Enterprise transformation demands judgment and steady leadership. Here I write about what that looks like in real time — navigating tradeoffs, aligning people, and creating clarity when the path isn’t obvious.
We Defunded the Road, Then Blamed People for the Detour
September 25, 2026
Shadow AI isn’t a discipline problem. Companies cut IT modernization to fund AI, so the approved path got slower exactly as the workaround got better.
The Three Laws Were Never Written for the Robots
September 18, 2026
AI agent guardrails aren’t about trusting the model. A BGP outage I caused taught me the real question: what can it reach, and who can drop the traffic?
You Can’t Expedite a Person
September 15, 2026
We model power, water and GPUs. The data center workforce shortage is the constraint nobody forecasts — and it has the longest lead time of them all.
Look Up: Twenty-Five Years Since the Sky Went Quiet
September 10, 2026
My daughter was six weeks old on 9/11. Twenty-five years later, my 9/11 memories: the second plane, an empty sky, and why these stories must be told.
Fifteen Feet: What a Plane Crash Taught Me About Being Human
September 3, 2026
Three people survived a plane crash 15 feet from my home. Three years later, it remains a powerful reminder of human judgment, training and instinct in the age of AI.
Where Is the Human When the AI Agent Goes Rogue?
August 27, 2026
Who is accountable when an AI agent goes rogue. It raises an issue that will become increasingly important as organizations move from AI that answers questions to AI that can actually take action.
The Biggest Risk of AI May Be That Humans Stop Thinking for Themselves
August 22, 2026
As AI becomes more persuasive, human judgment matters more. Michael Earls explores why we must question AI, trust our intuition, and think for ourselves.
Where Is Your Beach? Finding Your North Star Before the Noise Takes Over
August 14, 2026
Finding your North Star starts with creating space to be human. Discover why leaders need their own “beach” to slow down, reconnect, and find direction.
Attention Is the Real Currency: Learning Intentionally in a Distracted World
July 28, 2026
Do we learn differently from audiobooks than physical books? Explore how attention, intentional learning, and focus matter more than the format in today’s digital world.
The 23 Minutes That Decide Your Direction
July 24, 2026
In the age of AI, protecting your attention may be more valuable than increasing your productivity. Learn why 23 uninterrupted minutes can change your direction.