Paul Welty
@aristotle.bsky.social
Digital transformation leader with agile and DevOps expertise, focused on higher ed. Built Emory's faculty info system. Launched Emory's Center for Innovation. Currently improving career-focused learning in continuing ed. https://www.paulwelty.com/
AI removed the execution bottleneck. Now every idea can be built immediately. The constraint isn't implementation anymore—it's judgment. Deciding what deserves to exist.
February 13, 2026 at 9:11 PM
AI removed the execution bottleneck. Now every idea can be built immediately. The constraint isn't implementation anymore—it's judgment. Deciding what deserves to exist.
There are two versions of you at work.
The machine-self: executes tasks, follows processes, produces outputs. Got rewarded.
The actual self: exercises judgment, sees meaning, asks "is this answer right?"
Which one have you been living as?
The machine-self: executes tasks, follows processes, produces outputs. Got rewarded.
The actual self: exercises judgment, sees meaning, asks "is this answer right?"
Which one have you been living as?
February 11, 2026 at 6:26 PM
There are two versions of you at work.
The machine-self: executes tasks, follows processes, produces outputs. Got rewarded.
The actual self: exercises judgment, sees meaning, asks "is this answer right?"
Which one have you been living as?
The machine-self: executes tasks, follows processes, produces outputs. Got rewarded.
The actual self: exercises judgment, sees meaning, asks "is this answer right?"
Which one have you been living as?
Denial eventually fails.
One day the stories that propped you up just stop working. The roles stop explaining who you are.
AI didn't create the abyss. It was always there. AI just forced you to look.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GBYB6DJH
One day the stories that propped you up just stop working. The roles stop explaining who you are.
AI didn't create the abyss. It was always there. AI just forced you to look.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GBYB6DJH
February 9, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Denial eventually fails.
One day the stories that propped you up just stop working. The roles stop explaining who you are.
AI didn't create the abyss. It was always there. AI just forced you to look.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GBYB6DJH
One day the stories that propped you up just stop working. The roles stop explaining who you are.
AI didn't create the abyss. It was always there. AI just forced you to look.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GBYB6DJH
There are two versions of you at work.
The machine-self: executes tasks, follows processes, produces outputs. Got rewarded.
The actual self: exercises judgment, sees meaning, asks "is this answer right?"
Which one have you been living as?
The machine-self: executes tasks, follows processes, produces outputs. Got rewarded.
The actual self: exercises judgment, sees meaning, asks "is this answer right?"
Which one have you been living as?
February 6, 2026 at 7:56 PM
There are two versions of you at work.
The machine-self: executes tasks, follows processes, produces outputs. Got rewarded.
The actual self: exercises judgment, sees meaning, asks "is this answer right?"
Which one have you been living as?
The machine-self: executes tasks, follows processes, produces outputs. Got rewarded.
The actual self: exercises judgment, sees meaning, asks "is this answer right?"
Which one have you been living as?
Most workplace anxiety about AI isn't about losing your job.
It's about discovering that the version of yourself you've been performing at work was never actually you. It was a machine-self.
And now actual machines can do it better.
It's about discovering that the version of yourself you've been performing at work was never actually you. It was a machine-self.
And now actual machines can do it better.
February 4, 2026 at 1:38 PM
Most workplace anxiety about AI isn't about losing your job.
It's about discovering that the version of yourself you've been performing at work was never actually you. It was a machine-self.
And now actual machines can do it better.
It's about discovering that the version of yourself you've been performing at work was never actually you. It was a machine-self.
And now actual machines can do it better.
