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In 2013, when Meredith OConnor was 16, the music video for her debut single “Celebrity” went viral. Afterward, she channeled her own stardom into championing childhood mental health: As a hyperactive kid, OConnor says she was often the subject of bullying, and when her music career gave her a platform, she was eager to use it to advocate on behalf of other victims. I knew my fan base was younger, but I didn’t know how many people would resonate with mental health challenges, she says. I realized there were millions of gifted people that are being marginalized, and that’s when I really wanted to start the mental health study. Since blowing up YouTube over a decade ago, OConnor earned a masters degree in mental health counseling and cofounded the Mental Health Counseling Services of Manhattan in 2024. In working closely with public schools, OConnor says she was struck by the many ways in which standardized tests disadvantage neurodivergent students. That observation led me to speak directly with leaders across law, advisory firms, and business about how hiring and evaluation systems might evolve in an AI economy. OConnor explains that the more she spoke with AmLaw 20 firms and Fortune 500 executives, the more she realized that the kinds of skills they desired from graduates were not the skills that were measured and rewarded on standardized tests. Thats especially true for those like herself with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), who have many natural advantages, but often struggle with memorization and sustaining focus. Before age 23, the ADHD brain is gifted in many things. But one of the areas of slower development is executive function, she says, explaining that the limitation affects short-term memory, concentration, and impulse control. By the time [those with ADHD] are 18, you’ll have taken all these aptitude tests that are studying parts of the brain that have not developed yet. Those with ADHD, however, often excel in areas like abstract thinking, creative problem-solving, resilience, and empathyall of which are seeing heightened value by employers in the age of artificial intelligence. Its better than humans at many of the tasks that people who are neurodivergent struggle with, OConnor says. Skills that are aligned with being an entrepreneur, skills that align with communication, skills that align with problem-solvingthose are the things that AI can’t do better than humans yet. People with ADHD often demonstrate certain natural strengths and challenges. By sheer coincidence, many of the challenges can now be mitigated using AI tools. And at the same time, many of the ADHD advantageslike creative problem-solving, abstract thinking, and intuitionare seen as increasingly valuable in an AI-enabled world. AI Excels Where ADHD-ers Often Fall Short Those with ADHD often struggle with routine processes, time management, and processing large volumes of information. But AI tools are proving effective in helping them overcome those gaps. Rather than sitting still and paying attention for long periods in an academic lecture or a meeting, for example, AI software can now record that information, transcribe it, and highlight key points in a more condensed format. Traditional environments are not designed for them; they are designed for the neurotypical person. And I think AI can help level the playing field, says Rebecca Koniahgari, the founder of Bryge AI, a tool that helps neurotypical people better communicate with ADHD-ers (or “bridge the gap,” the inspiration for the product’s name). The New York-based engineer says she developed the product to better communicate with colleagues and friends who have been diagnosed with the condition. Instead of asking people with ADHD to adapt their communication style, Bryge AI is intended to be used by those who love, live, or work with someone who has ADHD. Im neurotypical, and the burden of communication has always been on the other person [with ADHD], so lets meet them halfway, Koniahgari says. The online app allows users to input a message and then translates it into a more ADHD-friendly structure that emphasizes clarity, brevity, and emotional intelligenceflagging potential issues, such as language, that might trigger anxiety, lack clarity, or use negative framing. After launching the prototype she developed at a hackathon event hosted by AI coding platform Bolt, Koniahgari was awarded a silver medal for Bryge AI at the 2025 Stevie Awards for Women in Business. Now, Koniahgari says shes looking to integrate the technology into other AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude AI, and eventually into workplace communication platforms like Slack, to make it even more accessible and widely available. ADHD-ers Often Excel Where AI Falls Short Just as the technology can help fill the gaps where ADHD-ers struggle the most, ADHD-ers seem well positioned to fill the gaps where the technology often struggles, like with creative problem-solving, out-of-the-box thinking, and adaptability. According to a recent study conducted by researchers at Drexel University, those with ADHD tend to solve problems using insight rather than analytical skills. Instead of working out problems in steps, their brains often make subconscious connections that result in an aha moment of insight. We hypothesized that people who have stronger ADHD symptoms would solve more of these puzzles with an a-ha moment, with insight, and that turned out to be true, explains John Kounios, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at Drexel University, and one of the papers coauthors. The thing that was surprisingalthough, in retrospect, it makes perfect senseis that the people who solved the most puzzles were the ones who were lowest in ADHD symptoms and [who were] highest in ADHD symptoms. The study asked participants a series of questions that are commonly used to screen for ADHD symptoms, and only included participants who had not been diagnosed with, or weren’t taking medication for, a cognitive disorder. Kounios explains that those who demonstrate more ADHD symptoms excel at solving problems using insight, those with the fewest symptoms also tend to excel by using analytical reasoning, while those in the middle arent particularly good at either. The chatbots do not do this kind of spontaneous cognition that humans do, so human creativity sets the agenda, Kounios says. What people who have ADHD are good at is coming up with solutions to problems that no one knew they had. A Team Effort Between the Neurotypical, Neurodivergent, and AI Kounios warns, however, that like other technology tools, there is a fine line between assistance and distractionand AI could pose challenges to those who are already struggling to maintain focus. It would require the person with ADHD to have the discipline to use chatbots n [a productive] way, he says. Certainly, it can be a rabbit hole that people can fall into. That is why Kounios believes that people can best leverage their unique strengths and limit their natural challenges when they solve problems using the latest AI tools alongside teammates who think differently. There’s research literature on the benefits of having sort of diverse teams,” he says. “You want to have some people who are older and some people who are younger . . . male and female . . . all kinds of different people. Kounios adds that similar research is proving the same for neurodiversity. I think it’s also good to have a mixture of cognitive profilessome people who are going to be more scattered, less focused, maybe more creative, along with people who are much more analytical, focused, and systematic.
