Jurgen Appelo
@jurgenappelo.bsky.social
Redesigning the future of work—no hype, no hierarchies, no hegemonies. Aiming for open systems, responsible autonomy, and decentralized power.
https://substack.jurgenappelo.com/
https://substack.jurgenappelo.com/
The curse of radical centrism: every extremist thinks you're sleeping with the enemy. Acceleration bros call me a dream-crusher. Pessimists brand me a Silicon Valley cheerleader. Getting punched from both directions doubles the entertainment.
Finding Purpose in the Chaos
Why embracing uncertainty—and wandering aimlessly for a while—might be exactly what your business needs.
substack.jurgenappelo.com
February 15, 2026 at 5:30 PM
The curse of radical centrism: every extremist thinks you're sleeping with the enemy. Acceleration bros call me a dream-crusher. Pessimists brand me a Silicon Valley cheerleader. Getting punched from both directions doubles the entertainment.
AI agents can't help you build better relationships when your data is scattered across 20 SaaS tools.
Garbage in, garbage out.
Clean your data first. Everything else comes second.
Garbage in, garbage out.
Clean your data first. Everything else comes second.
Clean Up Your Data
I use Fibery to consolidate what I know about my readers, customers, and investors
substack.jurgenappelo.com
February 15, 2026 at 12:30 PM
AI agents can't help you build better relationships when your data is scattered across 20 SaaS tools.
Garbage in, garbage out.
Clean your data first. Everything else comes second.
Garbage in, garbage out.
Clean your data first. Everything else comes second.
We're heading somewhere strange: machines optimizing queues, routing work, enabling better experiences. Then simply handing us instructions. 'Bring this item to that place.'
Kanban Must Evolve in the Age of AI
Why Linear Workflow Boards Fail in an AI-Driven, Nonlinear World
substack.jurgenappelo.com
February 15, 2026 at 7:30 AM
We're heading somewhere strange: machines optimizing queues, routing work, enabling better experiences. Then simply handing us instructions. 'Bring this item to that place.'
"Leaders, therefore, do not simply broadcast intent; they refine it with their teams through dialogue, backbriefs, scenario exploration, and continuous adjustment, so that intent becomes the context within which decisions are made, not just an explanation of what should happen."
TBM 406: Seeing Everything, Understanding Nothing (The Context Trap)
AI is supercharging legacy leadership assumptions about context and control.
open.substack.com
February 15, 2026 at 7:00 AM
"Leaders, therefore, do not simply broadcast intent; they refine it with their teams through dialogue, backbriefs, scenario exploration, and continuous adjustment, so that intent becomes the context within which decisions are made, not just an explanation of what should happen."
Moats don't just protect. They compound. Every Bloomberg terminal deepens their data edge. Every Airbnb stay strengthens their network. The best moats grow deeper with use.
The Four Moats Theory™
Who needs Deloitte, McKinsey, and Accenture, when you have agentic AI?
substack.jurgenappelo.com
February 14, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Moats don't just protect. They compound. Every Bloomberg terminal deepens their data edge. Every Airbnb stay strengthens their network. The best moats grow deeper with use.
If da Vinci had ChatGPT, would he have used it? I think yes. The man was obsessed with tools, techniques, and efficiency. He'd outsource tedious work to focus on vision. Why do modern creatives think they're above that?
Dear Creatives, Stop Whining. Embrace the AI Revolution.
In the age of AI, it’s okay to collaborate with AI assistants in your creative process.
substack.jurgenappelo.com
February 14, 2026 at 12:30 PM
If da Vinci had ChatGPT, would he have used it? I think yes. The man was obsessed with tools, techniques, and efficiency. He'd outsource tedious work to focus on vision. Why do modern creatives think they're above that?
AI promises prediction but creates entirely new uncertainties. The cruel irony is that tools deployed to navigate uncertainty may be eroding our ability to adapt to genuine surprises. We're becoming dangerously brittle.
22 AI Ethics Challenges in a Future of Work with AI
The Critical Questions AI Leadership Must Face as AI Reshapes Work, Power, and Purpose. There's a Lot to Do for the Networked Organizations of the Future.
substack.jurgenappelo.com
February 14, 2026 at 7:30 AM
AI promises prediction but creates entirely new uncertainties. The cruel irony is that tools deployed to navigate uncertainty may be eroding our ability to adapt to genuine surprises. We're becoming dangerously brittle.
"Behind every ‘intelligent’ system is a human being doing invisible, often brutal work. Content moderation. Data labelling. Quality assurance. The technology industry calls it ‘human-in-the-loop.’ A more honest phrase would be ‘human under the floor.’"
What Is Critical AI Literacy?
Learning what you lose every time you hand your thinking to a machine.
open.substack.com
February 14, 2026 at 7:01 AM
"Behind every ‘intelligent’ system is a human being doing invisible, often brutal work. Content moderation. Data labelling. Quality assurance. The technology industry calls it ‘human-in-the-loop.’ A more honest phrase would be ‘human under the floor.’"