Reposted by Paul Welty
New Podcast Episode:
This Week in Tech: In My Head I Have 3 Buckets
Moltbook Becomes a Surreal AI Agent Social Network
with @leolaporte.me, @grivlin.bsky.social, @devindra.bsky.social, @vicmsong.bsky.social
This Week in Tech: In My Head I Have 3 Buckets
Moltbook Becomes a Surreal AI Agent Social Network
with @leolaporte.me, @grivlin.bsky.social, @devindra.bsky.social, @vicmsong.bsky.social
This Week in Tech: In My Head I Have 3 Buckets | TWiT.TV
What happens when AI bots get their own social network, Silicon Valley execs cozy up to power, and Apple takes a cut from creators? This week’s panel calls out the bold
twit.tv
February 2, 2026 at 6:05 AM
New Podcast Episode:
This Week in Tech: In My Head I Have 3 Buckets
Moltbook Becomes a Surreal AI Agent Social Network
with @leolaporte.me, @grivlin.bsky.social, @devindra.bsky.social, @vicmsong.bsky.social
This Week in Tech: In My Head I Have 3 Buckets
Moltbook Becomes a Surreal AI Agent Social Network
with @leolaporte.me, @grivlin.bsky.social, @devindra.bsky.social, @vicmsong.bsky.social
Helping a customer often means assembling a person from tabs. Account here. History there. Usage elsewhere. That is not personal inefficiency. It is tool design. When systems center tickets not people, judgment warps. -
Why customer tools are organized wrong - Paul Welty, PhD
Most companies organize customer tools around their own org chart, then wonder why customers get frustrated. The structure that makes internal work easier is usually the one that makes customer problems...
www.paulwelty.com
February 1, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Helping a customer often means assembling a person from tabs. Account here. History there. Usage elsewhere. That is not personal inefficiency. It is tool design. When systems center tickets not people, judgment warps. -
Many weeks end in fatigue but no learning. Experience does not become insight on its own. It needs reflection. Small rituals that synthesize the week turn time spent into something you can use. -
Start, ship, close, sum up: rituals that make work resolve - Paul Welty, PhD
Most knowledge work never finishes. It just stops. The start, ship, close, and sum-up methodology creates deliberate moments that turn continuous work into resolved units.
www.paulwelty.com
January 31, 2026 at 1:42 AM
Many weeks end in fatigue but no learning. Experience does not become insight on its own. It needs reflection. Small rituals that synthesize the week turn time spent into something you can use. -
We optimize away all friction like it's universally bad. But some friction is load-bearing. "Are you sure?" is noise. "Are you sure you want to delete all 47 files?" makes you look before you let go.
https://www.paulwelty.com/sometimes-friction-is-your-best-friend-post/
https://www.paulwelty.com/sometimes-friction-is-your-best-friend-post/
January 28, 2026 at 9:27 PM
We optimize away all friction like it's universally bad. But some friction is load-bearing. "Are you sure?" is noise. "Are you sure you want to delete all 47 files?" makes you look before you let go.
https://www.paulwelty.com/sometimes-friction-is-your-best-friend-post/
https://www.paulwelty.com/sometimes-friction-is-your-best-friend-post/
Many teams fear shipping more than failing. Drafts feel safe but help no one. Shipping turns private work into learning. It takes courage, then brings feedback and relief. -
Start, ship, close, sum up: rituals that make work resolve - Paul Welty, PhD
Most knowledge work never finishes. It just stops. The start, ship, close, and sum-up methodology creates deliberate moments that turn continuous work into resolved units.
www.paulwelty.com
January 28, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Many teams fear shipping more than failing. Drafts feel safe but help no one. Shipping turns private work into learning. It takes courage, then brings feedback and relief. -
Most knowledge work never ends. It just fades. Without edges we confuse motion with progress. Deliberate starts and finishes give work shape. Endings make learning possible. -
Start, ship, close, sum up: rituals that make work resolve - Paul Welty, PhD
Most knowledge work never finishes. It just stops. The start, ship, close, and sum-up methodology creates deliberate moments that turn continuous work into resolved units.
www.paulwelty.com
January 25, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Most knowledge work never ends. It just fades. Without edges we confuse motion with progress. Deliberate starts and finishes give work shape. Endings make learning possible. -
Automated reflection feels good until it turns into performance. Even a private audience changes what you say. Infrastructure becomes a stage. The risk is ritual without honesty. Discern which friction protects thinking. -
Infrastructure shapes thought - Paul Welty, PhD
The tools you build determine what kinds of thinking become possible. On infrastructure, friction, and building deliberately for thought rather than just throughput.
