There are moments in life when you don’t yet realise you’re witnessing history — but you feel it in your bones. It was the early 2000s. My 15-year-old son was up in the attic, deeply focused on his computer. But not in the way most teenagers were back then — he wasn’t gaming or chatting […]

Fast forward a few years. I was now a first-time manager.  Our boss, the company owner, Mr. Müd, walked in one day with a surprise.  No speech, no memo. Just a stack of boxes. Inside each box? A Macintosh computer. One for every employee.  “And a printer,” he added casually. “Now you’re your own secretaries. Write your memos

When I became a manager for the first time, I had no map. There were goals, deadlines, and expectations — but no guidebook for the awkward silences, the unspoken tensions, or the moments when I doubted myself more than my team did. Back then, management books for first-time managers were rare. If you were lucky,

There was a time when the company’s only PCs belonged to the secretary.I had to ask for permission just to use one. My boss, no manual, no softness, simply said:“You will learn this computer stuff. I assume you are not stupid.” That was how my relationship with this new technology began.No handholding. No hype.Just a

The Code Was Clear, The People Were Not…Jason L. was 42.Freshly appointed CEO of Quantivus, a cutting-edge deeptech startup building neural edge processors for autonomous systems. His background?Engineering. Smart. Curious.He had dabbled in AI ethics during his EMBA.Built scalable ops as a COO.Held his own in strategy meetings.But leadership?That was new territory. And the room

We were never supposed to lead again.After the Great Automation Shift, we humans were gently escorted out of decision-making and into more… “supportive” roles.Our job? Oiling joints. Changing parts. Scanning for rust.We were the proud Keepers of the Circuit Wipes. Leadership? Strategy? Innovation?That was above our pay grade—and strictly machine territory. And honestly? Most of

Let’s meet L., 34, recently promoted to Head of Strategy at a mid-size European logistics company, known internally for being “digitally ambitious” and externally for losing half your orders during a strike.L. is well-spoken, well-dressed, and armed with all the right phrases: “AI-driven,” “data-led,” “customer-centric.”He has five dashboards, three frameworks, and zero questions.Why?Because L. believes

Meet P. V., 52, executive assistant to the Global VP at NexxMedica, a pharmaceutical company where half the managers think “AI transformation” means asking ChatGPT for presentation titles. She’s been with the company for 19 years.She knows who signs late, who fakes sick, and which senior leaders are brilliant—on paper. P. V. doesn’t say much.She

Meet Ava Steele. She is 29 years old, holds a Top Tier MBA, is vegan-ish, and has just been appointed as a first-time manager at a blazing-hot Silicon Valley startup called Unicornify.AI. because of course it is called that. She wore chunky sneakers and quoted Brené Brown in investor meetings. Ava had swagger, spreadsheets, and

For every new manager or any manager who suddenly woke up in the age of algorithms as a first-time manager… Let me introduce you to Wally Von Picklesworth, yes, that is the real name of our artificial matrix hero. And no, this is not satire (well, maybe just a little). Wally is 58. He has