Multiple news reports this week said that President Trump is expected to reclassify marijuanas drug scheduling, which would lessen restrictions on its use and potentially allow companies that operate in the cannabis space to increase business.
After the news broke, the stock prices of several cannabis industry companies skyrocketed. Heres what you need to know.
Whats happened?
On Thursday, multiple outlets reported that the Trump administration is considering reclassifying marijuana from its current level as a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug.
The Washington Post was the first to report on the potential reclassification, citing six sources familiar with the matter.
As with most things Trump does, he is expected to issue a reclassification directive via an executive order.
While the Post notes that the rescheduling would not legalize marijuana on a federal level, it would loosen restrictions on its use and potentially be a boon to companies operating in the burgeoning cannabis space.
A White House official told Fast Company Friday that no final decision has been made on the reclassification.
Marijuana could go from Schedule I to a Schedule III drug
If the reclassification goes ahead, marijuana would be reduced from a Schedule I classification level to a Schedule III.
A Schedule I drug is any drug with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse, according to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Drugs in this category include ecstasy, heroin, LSD, peyote, and, currently, marijuana, among others.
A Schedule III drug is a drug with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence, the agency notes.
Current Schedule III drugs include anabolic steroids, ketamine, testosterone, and Tylenol with codeine.
If the rescheduling of marijuana does go ahead, it will then be lumped in with products such as Tylenol with codeine as far as classification goes.
That would make marijuana less regulated than Schedule II drugs like Adderall, cocaine, Demerol, fentanyl, OxyContin, Ritalin, and Vicodin.
Cannabis stocks get high after reclassification reports
As CNBC notes, the reclassification of marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug would have economic advantages for cannabis companies, mainly in the form of different tax regulations.
It could also help spur investment in those companies as stigma further reduces around the use of cannabis products.
Today, in early-morning trading, investors in those companies are cheering the news. Numerous cannabis industry firms are seeing their stock prices soar as of the time of this writing, including:
Aurora Cannabis Inc. (Nasdaq: ACB): up 12%
Canopy Growth Corporation (Nasdaq: CGC): up 30%
cbdMD, Inc. (NYSE: YCBD): up 77%
Tilray Brands, Inc. (Nasdaq: TLRY): up 28%
However, it’s worth mentioning that while cannabis stocks are flying high today, there is no guarantee from the administration yet that marijuana will be reclassified.
Leaving marijuana classified as a Schedule I drug could weigh heavily on cannabis companies stock prices in the months ahead.
And even with todays price jumps, cannabis companies have had a pretty horrible run over the past five years as far as their share prices are concerned.
Aurora Cannabis shares are currently down 94% over the past 60 months. Canopy Growth Corporations shares are down 99% during that same time. Meanwhile, Tilray Brands is down 85% and CbdMD is down 99% during the same period.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at blocking states from crafting their own regulations for artificial intelligence, saying the burgeoning industry is at risk of being stifled by a patchwork of onerous rules while in a battle with Chinese competitors for supremacy.Members of Congress from both parties, as well as civil liberties and consumer rights groups, have pushed for more regulations on AI, saying there is not enough oversight for the powerful technology.But Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that “there’s only going to be one winner” as nations race to dominate artificial intelligence, and China’s central government gives its companies a single place to go for government approvals.“We have the big investment coming, but if they had to get 50 different approvals from 50 different states, you can forget it because it’s impossible to do,” Trump said.The executive order directs the Attorney General to create a new task force to challenge state laws, and directs the Commerce Department to draw up a list of problematic regulations.It also threatens to restrict funding from a broadband deployment program and other grant programs to states with AI laws.David Sacks, a venture capitalist with extensive AI investments who is leading Trump’s policies on cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, said the Trump administration would only push back on “the most onerous examples of state regulation” but would not oppose “kid safety” measures.
What states have proposed
Four states Colorado, California, Utah and Texas have passed laws that set some rules for AI across the private sector, according to the International Association of Privacy Professionals.Those laws include limiting the collection of certain personal information and requiring more transparency from companies.The laws are in response to AI that already pervades everyday life. The technology helps make consequential decisions for Americans, including who gets a job interview, an apartment lease, a home loan and even certain medical care. But research has shown that it can make mistakes in those decisions, including by prioritizing a particular gender or race.States’ more ambitious AI regulation proposals require private companies to provide transparency and assess the possible risks of discrimination from their AI programs.Beyond those more sweeping rules, many states have regulated parts of AI: barring the use of deepfakes in elections and to create nonconsensual porn, for example, or putting rules in place around the government’s own use of AI.