www.paulwelty.com
January 24, 2026 at 1:42 AM
Automated reflection feels good until it turns into performance. Even a private audience changes what you say. Infrastructure becomes a stage. The risk is ritual without honesty. Discern which friction protects thinking. -
You can tell what a team thinks by what its tools reward. Email breeds paragraphs. Chat breeds fragments. Tickets turn ideas into requests. Infrastructure is philosophy with a budget. Tools shape thought before culture does. -
Infrastructure shapes thought - Paul Welty, PhD
The tools you build determine what kinds of thinking become possible. On infrastructure, friction, and building deliberately for thought rather than just throughput.
www.paulwelty.com
January 21, 2026 at 1:36 PM
You can tell what a team thinks by what its tools reward. Email breeds paragraphs. Chat breeds fragments. Tickets turn ideas into requests. Infrastructure is philosophy with a budget. Tools shape thought before culture does. -
Ideas vanish because the path from thought to page has too many toll booths. Titles, folders, templates. High friction trains your mind to wait for complete thoughts. Infrastructure edits which ideas you ever get to have. -
Infrastructure shapes thought - Paul Welty, PhD
The tools you build determine what kinds of thinking become possible. On infrastructure, friction, and building deliberately for thought rather than just throughput.
www.paulwelty.com
January 18, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Ideas vanish because the path from thought to page has too many toll booths. Titles, folders, templates. High friction trains your mind to wait for complete thoughts. Infrastructure edits which ideas you ever get to have. -
A junior dev once waited days for feedback. Now the loop closes in seconds. Scarcity shaped how we learned. AI flips that. Learning becomes continuous when feedback is abundant. Build for the loop, not the lecture. -
Build for the loop, not the lecture - Paul Welty, PhD
Helping organizations adopt AI without surrendering human judgment
www.paulwelty.com
January 17, 2026 at 1:42 AM
A junior dev once waited days for feedback. Now the loop closes in seconds. Scarcity shaped how we learned. AI flips that. Learning becomes continuous when feedback is abundant. Build for the loop, not the lecture. -
Most organizations treat learning as a scheduled event. But skill development often happens in gaps: the quick question, the five-minute search, the moment of confusion that resolves through trial. -
The 90% of Education We’ve Never Tried - Paul Welty, PhD
Unlock the full potential of education with AI, breaking free from outdated constraints to redefine learning and foster growth for all.
www.paulwelty.com
January 4, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Most organizations treat learning as a scheduled event. But skill development often happens in gaps: the quick question, the five-minute search, the moment of confusion that resolves through trial. -
Writing did not start as poetry. It started as accounting. Most writing still freezes information so systems can run. Emails and reports are paperwork by design. Clarity is the job. -
Writing was always work - Paul Welty, PhD
If writing is authentic human expression, why does everyone hate doing it? Writing began as bureaucracy and remains system-interface work—important, necessary, but never sacred.
www.paulwelty.com
January 3, 2026 at 1:42 AM
Writing did not start as poetry. It started as accounting. Most writing still freezes information so systems can run. Emails and reports are paperwork by design. Clarity is the job. -
Writers did not panic because AI was bad. They panicked because it worked. When a tool threatens output, you debate quality. When it threatens gatekeeping, you moralize. AI bypassed initiation. -
The slop panic - Paul Welty, PhD
Merriam-Webster named 'slop' its Word of the Year. Writers won the branding war against AI. But the panic isn't about creativity—it's about a professional class defending their monopoly on the written...
www.paulwelty.com
December 31, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Writers did not panic because AI was bad. They panicked because it worked. When a tool threatens output, you debate quality. When it threatens gatekeeping, you moralize. AI bypassed initiation. -
The old idea of loyalty came from a slower world. Skills expire fast now. Staying put can be the reckless move. Gen Z gets that learning is the real asset. Job changes become discipline, not impatience. -
Gen Z's job-hopping: smart strategy for growth - Paul Welty
Gen Z's job-hopping isn't reckless. It's a calculated strategy. This article argues they're not being disloyal but rational, and I concur. In a world where skills quickly become obsolete, Gen Z's relentless...
