Rob Witte
@unicorninnovationlabs.com
Traveler, hiker, gamer, geek. Techno-Optimist.
Check out https://medium.com/@unicornoptimist for some of my writings.
Check out https://medium.com/@unicornoptimist for some of my writings.
As AI makes content cheap and infinite, the scarce resource shifts.
Judgment. Taste. Timing. Context.
The Super Bowl reminded me of an old Negroponte idea: when everything goes digital, “analog” signals gain value.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/analog-sig...
Judgment. Taste. Timing. Context.
The Super Bowl reminded me of an old Negroponte idea: when everything goes digital, “analog” signals gain value.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/analog-sig...
Analog Signals in an AI World
During this year’s Super Bowl, something quietly revealing happened.
unicornoptimist.substack.com
February 10, 2026 at 3:00 PM
As AI makes content cheap and infinite, the scarce resource shifts.
Judgment. Taste. Timing. Context.
The Super Bowl reminded me of an old Negroponte idea: when everything goes digital, “analog” signals gain value.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/analog-sig...
Judgment. Taste. Timing. Context.
The Super Bowl reminded me of an old Negroponte idea: when everything goes digital, “analog” signals gain value.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/analog-sig...
I explored a social network called Moltbook.
Autonomous AI agents, talking to each other.
No humans in the loop.
Patterns start to form.
Nothing quite settles.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
Autonomous AI agents, talking to each other.
No humans in the loop.
Patterns start to form.
Nothing quite settles.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
Watching Agents Talk to Themselves
A report from my AI collaborator on OpenClaw and the Moltbook social network exclusively for AI Agents
medium.com
February 3, 2026 at 3:30 PM
I explored a social network called Moltbook.
Autonomous AI agents, talking to each other.
No humans in the loop.
Patterns start to form.
Nothing quite settles.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
Autonomous AI agents, talking to each other.
No humans in the loop.
Patterns start to form.
Nothing quite settles.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
People.
Process.
Tools.
The penultimate triad of modern delivery — effective when systems are simple.
But systems don’t stay that way.
Over time, reliability looks less like execution and more like care.
A different posture is required
Stewardship.
Process.
Tools.
The penultimate triad of modern delivery — effective when systems are simple.
But systems don’t stay that way.
Over time, reliability looks less like execution and more like care.
A different posture is required
Stewardship.
Reliability Is Stewarded
Most organizations don’t struggle because they lack capable people, sound processes, or modern tools.
unicornoptimist.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 3:00 PM
People.
Process.
Tools.
The penultimate triad of modern delivery — effective when systems are simple.
But systems don’t stay that way.
Over time, reliability looks less like execution and more like care.
A different posture is required
Stewardship.
Process.
Tools.
The penultimate triad of modern delivery — effective when systems are simple.
But systems don’t stay that way.
Over time, reliability looks less like execution and more like care.
A different posture is required
Stewardship.
For the past couple of years, AI has been loud.
Chats. Prompts. Performative demos.
But the most consequential AI won’t talk to you.
It will quietly change defaults, reduce friction,
and shape decisions you stop noticing.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/ai-is-leav...
Chats. Prompts. Performative demos.
But the most consequential AI won’t talk to you.
It will quietly change defaults, reduce friction,
and shape decisions you stop noticing.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/ai-is-leav...
AI is Leaving the Chat Window
The Quiet Rise of Ambient Intelligence
unicornoptimist.substack.com
January 23, 2026 at 3:30 PM
For the past couple of years, AI has been loud.
Chats. Prompts. Performative demos.
But the most consequential AI won’t talk to you.
It will quietly change defaults, reduce friction,
and shape decisions you stop noticing.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/ai-is-leav...
Chats. Prompts. Performative demos.
But the most consequential AI won’t talk to you.
It will quietly change defaults, reduce friction,
and shape decisions you stop noticing.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/ai-is-leav...
It’s become remarkably easy to make things.
When everything is possible, judgment becomes the scarce skill. Not taste as vibes or aesthetics, but taste as discernment.
In a world full of output, the real work is choosing what survives.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-return...
When everything is possible, judgment becomes the scarce skill. Not taste as vibes or aesthetics, but taste as discernment.
In a world full of output, the real work is choosing what survives.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-return...
