time line item rather than an ongoing investment that needs to be refined and improved over time. Further, investments are often made just in technology, but not in the people and processes that will ultimately make that technology successful.
Solution: Advocate for increased and sustained digital budgets by aligning digital strategies with organizational goals and measuring ROI over time.
2. Decision by committee
The prevalence of committee-driven decision-making and the pursuit of consensus often leads to watered-down strategies and missed opportunities. In a fast-paced digital environment, this approach can also slow down decision-making. The result is a strategy that is already outdated by the time it is implemented.
Solution: Streamline decision-making processes for digital initiatives. Implement agile methodologies and empower digital teams with greater autonomy.
3. Thinking you know your audience better than you do
Ask any public servant or nonprofit staffer, and theyll tell you that what motivates them is helping people. But when it comes to knowing their audiences, many teams rely too heavily on what they think they know about key stakeholders. Worse, some organizations prioritize internal perspectives over the needs and preferences of their target audiences. This misalignment can lead to digital initiatives that fail to resonate or drive meaningful engagement.
Solution: Take the time to conduct direct user research and test products with the people they are designed to serve.
4. Fear of failure
The impact sectors current funding models and budget structures create an environment where failure is taboo. This risk-averse culture stifles innovation and prevents organizations from learning through experimentationa crucial element of digital success.
Solution: Focus funding proposals on outcomes, not activities, to allow flexibility in approach and create a culture of innovation that embraces calculated risks and learns from failures.
5. Analysis paralysis
When confronted with thorny problems like AI adoption, many organizations hang back because they are waiting for the just right moment or a critical mass of decisive information to make a move. In the wildly fast-moving world of AI, this mindset doesnt work. Learning by doing is the best course of action. Experimentation and prototyping are the name of the game.
Solution: Empower your team to experiment with AI tools. Provide flexible guidelines that ensure data security and values alignment without stifling creativity.
AI is here to stay, and its indelibly reshaping the digital landscape. For risk-averse impact organizations, avoiding it is the riskiest strategy of all.
Elisabeth Bradley is CEO of Forum One.
For the tens of millions of Americans affected by a rare disease, their genes often hold the key to getting the answers they desperately need; from helping them obtain an accurate diagnosis, to identifying which treatments they are likely to respond to. However, accessing these vital genetic insights has not always been prioritized by healthcare providers and payers. Fortunately, this is starting to change.
After leading Baylor Genetics for nearly a decade, I have seen firsthand how powerful these genetic insights can be. They transform lives, guide clinical decisions, and bring long-awaited answers to patients and their families.
Baylor Genetics core mission is rooted in pushing the boundaries of science and breaking barriers to accelerate access to critical health information. With that, the future of diagnosing rare diseases will depend on our ability to ensure that genomic sequencing becomes standard of care.
Pediatric patients and the diagnostic odyssey
About 80% of rare diseases have a genetic cause, and almost 70% of which present in childhood. For many, the road to diagnosis, often referred to as the “diagnostic odyssey” can take years, is costly, and filled with uncertainty. Unlocking genetic insights for pediatric patients can often lead to a much more expedient and sometimes lifesaving diagnosis.
For children suffering from a rare disease, the diagnostic odyssey that leads to a correct diagnosis averages more than four years but is considerably longer for some. Tragically, approximately 30% of children with rare diseases die before reaching the age of five.
With advances in science, advanced precision diagnostics can shorten a diagnostic odyssey by replacing years of inconclusive tests with a definitive answer. Finally, this course of action is getting the endorsement it warrants.
2025 milestones for pediatric genetic testing
Florida lawmakers passed The Sunshine Genetics Act in July. This landmark initiative to advance early childhood healthcare through genomics creates a statewide pilot program, led by the Florida Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases at Florida State University, to provide voluntary, no-cost genomic sequencing for all newborns in the state. The goal is to identify serious but treatable genetic conditions before symptoms appear.
By offering genomic sequencing shortly after birth, the program empowers families with early genetic insights that can lead to faster diagnoses, timely interventions, and significantly improved outcomes. This investment in precision medicine not only improves care but helps families avoid years of diagnostic odyssey. The Sunshine Genetics Act positions Florida as a leader in proactive, equitable, and life-changing pediatric care.