Jonathan J. Cooper, Associated Press
Soccer fans have accused FIFA of a “monumental betrayal” after latest prices for World Cup tickets began to circulate on Thursday.The governing body allocates 8% of tickets to national associations for games involving their team to sell to the most loyal fans.And a list published by the German soccer federation revealed prices ranged from $180-$700 for varying group stage games. The lowest price for the final was $4,185 and the highest was $8,680.Those group-stage prices are very different from FIFA’s claims of $60 tickets being available, while the target from United States soccer officials when bidding for the tournament seven years ago was to offer hundreds of thousands of $21 seats across the opening phase of games.Fan organization Football Supporters Europe (FSE) described the current prices as “extortionate.”“This is a monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup, ignoring the contribution of supporters to the spectacle it is,” it said in a statement.The English Football Association shared pricing information with the England Supporters Travel Club (ESTC) on Thursday evening, which showed that if a fan bought a ticket for every game through to the final it would cost just over $7,000.FIFA said in September that tickets released through its website would initially range from $60 for group-stage matches to $6,730 for the final. But those prices are subject to change as it adopts dynamic pricing for the first time at the World Cup.FIFA tickets are available in four categories, with the best seats in Category 1.In the price list published by the German federation, there were only three categories.The lowest priced ticket was $180 for Germany’s opening group game against Curacao in Houston. The lowest price for the semifinal was $920 rising to $1,125.The FSE called on FIFA to immediately halt ticket sales via national associations “until a solution that respects the tradition, universality, and cultural significance of the World Cup is found.”The Associated Press approached FIFA for comment.
Latest phase
FIFA launched its third phase of widespread ticket sales Thursday, with fans now able to apply for specific matches for the first time through its “Random Selection Draw.”Following last week’s draw for the 2026 tournament, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, an updated schedule has been published.That means fans know when and where the likes of Lionel Messi and Argentina will play. Previous ticket ballots were blind as the qualification period had not even been completed and the draw was yet to take place.Now participating nations have been placed in groups, with their paths through the tournament determined. For instance, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could go on to meet in the quarterfinals in Kansas City if both Argentina and Portugal top their respective groups.Not that fans are guaranteed to get tickets to the games they apply for.The draw opened Dec. 11 at 11 a.m. ET (1600 GMT) and closes Jan. 13, 2026.FIFA says ticket applications can be made at any point during this window and the timing of entry will not impact the chances of success. Fans can apply via FIFA’s website for a maximum of four tickets per household per match and a maximum of 40 tickets throughout the tournament.Fans will need a FIFA ID to apply for tickets and can pick which matches and which pricing category they want to apply for.Successful applicants will be notified by email in February and charged automatically.
Prices
The last time the U.S. hosted the World Cup in 1994 prices ranged from $25 to $475. In Qatar in 2022 prices ranged from around $70 to $1,600 when ticket details were announced.Tickets for the final at MetLife Stadium on July 19 are already going for in excess of $11,000 on secondary resale sites.For this tournament FIFA has also set up its own resale platform where it charges a 15% fee based on the total resale price.FIFA said that closer to the tournament any remaining tickets will go on general sale on a first-come, first-served basis.It did not reveal a time frame for the release of those remaining tickets.
AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
James Robson, AP Soccer Writer
Nobody wants to swipe anymore. Dating apps like Bumble and Tinder are scrambling to keep younger users engaged, and dealing with problems like bots on their platforms. But one brand is breaking the pattern and winning.
Hinges designed to be deleted tagline signals its strategy: focus on meaningful connection, not endless swiping. The app can feel slower and even harder to use, leading to fewer matches but ultimately more dates. Now, the big question is whether Bumble and Tinder can pull off a similar shift toward quality over quantity.
