Working in tech these days means I’m surrounded by nonstop AI hype. AI this, AI that. It’s all enough to make me roll my eyes and curl into fetal 🙉🙄😭. But here’s the thing: strip away the guff, and AI really can deliver.

During my time at Google, I spent every quarter writing and reviewing OKRs, a well-known goal-setting framework that kept nearly 200,000 employees marching in the same direction. It was tedious, and sometimes I hated it (maybe more than sometimes 😉), but after a while I could easily spot a weak goal from a strong one. And when I later found myself staring at the goals in my daughter’s IEP, those same instincts kicked in.

You might assume that in corporate America, where every conversation seems to circle back to cutting costs or driving revenue, there wouldn’t be much room for talk about “storytelling” or “narrative.” But even the most well-designed and best made products will flop without a story that moves people.