One month prior, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended genome and exome sequencing as first-tier tests for children with certain developmental delays. This aligns with existing guidance from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics to further reinforce that these laboratory technologies are clinically indicated to guide patient care, improve outcomes, and reduce long-term costs. These recommendations also make the case to strengthen insurance coverage for genomic sequencing.
Both The Sunshine Genetics Act and AAPs endorsement mark a pivotal shift in pediatric genetic evaluation standards. AAPs endorsement marks a pivotal shift in pediatric genetic evaluation standards.
Final words
The transition from viewing genomic sequencing as a last resort to a frontline tool for diagnosis and care for rare disease marks an important shift in the healthcare industry. These milestones can empower physicians, when supported by genetics professionals, with access to earlier and more comprehensive insights that guide clinical decisions for patients and their families, marking a critical step toward faster diagnoses and improved outcomes.
I am excited for what the future holds and optimistic as more patients and families are able to benefit from the value that genetic insights can provide.
Kengo Takishima is chairman and CEO at Baylor Genetics.
For generations, American farms have powered the countrys food, feed, and fuel. Now, crops like corn and soybeans are at the core of homegrown industrial innovation.
From adhesives and cleaners to renewable fuels, manufacturers are finding new uses for agricultural inputs in place of traditional materials. The crops themselves havent changed, buttheyre now entering new value chains and reaching industries they havent historically served.
This evolution matters because more manufacturers are rethinking where and how they source materials. As companies look for inputs that are reliable, cost-effective, and produced closer to home, agriculture offers an overlooked advantage. The opportunity isnt about changing what we grow. Its about making agriculture a more connected, valuable part of the manufacturing economy.
Biomanufacturing uses tools like fermentation, molecular science, and biotechnology to convert plants and other living organisms into industrial materials. The results are already embedded in daily life, in packaging, construction materials, personal care products, and more. For example, dextrose made from corn can replace formaldehyde in insulation, reducing indoor emissions. Corn-derived adhesives are being used in cardboard packaging to replace petroleum-based glue.
Across the U.S., fast-growing infrastructure is supporting the production of biobased materials like these at commercial scale. New and retrofitted facilities are turning crops into renewable materials, supported by advancements in digital traceability, logistics, and science that link farms to industrial sectors theyve never served before.
Three forces are accelerating this growth: Scientific advances in fermentation, stronger demand for U.S.-based supply chains, and federal investment in domestic production. Together, these forces are expanding what crops can do and creating new value chains across the economy. In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that the biobased products industry contributed $489 billion to the U.S. economy in 2021, employing nearly 4 million people.
For farmers, this shift represents a rare thing: More demand without more complexity. Theyre not being asked to grow new crops or change how they farm. Instead, new industrial markets are emerging for what they already produce, offering pricing stability, new demand channels, and potential premiums for quality and consistency.
These new pathways for crops are often shorter and more direct. ADM has a long-standing legacy of bridging the gap between agriculture and industry, connecting producers with buyers they might not otherwise reach, including fermentation companies and packaging manufacturers. That kind of access can translate to lower risk, steadier returns, and more choices at harvest.
In this way, agriculture is taking on a more strategic role in the American industrial landscape. The national push for lower emissions, greater economic resilience, and secure domestic supply chains aligns with the unique capabilities of U.S. farms. We have the crops, the producers, and increasingly, the infrastructure to lead.
Feeding people will always come first. But in todays economy, the same crops that support food and fuel can also support cleaner, more sustainable industrieswithout forcing a tradeoff. For producers, manufacturers, and the industries between them, the value of American agriculture is only growing.
Chris Cuddy is senior vice president and global president of the Carbohydrate Solutions unit at ADM.
On the afternoon of September 10, shortly after right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated in front of a crowd at Utah Valley University, videos of the Turning Point USA cofounder getting shot in the neck flooded social media.
As the news traveled fast, so did the videos. Unfortunately, users who did not wish to see the graphic content often unwittingly saw it anyway.
“How the fuck is that Charlie Kirk video the first thing I see on Instagram when I opened it?” one user shared on X.
