The buzzer just sounded. Q1 of the 21st century is over and we are in Q2 now.
It’s a milestone that deserves a moment of pause because so much has changed since the year 2000. We spent the first quarter of this century seeing the analog world digitized, such a transformative process that disrupted every industry from media to manufacturing. We saw talent acquisition go global and the disappearance of the “off switch,” leaving executives in a permanent 168-hour state of mind. We witnessed the erosion of the college degree as a trusted gatekeeper in favor of skills-based hiring and demonstrated competency.
Meanwhile, every tech vendor on earth is promising us more workforce efficiency. The danger isn’t that we’ll miss the boat on new technology. The problem is focus. Something new and shiny appears, and we forget what the customer is actually paying for. Next thing you know, we’re optimizing our internal workflows while the customer experience slides backwards.
The High Cost of Fake Efficiency
We have spent the last decade obsessed with eliminating our own friction. We want to remove it from every single interaction. If we could just automate the mundane, we would unlock a utopia of strategic thinking. Right?
The modern leader now sits in a cockpit that is flashing with red lights and notifications from 50 distinct applications. Is this empowerment or is it a sophisticated illusion of control at the expense of focus? Any proposed change needs to pose this as a first question: Does this move us closer to improving customer and client experience, or will we negatively impact that? You can optimize the parts but lose the mission in the process.
That said, what efficiencies are being achieved through AI implementation in internal processes? Well, it depends on who you ask.
A recent Wall Street Journal article, “CEOs say AI is making work more efficient. Employees tell a different story,” highlights the vast gulf between executive optimism and worker reality. While more than 40 percent of executives believe AI is saving them more than eight hours of work a week, the people actually doing the work tell a different story. Two-thirds of non-management staff said they saved less than two hours a week or absolutely no time at all.
This is what happens when you solve for the wrong kind of efficiency. In some contexts, AI is helpful. In others, it’s a tax on productivity because optimized output is lost to the time spent fixing its errors. The competitive advantage in Q2 won’t be the software you buy but the discipline to focus on what’s necessary amid all the noise.
The Rise of the Human Middleware
This is where a correction is needed. In Q2 of the 21st century, the smartest companies will stop trying to replace humans with software and start using humans to tame the software. We are seeing the emergence of a new kind of role that acts as a buffer between the raw chaos of the digital world and the strategic clarity of the executive suite. You can call it a chief of staff or a project lead but most often this is the role of the high-level executive assistant.
This person is the “human middleware.” They are the interface.
In the old model you tried to integrate platforms using expensive APIs that broke whenever a vendor updated their code. In the new model you hire a smart executive assistant who can log into your fragmented systems and extract the truth. They present you with a single paragraph of actionable insight. The software promises integration but only a human can provide synthesis and real judgment.
Steve McGarvey, a user-experience designer profiled in the Wall Street Journal piece I referenced, noted that unless you have judgment or discernment in your field you could do real harm to a consumer base or a team by assuming your AI output is factual. He has spent sessions explaining to AI bots why their proposed solutions for visually impaired users simply will not work. The AI can write the code, but it cannot tell you if the code is useful. That requires a human.
Now, think about what this means for hiring. For 20 years we have been told to hire specialists. But in a world where the tools rapidly change, the specialist is always in danger of becoming obsolete. The executive assistant strategy relies on the return of the generalist.
When you look at resumes, stop looking for the perfect match of acronyms. Look for the resume that is a little bit messy. Look for the person who has done three different jobs in three different industries. That person knows how to adapt. We need people who understand the business logic instead of just the tool logic.
Buying Back Your Brain
The most critical resource in the second quarter of this century is not data but executive attention. A 168-hour state of mind leads to decision fatigue and reactive leadership. You cannot steer a ship if you are constantly down in the engine room trying to fix a pressure gauge.
When you hire a capable generalist to manage the operational noise, you can create a layer of protection that allows you to focus on the horizon. To do this effectively you have to change how you delegate. Stop assigning tasks like “update this spreadsheet.” Start assigning outcomes. Tell your executive assistant that you need to know why churn went up last month and let them figure out how to get the answer.
This is where the global talent pool becomes a massive strategic asset. In Q1 we used outsourcing to drive down costs on repetitive tasks, which was a waste of potential. In Q2, use the global talent pool to find the best minds regardless of geography.
The Renaissance of Relationship
If we stop solving for efficiency and start solving for success we inevitably come back to relationships. The customer in Q2 is tired of being treated like a ticket number. They are craving a return to humanity.
You can test this in your own company tomorrow. Call your own customer service line. Does it feel like you are dealing with a company that wants to help you or one that is trying to deflect you? The fix is to re-inject humanity into the friction points. Use your executive assistant and generalist staff to audit these interactions. Give them the authority to break the script.
The buzzer has sounded. The game has changed. We spent 25 years building a digital infrastructure that is miraculous and terrifying and loud. It’s time to turn down the volume and stop letting the tools use us. The challenge for every business owner in this new quarter is to look at their organization and ask if they are building a machine that runs itself or a team that runs the machine. The shiny objects will always be there. The discipline to ignore them is what makes you a leader. Q2 is not about the hardware. It’s about the humanity we wrap around it.
