Boss Class from The Economist 1. Fat layer of humans
Jan 29, 2026
Ethan Malek, Wharton professor who studies AI and organizational change, and Tom Blomfield, entrepreneur and Y Combinator partner, discuss AI reshaping white-collar work. They talk about rapid AI adoption at startups, AI automating repetitive office tasks, using AI as an editor, forming small cross-functional teams, and practical experiments to find where AI helps most.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Quick-Made Digital Doppelgängers
- AI replicas can be built quickly from a person's writing and voice samples.
- Small prototypes already reveal cultural and organisational questions beyond technical novelty.
Prefer Best Answers Over Source
- Some experts expect AI to be judged by output quality, not origin.
- Tom Blomfield says he wants the best answer whether it comes from a human or an AI.
A Thinning Layer Of Human Work
- Tom predicts AI will thin the human layer across knowledge work over time.
- He argues the fat layer of humans will get thinner and may go to zero eventually.
