Photo © Sébastien Delarque

Eric Schmidt’s San Francisco Consensus about the impact of artificial intelligence

Reda SadkiArtificial intelligence

“We are at the beginning of a new epoch,” Eric Schmidt declared at the RAISE Summit in Paris on 9 July 2025. The former Google CEO’s message grounded in what he calls the San Francisco Consensus carries unusual weight—not necessarily because of his past role leading one of tech’s giants, but because of his current one: advising heads of state and industry on artificial intelligence. “When I talk to governments, what I tell them is, one, ChatGPT is great, but that was two years ago. Everything’s changed again. You’re not prepared for it. And two, you better get organized around it—the good and the bad.” At the Paris summit, he shared what he calls the “San Francisco Consensus”—a convergence of belief among Silicon Valley’s leaders that within three to six years AI will fundamentally transform every aspect of human activity. Whether one views this timeline as realistic or delusional matters …

RAISE Language as AI’s universal interface What it means and why it matters-small

Language as AI’s universal interface: What it means and why it matters

Reda SadkiArtificial intelligence

Imagine if you could control every device, system, and process in the world simply by talking to it in plain English—or any language you speak. No special commands to memorize. No programming skills required. No technical manuals to study. Just explain what you want in your own words, and it happens. This is the transformation Eric Schmidt described when he spoke about language becoming the “universal interface” for artificial intelligence. To understand why this matters, we need to step back and see how radically this changes everything. The old way: A tower of Babel Today, interacting with technology requires learning its language, not the other way around. Consider what you need to know: Each system speaks its own language. Humans must constantly translate their intentions into forms machines can understand. This creates barriers everywhere: between people and technology, between different systems, and between those who have technical skills and those …

Agentic AI revolution and workforce development

The agentic AI revolution: what does it mean for workforce development?

Reda SadkiArtificial intelligence

Imagine hiring an assistant who never sleeps, never forgets, can work on a thousand tasks simultaneously, and communicates with you in your own language. Now imagine having not just one such assistant, but an entire team of them, each specialized in different areas, all coordinating seamlessly to achieve your goals. This is the “agentic AI revolution” —a transformation where AI systems become agents that can understand objectives, remember context, plan actions, and work together to complete complex tasks. It represents a shift from AI as a tool you use to AI as a workforce that you collaborate with. Understanding AI agents: More than chatbots When most people think of AI today, they think of ChatGPT or similar systems—you ask a question, you get an answer. That interaction ends, and the next time you return, you start fresh. These are powerful tools, but they are fundamentally reactive and limited to single …