Originally shared in our June 2026 Top of Mind Newsletter.
In this insightful paper, authors Salim Ismail and Ted Shelton revisit a classic economics question — why do companies exist at all? — through the lens of AI. Their answer cuts against the doom narrative: AI dramatically lowers the cost of coordination, but it doesn’t make organizations obsolete. It redefines them as “containers for trusted agency.” As more tasks get automated, what determines value is increasingly trust, judgment, and accountability — the distinctly human capabilities.
This is the case we at ELI are making for the foundational work of mindset development. When the technical work commoditizes, the differentiator becomes our human ability to exercise judgment, take ownership, and create value others can rely on. For education, workforce and economic-development leaders especially, it reframes “future-proofing” away from chasing tools and toward developing durable, transferable human capabilities.