Think with AI ™

The workforce is splitting between those who know how to get results from AI and those who don’t. This difference will make or break careers. But here's a secret: with an open mind and a little focus the learning curve is remarkably fast. There are an increasing number of people who turn to AI all day long for a little boost. When wielded well, AI is continually injecting speed and quality into their work, and it's giving them compounding benefits that help them pull ahead. And it's often use cases that aren't complex. It's more like little jolts and boosts here and there that help them be more creative, better researched, and fast . . basically it can help us all unlock more from the brains we were born with. Yesterday my daughter called me to share that she had learned a new approach to coding Google sheets with AI, including producing the code. It took her 15 minutes, yet it saved her a full day of work. She then used that time to think more strategically about the results. This is exactly what we all can be doing. How do you start? Here's one approach that really works: combine a willingness to experiment + a daily practice. This helps to remind us that AI help exists (we’ve gone our whole life without it so this is actually an important step), and establish a habit to turn to it for help. Here are a few tactics to try: 1️⃣ The Daily Question Start each day by asking yourself, "How can AI help boost my creativity today?" Keep a running list of possibilities—I use the notes app on my phone to jot stuff down on the go. 2️⃣ The AI Bake-Off I keep tabs open for 2-3 different AI tools at all times, and when I’m experimenting with how AI can help me with something, I pit them against each other, often just cutting and pasting into each to see what works better. This takes just seconds but helps you quickly identify which tool works best for different challenges . . . and keep up with how different tools are evolving (because they always are!). 3️⃣ The Open Invite Try deliberately including AI in every creative brainstorm. After exploring ideas on my own, I invite AI to the conversation to see if it can take my thinking further or offer perspectives I hadn't considered. ___ I post frequently on this topic if this is something you are digging into __ What have you found is the best way into become an AI power user? What's the hardest part of getting there? __ https://lnkd.in/gzYpEw_F

Sharing because 👉 hype obscures real value + delays critical exploration of HOW we should be using AI. Perspective from one of our favorite AI explorers:

What an honor to keynote the Executive Summit at dbt Labs' Coalesce 2025 with a talk on “Leading Through AI Change”. Data is everything when it comes to AI, which is why it was especially exciting to be on the ground at the event the day dbt Labs announced their merger with Fivetran. When you hit the hotel gym early morning and find yourself in multiple conversations with happy customers in between sets, and see people lining up at registration at 8AM the day before broader programming begins, well, you know there is momentum in the air. As we look beyond incremental productivity to truly reimagining what is possible with AI, this merger of two a16z-backed players with very strong client rosters will be one to watch. Thanks to Hrishi Kulkarni, Elaine Green, and the rest of the team for putting on a fantastic summit! #dbtcoalesce #coalesce2025