This week's newsletter is about ownership without clarity. Everyone agrees AI matters, but nobody's sure who's actually accountable for it. Only 34% of C-suite executives know who owns AI decisions at their own company, while AI is quietly undermining leaders' judgment rather than sharpening it. Researchers are finding that AI agents still lack the creative judgment for open-ended research, the very thing "recursive self-improvement" depends on. And one in five enterprises literally can't stop a runaway AI agent's spending in real time. The pattern: we've handed AI enormous scope before building the structures—organizational or individual—to actually govern it.
Let’s dive into the latest news, resources, and use cases from the world of product, UX, AI and technology:
📊 Product-Market Fit
♻️ Recursive AI
💸 AI Agent Spending
🤷♀️ Undermining Judgement
🤖 C-Suite
☑️ Product Managers and AI
🤗 Is Your Culture Too Nice
🌚 Moon Craters
Podcast
Finding Product-Market Fit with Ken Gavranovic
Discover how seasoned technology executive Ken Gavranovic shares insights on building innovative products, leading digital transformation, and harnessing AI to drive business growth. Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or a product leader, learn practical strategies to navigate and excel in the tech landscape.
News and Useful Reads
AI’s recursive self-improvement might not come so quickly after all
One of the boldest predictions right now is that AI will soon be able to train itself, and thus will no longer need humans. Will it be soon?
But a new study suggests that it might take a while for us to get there. The researchers behind it found that AI agents are not yet capable of conducting open-ended AI research—free-form investigations that have no clear-cut answers and require judgment and taste, which may be integral to building self-improving AI.
One in five enterprises can’t stop a runaway AI agent’s spending in real time
Enterprises are using multiple AI platforms now, but are struggling more than ever to control them.
Meanwhile, in these early days of AI agents, enterprises still struggle to control agent token use; one in five still can’t stop a runaway agent’s spending in real time.
AI Is Undermining Leaders’ Judgment. Here’s What to Do About It.
A fascinating experiment showed that relying on AI worsened the decision-making of a group evaluating new innovations. Not surprising, since AI isn’t about novelty or innovation, but patterns. Still, a concerning outcome as we rely more and more on AI.
When the AI tool encouraged human evaluators to reject submissions that the expert panel approved, the humans largely went along with those recommendations, filtering out high-potential innovations. What’s more, they less were likely to override an incorrect recommendation from the AI when offered a narrative explanation. Instead of improving the evaluators’ judgement, the narrative explanation made it worse.
Companies are spending trillions on AI. The C-suite doesn’t know who is in charge of it
Only 34% of C-suite executives in a new Pearl Meyer survey said it’s consistently clear which executive or team makes calls about AI, which was the lowest of all the cohorts polled.
How much AI knowledge do product managers really need?
AI is a transformative technology, but it cannot take the place of deep experience and sound judgement. As much as companies or leaders want it.
Most PMs don’t need to become AI experts. There’s no need to listen to all the doomsayers and attention seekers. You only need enough AI fluency to use the tools safely, challenge what they hand you, spot the real product opportunities, and talk to your engineers without nodding along to things you don’t understand.
Is Your Organizational Culture Too Nice?
Most leaders pay lip service to the idea of dissent or pushback, but most don’t really want to deal with it. And that comes with a cost. Cultures that are too nice (and prioritize harmony over debate) are not as successful.
Organizations with a culture of “niceness” can undermine performance when leaders prioritize harmony and comfort over candor, accountability, and results. Shifting toward a more rigorous culture requires senior leaders to model and reward candid feedback, create measurable successes that demonstrate that tougher choices improve performance, and redesign operating processes like review meetings and governance routines so that they encourage substantive debate rather than polite approval.
Other Interesting Finds
A SpaceX rocket smashed into the Moon — NASA just revealed the crater
A discarded SpaceX Falcon 9 stage crashed into the Moon on Aug. 5, leaving behind a newly formed crater about 60 feet wide. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured detailed images showing bright and dark streaks of debris blasted across the surrounding surface. The impact even exposed fresh material buried beneath the Moon’s weathered exterior.