{"id":90419,"date":"2025-10-20T08:00:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T12:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businessesgrow.com\/?p=90419"},"modified":"2025-10-19T21:08:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T01:08:16","slug":"durable-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businessesgrow.com\/2025\/10\/20\/durable-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Strip humanity to its essence and you’ll build a durable business"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"durable<\/p>\n

I recently participated in a research project that gathered input from futurists on how AI will change humanity by 2030. Of course, nobody can foresee what this AI world will be like five months from now, let alone five years from now, but it was a great exercise that yielded some consensus among the experts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But this pushed my thinking in a different way. If we are to consider how AI is changing humanity, what exactly is humanity?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If we think back to a human existence 200 or 300 years ago, a human adult would have had three primary goals: 1) don’t die, 2) find food\/shelter, 3) have babies. Is that how our ancestors would have defined the meaning of humanity?<\/p>\n

Today when we think about AI impacting “humanity,” we might reference the impact on our careers, our privacy, or our purpose in life. We might be worried about an AI impact on our schools, democracy, or relationships.<\/p>\n

But is that humanity?<\/p>\n

Today I want to strip away the pretense of modern life and explore what the intrusion of AI might mean to our humanity, and by extension, our businesses.<\/p>\n

What doesn’t change?<\/h2>\n

In the early days of Amazon, Wired<\/em> magazine interviewed Jeff Bezos and asked him what new technology excited him the most. Amazon was revolutionizing eCommerce, but Bezos took the interview in another direction.<\/p>\n

“Changing technology is interesting,” he said, “but what is even more interesting is what will NOT change, because that’s how you build a business. I find it impossible to consider that in ten years our customers will want higher prices, less selection, or slower delivery. Our success comes from focusing on the factors that never change.”<\/p>\n

His insight is even truer today as we face the future with our new AI masters. Instead of focusing on change, the most robust businesses will serve the elements of humanity that will not change.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The humanity that remains<\/h2>\n

There is certainly a lot of hyperbole around AI and its implications. But I trust the view of an insider like Satya Nadella of Microsoft when he says AI is the most profound development in history — more important than fire, electricity, or the internet.<\/p>\n

However, just as important as the power of the change is the speed at which it occurs. The improvements are dizzying. So in this hurricane-force environment, how do you build a durable business?<\/p>\n

Let’s take a page from the Bezos Playbook. If we strip away the pretense and pressure of the modern world, what about humanity will NEVER change? Here’s a starter list:<\/p>\n