Before you automate everything: keep one stupid task for yourself. Schedule 30 minutes of brainless work daily. Your mind needs the wandering time. You're not wasting time. You're giving your brain what it needs.
Don’t Take Away My Stupid Tasks!
No one can do meaningful, intellectually demanding work every waking second. Sometimes, our brain cells demand boredom. In the age of AI, we need to cleanse our minds.
substack.jurgenappelo.com
February 13, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Before you automate everything: keep one stupid task for yourself. Schedule 30 minutes of brainless work daily. Your mind needs the wandering time. You're not wasting time. You're giving your brain what it needs.
"The vitriol toward AI is more pronounced than any anti-tech sentiment I’ve seen in my lifetime.
I’m not sure Silicon Valley is really grasping the extent of the AI backlash. People are being left behind, and that’s the biggest barrier between capability and adoption."
I’m not sure Silicon Valley is really grasping the extent of the AI backlash. People are being left behind, and that’s the biggest barrier between capability and adoption."
5,127 Layers
The Gap Between Capability and Adoption
open.substack.com
February 13, 2026 at 3:15 PM
"The vitriol toward AI is more pronounced than any anti-tech sentiment I’ve seen in my lifetime.
I’m not sure Silicon Valley is really grasping the extent of the AI backlash. People are being left behind, and that’s the biggest barrier between capability and adoption."
I’m not sure Silicon Valley is really grasping the extent of the AI backlash. People are being left behind, and that’s the biggest barrier between capability and adoption."
"If the whole thing collapses, as many people fear, the careless repetition of hype by editors who love the “everything is about to change” narrative (always good for clicks) may well turn out to have been an important contributing factor."
Promises are cheap
Nope.
open.substack.com
February 13, 2026 at 2:45 PM
"If the whole thing collapses, as many people fear, the careless repetition of hype by editors who love the “everything is about to change” narrative (always good for clicks) may well turn out to have been an important contributing factor."
Framework for cutting through AGI hype: Is the problem static or does it evolve? Does it have an optimum solution? Static with clear solutions = complicated, not complex. AI crushes complicated. Struggles with complex.
AGI—Complex, Not Complicated
True Agentic AI? When? I haven’t seen a single AI benchmark that steps into this messy, wicked, unpredictable arena.
substack.jurgenappelo.com
February 13, 2026 at 12:31 PM
Framework for cutting through AGI hype: Is the problem static or does it evolve? Does it have an optimum solution? Static with clear solutions = complicated, not complex. AI crushes complicated. Struggles with complex.
The question isn't whether we'll move beyond traditional organizations. It's how. NAOs (humans and AI agents coordinating through shared protocols) are one answer. Not the only one.
The Rise of the Network Agentic Organization (NAO)
What's Next for Teal, DAOs, Holacracy, unFIX and RenDanHeYi? Agentic AI Combined with Networked Organizations. A Killer Combo.
substack.jurgenappelo.com
February 13, 2026 at 7:30 AM
The question isn't whether we'll move beyond traditional organizations. It's how. NAOs (humans and AI agents coordinating through shared protocols) are one answer. Not the only one.
Agility captures our need to respond.
But it doesn't capture our need to ignore.
Sometimes waiting strategically until the dust settles is the smarter move than pioneering into chaos.
But it doesn't capture our need to ignore.
Sometimes waiting strategically until the dust settles is the smarter move than pioneering into chaos.
Why Viability Overrides Agility
Viability versus agility reveals why long-term business survival matters more than speed
substack.jurgenappelo.com
February 12, 2026 at 5:31 PM
Agility captures our need to respond.
But it doesn't capture our need to ignore.
Sometimes waiting strategically until the dust settles is the smarter move than pioneering into chaos.
But it doesn't capture our need to ignore.
Sometimes waiting strategically until the dust settles is the smarter move than pioneering into chaos.
I announced my new book. 100 people signed up as beta readers. 50 actually started. By the final chapter, one person remained.
So I fired them all and hired AI instead.
So I fired them all and hired AI instead.
Humans Are the Bottleneck
Why I Fired My Beta Readers
substack.jurgenappelo.com
February 12, 2026 at 12:31 PM
I announced my new book. 100 people signed up as beta readers. 50 actually started. By the final chapter, one person remained.
So I fired them all and hired AI instead.
So I fired them all and hired AI instead.
Asked four AIs for my daily calorie target. Got answers from 1530 to 2050 kcal. Fat and carb recommendations all over the place. Set my own targets like the sentient rebel I am.
LLMs Are Like Politicians—Confidently Wrong
Six Techniques to Fact-Check AI and Stop Trusting Confidently Wrong LLMs
substack.jurgenappelo.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:31 AM
Asked four AIs for my daily calorie target. Got answers from 1530 to 2050 kcal. Fat and carb recommendations all over the place. Set my own targets like the sentient rebel I am.
AI accelerates your workflow.
But strategic decisions remain yours. What to create. Why it matters. Whether it meets your standards.