More than 18,000 Amtrak workers will receive a $900 bonus before the end of the year, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced on Thursday evening.Funding for the bonuses will come from Amtrak’s executive leadership team bonus packages, the statement said. The federal administration urged executive leadership “to forgo 50% of the bonus packages that would have been paid out under the misplaced priorities of the previous executive bonus structure.”Amtrak set all-time records for both ridership and revenue in the 2025 fiscal year, according to its annual report, with over $2.7 billion in ticket revenue from 34.5 million riders.The bonuses were applauded by some unions representing train workers.“End-of-year bonuses will now go to 18,000 front-line workers rather than being limited to the executive ranks. This long-overdue recognition of the employees who keep the railroad moving is a step in the right direction,” Mark Wallace, the president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen National union, said in a statement.The announcement comes amid ongoing controversy over the Trump administration’s decision to limit $10,000 bonuses to air traffic controllers and technicians who had perfect attendance during the government shutdown a measure that rewarded only 776 people, and left nearly 20,000 other workers without the payment.The disparity was blasted by air traffic controller unions at the time of the announcement in November.“We are concerned that thousands of air traffic controllers who consistently reported for duty during the shutdown, ensuring the safe transport of passengers and cargo across the nation, while working without pay and uncertain of when they would receive compensation, were excluded from this recognition,” the National Air Traffic Controllers Association union said in a statement.
Safiyah Riddle, Associated Press
This morning, OpenAI released the companys new GPT-5.2 model.
If youre a coder or someone who follows AI benchmarks for fun (hey, I wont judge), this model will excite you tremendously.
For everyone else, prepare to be underwhelmedor rather, prepare to wait another month or so for the real OpenAI new release to come out.
Keeping up with the Joneses
GPT-5.2 is fundamentally about making small tweaks and improvements to the already fairly new GPT-5.1 model.
Todays release improves OpenAIs performance on a variety of industry benchmarks. GPT-5.2 is faster and more efficient than its predecessor, and it does a better job solving scientific and technical problems.
In particular, its better at writing code and doing math, and performs better on so-called agentic tasks, where the model operates for a long time without human input.
OpenAI also says its better at solving real-world financial challenges. If it had existed when I did my ChatGPT investing experiment, maybe I really would have Lambo money by now!
Beyond that, theres nothing especially revolutionary in GPT-5.2.
So, why make a big fuss about releasing a whole new model before the holidays if it does fairly little thats truly new?
Because in the ongoing saga of the AI wars, OpenAI feels it needs to keep up with the Jonesesor in this case, specifically, to keep up with Google.
Industry watchers have noted that Googles Gemini 3 model began to threaten GPT-5.1s spot on the kind of performance leaderboards that AI companies pay close attention to.
This reportedly caused a code red alert from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Altman reportedly ordered his teams to stop working on Sora and other projects to focus all their efforts on improving ChatGPT and its underlying models as quickly as possible.
When you order a bunch of incredibly intelligent peoplesome of them being paid upwards of $1 million a yearto do something quickly, theyre likely to oblige. Within a few weeks of the reported code red, the OpenAI team had todays incremental release ready to go.
GPT-5.2 will probably allow OpenAI to briefly leapfrog its archnemesis Googleand smaller competitor Anthropicin industry benchmarks, once again claiming its place as the undisputed leader in the AI wars.
The real main event
The code red reportedly isnt over yet, though. Earlier this month, analysts noted that OpenAI was testing a new reasoning model, codenamed “Garlic.”
GPT-5.2 might have been part of Garlic. But many in the industry expect an expanded Garlic model (probably under the GPT-5.5 moniker) to come out in Q1 of 2026, potentially as early as January.
Its likely to be a fully retrained reasoning model that brings efficiency improvements, but also genuinely impactful ones like a larger context window, new knowledge cutoff (OpenAIs most recent models have been stuck in 2024), better personality, and improved performance on image generation to rival Googles Nano Banana.
Its also broadly rumored to include a new Adult Mode that allows ChatGPT to engage in, ahem, risque conversations with users who are older than 18.
In the broader context of a potentially entirely revamped model with a January release date, todays GPT-5.2 model feels premature.
Releasing it makes OpenAI seem a bit jumpylike its nervous that someone will come along and unseat it, and is willing to go to great lengths to stop that from happening, even if everyday users barely care about coding and science benchmarks.
