How Will You Make Money If You Aren't Needed Anymore?
Thinking Small Is A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. And If Your Body Language Is Bad You Will Never Get In The Game.
Life is awesome, irrespective of the cards you’ve been dealt by circumstances. I build businesses with people I like to pursue a rich emotional and financial life. I share lessons I learn along the way.
Here are this weeks insights:
How Will You Make Money If You Aren't Needed Anymore?
Thinking Small Is A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
If Your Body Language Is Bad, You Will Never Get In The Game
You can access previous editions of my weekly emails here. Let’s begin!
(1) How Will You Make Money If You Aren't Needed Anymore?
We have entered a new world and most of us don't even realize it yet. Artificial intelligence (AI) is quietly removing the floor beneath our feet. The shift is subtle for now, but soon it will be too drastic to ignore. What once took teams of highly trained experts is now handled by algorithms for pennies on the dollar. This shift isn’t just happening in research labs; it’ll soon happen on your phone.
Your Brain vs. AI Power
Your brain uses about 20 watts of energy. By next year, AI models with PhD-level intelligence will run on your smartphones using the same amount of power. Imagine having the world’s best physicist, biotech expert, or financial advisor in your pocket—available 24/7, at a fraction of the cost.
Why Hire an Human When AI Can Do It Better?
Why should a business outsource to IIT engineers or hire Harvard MBAs when AI can deliver faster, cheaper and more accurate results? In India, 35% of IIT placements were disrupted. In the US, Harvard graduates are facing declining job prospects. Companies are no longer looking to expand teams; they're using AI to make existing employees more productive. 41% of companies plan to reduce workforces by 2030 because of AI.
Anything that can be done on a screen can now be done better, faster, and cheaper by AI. Tasks that once required human expertise—design, taxes, customer service, coding—are now being handled more efficiently by machines.
DeepSeek Has Disrupted The Paradigm
For years, global competitiveness was tied to energy consumption and computing power. The US has invested heavily in AI chips, believing that whoever controls the most computing power will dominate the world. This is why they are re-shoring and launching Stargate type initiatives.
But DeepSeek has flipped this narrative.
By innovating under constraints imposed by US sanctions, Chinese entrepreneurs developed a way to compute intelligence with less energy at 95% lower costs. This breakthrough proved that you don’t need massive energy consumption to achieve powerful intelligence.
What will this result to? You can expect disruption after disruption across every field imaginable—music, movies, education, healthcare, governance. In Nigeria, ChatGPT advanced students’ math skills by 2 years in just 6 weeks. This is just a trailer of things to come.
The Big Question: What Happens to People?
The nature of our interaction with information will be changed forever by this technology within the next decade. The existing economic structures are breaking down. People are not ready for the disruption that is coming. When technology can do the work better than you can, what is your purpose? When capital no longer needs labor, how does labor gain capital?
We all know that a video game that is way too easy is boring and you stop playing. When life gets boring, how do we keep humans engaged? We need struggle and we need meaning in our lives.
What’s The Solution?
We have to show agency by becoming experts at AI-Assisted.
Become AI-Assisted: Learn to work with AI, not against it. You don’t need to be a coder—you need to know how to create solutions using AI tools.
Show Agency: Take courses that teach you how to organize information, create insights, and solve real-world problems with AI.
A colleague recently asked me if he should enroll for an MBA. I told him to save his money. The real value today is learning how to turn the flood of free information into actionable knowledge. That’s how you become relevant today and survive tomorrow.
The AI revolution is both scary and exciting. It’s removing old opportunities but creating new ones for those who are ready to evolve. Be ahead of the curve instead of behind it.
(2) Thinking Small Is A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
It is generally human nature is to overestimate risk and underestimate opportunity.
So I think entrepreneurs in general would be well advised to try and bias against this piece of human nature.
The risk are probably not as big as you perceive. And the opportunities are probably bigger than you perceive.
Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
(3) If Your Body Language Is Bad, You Will Never Get In The Game
I don’t care how good you are.
If your body language is bad, you will never get in the game.
Ever!
I rather lose than watch how some kids play.
They are always thinking about themselves.
I didn’t score, so why should I be happy!
I am not getting enough minutes, why should I be happy!
When I look at my team, I am checking what is happening on the bench. And if somebody is asleep over there, somebody doesn’t care, somebody is not engaged in the game, they will never get in the game.
Ever!
— AI is not replacing sports, attitude or mindset. Your body language matters just as much as your thoughts. When I lead my teams, I also always look at body language.
Harsh Batra (LinkedIn)
Thank you for reading. If you’re curious about the businesses I build, here they are:
iDeals VDR - If you are running M&A transactions, planning an IPO, or sharing anything confidential online, you won’t find a better Virtual Data Room partner than us. Here is a 90 second video of iDeals. Companies like Pfizer, Mercedes and Tata trust us. Thousands of investment bankers, lawyers and insolvency professionals use us everyday to run their due diligence processes. If you have a need to share anything sensitive online, send me an email on harsh@idealscorp.com. I’d love to work with you.
Happy Ratio - I founded Happy Ratio because I am immensely passionate about health. To get the most out of life you need to be healthy. To be healthy you need to eat the right foods and drink the right beverages. In a world dominated by fast food and busy schedules, making the right choice isn't easy. Happy Ratio provides clean, nutritious and delicious foods and drinks. When eating well feels complicated, we make it simple.
Marcellus Investment Managers - I am a Marcellus client because their investment philosophy resonates with how I think about investing. Their approach to investing in clean, honest and cash flow positive businesses can yield stupendous results over time. I trust them with my savings and evangelize their approach. Investing comes with inherent risks so please do your own due diligence before deciding where to put your money. I am also an Independent Financial Advisor with Marcellus.