Wired for Purpose in the News
(last updated 10/26/26)
There are weeks in this book journey that remind me why I wrote it in the first place. Over the last few months, I’ve been interviewed in a number of places (TV, podcasts, radio, major media publications, blogs, etc.).
NTD News: Making Connections Is More Important Than It’s Ever Been (Oct 21)
I joined NTD to talk about how young professionals can build successful, meaningful careers in today’s increasingly competitive job market, and why making real connections matters more than ever.
Human Capital Leadership Review: 57% of Gen Z Struggle to Apply What They Learn at Work (Oct 21)
In this Q&A for the Human Capital Leadership Review, published by Human Capital Innovations, I dig into why Gen Z can learn new skills faster than ever, with AI’s help, yet still struggle to apply them on the job. As a father of three Gen Zers, I explain how a sense of purpose helps bridge the gap, what AI can’t teach that a mentor can (context and empathy, among other things), and three ways companies can structure mentorship, including reverse mentoring. I also share advice for Gen Z professionals: come to a potential mentor with a specific question rather than a general ask.
Martech Zone: “A Field Guide to Success in a Digital World” (Oct 1)
Douglas Karr, founder and publisher of Martech Zone, has published a thoughtful review of Wired for Purpose. Douglas first heard about the book through his friend Jon Wuebben, and what followed is more than a review. It’s a reflection on how service and gratitude shape a career and a life.
He focuses on two of the book’s core ideas: Networking as a Service from the Connector’s Code, and the Gratitude Engine. Douglas pairs them with his own daily practice of starting each morning by thinking of one person he’s grateful for, a habit he credits with putting his life on a different path. He calls Wired for Purpose a playbook for the human skills that sit underneath every new platform.
Read the full review on Martech Zone
Fox 5 DC: Helping Gen Z Build Real Connections (Sep 30)
I joined Guy Lambert on Fox 5 DC to discuss why so many Gen Z professionals feel disconnected from people who could help their careers. Drawing on Wired for Purpose and my experience as a dad of three Gen Zers, I shared practical tips: tap alumni, professors, and family networks; spend less time on TikTok and more on LinkedIn; and push past texting toward real conversations. I urged employers to recognize workplace anxiety and recreate water cooler moments.
Watch the five minute clip and read the summary of the interview on my book blog
Inside Self-Storage: Building an AI Accountability Framework (Sep 21)
Associate Editor Ron Matejko featured my insights in a piece on AI’s growing role in the self-storage industry and the concerns it raises for owners. I framed the core issue as an accountability gap: AI can recommend, but only people answer for outcomes. He argued that human judgment matters more, not less, as AI grows more capable, and urged operators to assign a named human owner to every AI-driven decision, document the tool’s limits, and review pricing and customer-facing calls regularly. My bottom line was that winning operators will use AI to make their people more effective.
Read the piece on Inside Self-Storage
The Robin Report, Retail Unwrapped: “Can AI Be Trusted?” (Sep 18)
On this Retail Unwrapped episode, host Shelley E. Kohan and I explore superintelligence and why trust is the human differentiator AI can’t replicate. The episode frames AI as a tool retailers can scale but not a builder of relationships, and centers on how Ford and IKEA fell into tech hubris. I walk through Ford rehiring quality engineers after automated inspection missed defects, and IKEA retraining service reps as interior designers. I also share a West Hollywood hotel story about human quirkiness, and compare the AI wave to the Industrial Revolution, arguing it will create more opportunity than it destroys.
Listen to the episode on The Robin Report
Oh Hell No…Not My Data (Podcast) (Aug 24)
Host Keisha Bent invited me onto her podcast to talk about AI and humanity, with a focus on the AI boomerang: companies that cut staff in favor of AI and are now rehiring for many of those same roles. The conversation connects to a central argument of Wired for Purpose, that AI is powerful at pattern work but still needs experienced people to catch exceptions, exercise judgment, and maintain trust. The episode was released on YouTube and distributed across the major podcast platforms.
Workflow: “The Human in the Loop Is the Workflow: Why Automation’s Biggest ROI Is Still People” (Aug 18)
My bylined article for Workflow, the ECM and business process publication edited by Nicholas Ames, makes the case that people remain the highest-return part of any automated process. Drawing directly on Wired for Purpose, the piece argues that automation delivers its biggest payoff when it frees people to apply judgment, context, and relationships, not when it removes them from the loop. Written for operations and process leaders, it reframes the human in the loop as the workflow itself rather than a checkpoint bolted onto it.
