AI is supposed to simplify work. Jim VandeHei says it’s doing the opposite

AI isn’t simplifying your life . . . yet. It’s mass-producing more options, more decisions, and more noise. Axios CEO Jim VandeHei makes the case that the antidote isn’t a better productivity app, it’s a ruthless, three-part system he calls Confront, Delete, Amplify. VandeHei shares what he’s learned from running Axios by these principles, including calling a leadership meeting with the subject heading “Let’s Kill S***.” This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company Bob Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with today’s top business leaders navigating real-time challenges. Subscribe to Rapid Response wherever you get your podcasts to ensure you never miss an episode. In advance of your book Simplify, you wrote an article this summer about prepping for an Axios board meeting, and you said that even a six-month planning horizon, you realized, was pure fantasy, that everything could change in a month. I love this phrase you pointed to, a post-processable velocity, that the speed of an AI world is outpacing our ability to comprehend it as humans.…