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E-Commerce
Three AI companiesOpenAI, Google, and Perplexityare on the verge of receiving approval to sell their technology, hosted on their own cloud systems, directly to the government, a person familiar with the matter tells Fast Company. That authorization will be on a low impact and pilot level, the person said, but constitutes a major step toward independence. That independence could help those companies avoid some of the complications created by ongoing partnerships between AI firms and longtime government tech contractors. As large language models have gone mainstream, AI companies have often relied on tech firms that have already passed arduous government security reviewsincluding Microsoft, Palantir, and Amazon Web Servicesto host their chatbots for federal users. In the early days, these partnerships made it easier for AI labs to quickly get their tech in front of government officials, but also meant ceding at least some control over when and how their AI was made available. The downside of that kind of dependence is now playing out in the brewing feud between Anthropic and the Pentagon, which appears to have been fueled, in part, by its partnership with Palantir. The Defense Department is threatening to cancel a $200 million contract after Anthropic requested limits on the use of its AI for certain applications, including autonomous weapons and mass surveillance. Anthropics Claude model was made available to military officials with the help of Palantir’s systems and was even used in the U.S. operation to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, according to reports. According to Semafor, tensions mounted after an Anthropic official asked a Palantir executive how Claude had been used in the operation, prompting concern inside the Pentagon about the companys willingness to support military applications. This is all to say that not relying on a company like Palantir makes selling to the government far less complicated. In pursuit of that independence, OpenAI, Perplexity, and Google applied for, and received, expedited review of their cloud systems last year under a federal security initiative called FedRAMP 20x. Now, Fast Company can report, theyre almost certain to be approved. These approvals are separate from any decision by a specific federal agency to purchase their products, but they show the companies have taken concrete steps to engage the government on their own terms. Anthropic, by contrast, has leaned heavily on partners like Palantir to help sell its technology to government customers. The company does not appear to have participated in FedRAMP 20x, though its not clear why. Still, the question of independence is one Anthropic has publicly acknowledged. We would also like to be able to directly provide services to governments and not necessarily go through a partner at all times, Michael Sellito, the companys head of global affairs, told FedScoop in 2024. Neither Palantir nor Anthropic responded to Fast Companys request for comment.
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E-Commerce
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Swedish fintech company Klarna, says the organization is set to drastically downsize. And he says he shares his outlook on the workforce with another CEO: Anthropics Dario Amodei. Siemiatkowski made the comments on the 20 VC podcast with Harry Stebbings earlier this week, where the CEO didn’t deny that the company has been steadily shrinking.The CEO said that currently the company has about 3,000 employees. That’s down from 7,000 just four years ago. In another four, he says there will likely be less than 2,000a reduction of one-third. Siemiatkowski cited both layoffs and the employees leaving the company and not being replaced, and explained that AI’s integration allows for fewer employees.Klarna’s slimming down comes even as buy now, pay later (BNPL) services are booming. Around 30% of Americans say they have used them, according to a 2025 Bankrate report. And in 2025, according to a PartnerCentric survey, 35% said they planned to use the services even more. The popularity is driven by the fact that Klarna, like other BNPL options, allows shoppers to split purchases into interest-free installments, pay within 30 days, or even opt for longer-term financing options. Likewise, thousands of retailers now accept BNPL. Still, the success of such businesses no longer seems to equate to the need for more employees, as AI’s impact looms largersomething some leaders have been increasingly warning about. Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei wrote of his gravest concerns about AI in a recent essay that included items like loss of autonomy, “misuse for destruction” and “powerful AI” which he writes is “definitely coming.” Amodei writes: “I think it should be clear that this is a dangerous situationa report from a competent national security official to a head of state would probably contain words like ‘the single most serious national security threat weve faced in a century, possibly ever.’ It seems like something the best minds of civilization should be focused on.” The CEO also predicted AI could cut 50 percent of all white-collar entry-level jobs in the next one to five years, doubling down on a stance he’s warned about previously. Worryingly, Klarna’s CEO doesn’t disagree with Amodei’s stance, acknowledging that he’s “in Dario’s camp” on concerns around AI. “I want to be honest about the fact that I do think there’s going to be a very big shift,” Siemiatkowski said on the podcast. Specifically, he echoed the concerns around job loss. “I’m an optimist at heart, but I also want to be a realist around what’s going to happen in the shorter term, and it’s going to be a lot of turmoil in this.” Regardless, while the CEO seemed to express some major concerns around AI’s rapid advancements, Siemiatkowski has leaned into them heavily. In 2024, he announced that AI could handle a growing number of jobs as the company paused hiring and cut 2,000 employees. But it wasn’t long before customer satisfaction dipped, and the company had to scramble to reassign workers to customer support to handle the fallout. The CEO later took to X to explain what went wrong, writing that he was “tremendously embarrassed” about the turn of events. Fast Company reached out to Klarna to inquire on whether the company would scale back its relationship with AI. A representative said Klarna “did not lean too much into AI,” but its “thinking on human customer service” has changed. The representative continued, “When you automate a large amount of the simpler customer service requests, you are left with the most complex and sensitive cases . . . So we have begun to directly hire a small number of human agents directly employed by Klarna, not at outsourced providers.”
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