Dear Friends,
Do you ever follow your GPS so faithfully that you forget to question it?
That was me, one fine afternoon in London. The map told me to turn left, then right, then stop. I obeyed. One hour later, a furious local told me I’d parked in a residents-only zone and I was going to get my fine.
I hadn’t done anything wrong, I just followed an out-of-date map. That moment felt oddly familiar to anyone who’s worked on a transformation project. We follow processes, SOPs, and training guides that were once brilliant but now belong to a world that’s already changed. The people who drew the map have moved on, and the rest of us are still trying to drive using yesterday’s directions.
Other situation might feel like a blind guide leading another blind. New people are learning while training others, knowledge gets lost in translation, and everyone’s still racing to meet deadlines.
We all know the phrase “time is money.” But when speed becomes the only measure of progress, we often end up paying twice; once for the rush, and again for the rework. Maybe the goal isn’t only to choose between speed and quality, because in reality that’s always a challenge. The real art is finding the rhythm that keeps both alive; giving people time to learn, while tracking how they use that time.
We need to reward curiosity and correction as much as delivery, because transformation isn’t a race; it’s an evolution.
Lately, I’ve been exploring how technology might help us build better maps. Ones that can update themselves before we hit the next dead end.
I recently read about a Silicon Valley startup called Viven, founded by the same minds behind Eightfold AI.
Their idea sounds like science fiction: giving every employee a digital twin — an AI version of you that quietly learns from your work emails, messages, and documents. When you’re on leave (or asleep in another time zone), your colleagues can “ask your twin” questions and get answers as if you were there.
It’s bold ,and slightly unsettling but also kind of brilliant.
Viven is trying to stop knowledge from “walking out the door.”
They even designed a privacy system where your digital twin decides what to share and with whom, depending on context — almost like how we naturally adjust our tone when speaking to a peer versus a partner. Viven recently raised USD 35 million from Khosla Ventures and Foundation Capital, showing that the business world sees serious potential in this idea.
Other innovators such as Way We Do, Starmind, and Document360 are also exploring similar paths, using AI to capture and connect knowledge across teams.
But Viven’s “digital twin” approach feels like a bold leap — a reminder that the real challenge isn’t storing information, but keeping it alive.
Large firms including ours are already experimenting with AI-driven knowledge tools too.
It’s a privilege to work in a firm like Deloitte that has the resources and global insight to lead this exploration. I definitely need to make time to learn more about these systems myself. As part of my professional development and because I believe this is where transformation is headed.
The next generation of consulting won’t just be about building systems; it’ll be about teaching those systems to remember responsibly.
And maybe that’s what true leadership will mean in the AI era — not only keeping the map accurate, but making sure it’s drawn with ethics, integrity, and confidence. Because technology can make us faster and smarter, but only values will make us wiser.
Until next time —
Lydia
P.S. If this letter found you at just the right moment, I’d love to hear about it. Join my weekly letter list and let’s figure it out together — one AI-shaped step at a time. Join the weekly letter list.
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