The viral videos, which show the moment of the attack from various angles, as well as blood gushing from Kirk following the bullet’s impact, have found their way onto the feeds of many userswho are now reporting emotional distress.
“Do not watch the Charlie Kirk upclose video. It auto-played on my timeline and I am unwell. Omg. I implore youdo not watch,” one user shared on Threads.
Another X user echoed the sentiment, saying: “For those who haven’t seen the video of Charlie Kirk, please turn off Twitter. I really wish I hadn’t seen it.”
During the immediate aftermath of the incident, many users flocked to Reddit to learn what was happening. In a series of now-deleted Reddit threads reviewed by Fast Company, several users reported regret for watching the video, urging others to abstain from doing so.
Despite pleas for the video to be taken down or put behind content warnings, the videos are still easily accessible online.
For instance, as of this writing, the video could still be found on X and Instagramin some cases with a content warning if clicked on. Still, if appearing on the feed, the videos would auto-play with no warning.
The auto-play feature is the default setting on most of the popular social media platforms, although most of them offer users the option to turn it off. One notable exception is Metas Threadswhich was launched in 2023and currently offers no way to disable auto-play videos.
“Incredibly concerning”
A week before the shooting, the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a research initiative, published a report that found graphic “fight” content was being pushed to an Instagram account set up to look like it belonged to a teenage userthis, despite the platform’s safety settings for teens
The morning after the Kirk incident, the same account used for the report, which says it was set up by someone born in 2009, found the graphic shooting video upon searching “Charlie Kirk Video,” auto-playing with no content warning. (Fast Company reviewed a screen recording of the experiment.)
“When you have one of the biggest technology companies on the planet explicitly telling parents that it keeps [teen] accounts safe from that content, yet is pushing graphic assassination videos to teens, that is incredibly concerning,” Katie Paul, director of TTP, tells Fast Company.
With videos of Kirk’s killing still showing up on children’s social media accounts meant to have safeguards that limit sensitive and graphic content, it comes as no surprise that they remain on the feeds of adults as well. But advocates for social media safety say large platforms should be doing a better job of protecting users from viewing the content accidentallyor at least warning them when something is explicit.
“They’re a public service,” Stephen Balkam, founder and CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute, says of the platforms. “They have huge responsibilities for what they allow on their platforms.”
Balkam noted that social media sites have taken initiatives to better police violent content in the past. He cites an instance in 2014, when videos depicting beheadings from the terrorist group ISIS circulated widely across platforms, sparking discussions about the need for heavier content moderation.
During the COVID pandemic, social media companies were further pressured to get more aggressive about dangerous misinformation during the health crisis.
However, companies like X (formerly Twitter) and Meta Platforms (owner of Facebook and Instagram) have since shifted toward less aggressive efforts.
When asked about the video circulating on its platforms, a Meta spokesperson referred Fast Company to the companys policies on violent and graphic content, saying those guidelines apply in this case. The guidelines say Meta removes “the most graphic content and adds warning labels to other types of content so that people are aware it may be sensitive before they click through.”
Representatives for Google-owned YouTube said they are “closely monitoring our platform and prominently elevating news content on the homepage, in search and in recommendations, to help people stay informed.”
Fast Company reached out to X but did not receive a response at the time of publishing.
Mental health impact
With many users reporting distress, experts and advocates are raising concerns over the long-term effects of exposure to violence.
“What we have found over the years is that repeated exposure to graphic images can have negative psychological and physical health consequences,” Roxane Cohen Silver, professor of psychology, medicine, and public health at the University of California, Irvine, tells Fast Company.
Silver has previously researched the mental and physical impact of stressful events and seeing graphic and violent content, including footage from the Boston Marathon bombing and the ISIS beheading videos.
“I certainly would encourage people to recognize that there can be psychological consequences of this kind of exposure, and monitor and moderate that exposure themselves,” she adds.
The impact on viewers may lead to difficulty falling asleep, nightmares, and other forms of acute stress, which may turn into physical symptoms due to continuous watching.
Balkam also noted concerns over prolonged exposure to violent content, which he points out can lead to desensitization or even insight further violence.
