A search for meaning
AI isn’t just changing work — it’s reshaping how we search, create, and live
Habemus Papam, we have a new Pope! The Catholic Church isn’t exactly where CMOs look for future-of-work playbooks—yet this week, Rome sent a signal worth paying attention to.
When Cardinal Robert Prevost emerged as Pope Leo XIV, Vatican watchers immediately traced the name back to Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, the 1891 encyclical that confronted the Industrial Revolution’s impact on labor and the economy. Rerum Novarum (“Of new things” in Latin) explored the search for meaning, dignity, and purpose in a rapidly changing world - just like our times today.
Sidenote: the Church has been way ahead of the curve with AI. Back in 2023, it published a surprisingly practical AI ethics and implementation guide — complete with operational checklists. It’s worth a read. Of all things, we honestly didn’t expect that Rome will be such a leading voice of a current trend like AI.
It’s a headline more than a name: we’ve hit another economic turning point. Only this time, the spinning looms are AI models, autonomous agents, and algorithmic marketplaces.
As Rerum Novarum balanced innovation with a moral defense of labor, executives now face a dual imperative: capture AI’s exponential upside while protecting dignity, creativity, and trust. Customers, employees, regulators—and apparently the Vatican—expect nothing less.
Speed and stewardship are no longer in tension; they’re the same strategy.
This week’s main topic is unarguably the changing landscape of search - which now looks more like an AI assistant with emotions, vibes, and topics, rather than a search bar with keywords and categories.
Let’s dive in and say cheers with a glass of Vermentino Bolgheri, one of the wines served at the conclave, to the new Pope!
