In this episode of All-In, the hosts discuss how AI technology is reshaping industries and workplaces. The conversation examines AI's unprecedented impact compared to previous technological revolutions, with specific examples from companies like McKinsey and Stripe showing how AI integration is changing traditional business operations and accelerating company growth.
The discussion extends to broader implications for the future workforce, including the need for workers to develop skills that complement rather than compete with AI. The hosts explore potential solutions for adapting to these changes, from restructuring organizational hierarchies to implementing new educational models that support continuous learning throughout workers' careers.

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During CES 2026, Jason Calacanis leads a discussion about unprecedented technological advancement, particularly in AI. Hemant Taneja describes this era as one of "peak ambiguity," where massive geopolitical changes accompany rapidly evolving technology. According to Calacanis, AI's impact will surpass all previous tech revolutions, including the PC, internet, mobile, and cloud computing eras.
Taneja highlights how AI is dramatically accelerating business scaling, citing examples like Stripe's growth to a $100 billion company in just 12-13 years. The integration of AI is transforming traditional jobs across sectors, from healthcare to HR. McKinsey, for instance, saved 1.5 million hours last year by shifting routine tasks to AI, allowing their workforce to focus on more complex problems.
Bob Sternfels emphasizes the urgency for businesses to integrate AI and automation across their operations. Companies are adjusting their organizational structures to accommodate this shift, with McKinsey demonstrating this through their increased focus on client-facing roles while reducing non-client-facing positions. Taneja notes that enterprises must prepare all departments for AI integration, including manufacturing, where robotics could help U.S. companies compete with China's cost advantages.
Looking ahead, Calacanis and Taneja stress the importance of developing uniquely human skills that AI cannot replicate, such as aspiration, judgment, and creativity. Taneja proposes a lifelong college model to help workers keep pace with evolving technologies. The speakers emphasize that continuous reskilling and building resilience will be crucial as technology continues to reshape the workforce landscape.
1-Page Summary
During CES 2026, Jason Calacanis introduces significant advancements in technology, indicating a transformative period dominated by AI.
The conversation at CES highlights a swift technological evolution, particularly in AI, that is incomparable to past decades.
Calacanis notes that the current pace of technological change around AI is noteworthy compared to previous decades, while Sternfels describes the pace of innovation as moving at "warp speed.” Sternfels contrasts this with slower change in the past, dubbing it a "DCAD type of thing" for its rapidity.
Hemant Taneja refers to current times as "peak ambiguity," with massive geopolitical changes accompanying the fast evolution of technology. Taneja observes a stark difference in capabilities between current technologies and those from just a few years prior. He speaks of the compression of time for value creation thanks to advancements such as self-writing code and fundamentally transformed distribution methods.
Calacanis boldly asserts that AI's impact will overshadow all earlier tech revolutions, such as the PC, internet, mobile, and cloud computing. He relates this to his visit to Tesla's Optimus lab, led by Elon Musk, and suggests that Optimus, the humanoid robot, will become the most transformative tech product, surpassing even Tesla's automotive achievements. He believes that Large Language Models (LLMs) will empower devices like Optimus to understand and interact with the world, handling tasks that humans prefer not to perform.
The Transformative Impact of Ai and Emerging Technologies
The discussion led by Taneja and Calacanis delves into the ways businesses and the workforce are transforming, with a focus on the impacts of AI and emerging technologies.
Taneja speaks to the phenomenal speed at which companies can now scale due to AI and emerging technologies. He shares investment examples like Stripe's growth to a $100 billion company in about 12-13 years and Anthropic's significant valuation increase based on business growth. AI and technological adoption allow businesses to expand rapidly due to faster adoption rates.
The integration of AI in various sectors implies a direct risk of automation and displacement of traditional job functions. From healthcare to HR to call centers, there's evidence of jobs being fundamentally transformed by technology. For instance, the entry-level tasks in management consulting, such as analysis and report writing, can now be accomplished by AI, as McKinsey saved 1.5 million hours last year through shifting their work towards solving more complex problems.
Calacanis highlights the deployment of personalized agents capable of performing trusted job functions, while Taneja points to the necessity of AI teammates in every department. They discuss labor shortages in US manufacturing and how robotics could play a significant role in creating resilient supply chains to compete on cost. This suggests a future where the workforce might see a one-to-one ratio of humans to robots.
In the wake of the integration of AI into business operations, workers are required to complement AI and robotics rather than compete against them. Taneja suggests the need for human-AI teamwork, and the workforce is challenged to tackle more complex problems. Corporate America's preference for building automated agents over new employee recruitment indicates an imperative for the workforce to adapt and develop new skills to collaborate with AI.
The Changing Nature of Work and the Workforce
In a rapidly evolving technological landscape, Hemant Taneja and Bob Sternfels discuss how enterprises can navigate and embrace disruptive changes.
Sternfels underscores the urgency for businesses to integrate AI and automation into their operations to keep pace with accelerating technological advances. He notes that CEOs are actively seeking ways to increase organizational speed, suggesting that embracing AI and automation is key to achieving this goal.
Taneja echoes this sentiment, emphasizing that AI, particularly language models and cloud services, are becoming essential tools within the engineering departments of enterprises. The widespread uptake of these technologies has prompted a significant increase in IT spending, and enterprises are now using technology at scale rates previously unseen.
The speakers also emphasize the importance of integrating AI and other disruptive technologies throughout the entire business, not just selective departments. They highlight the transformation imperative that applies to various sectors within businesses.
To adapt swiftly to disruptive technologies, enterprises are adjusting their organizational structures, as McKinsey's shift towards a client-facing sector growth, while reducing the non-client-facing workforce, demonstrates. This new paradigm accommodates growth in client-facing roles and operational shrinkage using emerging tech within the same organization.
Taneja recommends that enterprises must prepare all departments for AI integration, signifying a strategic necessity to adopt AI and automate processes to keep up with technological advancements.
He also mentions the crucial role of physical AI in manufacturing within the US to compete with China's cost advantages. Calacanis projects that robotics will transform manufacturing, alongside human interactions. However, the current challenge is the lack of hardware capability that operates like an API infrastructure to speed up the diffusion of these models.
The focus shift from strategy to organizational speed emphasizes the necessity for enterprises to reconsider their processes and structure ...
Strategies For Enterprises to Adapt To Technological Disruption
The conversation with Jason Calacanis and Taneja explores the changing landscape of education and career development in the era of advancing technology.
Calacanis and Taneja recognize the importance of developing skills that AI cannot replicate, such as aspiration, judgment, and creativity. Calacanis emphasizes the need for the education system to help students cultivate these broader cognitive skills as AI and robotics become more capable of performing human tasks.
Calacanis notes that these capacities remain uniquely human and should be prioritized in educational curricula. Taneja further suggests that shifting focus from problem-solving to questioning creatively is essential in a world where technology can address many issues for us. They highlight the critical need for a transition in education and career development to skills that complement AI's capabilities.
The speakers imply that continuous reskilling and upskilling are crucial as the pace of technological change accelerates and job requirements evolve with AI advances.
No specific details were provided in the outline about the half-life of skills; however, Calacanis refers to research which indicates the decreasing return on investment in skills over the last 30 years, demonstrating the urgency for continuous learning. Taneja proposes a lifelong college model, advocating for continuous education to catch up with evolving technologies and workforce changes.
The discussion underlines the importance of building resilience and adaptability to deal with AI's impact on the job market rapidly.
Rethinking Education and Career Development for the Future
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