That's not a limitation. That's where your value lives.
But strategic decisions remain yours. What to create. Why it matters. Whether it meets your standards.
That's not a limitation. That's where your value lives.
The Myth of 100% AI-Generated Content
Why Humans Are Still in the Loop in the Age of AI and the Future of Work
substack.jurgenappelo.com
February 11, 2026 at 5:31 PM
AI accelerates your workflow.
But strategic decisions remain yours. What to create. Why it matters. Whether it meets your standards.
That's not a limitation. That's where your value lives.
But strategic decisions remain yours. What to create. Why it matters. Whether it meets your standards.
That's not a limitation. That's where your value lives.
"This is the long-term risk: organisations and their workforces succeed with AI in the short term while slowly becoming less capable, more dependent, and more isolated."
AI Doesn't Reduce Work, It Quietly Makes It Worse
Why partial solutions create the problems they're meant to solve
open.substack.com
February 11, 2026 at 1:45 PM
"This is the long-term risk: organisations and their workforces succeed with AI in the short term while slowly becoming less capable, more dependent, and more isolated."
"When you meet people in organizations, the reality you encounter is absolutely nowhere close to where the technology is."
HR, We Have a Problem
The gap between AI capability and organizational reality is becoming dangerous
open.substack.com
February 11, 2026 at 1:31 PM
"When you meet people in organizations, the reality you encounter is absolutely nowhere close to where the technology is."
"While legacy software companies scramble, those of us building with AI are creating things that weren’t possible before. Not replacing old tools. Inventing entirely new categories."
$2 Trillion Vanished in Days. While I Created a Mastermind of Dead Geniuses.
How one AI update wiped out more value than most countries produce in a year, and what I built while the market burned.
open.substack.com
February 11, 2026 at 1:30 PM
"While legacy software companies scramble, those of us building with AI are creating things that weren’t possible before. Not replacing old tools. Inventing entirely new categories."
The fear that AI will replace all jobs comes from confusing AI with AGI.
Current AI is specialized. It needs humans for creativity, judgment, and oversight.
We're nowhere close to machines that think like us.
Current AI is specialized. It needs humans for creativity, judgment, and oversight.
We're nowhere close to machines that think like us.
The Myth of 100% AI-Generated Content
Why Humans Are Still in the Loop in the Age of AI and the Future of Work
substack.jurgenappelo.com
February 11, 2026 at 12:31 PM
The fear that AI will replace all jobs comes from confusing AI with AGI.
Current AI is specialized. It needs humans for creativity, judgment, and oversight.
We're nowhere close to machines that think like us.
Current AI is specialized. It needs humans for creativity, judgment, and oversight.
We're nowhere close to machines that think like us.
Employment doesn't solve uncertainty. It only delays it. Full-time employees can still be founders by monitoring the market and waiting for their moment.
Confessions of a Fearless Founder—From Crazy Bets to Safe Bets
A Serial Entrepreneur's Lessons from 30 Years of Startups, Failures, and One Slowly Dying Industry
substack.jurgenappelo.com
February 11, 2026 at 7:31 AM
Employment doesn't solve uncertainty. It only delays it. Full-time employees can still be founders by monitoring the market and waiting for their moment.
"AI labs are moving up the stack not from strength but from necessity, because the model layer is commoditizing faster than enterprises can be rewired. These players recognize that orchestration, not intelligence, is the real control point."
The $285 Billion 'SaaSpocalypse' Is the Wrong Panic
AI labs aren’t winning by intelligence alone, SaaS isn’t dying, and the real battle is over who becomes the system of action in the agentic enterprise. That battle is a symetric one.
open.substack.com
February 10, 2026 at 3:30 PM
"AI labs are moving up the stack not from strength but from necessity, because the model layer is commoditizing faster than enterprises can be rewired. These players recognize that orchestration, not intelligence, is the real control point."
"Most agentic systems still depend on human scaffolding that no one has time to maintain. To build something that can actually deliver, we need to design for outcomes from the start, with a focus on architecture, not just interaction."
From Agent Spaghetti to Outcome Architecture
A practical guide to building composable, accountable agentic systems that scale.
open.substack.com
February 10, 2026 at 3:15 PM
"Most agentic systems still depend on human scaffolding that no one has time to maintain. To build something that can actually deliver, we need to design for outcomes from the start, with a focus on architecture, not just interaction."
Unlike bad books or photos, bad software can't just be ignored.
It has to be maintained.
That's why AI-generated code is fundamentally different from AI-generated content.
It has to be maintained.
That's why AI-generated code is fundamentally different from AI-generated content.
The AI Code Tsunami
AI coding tools are democratizing software development. Here's why that means more developers, not fewer.
substack.jurgenappelo.com
February 10, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Unlike bad books or photos, bad software can't just be ignored.
It has to be maintained.
That's why AI-generated code is fundamentally different from AI-generated content.
It has to be maintained.
That's why AI-generated code is fundamentally different from AI-generated content.