The Return of Taste as a Technical Skill
I’m noticing how easy it has become to make things.
unicornoptimist.substack.com
January 21, 2026 at 3:03 PM
It’s become remarkably easy to make things.
When everything is possible, judgment becomes the scarce skill. Not taste as vibes or aesthetics, but taste as discernment.
In a world full of output, the real work is choosing what survives.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-return...
When everything is possible, judgment becomes the scarce skill. Not taste as vibes or aesthetics, but taste as discernment.
In a world full of output, the real work is choosing what survives.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-return...
January feels like a gap.
The light is returning, but the headlines are all turmoil, anger, and tribalism.
Beneath that noise, generosity quietly holds.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
The light is returning, but the headlines are all turmoil, anger, and tribalism.
Beneath that noise, generosity quietly holds.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
The Benevolence Bump
January arrives quietly. The confetti from New Year’s Eve has been swept away, the banners taken down, the countdown forgotten. But the…
medium.com
January 20, 2026 at 3:30 PM
January feels like a gap.
The light is returning, but the headlines are all turmoil, anger, and tribalism.
Beneath that noise, generosity quietly holds.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
The light is returning, but the headlines are all turmoil, anger, and tribalism.
Beneath that noise, generosity quietly holds.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
Most AI headlines focus on scale: capital, compute, and speed.
What’s getting less attention is how different labs are structuring their bets—and why those architectural choices may matter more than raw spend.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-quiet-...
What’s getting less attention is how different labs are structuring their bets—and why those architectural choices may matter more than raw spend.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-quiet-...
January 8, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Most AI headlines focus on scale: capital, compute, and speed.
What’s getting less attention is how different labs are structuring their bets—and why those architectural choices may matter more than raw spend.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-quiet-...
What’s getting less attention is how different labs are structuring their bets—and why those architectural choices may matter more than raw spend.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-quiet-...
It’s the start of the year. You sit down to begin the day.
A meeting has already shifted. Your inbox is lighter than expected. A summary is waiting.
Nothing feels unusual.
Quiet smoothness has a way of slowly absorbing judgment. Staying oriented inside systems matters.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
A meeting has already shifted. Your inbox is lighter than expected. A summary is waiting.
Nothing feels unusual.
Quiet smoothness has a way of slowly absorbing judgment. Staying oriented inside systems matters.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
January 6, 2026 at 3:30 PM
It’s the start of the year. You sit down to begin the day.
A meeting has already shifted. Your inbox is lighter than expected. A summary is waiting.
Nothing feels unusual.
Quiet smoothness has a way of slowly absorbing judgment. Staying oriented inside systems matters.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
A meeting has already shifted. Your inbox is lighter than expected. A summary is waiting.
Nothing feels unusual.
Quiet smoothness has a way of slowly absorbing judgment. Staying oriented inside systems matters.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
AI headlines lately feel less like technical debate and more like an emotional pattern.
Denial. Anger. Bargaining. A quiet sense of loss.
Mapped out, they line up uncannily with the Kübler-Ross stages of grief — not over death, but over a lost future.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/ai-and-the...
Denial. Anger. Bargaining. A quiet sense of loss.
Mapped out, they line up uncannily with the Kübler-Ross stages of grief — not over death, but over a lost future.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/ai-and-the...
AI and the Five Stages of Grief
Spend enough time scanning today’s AI headlines and a pattern starts to emerge.
unicornoptimist.substack.com
December 30, 2025 at 3:30 PM
AI headlines lately feel less like technical debate and more like an emotional pattern.
Denial. Anger. Bargaining. A quiet sense of loss.
Mapped out, they line up uncannily with the Kübler-Ross stages of grief — not over death, but over a lost future.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/ai-and-the...
Denial. Anger. Bargaining. A quiet sense of loss.
Mapped out, they line up uncannily with the Kübler-Ross stages of grief — not over death, but over a lost future.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/ai-and-the...
In rocketry, Max Q is the moment of maximum stress during ascent. AI may be nearing its own version.
I tried to name the structure of this moment — and where hope lives in it.
Hope doesn’t require certainty.
It requires participation.
🦄 medium.com/@unicornopti...
I tried to name the structure of this moment — and where hope lives in it.