GPT-5.2 says less about OpenAIs technical prowess, then, and more about how Altman and his team are feeling. Google once seemed like it was floundering and slowly losing the AI racegoing the way of Polaroid or Xerox. Now, its back in the game, and seems poised and confident.
OpenAI isnt used to playing second fiddle. Faced with the prospect of real competition, the company is clearly getting nervous. Last year, OpenAI celebrated the holidays with a jolly and carefree Shipmas celebration. For Altman and his team, this holiday season is likely to be a lot less fun and carefree.
Lululemon might just be entering a newand improvedera.
On Thursday, December 11, the athleisure apparel company shared a mostly positive third-quarter earnings report and announced the departure of its CEO, Calvin McDonald.
McDonald will leave Lululemon Athletica on January 31, after seven years in the post. He previously served as CEO of Sephora Americas.
The last year has been one of underperformance for Lululemon. In October, the companys controversial founder and largest independent shareholder, Chip Wilson, took out an ad in the Wall Street Journal criticizing Lululemons direction.
While he didnt go as far as to name McDonald, Wilson wrote, The board insists on operator/finance CEOs who can speak Wall Street, rejecting the idea of a product-driven CEO. These types of finance focused CEOs dont know how to attract or motivate creative talent, and even worse, they think they understand great product when they dont.
Why is McDonald leaving?
In a post-earnings call, McDonald called his time as CEO a dream job but that the timing is right for a change. He will stay on as a senior adviser through the end of March.
Lululemon has named its CFO, Meghan Frank, and CCO, André Maestrini, as interim co-CEOs while the company searches for a permanent replacement.
In the announcement, McDonald claimed to have built a foundation for the future: I believe the outstanding product pipeline weve built, and action plan weve put into place, will yield positive results, and deliver value to shareholders in the months and years ahead.
How did Lululemon perform in Q3?
Quarter three was an improvement for Lululemon, with $2.57 billion in revenue, a 7% increase year-over-year (YOY) from compared to $2.4 billion.
It also beat Wall Streets predicted $2.48 billion, according to consensus estimates cited by CNBC. Lululemon further reported $2.59 earnings per share, above Wall Streets expected $2.25.
However, this was still lower YOY, compared to $2.87. Lululemon also projected sales below expectations for its current quarter.
During quarter three, Lululemon bought back one million common stock shares for a total of $189 million.
And the company announced that its board of directors has approved a $1 billion increase to its share repurchase program. As of Thursday, Lululemon had about $1.6 billion still available for its repurchase program.
Overall, the good outweighed the bad for investors. Lululemons shares (Nasdaq: LULU) rose over 9% on Friday in premarket trading. As of Thursdays close, the stock is down almost 50% year to date.
Measles infections in America have hit their highest numbers in 33 years. In 2025, cases have topped 1,900, and that number is expected to rise due to an ongoing outbreak in South Carolina.
Heres what you need to know about Americas latest measles outbreak and why the upcoming period could spell troubling times with the disease.
Whats happened?
Earlier this week, the South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) announced 27 new cases of measles in the state since the previous Friday, raising the total number of active measles cases in the southeastern state to 111.
Due to the outbreak, there are currently 254 people in quarantine, with another 16 individuals in isolation in an effort to prevent the spread of the potentially deadly disease through the community.
Of the new cases, 16 people were exposed at the Way of Truth Church in Inman, a city in the northwestern part of the state. The DPH has also identified new exposures at Inman Intermediate School.
But South Carolina isnt the only state dealing with measles outbreaks. National figures show that 2025 has seen a resurgence of the disease.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, South Carolina had a total of 123 measles cases for the year as of December 10.
But that only put the state in third place. The leader is Texas, with 803 cases this year, followed by Arizona with 169 cases. Utah, at 115 cases, and New Mexico, at 100 cases, round out the top five.
Worst year for measles in three decades
In 2025, the number of measles cases in the United States skyrocketed when compared to recent years.
According to the CDC, as of December 10, there have been a total of 1,912 cases of measles in the U.S. this year.
To put that number in perspective, throughout all of 2024, there were only 285 reported cases, and only 59 in 2023.
