
• 白手起家的千万富翁艾玛・格雷德与卡戴珊家族共同打造了价值数十亿美元的品牌(包括塑身衣和服装品牌 Skims),她是奥巴马基金会的董事会成员,最近还与网球冠军可可・高芙合作,联合美国快递公司UPS设立了一个导师项目。尽管拓展业务和指导他人对她来说得心应手,但格雷德承认,自己在人工智能领域也需要他人指导。格雷德在接受《财富》杂志独家采访时表示,她的人工智能导师就是其同事、《创智赢家》投资人马克・库班。
企业家艾玛・格雷德生于英国,因洞察文化潮流主流化趋势而声名远扬,她最知名的身份莫过于金・卡戴珊价值40亿美元的塑身衣帝国Skims的创始合伙人以及牛仔品牌Good American的首席执行官。
她与科勒・卡戴珊合作的Good American牛仔系列在上线首日便创下了100万美元的销售额,成为服装史上最成功的牛仔系列首发案例。格雷德帮助重新定义了零售业的包容性,并成为《创智赢家》(Shark Tank)首位黑人女性投资人,而她如今还不到45岁。
眼下,她正与网球明星可可・高芙合作,利用全新的UPS活动,将这套成功经验移植到小企业中。在该活动中,格雷德将为女性执掌的新兴品牌的创始人提供指导,并通过一对一辅导帮助她们扩大业务规模。
尽管指导他人对她来说轻而易举,但格雷德承认,在人工智能方面,她才是那个需要鼓励的人,而帮助她掌握这项新技术的正是其同事、《创智赢家》的另一位明星马克・库班。
在接受《财富》杂志独家采访时,格雷德谈到了其热门播客节目《Aspire》中一期尚未播出的内容。在这一期中,她和库班坐在一起交流了各自使用人工智能的情况。
她回忆道,“我在某种程度上已经入门了,但说实话,通过那一期对人工智能的深入探讨,我对如何使用人工智能有了新的紧迫感”。她补充说,库班的手机上竟然有60个人工智能应用程序。“没错,他给了我一记‘鞭策’。”
她说,录制一结束,她就开始研究今年秋天沃顿商学院和哈佛大学的人工智能课程。格雷德笑着坦诚地说:“我必须把这项技术弄明白,因为在人工智能使用方面,我的水平跟42岁的普通女性没什么区别。”
早在意识到自己落后之前,格雷德就已经在向使用人工智能的员工发放现金奖励。
她解释说,“大约两年前,我在办公室发布了一则通知,给所有在工作中使用人工智能的人发放现金奖励”。她还表示,这一激励措施大受欢迎,尤其是营销和财务团队。
“此举改变了整个办公室的氛围,改变了人们展示其工作的方式,也改变了人们开展工作的方式。”
然而,随着公司Z世代员工和三十多岁的员工开始尝试当时推出的ChatGPT和其他新人工智能工具,格雷德承认自己可能过于依赖这些员工了。这意味着直到最近,她一直把人工智能当作搜索引擎来用,而其余的工作都交给员工处理。
“我当时的情况类似于:艾玛,这个这问题得你来解决。”
与此同时,诸多首席执行官也在争先恐后地任命人工智能负责人、为企业的未来和变革做好准备。
微软联合创始人、亿万富翁比尔・盖茨表示,人工智能的发展速度甚至让他“感到惊讶”,而且即便员工学会使用最新的科技工具,他们仍可能面临失业。与此同时,一位前谷歌高管表示,首席执行官们目前正忙于“庆祝”效率提升,但没意识到自己将成为人工智能的下一个“宰割”对象。
然而,她没有使用人工智能来提高自己的生产力。
作为美国最富有的白手起家女性之一,格雷德的净资产据称已接近4亿美元,名下至少有四家大企业。显然,她的工作效率极高。不过在她看来,人工智能并非用于从自己的日常工作中榨取更多生产力。
她说:“我可能是世界上最高效的人之一,我觉得已经到了自己的极限。” 她还指出,自己的大部分时间都用来进行高风险决策,而非执行任务。
“在这一方面,再多的人工智能对我来说也是于事无补。”
不过她说,人工智能的用处在于帮助其做出更明智的战略选择,并重塑她的领导方式。
格雷德补充说:“我认为这是对工作方式的重塑,我的绝大部分工作是进行高风险对赌和重要决策。所以,如果能通过数据来优化决策过程,我觉得这或将是我使用人工智能最频繁的场景。
“不妨思考下我作为商人和规划者的职责,我认为真正发生根本性转变的将是这些内容。”
在她与库班合作的一期已播出播客节目中,这位电视名人、达拉斯独行侠队的老板向不接纳人工智能的创始人发出了严厉警告:“你完了……这就像过去有人说‘我不需要用电脑,无需用互联网,无需用手机’一样。”
他补充说:“如果你是企业家,或者想成为企业家,不妨开始尝试使用人工智能,了解它的工作原理和提示方法。学会使用人工智能,就像拥有一整个千人商业教授团队一样。”(*)
译者:冯丰
审校:夏林
• 白手起家的千万富翁艾玛・格雷德与卡戴珊家族共同打造了价值数十亿美元的品牌(包括塑身衣和服装品牌 Skims),她是奥巴马基金会的董事会成员,最近还与网球冠军可可・高芙合作,联合美国快递公司UPS设立了一个导师项目。尽管拓展业务和指导他人对她来说得心应手,但格雷德承认,自己在人工智能领域也需要他人指导。格雷德在接受《财富》杂志独家采访时表示,她的人工智能导师就是其同事、《创智赢家》投资人马克・库班。
企业家艾玛・格雷德生于英国,因洞察文化潮流主流化趋势而声名远扬,她最知名的身份莫过于金・卡戴珊价值40亿美元的塑身衣帝国Skims的创始合伙人以及牛仔品牌Good American的首席执行官。