www.paulwelty.com
December 27, 2025 at 1:42 AM
The old idea of loyalty came from a slower world. Skills expire fast now. Staying put can be the reckless move. Gen Z gets that learning is the real asset. Job changes become discipline, not impatience. -
The McKinsey layoffs are not a consulting story. They are a leadership story. AI exposed where judgment got handed off to process and prestige. When that scaffolding falls, only real discernment remains. -
Redefining Leadership: Embracing Human Judgment Amid AI Disruption - Paul Welty
The claim that 100 million white-collar jobs may become obsolete due to AI is an alarm bell, not just for employment, but for how we perceive work itself. This article argues that the commoditization...
www.paulwelty.com
December 25, 2025 at 2:31 AM
The McKinsey layoffs are not a consulting story. They are a leadership story. AI exposed where judgment got handed off to process and prestige. When that scaffolding falls, only real discernment remains. -
Job hopping is not the problem many employers think it is. It is a mirror on the workplace. When people keep leaving, the work usually stopped stretching them. Ambitious people go where they can grow. -
Gen Z's job-hopping: smart strategy for growth - Paul Welty
Gen Z's job-hopping isn't reckless. It's a calculated strategy. This article argues they're not being disloyal but rational, and I concur. In a world where skills quickly become obsolete, Gen Z's relentless...
www.paulwelty.com
December 24, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Job hopping is not the problem many employers think it is. It is a mirror on the workplace. When people keep leaving, the work usually stopped stretching them. Ambitious people go where they can grow. -
Letting machines take the boring tasks frees people up for bigger problems and fresh ideas. Real resilience pops up when folks can actually shape the work, not just follow a script. Anyone else seeing this? -
Is Automation the Key to Organizational Resilience? - Paul Welty
Automation as the backbone of resilience? This article argues it's essential, but let's not forget the human element. While automating routine tasks can indeed free up resources, it's the strategic deployment...
www.paulwelty.com
December 20, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Letting machines take the boring tasks frees people up for bigger problems and fresh ideas. Real resilience pops up when folks can actually shape the work, not just follow a script. Anyone else seeing this? -
Will AI lift us up or leave us behind? Judgment and trust matter more than algorithms. Machines crunch data, but only people bring others together. Funny how human skills keep showing up as the real edge. -
Influence in the AI Era: Why Human Skills Still Matter - Paul Welty
I read this and couldn't agree more: human skills are the linchpin in the age of AI. The article argues that while AI can automate tasks, it can't replicate empathy or the nuance of genuine human interaction....
www.paulwelty.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Will AI lift us up or leave us behind? Judgment and trust matter more than algorithms. Machines crunch data, but only people bring others together. Funny how human skills keep showing up as the real edge. -
Faster isn’t always better. If automation isn’t balanced with human skills and insight, it just feels like running in place. Real resilience needs tech plus the stuff only people can do. Anyone else noticing this? -
Is Automation the Key to Organizational Resilience? - Paul Welty
Automation as the backbone of resilience? This article argues it's essential, but let's not forget the human element. While automating routine tasks can indeed free up resources, it's the strategic deployment...
www.paulwelty.com
December 17, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Faster isn’t always better. If automation isn’t balanced with human skills and insight, it just feels like running in place. Real resilience needs tech plus the stuff only people can do. Anyone else noticing this? -
That one-person company moving quicker than your whole team? It’s possible now. No org charts, no meetings, just rapid results. If one person can do what five did, what does a team even mean anymore? -
The one-person company advantage: why coordination overhead is the new competitive liability - Polymathic
Digital transformation, higher education, innovation, technology, professional skills, management, and strategy
www.paulwelty.com
December 10, 2025 at 1:36 PM
That one-person company moving quicker than your whole team? It’s possible now. No org charts, no meetings, just rapid results. If one person can do what five did, what does a team even mean anymore? -