Defining the Human Centered Organization
Join us for a global conversation on September 17th, 2025 at 10am PT
Do you know a human-centered organization when you see one? I’ll bet you do.
You can feel it the moment you walk into their office or join their video call. There's something different about how they treat their employees and how they treat you. They genuinely care about people - in their policies and in their practices.
And you definitely know the opposite when you see it too.
Take Shopify's CEO, Tobi Lütke, who told his managers that they must "demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using AI" before they can hire another human. Think about that for a moment. His default assumption is that work not only can be, but should be, automated, rather than being done by a person. That's the antithesis of human-centered leadership.
It's a perfect example of what happens when organizations prioritize efficiency over humanity, transactions over relationships, and algorithms over humanity. Will we see more of this as companies rush to become "AI-first" without considering what that means for their brand or their long-term survivability? If they no longer employ people, will there be anyone left to buy their products and services?
We all intuitively know and recognize human-centered organizations when we encounter them. They're the places where:
People genuinely seem happy and energized, not just going through the motions
Leadership talks about their team as partners and collaborators, not "resources" or "heads" that are no longer needed
Sick leave and vacation policies reflect actual care for human well-being
Employees are growing, learning, and building meaningful relationships
The company's values aren't just wall decorations; they're lived daily
So why don't we have more of them?
Perhaps, in part, it’s because we've never collectively agreed on what it means to be a human-centered organization in practice. We know it when we see it, but we haven't distilled that wisdom into clear principles, policies, and practices that leaders can follow. We haven’t codified our beliefs into a set of standards that leaders can strive to achieve.
That's exactly what we're going to do on September 17, 2025 at 10am PT.
We invite you to join a global conversation that will define what it means to be a human-centered organization in the age of AI. We want your perspectives and insights to shape our collective future. We'll use the ThinkScape® platform from Unanimous AI to capture insights from small-group conversations, similar to an online World Cafe, and surface the collective wisdom of participants from diverse age groups and cultural backgrounds.
Together we'll explore three crucial questions:
What organizational principles should define a human-centered organization?
What policies ensure technology empowers people instead of replacing them?
What practices bring these values to life day-to-day?
Each breakout of small group conversations will be synthesized together to form a rich tapestry, making the ideal clearly visible to organizational leaders from every sector and industry. This isn’t just talk for the sake of hearing ourselves speak to an unrealistic ideal. The collective insights will shape the first draft of what we are tentatively calling the H-Corp Manifesto. A living, public framework for organizational leaders who choose to serve humanity in harmony with profitability, rather than profitability at the expense of humanity.
This isn't about creating another certification or framework to sell. It's about pooling our collective understanding of what works and what doesn't, so we can help more organizations choose humanity. So that we can find a path to harmony where no humans are left behind and society flourishes — a new and true renaissance that creates a more prosperous future for all rather than merely enriching a few.
Whether you’re a leader, creator, educator, student, technologist, policymaker, or curious human, your instincts and your voices matter. People from every generation, from around the globe, and from every walk of life have already registered. They get it. Today we're at a critical inflection point. AI is about to reshape every job, every industry, every organization. We can work together with forethought and intention to avoid the unintended consequences, or we can stand passively by and let it happen to us.
Join us live on September 17 at 10 a.m. PT via Zoom.
Together, let's define what it truly means to put humans at the center of organizational design and function in the age of artificial intelligence.
Not able to attend? Share your thoughts in the comments, or better yet, share them in your own social media posts or articles to help us broaden our global conversation with more perspectives and insights.
You already know what human-centered organizations look like. Now let's make sure everyone else does too.
If you haven't already done so, please take our Human-Centered AI Survey to help us establish baseline metrics for how AI is being used to unlock human potential. The survey focuses on measuring whether AI tools are actually helping people learn, contribute, and thrive—or if they're having the opposite effect. Your responses will help us identify where progress is being made and where it's not, creating valuable insights for both individual practitioners and organizational leaders looking to implement truly human-centric AI initiatives.
Take the survey here: https://substack.com/home/post/p-171954174