Max Zhang
@maxzhng
Max Zhang
Think Like a BPO, Not a SaaS Company: The most successful AI buyers, according to the MIT report, are treating their AI vendors not as software providers, but as business process outsourcing (BPO) partners. They are demanding deep customization, a focus on business outcomes, and a true partnership approach. Founders who can deliver on these... See more
The AI Productivity Paradox: High Adoption, Low Transformation
The services-as-software model of AI demands custom, services-like support. Forward-deployed engineers are critical.
I wish I had a book that I could put in her hands, and it helps her learn what many never learn, or learn too late, namely, that the possibilities are much bigger than you think, that you can live more deeply, and truly, and that you can solve almost any problem if you put your mind to it. A book about how to handle being sentenced to freedom, and... See more
Henrik Karlsson • On Agency
How do you handle being sentenced to freedom? You cultivate high agency, and experience all of the possibilities of life.
Organizational Design Matters: Block shifted from a GM structure back to functional organization to accelerate AI adoption. Sometimes you need to reorganize to unlock new technology’s potential. The centralized approach enabled unified policies and faster technical excellence across teams.
Block CTO Dhanji Prasanna: Building the AI-First Enterprise with Goose, their Open Source Agent
AI adoption driven is top-down vs. bottom-up. Is procurement different? Are employees trying out tools? Maybe in GM structures employees are empowered to take more resopnsibility, but that does not result in efficient firm-wide adoption.
I think this process is typical of the new wave of AI, for an increasing range of complex tasks, you get an amazing and sophisticated output in response to a vague request, but you have no part in the process. You don’t know how the AI made the choices it made, nor can you confirm that everything is completely correct. We're shifting from being... See more
Ethan Mollick • On Working With Wizards
Tamara: What makes that tacit knowledge and not explicit knowledge? Cedric Chin is probably the best person writing today about tacit knowledge. He's a writer, a business analyst, and a consultant based in Singapore. He describes tacit knowledge as the process of moving from conscious incompetence to conscious competence to unconscious competence.
T
... See moreFrom: Tamara Winter
Tamara: […] That was extremely fun because their job is to be professionally curious.
Jackson: It's a way of being, almost.
Tamara: Yes, it's a way of being—a really active curiosity. That means that you can turn yourself, as Sasha calls it, into a truffle pig for substance. You're always burrowing for the most interesting things
... See moreWhat was the context of this? What is the job?
One of the most intelligent case studies in design is the Chinese tea cup. They’re made without handles simply because if it’s too hot to touch, it’s too hot to drink.
Humans naturally want to add more. Add a cardboard sleeve, add a warning on the outside of the cup, add a handle. The result of all these things never cools down the actual contents.
... See more