Good Morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],

“Are you thinking of doing a master’s?”

“What will the next five years of your career look like?” 

“How often do you use AI at work?”

These are among the many questions Rahel and I have asked almost every person we’ve met over the past few months. It’s an occupational hazard of hosting a podcast that aims to understand how careers and workplaces are changing in a job market demanding new skills, new roles, and new incentives. 

For five months now, we’ve spoken to hiring managers, founders, early-career professionals, and senior executives. These conversations have helped us identify broad trends: the shift in the American dream, the impossibility of hiring in the age of AI, the crossroads facing Indian IT, and more. 

These trends capture—and perhaps even define—this moment. But we believe there are other, more silent shifts happening across Indian workplaces that tell us something more. The things that cannot be narrowed down to a number in hiring reports. The stories that explain what our unemployment data actually reveals. The personal experiences that capture a cultural shift—and no, not the ‘Gen Z is lazy’ kind. 

It is an ambitious goal without a clear template. 

And we are looking. 

The story of careers and workplaces in India is layered in ways we are only beginning to comprehend. It requires us to think from all directions, across sectors and disciplines. 

So, 90,000 Hours needs your valuable input. Your questions, frustrations, doubts, and interests could help us tell the next big story about careers and work. 

You can share any and every career question you might have. Point us to things that have caught your attention or are bothering you. Please feel free to roast us and all our episodes. 

We have framed this short survey to understand you—our listeners and readers—better. As always, you can reach us at [email protected] and [email protected]. You can also find us on Linkedin: @Vidhatri Rao and @Rahel Philipose.

Eagerly looking forward to your responses, and we wish you all a very happy new year! 

Before I sign off, here’s a little recap of 90,000 Hours so far:

Our debut episode upends what we know about traditional networking: showing up in the right rooms, handing out the right cards, and saying the right things.

What if networking and investor pitches happened on a pickleball court? 

Pitches, pickleball and the new rules of networking

Episode 1

Listen here

Pitches, pickleball and the new rules of networking

Episode 1

Listen here

Every AI evangelist will tell you the same thing: this technology unlocks new levels of productivity and progress that were previously unimaginable. We put that claim to test by measuring how AI is actually being used at work. What we found: many are tinkering away, experimenting with AI to automate their tasks because it’s efficient. But at the enterprise level, the picture looks very different. There, AI adoption often gets tangled in bureaucracy, office politics, and leadership that is still figuring it all out. In short, we are a long way from organisations truly making AI the solution to every problem they face. 

'I automated 20 hours of my work': What AI really does to your job

Episode 9

Listen here

'I automated 20 hours of my work': What AI really does to your job

Episode 9

Listen here

Now, if we are speaking about AI, I have to talk about hiring. Today, if a founder posts a single job opening, they wake up to hundreds, sometimes thousands, of applications. Yet half or more of these submissions appear to be written or polished by AI. When you can’t discern who has actually done the work, how does hiring even function? 

AI broke the job hunt. Here’s what’s replacing it

Episode 6

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AI broke the job hunt. Here’s what’s replacing it

Episode 6

Listen here

Coming from Hyderabad, a city where going to America for a master’s degree is often seen as the ultimate ambition and pinnacle of success, this hit home. This episode flips the American success story. The land of the free and the home of the brave is no longer a guaranteed, one-way ticket to individual aspiration. Many students are now stuck in limbo or returning home, facing the even tougher reality of not knowing what they want to do once they’re back. 

The hard truth about the American dream

Episode 3

Listen here

The hard truth about the American dream

Episode 3

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And another cornerstone of ambition and success in India—the IT industry—is now being disrupted on multiple fronts. AI is rewriting the old playbooks, Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are pulling away top talent, and clients are tightening their budgets.

About a hundred IT professionals, many of whom witnessed colleagues and loved ones being laid off, shared stories with us of shifting KPIs, growing redundancies, and the deep unease of watching entrenched work models fade into obsolescence.

It’s a perfect capsule of an industry in transition.

Indian IT faces its ultimate reckoning. Here’s how founders and veterans are rethinking the playbook

Episode 4

Listen here

Indian IT faces its ultimate reckoning. Here’s how founders and veterans are rethinking the playbook

Episode 4

Listen here

You can listen to all of our episodes on The Ken’s app, or find them on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. All past editions of our newsletters are available to read here.

Thanks for tuning in! We will be back with our next podcast episode on 6 January. 

Regards,
Vidhatri

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