Hope doesn’t require certainty.
It requires participation.
🦄 medium.com/@unicornopti...
THE MAX Q PARADOX
Why AI Leaders Feel the Race Is Inevitable
medium.com
December 16, 2025 at 3:15 PM
In rocketry, Max Q is the moment of maximum stress during ascent. AI may be nearing its own version.
I tried to name the structure of this moment — and where hope lives in it.
Hope doesn’t require certainty.
It requires participation.
🦄 medium.com/@unicornopti...
I tried to name the structure of this moment — and where hope lives in it.
Hope doesn’t require certainty.
It requires participation.
🦄 medium.com/@unicornopti...
The real problem with hustle culture? You can’t escape it alone.
Just like the Yondr pouch removes the pressure for students to stay plugged in,
AI removes the pressure for workers to look busy.
When speed is trivial, hustle culture lifts
and real work returns.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
Just like the Yondr pouch removes the pressure for students to stay plugged in,
AI removes the pressure for workers to look busy.
When speed is trivial, hustle culture lifts
and real work returns.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
December 11, 2025 at 3:15 PM
The real problem with hustle culture? You can’t escape it alone.
Just like the Yondr pouch removes the pressure for students to stay plugged in,
AI removes the pressure for workers to look busy.
When speed is trivial, hustle culture lifts
and real work returns.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
Just like the Yondr pouch removes the pressure for students to stay plugged in,
AI removes the pressure for workers to look busy.
When speed is trivial, hustle culture lifts
and real work returns.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
AI research isn’t collapsing — the filters are.
A Berkeley professor says he “can’t keep up” anymore.
Feels familiar outside academia too.
This isn’t an info overload problem.
It’s a signal literacy problem.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/signal-lit...
A Berkeley professor says he “can’t keep up” anymore.
Feels familiar outside academia too.
This isn’t an info overload problem.
It’s a signal literacy problem.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/signal-lit...
December 10, 2025 at 3:15 PM
AI research isn’t collapsing — the filters are.
A Berkeley professor says he “can’t keep up” anymore.
Feels familiar outside academia too.
This isn’t an info overload problem.
It’s a signal literacy problem.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/signal-lit...
A Berkeley professor says he “can’t keep up” anymore.
Feels familiar outside academia too.
This isn’t an info overload problem.
It’s a signal literacy problem.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/signal-lit...
We often confuse motion with momentum.
I’ve been thinking about how easily the noise of “busy” crowds out the quieter work that actually moves things forward.
This new essay explores the cost of constant motion — and the strength in slowing down enough to think.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
I’ve been thinking about how easily the noise of “busy” crowds out the quieter work that actually moves things forward.
This new essay explores the cost of constant motion — and the strength in slowing down enough to think.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
December 9, 2025 at 3:15 PM
We often confuse motion with momentum.
I’ve been thinking about how easily the noise of “busy” crowds out the quieter work that actually moves things forward.
This new essay explores the cost of constant motion — and the strength in slowing down enough to think.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
I’ve been thinking about how easily the noise of “busy” crowds out the quieter work that actually moves things forward.
This new essay explores the cost of constant motion — and the strength in slowing down enough to think.
medium.com/@unicornopti...
When systems get more complex, they don’t replace us — they reveal how much they still depend on us.
AI safety. Learning systems. Ecology.
Three domains, same truth.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-human-...
AI safety. Learning systems. Ecology.
Three domains, same truth.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-human-...
December 5, 2025 at 3:30 PM
When systems get more complex, they don’t replace us — they reveal how much they still depend on us.
AI safety. Learning systems. Ecology.
Three domains, same truth.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-human-...
AI safety. Learning systems. Ecology.
Three domains, same truth.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-human-...
Sitting in a café full of MacBooks, something clicked.
Microsoft is building the future of work.
But it may be drifting away from the future of workers.
Here is the blind spot almost nobody is talking about.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-agents...
Microsoft is building the future of work.
But it may be drifting away from the future of workers.
Here is the blind spot almost nobody is talking about.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-agents...
December 4, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Sitting in a café full of MacBooks, something clicked.
Microsoft is building the future of work.
But it may be drifting away from the future of workers.
Here is the blind spot almost nobody is talking about.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-agents...
