You May Be Using AI "Wrong"...
Examples Few Might Be Thinking Through...
Gen-AI isn’t just about doing work faster.
It’s about doing work better.
Most people treat AI like a time-saver:
“Summarize this.”
“Draft that.”
“Do it quicker.”
And sure — speed has value.
But it’s not the only value.
The real unlock? Comprehension.
Grasping complexity. Connecting ideas. Making smarter decisions.
Gen-AI isn’t just a productivity tool.
It’s a comprehension engine.
Let me show you what I mean.
If you’re new to this blog, welcome.
I write about what I’ve learned as a technology exec over the last 25 years—from startups to scale-ups, acquisitions to IPOs, and scaling Data & AI at Microsoft and Google.
No one’s paying me to write this—not my employer, not anyone.
I write to share—and learn from—smart, curious people.
If this resonates with you, I hope you’ll consider subscribing and sharing it. It’s free.
The Podcast That Took Me 3 Hours… 20 Minutes At A Time…
Last week, a good friend from my Google days texted me about the new Acquired Podcast episode on Google. We both worked there, so I was all in.
Then I saw the runtime: three hours.
I didn’t want to skip it — but I also didn’t want to slog through it. So I tried something different: I used Google on Google.
I dropped the URL into NotebookLM and watched the episode transform:
A 20-minute distilled version of the conversation
A full transcript for search and citation
A mind map revealing core themes and tensions
I listened to the summary and could’ve stopped there. But I didn’t. I went deeper — exploring the mind map, searching the transcript, reflecting on the narrative.
And that’s when it hit me:
This wasn’t about doing it faster.
It was about doing it better.
Here is how I did it
AI Isn’t Just a Shortcut. It’s a Smarter Path.
We’re all using Gen-AI like it’s a turbo button:
“Summarize this deck”
“Write this email”
“Give me the TL;DR”
Handy? Definitely.
But transformative? Not even close.
The real power of AI shows up when it becomes your thinking partner — helping you:
Learn faster by learning deeper
Communicate with sharper clarity
Retain what matters and discard what doesn’t
Clay Christensen would call this a classic case of misidentifying the “job to be done.”
It’s not just to move faster.
It’s to make sense — better.
Comprehension Is the New Speed
We’re entering a new era of work — where winners aren’t the fastest skimmers, but the clearest thinkers.
AI isn’t just an accelerator.
It’s a lens.
So the next time you hit “summarize,” stop and ask:
“Am I trying to save time — or am I trying to get it?”
Because nobody cares that you used AI.
Until you used it to think better.
👋 New Here?
If you’re new to this blog, welcome! I hope you’ll enjoy it enough to consider subscribing and sharing it.
I write about what I’ve learned as a technology executive over the last 25 years. I’ve helped build startups from scratch, scaled companies through IPO, been acquired, made acquisitions, and led Data, AI, and Analytics businesses at Microsoft and Google.
What you’re reading here? It’s just me — no sponsorships, no employer agenda.
I write to think, to share, and to learn from people smarter than me. If that’s you (and it probably is), I hope you’ll subscribe. It’s free — and better with you in it.
What Now?
You can follow my blog and ping me on LinkedIn. I’m connected to over 50,000 professionals — so if you reach out for advice and I don’t have the answer, odds are I know someone who does.
Update
Could AI Make Us Better Humans?! Dr. Harvey Lieberman, a clinical psychologist gave ChatGPT a 3-month trial. His experience is a great example for how we can (and perhaps should) think about how “AI can make us better human”.
Some gems about his AI
It became a thinking partner, an intellectual partner.
It wasn’t a therapist, but it sometimes was therapeutic.
It may not understand, but it made understanding possible.
Full piece here