At 1,912 known cases so far this year, 2025 is also the year with the highest number of measles cases in the U.S. in the 21st century. The figures are well above the previous high of 1,274, set in 2019.
In fact, there have not been this many measles cases in the United States since 199233 years ago. That year, measles cases topped out at 2,126.
The CDC does state that case counts from 2023 through this year are preliminary and subject to change.
In 2000, measles was declared eliminated from the United States, but that status is now at risk.
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Who is contracting measles?
Measles can infect anyone, but it is most likely to infect those who are not vaccinated against it. Vaccination is given in two doses. The CDC says the measles vaccine is 93% effective at one dose and 97% effective at two doses.
Out of the known 1,912 cases in the U.S. so far this year, the vaccination status of 92% of those infected was either unvaccinated or unknown, according to the CDC. Only 3% of those infected had had just one dose of the measles vaccine, and only 4% of those infected had had both doses.
As for the ages of those infected, the majority are children and teenagers. According to the CDC, out of the 1,912 infections, individuals were aged:
Under 5 years: 500 (26%)
5-19 years: 786 (41%)
20+ years: 613 (32%)
Age unknown: 13 (1%)
Has anyone in the United States died from the measles in 2025?
Unfortunately, yes. According to the CDC, there have been three deaths attributed to the measles this year. However, hundreds of others have required hospitalization.
Of the 1,912 cases this year, 218 of them, or 11%, required hospital stays. The CDC breaks down the hospitalization numbers by age as follows:
Under 5 years: 21% (103 of 500)
5-19 years: 6% (47 of 786)
20+ years: 11% (68 of 613)
Age unknown: 0% (0 of 13)
There have been 43 outbreaks of measles across the U.S. this year. The CDC defines an outbreak as a collection of three or more related cases.
Why are so many outbreaks happening now?
The CDC says several factors are contributing to the resurgence of measles in America. As global travel activity increases, it is more likely that people returning to America from overseas could bring the virus back with them.
But one of the main challenges America faces, which has contributed to the 2025 outbreak, is the declining rate of vaccination among Americans.
When more than 95% of people in a community are vaccinated (coverage >95%), most people are protected through community immunity (herd immunity), the CDC explains.
Below that threshold, herd immunity breaks down, and the disease spreads.
There are currently only 11 states at or above the 95% threshold, meaning most states in the country can no longer count on herd immunity for protection.
How will the holidays affect measles outbreaks?
As we enter the holiday season, it is likely that more cases of measles will appear. The reason is because measles spreads through the air when people cough or sneeze. The virus can also linger in the air for up to two hours.
Given that measles is contracted through airborne transmission in spaces where people gather, it’s likely that cases will increase as individuals tend to congregate more over the holidays and at work, family, and other social events.
How can I protect myself?
The best way to protect yourself and your loved ones is to get vaccinated against measles, says the CDC. You can find out more about measles vaccinations on the agency’s website.
Every few weeks, Americans get another letter in the mail that starts the same way: Were writing to inform you that your personal data has been exposed. A retailer gets hacked. A hospital. A supermarket. A travel site. It never ends. Most of us feel like weve lost control over who has our information and how its being used. But a new kind of privacy technology, one that lets companies confirm what they need to know without ever seeing your personal details, may finally offer a way out of this mess.
Weve slipped into a world where giving away our personal information is the cost of participating in modern life and where were frustrated, but not surprised, when it gets stolen. In an age defined by apps, AI, and digital payments, our data has become both currency and collateral damage.
But we may finally be reaching a turning point. And the solution thats emerging didnt come from Silicon Valley or Washington; it came from an unexpected place: cryptography, the science of using math to secure information, and the foundation of blockchain technology.
Its called zero-knowledge proof technology, and despite the intimidating name, it theoretically offers something every American wants: privacy without the headaches, and security without the surveillance.
Wall Street quietly moved first
While consumers are dealing with endless breach notifications, something very different is happening on Wall Street.
Many of the worlds financial titans, including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and BNY Mellon are testing blockchain-based trading, settlement, and other systems that let assets move 24/7. Tokenized treasuries, money-market funds, and even tokenized stocksa mechanism where something is turned into a digital “token” that lives on a blockchainare no longer experiments; Robinhood introduced tokenized versions of stocks and ETFs for European Union investors this summer.