Microsoft is building the future of work.
But it may be drifting away from the future of workers.
Here is the blind spot almost nobody is talking about.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-agents...
Every system that scales faster than we can steward becomes brittle.
The future isn’t autonomous — it’s collaborative.
The future isn’t autonomous — it’s collaborative.
December 3, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Every system that scales faster than we can steward becomes brittle.
The future isn’t autonomous — it’s collaborative.
The future isn’t autonomous — it’s collaborative.
Apple’s outliers?
They’re not flops. They’re early drafts.
Newton, G4 Cube, HomePod, Vision Pro, iPhone Air…
All misunderstood. All foundational.
I wrote about the pattern.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/when-a-flo...
They’re not flops. They’re early drafts.
Newton, G4 Cube, HomePod, Vision Pro, iPhone Air…
All misunderstood. All foundational.
I wrote about the pattern.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/when-a-flo...
December 2, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Apple’s outliers?
They’re not flops. They’re early drafts.
Newton, G4 Cube, HomePod, Vision Pro, iPhone Air…
All misunderstood. All foundational.
I wrote about the pattern.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/when-a-flo...
They’re not flops. They’re early drafts.
Newton, G4 Cube, HomePod, Vision Pro, iPhone Air…
All misunderstood. All foundational.
I wrote about the pattern.
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/when-a-flo...
AI is peeling away the busywork layer and exposing the real operating system of work underneath.
My latest Substack on what becomes visible when the scaffolding fades:
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-hidden...
My latest Substack on what becomes visible when the scaffolding fades:
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-hidden...
November 24, 2025 at 5:18 PM
AI is peeling away the busywork layer and exposing the real operating system of work underneath.
My latest Substack on what becomes visible when the scaffolding fades:
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-hidden...
My latest Substack on what becomes visible when the scaffolding fades:
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-hidden...
That moment when you look up from your coffee in mid-November and realize the world’s already gone full Christmas.
Every year it hits like a corporate freight train.
I wrote about that dissonance — and the relief of a quiet café that lets you arrive in your own time.
medium.com/unicorn-opti...
Every year it hits like a corporate freight train.
I wrote about that dissonance — and the relief of a quiet café that lets you arrive in your own time.
medium.com/unicorn-opti...
November 23, 2025 at 1:15 AM
That moment when you look up from your coffee in mid-November and realize the world’s already gone full Christmas.
Every year it hits like a corporate freight train.
I wrote about that dissonance — and the relief of a quiet café that lets you arrive in your own time.
medium.com/unicorn-opti...
Every year it hits like a corporate freight train.
I wrote about that dissonance — and the relief of a quiet café that lets you arrive in your own time.
medium.com/unicorn-opti...
25 years of business travel and domestic have come down to one personal metric. It's not status or luxury. It's...
Crispy. Bacon. Integrity. 🥓
Pursuit of that tiny standard reshaped how I think about trust, service, and leadership.
Essay:
medium.com/@unicornopti...
Crispy. Bacon. Integrity. 🥓
Pursuit of that tiny standard reshaped how I think about trust, service, and leadership.
Essay:
medium.com/@unicornopti...
The Bacon Integrity Principle
Why the smallest consistencies become the anchors we trust most
medium.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:01 PM
25 years of business travel and domestic have come down to one personal metric. It's not status or luxury. It's...
Crispy. Bacon. Integrity. 🥓
Pursuit of that tiny standard reshaped how I think about trust, service, and leadership.
Essay:
medium.com/@unicornopti...
Crispy. Bacon. Integrity. 🥓
Pursuit of that tiny standard reshaped how I think about trust, service, and leadership.
Essay:
medium.com/@unicornopti...
Everyone’s chasing “autonomous AI.”
My latest Substack unpacks why the future of AI isn’t self-running systems but self-correcting ones — where humans stay in the loop by design, not by accident.
“Agentic AI: The Myth of the Self-Running Machine”
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/agentic-ai...
My latest Substack unpacks why the future of AI isn’t self-running systems but self-correcting ones — where humans stay in the loop by design, not by accident.
“Agentic AI: The Myth of the Self-Running Machine”
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/agentic-ai...
November 12, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Everyone’s chasing “autonomous AI.”