她与科勒・卡戴珊合作的Good American牛仔系列在上线首日便创下了100万美元的销售额,成为服装史上最成功的牛仔系列首发案例。格雷德帮助重新定义了零售业的包容性,并成为《创智赢家》(Shark Tank)首位黑人女性投资人,而她如今还不到45岁。
眼下,她正与网球明星可可・高芙合作,利用全新的UPS活动,将这套成功经验移植到小企业中。在该活动中,格雷德将为女性执掌的新兴品牌的创始人提供指导,并通过一对一辅导帮助她们扩大业务规模。
尽管指导他人对她来说轻而易举,但格雷德承认,在人工智能方面,她才是那个需要鼓励的人,而帮助她掌握这项新技术的正是其同事、《创智赢家》的另一位明星马克・库班。
在接受《财富》杂志独家采访时,格雷德谈到了其热门播客节目《Aspire》中一期尚未播出的内容。在这一期中,她和库班坐在一起交流了各自使用人工智能的情况。
她回忆道,“我在某种程度上已经入门了,但说实话,通过那一期对人工智能的深入探讨,我对如何使用人工智能有了新的紧迫感”。她补充说,库班的手机上竟然有60个人工智能应用程序。“没错,他给了我一记‘鞭策’。”
她说,录制一结束,她就开始研究今年秋天沃顿商学院和哈佛大学的人工智能课程。格雷德笑着坦诚地说:“我必须把这项技术弄明白,因为在人工智能使用方面,我的水平跟42岁的普通女性没什么区别。”
早在意识到自己落后之前,格雷德就已经在向使用人工智能的员工发放现金奖励。
她解释说,“大约两年前,我在办公室发布了一则通知,给所有在工作中使用人工智能的人发放现金奖励”。她还表示,这一激励措施大受欢迎,尤其是营销和财务团队。
“此举改变了整个办公室的氛围,改变了人们展示其工作的方式,也改变了人们开展工作的方式。”
然而,随着公司Z世代员工和三十多岁的员工开始尝试当时推出的ChatGPT和其他新人工智能工具,格雷德承认自己可能过于依赖这些员工了。这意味着直到最近,她一直把人工智能当作搜索引擎来用,而其余的工作都交给员工处理。
“我当时的情况类似于:艾玛,这个这问题得你来解决。”
与此同时,诸多首席执行官也在争先恐后地任命人工智能负责人、为企业的未来和变革做好准备。
微软联合创始人、亿万富翁比尔・盖茨表示,人工智能的发展速度甚至让他“感到惊讶”,而且即便员工学会使用最新的科技工具,他们仍可能面临失业。与此同时,一位前谷歌高管表示,首席执行官们目前正忙于“庆祝”效率提升,但没意识到自己将成为人工智能的下一个“宰割”对象。
然而,她没有使用人工智能来提高自己的生产力。
作为美国最富有的白手起家女性之一,格雷德的净资产据称已接近4亿美元,名下至少有四家大企业。显然,她的工作效率极高。不过在她看来,人工智能并非用于从自己的日常工作中榨取更多生产力。
她说:“我可能是世界上最高效的人之一,我觉得已经到了自己的极限。” 她还指出,自己的大部分时间都用来进行高风险决策,而非执行任务。
“在这一方面,再多的人工智能对我来说也是于事无补。”
不过她说,人工智能的用处在于帮助其做出更明智的战略选择,并重塑她的领导方式。
格雷德补充说:“我认为这是对工作方式的重塑,我的绝大部分工作是进行高风险对赌和重要决策。所以,如果能通过数据来优化决策过程,我觉得这或将是我使用人工智能最频繁的场景。
“不妨思考下我作为商人和规划者的职责,我认为真正发生根本性转变的将是这些内容。”
在她与库班合作的一期已播出播客节目中,这位电视名人、达拉斯独行侠队的老板向不接纳人工智能的创始人发出了严厉警告:“你完了……这就像过去有人说‘我不需要用电脑,无需用互联网,无需用手机’一样。”
他补充说:“如果你是企业家,或者想成为企业家,不妨开始尝试使用人工智能,了解它的工作原理和提示方法。学会使用人工智能,就像拥有一整个千人商业教授团队一样。”(*)
译者:冯丰
审校:夏林
• Self-made multimillionaire Emma Grede has built billion-dollar brands with the Kardashians (including shapewear and clothing brand company Skims), sits on the board for the Obama Foundation, and has just teamed up with tennis champion Coco Gauff on a mentorship campaign with UPS. But while scaling businesses and mentoring others come naturally to her, Grede admits she needed a mentor moment of her own when it came to artificial intelligence. And that moment came courtesy of fellow Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban, Grede exclusively tells Fortune.