“So it’s about as bad as it gets,” he adds. “And for this to happen at a time when troops are on the streets of [Washington, D.C.] and maybe coming to your city. It just heightens the sense of, Oh, my God, where are we going as a country?”
Paul echoed concerns over the larger impacts of extreme graphic imagery boosted by social media. “This is not just an epidemic of violence in America that we have to deal with, but also the algorithmic amplification of that violent content to people who have no interest in seeing it,” she says.
A whistleblower is suing Alphabet, claiming that Verily, its health tech subsidiary, breached proper protocol for handling the sensitive health data of 25,000 patients.
Ryan Sloan, a former executive with Verily, claims the company retaliated against him and that he was fired after discovering and reporting to senior management violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This legislation provides protections for patients health information, including limiting how the data is accessed and used.
Sloan worked for Verilys subsidiary, Onduo, prior to taking a role with Verily. He alleges that in early 2022, he and Julia Feldman, the general counsel for Onduo, discovered that the company had improperly used patients protected health information for marketing and research purposes. The violations affected patients in Onduos diabetes program, according to reporting by CNBC.
Sloan and Feldman informed senior leadership of their findings in January 2022, according to the filing, and an internal investigation confirmed that several HIPAA violations had occurred.
Between January and March of 2022, internal investigators at Verily confirmed multiple breaches of fourteen (14) separate HIPAA Business Associate Agreements with large, covered entity clients of Onduo between 2017 and 2021, the filing said.
Companies are required to notify impacted parties within 60 days of discovering a HIPAA breachbut the company did not, according to the suit. Rather, it decided to delay the decision of notifying the covered entities and went on to negotiate contracts with companies that included Walgreens Boots Alliance, Highmark Health, Quest Diagnostics, and Delta Air Lines.
CLAIMS OF COVER-UP
The filing alleges that when Sloan raised his concerns, the companys actions were defended by a senior manager because disclosing the HIPAA violations would negatively affect public relations. Whats more, the company allegedly suppressed a press release out of concern it would draw attention to previous marketing studies that violated its HIPAA business associate agreements, and instructed employees not to mention it again.
Sloan was terminated from Verily in January 2023 while on protected leave to care for his mother, who was critically ill, according to the filing. Feldman and another employee who were aware of the HIPAA violations were also terminated.
Although Sloan’s allegations against the tech giant are part of a lawsuit that was filed last year, it had not been previously reported, according to CNBC.
JUDGE DISMISSES VERILY MOTION
On Monday, the federal judge overseeing this case struck a blow to Verily. The judge denied the companys request to dismiss Sloans civil complaint or send the dispute to arbitration.
In the dismissal filing, the judge noted that Sloan has stated a claim for breach of contract and that Verily does not dispute that if there were a contractual term for non-retaliation, whether express or implied, [Sloan] has pled sufficient facts to show that Verily retaliated against him in violation of that term.
That dismissal means that Sloans claims can move forward with legal proceedings.
In a statement to CNBC, a Verily spokesperson said: Verily believes the allegations and contentions alleged in this employment matter that was commenced in 2023 are completely without merit. Verily will defend itself to the full extent of the law.
VERILY BACKSTORY
Verily started in 2015 as an independent life sciences company within Alphabets innovation lab X. The moonshot company is meant to tackle the biggest challenges in health sciences with the use of tools, services, and software. The company originally developed devices like continuous glucose monitors before transitioning to pandemic response during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Its accomplishments include WastewaterSCAN, an initiative led by Stanford University, along with Emory University and Verily, to develop and scale a national wastewater sentinel system that can be used to inform public health measures to mitigate the spread of infectious diseases. (SCAN stands for “Sewer Coronavirus Alert Network.”)
But Verily has failed to achieve the types of successes that might be warranted, given the $1 billion-plus thats poured in from investors. And now the company plans to restructure in anticipation of a fresh round of investment. According to Business Insider, Verily is reportedly planning to transition from a limited liability company (LLC) to a C corporation, which is a business structure generally considered to be more investor-friendly.
Last month, Verily slashed an unspecified number of jobs and shut down its medical devices program. As part of these changes, the company will focus more on artificial intelligence and data.
