Partnerships in the AI Era: Human Connection Beyond Reciprocation

Scene 1: “No worries, I will wait for you in front of the station at the new time” came the message almost instantly as I wrote that I was arriving an hour later than scheduled. I felt like a VIP. What made this unusual? My host was a complete stranger and was picking me up and allowing me to stay in their centrally located, spectacularly clean apartment for two nights gratis. A free Airbnb. I also got two tours around town with architecture trivia sprinkled in, was treated with the warmth of a regular in the best napoletano pizzeria in town followed by conversations about life in Amman and Nancy from the eyes of my host. The highlight of the stay, of course, was the stop at a cafe where she sketched two guests as she spoke to me in French and I was responding in German. Welcome to couchsurfing.

Scene 2: “Good Evening. Planting the saplings is done” came the brief message from my candidate. For two decades with a bird’s-eye view of the employment market, alongside many anecdotal stories and a compelling book (“Bullshit Jobs”), I am aware the best unit of measure to price work is not time and the approach to monitor it is definitely not presence in front of a computer in meetings. Yet, this is what white collar work has been shaped into. To put this in practice, as I hire my first collaborator, I have gone some lengths to see if my young candidate can actually create value and understand her humble role in the process. And she did. In surprising style. Nearly a week quicker than the allowed time. Demonstrating grit, creativity, patience, compassion, teamwork, budgeting, expectation management and much more. If she accepts my offer, she might write her own blog post soon.

Scene 3: “There is so much one can do oneself, why do we need to hire?” asked my friend as I sipped my coffee. The question sounded valid, especially now with tools that have compressed effort. I did not argue then. I have thought about it since. I could build alone but I choose not to because of the emotional joy partnerships bring that include ideation, goal setting, arguing, building and selling. The most important one though is creating collective prosperity, neither extracting rent nor funnelling it up the pyramid.

These recent scenes synchronize with my broader conversations with over a dozen small businesses and individuals in the last couple of months. Many are ahead on the path I am setting out on and are willing to connect, share and support in every way they can. They have already figured out things I have not. Yes, there is a fair share of “not the way I see the world” and its future but this disagreement also brings significant creative energy. Including the question from my friend that spiralled me into this thought in the first place. So if you are in the small business space, if you are not running after the next funding round, if you operate in Switzerland or India, and if you want to contribute back to the community as you build, and if money matters but you know deeply there is more to this than money – I would love to hear from you.

The sapling is in the ground. It is hot and dry. Let us water it together, until the rains come, and the teak takes care of itself.