My latest Substack unpacks why the future of AI isn’t self-running systems but self-correcting ones — where humans stay in the loop by design, not by accident.
“Agentic AI: The Myth of the Self-Running Machine”
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/agentic-ai...
My latest Substack unpacks why the future of AI isn’t self-running systems but self-correcting ones — where humans stay in the loop by design, not by accident.
“Agentic AI: The Myth of the Self-Running Machine”
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/agentic-ai...
Audacity is an underrated corporate asset.
Google’s Project Suncatcher—testing orbital AI data centers powered by endless sunlight—may never scale, but it proves something bigger: curiosity still deserves a budget.
🦄 unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/a-love-letter-to-audacity
Google’s Project Suncatcher—testing orbital AI data centers powered by endless sunlight—may never scale, but it proves something bigger: curiosity still deserves a budget.
🦄 unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/a-love-letter-to-audacity
November 6, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Audacity is an underrated corporate asset.
Google’s Project Suncatcher—testing orbital AI data centers powered by endless sunlight—may never scale, but it proves something bigger: curiosity still deserves a budget.
🦄 unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/a-love-letter-to-audacity
Google’s Project Suncatcher—testing orbital AI data centers powered by endless sunlight—may never scale, but it proves something bigger: curiosity still deserves a budget.
🦄 unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/a-love-letter-to-audacity
Walk into a great hotel and you don’t meet a door.
You meet the doorman.
Attention. Judgment. Humanity.
AI can open the door.
Only humans know why the moment matters.
The future isn’t replacement — it’s amplification.
📝 The Doorman Fallacy
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-doorma...
You meet the doorman.
Attention. Judgment. Humanity.
AI can open the door.
Only humans know why the moment matters.
The future isn’t replacement — it’s amplification.
📝 The Doorman Fallacy
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-doorma...
November 5, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Walk into a great hotel and you don’t meet a door.
You meet the doorman.
Attention. Judgment. Humanity.
AI can open the door.
Only humans know why the moment matters.
The future isn’t replacement — it’s amplification.
📝 The Doorman Fallacy
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-doorma...
You meet the doorman.
Attention. Judgment. Humanity.
AI can open the door.
Only humans know why the moment matters.
The future isn’t replacement — it’s amplification.
📝 The Doorman Fallacy
unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-doorma...
Capitalism isn’t breaking — it's updating.
OpenAI’s move to a Public Benefit Corporation is a test:
Can we scale intelligence and responsibility?
Thoughts on Capitalism 2.0:
📎 medium.com/@unicornopti...
OpenAI’s move to a Public Benefit Corporation is a test:
Can we scale intelligence and responsibility?
Thoughts on Capitalism 2.0:
📎 medium.com/@unicornopti...
November 4, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Capitalism isn’t breaking — it's updating.
OpenAI’s move to a Public Benefit Corporation is a test:
Can we scale intelligence and responsibility?
Thoughts on Capitalism 2.0:
📎 medium.com/@unicornopti...
OpenAI’s move to a Public Benefit Corporation is a test:
Can we scale intelligence and responsibility?
Thoughts on Capitalism 2.0:
📎 medium.com/@unicornopti...
We’re measuring AI’s ROI.
The harder question now:
How are we measuring our own?
In the era of intelligent tools, the differentiator isn’t usage — it’s discernment, curiosity, and human judgment.
Sharpen what can’t be automated.
🔗 unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-roi-of...
The harder question now:
How are we measuring our own?
In the era of intelligent tools, the differentiator isn’t usage — it’s discernment, curiosity, and human judgment.
Sharpen what can’t be automated.
🔗 unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-roi-of...
The ROI of Your Mind
AI has officially entered the accountability era.
unicornoptimist.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 6:00 PM
We’re measuring AI’s ROI.
The harder question now:
How are we measuring our own?
In the era of intelligent tools, the differentiator isn’t usage — it’s discernment, curiosity, and human judgment.
Sharpen what can’t be automated.
🔗 unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-roi-of...
The harder question now:
How are we measuring our own?
In the era of intelligent tools, the differentiator isn’t usage — it’s discernment, curiosity, and human judgment.
Sharpen what can’t be automated.
🔗 unicornoptimist.substack.com/p/the-roi-of...