But theres one major barrier: on a public blockchain, everyone can see everything.Investors dont want that. Banks, pension funds, hedge funds dont want thatfor competitive reasons, among other things.
If financial markets are going to ultimately run on modern cryptographic infrastructure, they will need privacy that doesnt compromise trust or oversight.
Consumers feel the same way
Americans are tired of being told that if they want convenience, they must give up control of their personal information. The AI economy depends on massive streams of data and whether it survives may come down to one thing: trust.
Right now, trust is running out.
People dont want more logins, more verification codes, or more data sitting in more databases that will inevitably get hacked. They want a world where businesses can verify what they need to verify, without collecting everything about us.
Thats exactly where zero-knowledge proof technology comes in.
Zero-knowledge proofs: verify without exposing
A zero-knowledge proof lets someone prove something is true without revealing the underlying data.
You can prove youre old enough to buy a product, without giving away your birthdate.
A bank can prove it has enough reserves, without exposing its entire balance sheet.
A company can verify a user is real, without storing personal details that can get hacked later.
This isnt science fiction, and it isnt just crypto. Its already in the apps Americans use today:
Google Wallet has quietly integrated zero-knowledge technology.
Bumble uses it to verify user attributes without storing sensitive data.
Financial institutions are incorporating it to protect user data.
StarkWares founders codeveloped zk-STARKs and zk-SNARKs, advanced cryptographic methods for zero-knowledge proofs, and this technology now underpins some of the most promising privacy tools in AI, fintech, and digital identity.
Regulators are finally ready to talk about privacy and the crypto angle
For years, the word privacy in Washington was viewed with suspicion, confused with anonymity, or treated as a threat to oversight.
Hopefully, thats now changing.
Back in August, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce wrote compellingly that the “sledgehammer has become the tool of choice for monitoring financial crimes,” and “[t]he American people and their government should guard zealously peoples right to live private lives and to use technologies that enable them to do so.” The SEC is now preparing to convene a first-of-its-kind roundtable on Financial Surveillance and Privacy, where builders at the forefront of privacy technology will show how these tools allow for risk management without exposing every transaction.
At the same time, the Executive Branch has embraced emerging technologies, signalling a top-down encouragement for regulators to approach innovation as a path towards improvement, and to encourage its growth.
Why this moment matters
The privacy wave is not just a consumer protest. It is institutional. It is technological. It is regulatory. It is an inflection.
Institutions need privacy to operate competitively.
Consumers need protection from constant breaches.
Regulators need tools that preserve oversight without creating systemic vulnerabilities.
Zero-knowledge proofs sit at the center of all three needs.
The digital economy, from AI systems to payments to financial markets, is gaining speed.
But without privacy infrastructure, we are setting ourselves up for a future where every trade, every transaction, and every personal detail is visible to everyone.
We dont need to accept that world.
Zero-knowledge proof technology offers a better one:a world where verification is possible without exposure, where markets are efficient without being surveilled, and where people can participate in the digital economy without surrendering their most intimate data.
Privacy is not anti-technology.It is the foundation of trust and trust is the one thing the AI economy and the financial system cannot survive without.
There’s a generational shift happening in workplaces that goes far deeper than debates about RTO or perks and snacks. Gen Zthe cohort that learned to communicate through stories, stickers, and swipe cultureis fundamentally reimagining how work gets done. After analyzing data from 2,475 professionals across our latest research, I’m convinced they’re crafting the future of work.
Gen Z intuitively understands something many organizations are still learning. As we live in a world drowning in information, clarity is a competitive advantage. And increasingly, that clarity is offered visually.
The Visual-First Expectation
Sound familiar? Workplace tools mirror social behaviors, just with a lag. Just like how early 2000s texting culture paved the way for Slack, were now seeing Gen Z’s visual-first communication style make its mark on how we collaborate at work. Technology isn’t driving generational change, it’s catching up to how people already interact. Now, all work is expected to be visual, collaborative, and intuitive by default.
For senior leaders managing distributed, multigenerational teams across time zones, the challenge is dual: translating complex ideas into clear visual communications while cutting through visual clutter to reach precise audiences. The goal remains constantmake every design count through compelling, memorable visuals that drive engagement.
