Microsoft offered voluntary buyouts to 60,000 people, about 27% of its global workforce. So we asked each other: would you take the buyout? What would it actually take for you to quit your job?

Cousins Luke Wiesner and David Cole talk about how the launch went and why they're here to be imperfect, then dig into where the jobs are going as companies pour money into AI data centers, whether Google is the next Blockbuster, and what it means when an AI company says in its own IPO filing that its technology could pose catastrophic risks. They talk about why fear pulls us apart, where the line is when AI helps with family moments, and the everyday stuff: finding a document in seconds, turning a commute into work time, and learning out loud. Plus this week's inspiration and a callback to our listener question about raising kids for the future.

Chapters:

0:00 Cold open
0:19 Intro
0:34 Welcome
1:51 Three weeks in: how did the launch go?
4:42 We're here to be imperfect
6:57 Listener question: what will our kids need in 20 years?
10:34 Microsoft buyouts: jobs going to data centers
16:26 What would it take to quit your job?
20:53 Is Google the next Blockbuster?
26:55 What does open source mean?
28:24 Learning out loud
29:50 Anthropic's IPO: could AI end humanity?
34:14 Fear pulls us apart
38:14 AI wrote her daughter's birthday tribute. Where's the line?
45:39 Be the CEO of your family
47:21 A window sticker in seconds
48:40 Evan's commute: talking to his agents
50:59 See the human in each other
58:26 Inspiration of the week
58:37 Sami and Lumi redesign a website
1:00:38 Raising kids for the future
1:01:44 A daily checklist for my mother-in-law
1:03:47 Help us inspire others
1:05:28 Outro

About the show: Luke Wiesner and David Cole are two regular guys, late to the future, learning out loud, trying to be hopeful about the future. Inspired people inspire people. If this episode helped, send it to someone who could use some inspiration about the future.

New episodes every Thursday. Questions, stories and freak-outs: hello@late2thefuture.com. Newsletter and show notes: late2thefuture.com. Find us at @late2thefuture.

Inspired by something on the show? Tell us your story at late2thefuture.com. Every month, we draw one person who shared their story for a one-of-a-kind I'm Inspired mug.

Better late than never.

Views are our own and not those of any employer. We're not experts, and nothing here is professional advice.

AI is changing work fast. So what can a regular person actually do to stay valuable?

Luke and David dig into whether AI is overhyped or we're just early, and why the answer for most of us is to become the CEO of our own job: the person who directs the tools, not the person replaced by them. We talk about why companies are now hiring for judgment, why it's loss we fear more than change, what school and shortcuts mean for the next generation, and how AI could open a plan B for retirement. Plus a real impact story, and how making this show brought two cousins closer than they've been in 30 years.

Chapters:

0:00 Cold open
1:48 Is AI overhyped, or are we just early?
5:50 AI slop grenades
10:32 Who does AI actually benefit?
12:20 Becoming the CEO of your job
14:13 It's not change we fear, it's loss
17:51 Where will young people learn judgment?
24:33 School, shortcuts and critical thinking
28:19 Do you have to use AI?
33:33 An impact story
38:16 The counterweight
43:03 Closer cousins
46:25 No friction between idea and doing
48:32 A new plan for retirement
53:50 Outro

New episodes every Thursday. Questions, stories and freak-outs: hello@late2thefuture.com. Newsletter and show notes: late2thefuture.com. Find us at @late2thefuture.

Better late than never.

Views are our own and not those of any employer. We're not experts, and nothing here is professional advice.

Businesses track client acquisition cost. We're tracking cost per inspiration.

In our first episode, cousins Luke Wiesner and David Cole share why two regular guys who feel late to the future started a show about it. We talk about where a regular person even starts with AI, why the best advice is to just fumble around, what it means to have a safe space to say "I don't know," and why the only expert right now is whoever is trying it the most. We also make the case that the people with the biggest concerns about AI are exactly the people who should be helping create the future. Our goal is simple: if this show inspires even one person to try, it's worth it.

Chapters:

0:00 Cold open

1:53 Why are we doing a podcast?

2:57 From finger painting to acrylic

5:16 Agentic AI ordered our shirts

6:03 The message we want to carry

9:03 Where do you even start?

13:00 Fumble around: the best advice

19:32 Define dogmatic

22:50 A safe space to say I don't know

24:07 Why not wait six months?

28:59 The people we need most

32:09 Cost per inspiration

34:41 Outro

New episodes every Thursday. Questions, stories and freak-outs: hello@late2thefuture.com. Newsletter and show notes: late2thefuture.com. Find us at @late2thefuture.

Better late than never.

Views are our own and not those of any employer. We're not experts, and nothing here is professional advice.