The British-born entrepreneur Emma Grede, best known as the founding partner of Kim Kardashian’s $4 billion shapewear empire Skims and the CEO of denim brand Good American, has built a reputation on spotting cultural shifts before they hit the mainstream.
When her and Khloe Kardashian’s Good American denim line dropped, it made $1 million on day one, making it the biggest denim launch in apparel history. Grede has helped redefine inclusion in retail and became the first Black female investor on Shark Tank—all before turning 45.
Now she’s bringing that same playbook to small businesses through a new UPS campaign alongside tennis star Coco Gauff. The initiative sees Grede mentoring creators of emerging female-led brands and offering one-on-one coaching to help them scale.
But while mentoring others comes naturally to her, Grede admits that when it came to AI, she was the one who needed a pep talk—and fellow Shark Tank star Mark Cuban was the one who gave her the push to come to grips with the new technology.
In an exclusive interview with Fortune, Grede talked about an episode of her hit podcast show Aspire that hadn’t aired yet, where the two sat down and compared their AI usage.
“I was already kind of getting there, but if I’m really honest, that episode where we really delved into AI gave me a new urgency around how I use AI,” she recalled, adding that Cuban had a staggering 60 AI apps on his phone. “Yeah, he gave me a kick.”
As soon as the recording wrapped up, she said that she started looking into AI courses at the Wharton School and Harvard for this fall. “I need to figure this out, because I’m using AI like a 42-year-old woman,” Grede candidly admitted while laughing.
Grede gave her staff a cash bonus for using AI—long before she realized she was behind
“About two years ago I put a note out in my office giving a cash bonus to anyone that uses AI in their work,” she explained, adding that the incentive was a big hit—especially with the marketing and finance teams.
“It changed the office. It changed the way people presented their work. It changed the way people did their work.”
But as her Gen Z and thirtysomething staff embraced experimenting with ChatGPT and other new AI launches at the time, Grede admitted that she perhaps leaned too heavily on them. It meant that until recently, she’s been using AI more as a search engine and leaving her staff to handle the rest.
“I was like, Emma, you need to sort that out.”
It comes as many other CEOs are scrambling to appoint AI leaders, future-proof their business, and brace for change.
Billionaire Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates says AI is moving at a speed that “surprises” even him and that even if workers learn how to use the latest tech tools, they may still find themselves out of a job. Meanwhile, an ex-Google exec says CEOs are currently too busy “celebrating” their efficiency gains to see they’re next on AI’s chopping board.
But she’s not using AI to make her more productive
As one of America’s richest self-made women—with a reported net worth of nearly $400 million and at least four major businesses to her name—Grede is clearly ruthlessly efficient. But in her eyes, AI isn’t about squeezing even more productivity from her day.
“I’m probably the most productive person in the world. I don’t know that I can be that more productive,” she said, noting that her time is mostly spent making high-stakes decisions—not executing tasks.
“There’s no amount of AI that can help me with that.”
But where it can help, she said, is in making smarter strategic choices and reshaping how she leads.
“I think it’s a reframing of how we’re going to do things,” Grede added. “So much of my job is about making really big bets and decisions. And so if I can put data in places to optimize that decision making, I think that that’s probably where I’m going to be using it most.
“When you start to think about my role as a merchant and as a planner, it’s really those things that I think are going to fundamentally shift.”
In her podcast episode with Cuban, which has since been released, the television personality and Dallas Mavericks owner had a stark warning for founders who don’t embrace AI: “You’re f–ked…That’s like saying, back in the day, ‘I don’t need to use a PC, I don’t need to use the internet. I don’t need a cell phone.’”
He added, “If you’re an entrepreneur, or want to be an entrepreneur, start playing with it to get a sense for how it works, how to prompt. It becomes like having an entire staff of 1,000 business professors.”