The Street: Roundtable (Jul 27)
In late July, I sat down with The Street host and producer, Jackson Hinkle. In my Roundtable interview, I unpacked what I call the “AI boomerang” effect: nearly a third of hiring managers who cut roles for AI have rehired for them, and Ford recently brought back 350 veteran engineers after automated quality control fell short. AI is powerful, and I use it hourly, but it can’t match a veteran’s instinct for the exceptions. The future isn’t humans or AI. It’s augmentation: AI handles patterns, people handle judgment.
Read the write up and watch the 25 minute video interview on The Street
PRovoke Media: The Connector’s Code (Jul 9)
PRovoke Media (formerly the Holmes Report) ran an excerpt from the book as part of their “New Reads” series, focused on the chapter where I lay out what I call the Connector’s Code. The idea is simple: in an industry built on relationships, the connector, not the closer, wins the long game. Networking isn’t a ledger you keep score on. It’s bridges you build that you may never personally walk across.
It’s one of the sections of the book I’m proudest of, and seeing it excerpted by an outlet that’s covered our industry for decades meant a lot.
Read the excerpt on PRovoke Media
National Review: What Blacksmiths Can Teach Us About AI (Jul 5)
Not a publication I expected to see the book’s themes surface in, but National Review published a piece on what blacksmithing and the craftsmen of the past can tell us about AI’s impact on the entry-level job market. It’s a smart argument about apprenticeship, mentorship, and the kind of judgment that only gets built through years of hands-on repetition. Those themes sit right alongside the book’s core case for why human skills become more valuable, not less, as AI takes over more of the routine work.
Read the full piece at National Review
My Contribution to Agile Brand Guide: The CMO’s Hidden Advantage (Jun 24)
I also wrote a piece for Agile Brand Guide making the case that I’ve never seen a marketing automation platform close a deal that a human relationship didn’t open. It walks through the three practices I call the Connector’s Code in a CMO context (making the introduction first, showing your work in public, and keeping score in gratitude instead of favors owed), along with three moves any marketing leader can start this week.
Read “The CMO’s Hidden Advantage” on Agile Brand Guide
A Note From a 20-Year Friendship (Jun 21)
The piece of coverage that actually stopped me mid-scroll wasn’t press at all. My longtime friend and colleague Chuck Hemann posted a reflection on LinkedIn about knowing me for going on 20 years, reminiscing about the work we’ve done together and what he’s seen up close. Coverage from outlets is great for reach. A note like that is the whole reason the book exists.
AI Hope, Episode 1: Reaching Higher with Purpose (Jun 14)
Just ahead of my East Coast book tour stops in DC, NYC, and Boston, Geoff Livingston invited me to be the first guest on his new short-form podcast, AI Hope. We talked about humanity as a differentiator in a digital world and approaching AI with rational optimism amid reactive, toxic social media. I shared early lessons with generative AI, including both helpful outputs and hallucinations, how AI has become a thought partner across my work and podcasting, and where I see AI helping healthcare, from freeing up clinician time to speeding up research.
Listen to the episode on The Buzz by Geoff Livingston
Success Made to Last Legends: “Truly Significant honors author and futurist Aaron Strout; riffs on Wired for Purpose” (Jun 12)
Rick Tocquigny, host of Success Made to Last Legends, and I had a 37-minute conversation about the ideas behind Wired for Purpose. We talked about the Connector’s Code and why authentic relationships remain the ultimate competitive advantage in an age shaped by AI, what a truly significant life looks like beyond career success, and the difference between being well-connected and being genuinely connected, with Gen Z professionals in mind.
Joseph Jaffe: “Purpose Is Not Soft. It’s Structure With a Soul.” (Apr 5)
Marketing author and EOS implementer Joseph Jaffe invited me onto his show to talk about Wired for Purpose, and the conversation went straight to the tension between humanity and AI, trust, and storytelling. We landed on the idea of AI led by humanity, or “human led but AI assisted,” and Joseph wrote up his takeaways on his Substack, including my thoughts on the symbolism of fire in the book and on the cover.
Watch the full episode on YouTube | Read Joseph’s write up on his Substack
If there’s a thread running through all of this, it’s that the more automated our tools get, the more the human layer (trust, memory, judgment, showing up for people with no immediate ask) becomes the thing that actually moves the needle. That’s been the argument of this book from day one, and it’s genuinely gratifying to watch other people make the case in their own words.
Thanks for reading along.
