The Rethinking Work Show

As AI makes work faster and easier, what might we lose along the way? Bala Muthiah explores the hidden cost of convenience, why productive friction strengthens learning and judgment, and how we can use AI without outsourcing our ability to think for ourselves.
Bala Muthiah is a Director of Engineering focused on building real-time, AI-enabled systems at scale. His work sits at the intersection of technology, leadership, and culture—specifically how organizations design environments where AI strengthens human judgment rather than replacing it. An immigrant turned Silicon Valley leader, Bala brings a people-first lens to engineering, emphasizing curiosity, resilience, and decision-making under pressure. Beyond his day-to-day work, he advises startups, mentors founders and engineers, and serves on nonprofit boards. His perspective blends hands-on operating experience with a deep interest in how tools, incentives, and systems quietly shape how people think and work.

EPISODE CREDITS
Produced, edited and mixed by Ria Tobaccowala
Artwork designed by Ben Damiano
Additional music licensed through Premium Beats
LINKS
Explore more about the new frontiers of work at Rethinkingwork.io
For more actionable insights that inspire subscribe to Rishad Tobaccowala's free weekly substack: The Future Does Not Fit In The Containers Of The Past.
This show is also available on YouTube which includes visual supplements.
Rishad's Book Rethinking Work is available in print and audio. Click here for where to buy.

What if building a bigger business doesn’t require building a bigger team? Tim Huelskamp, co-founder and CEO of 1440, shares how a small, focused team reaches millions of readers, and why staying lean, curious, and intentional can create outsized impact.

Tim Huelskamp spent a decade in private equity helping scale growth businesses before building one of his own. He's the co-founder & CEO of 1440, a community for the knowledge-obsessed. Every day, the 1440 team scours the internet, cuts through the noise, and delivers fact-based, insights that help millions of readers keep learning. Along the way, 1440 has been named one of Inc.’s Best Workplaces three years running, and ranked among the Inc. 5000’s fastest-growing private companies. Before 1440, Tim invested in and helped grow businesses at a $20B private equity fund, serving on the boards of companies across a range of industries. He also co-founded Fifth Star, a philanthropic venture fund providing "friends and family" capital to underrepresented founders. They've backed more than 30 founders to date.

Based in Chicago with his wife, Jennifer, Tim is passionate about building businesses, lifelong learning, and great conversations.

EPISODE CREDITS
Produced, edited and mixed by Ria Tobaccowala
Artwork designed by Ben Damiano
Additional music licensed through Premium Beats
LINKS
Explore more about the new frontiers of work at Rethinkingwork.io
For more actionable insights that inspire subscribe to Rishad Tobaccowala's free weekly substack: The Future Does Not Fit In The Containers Of The Past.
This show is also available on YouTube which includes visual supplements.
Rishad's Book Rethinking Work is available in print and audio. Click here for where to buy.

How do you keep evolving when the world around you won’t stop changing? Marketing leader Lou Paskalis explores what it takes to reinvent your career, stay relevant through disruption, and embrace change before it’s forced upon you.

Lou Paskalis is CEO and Founder of AJL Advisory, a consultancy focused on helping marketers to improve their business narrative and tech companies to better understand marketers and their needs. He also serves as Chief Strategy Officer of Ad Fontes Media a Public Benefit company that is dedicated to increasing advertisers’ investments to reach audiences in quality news journalism with a unique technology that allows them to measure, mitigate and monitor bias and reliability in a manner consistent with their values and principles. Paskalis sits on the advisory boards of Ebiquity, Nielsen and POSSIBLE, among others and is very active with the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in several key areas, including their ongoing efforts in supply path optimization. Previously, Paskalis was President and COO of MMA Global, a trade association focused on architecting the future of marketing. In that role, he was responsible for driving innovation and change across a broad portfolio of functional areas, initiatives and forward-looking activities centered on shaping the future of marketing. Prior to MMA, Paskalis spent three decades of client-side leadership experience, having led Global Communications Planning, Media Investment, Marketing Data Strategy and Brand Safety and Suitability at Bank of America; Media, Content and Mobile Marketing at American Express. He is well-known as an outspoken champion for marketing innovation, governance and the advancement of the art and science of marketing as well as a strong advocate for ad-supported journalism and marketers’ unique responsibility to support news organizations in their valiant efforts to uncover, disseminate and defend truth. He makes his home in Manhattan and is a lifelong F1 fan and enjoys international travel.

EPISODE CREDITS
Produced, edited and mixed by Ria Tobaccowala
Artwork designed by Ben Damiano
Additional music licensed through Premium Beats
LINKS
Explore more about the new frontiers of work at Rethinkingwork.io
For more actionable insights that inspire subscribe to Rishad Tobaccowala's free weekly substack: The Future Does Not Fit In The Containers Of The Past.
This show is also available on YouTube which includes visual supplements.
Rishad's Book Rethinking Work is available in print and audio. Click here for where to buy.

As AI becomes more capable, what will make humans indispensable? Matt Lewis, founder and CEO of Transformental, explores why the future of work depends not just on smarter technology, but on strengthening human judgment, leadership, and the qualities that AI can't replicate.

Matt Lewis is the Founder and CEO of Transformental, the first AI-enabled consultancy focused entirely on human-centered transformation. Over a career spanning neuroscience, data science, healthcare, and innovation, Matt has helped organizations navigate complex change while keeping people at the center of the equation.

EPISODE CREDITS
Produced, edited and mixed by Ria Tobaccowala
Artwork designed by Ben Damiano
Additional music licensed through Premium Beats
LINKS
Explore more about the new frontiers of work at Rethinkingwork.io
For more actionable insights that inspire subscribe to Rishad Tobaccowala's free weekly substack: The Future Does Not Fit In The Containers Of The Past.
This show is also available on YouTube which includes visual supplements.
Rishad's Book Rethinking Work is available in print and audio. Click here for where to buy.

How do you find work that aligns with who you are, not just what you can do? William Vanderbloemen, founder and CEO of Vanderbloemen Search Group, explores how understanding your strengths, behaviors, and motivations can lead to more fulfilling careers and more effective leadership in a rapidly changing world of work.

William Vanderbloemen, founder and CEO of Vanderbloemen Search Group, is a renowned speaker, author and expert on leadership, workplace culture and staffing issues. When William combined his ministry experience as a Senior Pastor with the best practices of executive search, he created a brand new industry: executive search for faith-based organizations. A firm believer in data, William has discovered trends and traits common to the best leaders through more than 3,000 executive searches and 30,000 interviews.

EPISODE CREDITS
Produced, edited and mixed by Ria Tobaccowala
Artwork designed by Ben Damiano
Additional music licensed through Premium Beats
LINKS
Explore more about the new frontiers of work at Rethinkingwork.io
For more actionable insights that inspire subscribe to Rishad Tobaccowala's free weekly substack: The Future Does Not Fit In The Containers Of The Past.
This show is also available on YouTube which includes visual supplements.
Rishad's Book Rethinking Work is available in print and audio. Click here for where to buy.