Overview of Boss Class
Trailer for Boss Class Season 3 (host: Andrew Palmer, senior writer at The Economist). Palmer frames the season as a hands‑on investigation into how managers and employees can actually use AI today — cutting through hype by trying tools himself, visiting companies that deploy AI in the real world, and extracting practical lessons for leaders.
What the trailer covers
- Host and premise: Andrew Palmer will test and evaluate a broad range of AI tools to see where they help (and where they don’t).
- Tone and approach: inquisitive, practical, occasionally skeptical — a mix of delight, fear and frustration as Palmer experiments with AI clones, coding help, chat personas and agent tools.
- Real‑world focus: episodes will spotlight firms using AI for customer service and for building businesses (examples implied: order/customization prompts like pizza upselling).
- Purpose: teach managers what to prepare for, where to avoid the “easy button,” and how to integrate AI without being misled by hype.
- Availability: Season 3 is subscriber‑only — available to Economist subscribers via “Economist Podcasts Plus.”
Key themes and takeaways
- Experimentation matters: Palmer emphasizes trying tools hands‑on to understand their strengths and limits.
- Usefulness vs. hype: aim to "cut out the hype" — find the practical, current use cases where AI adds value.
- Emotional arc: interactions with AI can provoke delight, fear and annoyance; expect mixed results.
- Augmentation, not replacement: successful use tends to augment workers or co‑founders (Palmer calls some agents “my co‑founders”), not wholesale replace new employees.
- Caution on trust: AI is useful but imperfect — “it’s wrong maybe 20% of the time, 30% of the time,” so human oversight is essential.
- Skill shift: those who resist easy automation and learn to use AI thoughtfully will likely be most successful.
Notable quotes
- “I want to cut out the hype to find out where AI is most useful to managers and employees right now.”
- “These are my co‑founders.” (on AI agents)
- “I genuinely think… the people who are going to be the most successful in the coming years are the people who can resist just hitting the easy button.”
- “If you think it replaces your newcomers, you’re not just wrong, you’re out of your mind.”
- “It’s wrong maybe 20% of the time, 30% of the time.”
Who should listen
- Managers and team leaders assessing AI adoption strategies.
- HR and L&D professionals planning workforce upskilling.
- Product and operations leads exploring customer‑facing automation.
- Any professional curious about the practical, near‑term applications of AI beyond hype.
Actionable recommendations implied by the trailer
- Test AI tools yourself to understand strengths/weaknesses before deploying.
- Focus on augmentation: design workflows where humans oversee or complement AI.
- Be skeptical of one‑click solutions; validate outputs and build verification processes.
- Invest in training so staff can use AI tools effectively rather than be replaced by them.
- Follow real‑world case studies (as the season will present) to learn applicable models.
Logistics
- Host: Andrew Palmer, senior writer at The Economist.
- Format: Season of Boss Class (season 3) with practical reporting and experiments.
- Access: Season 3 requires an Economist subscription; search “Economist Podcasts Plus” for subscription options.