Among Gen Z professionals we surveyed, the majority say they do their best work visually and believe visual fluency makes them more valuable employees in addition to a critical skill to future-proof their careers. Other generations approach AI with varying degrees of skepticism or caution, but Gen Z sees it as a natural extension of their creative capabilities.
Yet despite this confidence and capability, Gen Z workers are being systematically slowed down by outdated systems and fragmented tools that hinder their natural workflows. More than half want their companies to shift to a visual-first approach entirely.
The Business Case for Visual-First
Our neuroscience research, conducted in partnership with Neuro-Insight, provides objective evidence that Gen Z’s instincts for visual communication are spot on, aligning with how human brains actually process information.
Visual content triggers memory encoding 74% faster than dull alternatives. In controlled laboratory settings, participants exposed to high-quality visual presentations showed 21% more emotional intensity and 16% greater likeability compared to boring or poorly designed versions of identical content. Documents with superior visual design generated 26% higher emotional intensity and 9% improved likeability. The report bears out that emotion fuels attention. And attention fuels retention.
These represent fundamental differences in how information resonates and persists. Companies that embrace visual-first communication report 66% clearer and more efficient communication, while 61% achieve stronger brand cohesion and sharper differentiation. With 89% of business leaders now considering visual fluency a must-have skill for leadership positions, the question for ambitious professionals isnt whether or not to adapt at allits how quickly can they upskill across their teams.
Organizations that resist this shift face measurable consequences. In the U.S., companies invest $65,000 annually per creative team member on visual content creation. Despite this substantial investment, more than 90% of leaders and their Gen Z colleagues continue to face obstacles that prevent them from producing their highest quality creative work.
The creativity gap compounds these costs. Despite the fact that the U.S. is expected to pour over $143 billion annually into the visual content economy, teams remain locked into fragmented tools and text-first workflows. This creates a productivity bottleneck that stifles returns on massive organizational investments.
Perhaps most concerning, 85% of creative leaders and 83% of Gen Z have resorted to using unapproved tools, while 82% of leaders bypass IT entirely to accomplish visual work. When talented employees consistently work around your systems, the systems need examining.
An Action Plan for Future Forward Leadership
For forward-thinking leaders, Gen Z’s visual fluency represents more than operational efficiencyit unlocks motivation, autonomy, and high-impact creative thinking. When we asked Gen Z what broader visual fluency across their companies would enable, their responses revealed aspirations that extend far beyond job satisfaction to be more motivated to contribute, more creatively empowered, and more confident in sharing ideas.
Gen Z workers want to lead with AI, experiment with new approaches, and create visual experiences that drive results. The organizations that provide the right systems, support, and trust will unlock better work entirely.
Audit your tool chaos: Task your department leads with taking inventory of their current visual tools. If it’s more than four, you have a cost center that might need consolidation.
Document the inefficiency: Map all current visual tools your teams use, taking stock of overlaps and redundancies. Present the data to justify consolidation and to align Marketing, IT, and Finance on the operational cost of inefficiency.
Run a 30-day pilot: Test AI-powered visual tools in real workflows with baseline KPIs: time saved, output volume, and brand consistency. Use the results to build a data-backed case for investment, focusing on performance over potential.
Lead a “Visual Sprint”: Pick one legacy processonboarding, product briefs, or internal communicationsand task your teams with redesigning it using visual-first approaches. Give your team permission to break the mold and set big goals.
Bridge the generation gap: Host recurring, informal office hours or workshops where everyone from interns to execs can bring new AI projects theyve been working on, showcase new visual workflows, and ask for help. This is about visual and AI literacy, and about building a new type of creative muscle memory.
Four generations now share the workplace, with a fifthGen Alphaapproaching quickly. Organizations that harness the visual fluency, AI confidence, and creative instincts that Gen Z brings naturally will discover a competitive advantage.
The visual communication revolution is here. Gen Z is ready to lead the visual era with intuitive platforms, visual-first communication, and freedom to experiment with AI. The companies that meet them with the right systems, support, and trust will invest in more than employee satisfactionthey̵ll invest in the future of how work gets done.
