Jack McFarlane 0:00 The HR Happy Hour Network is proudly sponsored by Workhuman. The workplace is changing fast—and the leaders who understand what's coming will have the advantage. Workhuman's annual Trends Webinar returns January 29th with research-backed insights on the hottest trends shaping 2026. Discover how top organizations are navigating AI, psychological safety, performance, and equity to outperform their competition—plus exclusive findings from McKinsey's Women in the Workplace 2026 report. Featuring an expert panel from McKinsey and Workhuman, you'll get the intelligence you need to lead with confidence this year. Join the Trends Webinar live January 29th at noon Eastern, or catch the replay on demand. Register for free at Workhuman dot com. Jack McFarlane 0:49 Hi everyone, and welcome to the HR Happy Hour network. This is the Play by Play podcast hosted by myself, Jack McFarlane and Nick Schlemmer. Nick Schlemmer 1:07 Hey guys. How's it going? Jack McFarlane 1:08 Well, we hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year. We're recording this a couple days before New Year's, that's a little behind the scenes. We're hoping for a Utah victory over Nick, Carleigh, and Halle's Nebraska Cornhuskers. So we're hoping for a victory by the time this comes out. Nick Schlemmer 1:26 Go Big Red. Jack McFarlane 1:28 But in all seriousness, it is now 2026 and Nick, I don't know if you've had this thought yet, but it kind of hit me today getting ready for the podcast. We started this near the end of 2022 so although it's only been over four years, this is the fifth calendar year of the Play by Play. So kind of a big deal. Everyone who has watched every episode or one episode or one minute or anything to do with the show, we really appreciate it, and we're hoping to start this year off with a bang. I'm very, very excited for what we've got in store today. Why don't you start us off, Nick. What are we talking about today? Nick Schlemmer 2:10 So we're going to talk about, you know, like Jack said, we're bringing in the new year here shortly. And we're going to talk about, you know, the year of ultimate business efficiency. We're going to talk about some AI things, some financial components of it, but just the ultimate business efficiency and the jump that we've seen in businesses as a whole. So one being productivity leap. You know, with the adoption of AI across companies, we've seen a jump in 72% which is up 50% from years past, and just the usage of AI adoption across different companies, and it's produced more productivity within companies and Jack, I don't know if you have anything to touch on that, but from you know, 50% and it jumped up 72% that's a pretty significant change. Jack McFarlane 3:04 Yeah, and I think it's gonna be even more this year, obviously. Like if you look at the start of last year, AI was around, like everyone knew of AI. But now I feel like every single person, not just companies, not just schools, whatever, every single person is using AI today. So I can only imagine, in one year's time, which is kind of a short amount of time, just say, like, what is it going to look like? AI is going to be everywhere. That's AI is the component of the ultimate business efficiency. It's the number one tool. You know, never has to sleep. It can do any job. So that is the thing, that it's 2026, will be year of AI, like even more than 2025 was. Nick Schlemmer 3:45 100% and like you said, it's only been a year, but technology in a year is like 10 years. I swear it exactly, very fast well. Jack McFarlane 3:55 And it's like, it's like companies. Is about 72% of companies use AI. I would be shocked and baffled if it wasn't 100% if you have a company, or if even in your job, if you're not using AI, you are missing out. In some way, it can do something. It can help you in some way. There is in every single job. That's what's crazy about it. It works in every job in every industry, whether you're the CEO or just a worker, intern does not matter. Like, even when I was on my internship, I used AI all the time. It just makes life more efficient. So, and that's on 100% by the end of year, I will be shocked, but I mean, obviously that's a big jump of usage. But some people would argue will is it actually producing results? And yes, it is. We've got the facts for you. So I'll start off by just the financial side of things. For every dollar, this is on average in the US, for every dollar that a company is spinning on AI, they're getting an average return of three and a half to $3.70. So you're quadrupling your money just about on average. Any business owner likes that, because that meets your make a buddy that's over $1 spent, you get $4 back. That's unbelievable. And also, to go along with the money side of things, we're looking at kind of startups for this, but AI startups are reaching the benchmark of $30 million in revenue, five times faster than traditional SaaS companies, which is Software as a Service. So SaaS, for those that don't know, and that's compared to just 10 years ago. So it's kind of like you said, a year and a year, and our time is like 10 years in technology. So 10 years is like 100 years. So five times faster to 30 million. That's an that's a huge mark, obviously, 30 million and you reach it five times faster, yeah, just because of AI and AI based, like tech, it's almost too hard to wrap your head around it, because that's such a large number and it's happening so fast. What is it gonna look like in another 10 years? You know, yeah, what kind of your thoughts on the more financial side of things? If you were, let me ask you this, if you were, like having, if you had your own business, and you had the choice like, implement, AI, when it came to financial, which you go like, all in, would you spend as much money as possible? Or would you be more cautious, like, I'll get AI will implement. What would you personally do? I'd be curious to know. Jack McFarlane 4:32 If I was, you know, starting up any company doesn't matter if it's in the technology field or not. I don't think I would go all in right off the jump, I would definitely invest in it, have it incorporated into multiple different components or avenues of my business, whether that's, you know, including or utilizing it for training, simple, you know, data, finding, whatever It may be. I wouldn't go fully necessarily, you know, automated in AI right off the jump, but I do think that in the next year, two years, more and more companies, even the bigger companies, smaller companies, for sure, but I think they will be almost fully AI automated, just auto running on their own through AI doing, whether it's like a Shopify sales or something like that, I think all of that could be fully AI potential. Jack McFarlane 7:34 Yeah, no, I agree. I mean, especially when it comes to, like, the busy work, right? All the annoying stuff in a job, like tedious work, I can do all that. It's like in school when they would give you just some random assignment just to keep you busy, you know. Now, if that was happening, we could just give it to AI. It would just do it for us. Nick Schlemmer 7:55 You say, "summarize this," and there it is. Jack McFarlane 7:56 Exactly, and it saves a lot of time, right? Money is time, time for some money. So you know, on average, in the US, AI is saving each individual about an hour a day in work. Whether that's you automating busy work, or you just are using AI to be more efficient, it's saving each person, not not just one company as a whole, each person that works at the company about an hour a day of time for them to then put elsewhere, which is obviously a good thing. And if you take 1000 person company that's about 200,000 hours a year that you've saved and can now put 200,000 hours towards very significant, yeah, you want to talk about efficient, my gosh, an extra $200,000 out of nowhere, dollars hours, which is probably more than $200,000 times. There's no telling how much money you would make with that much extra time. It's like I said earlier. I mean, it's hard to wrap your brain around how fast this is all happening and how efficient it truly is. It's not even like how efficient it could be or how efficient it might be, it's how efficient it is. If you are not using AI, we are, we are basically pleading with you: please use AI. Nick Schlemmer 9:12 Please look into it. Jack McFarlane 9:15 I mean, it is so good you can do anything with it. Nick Schlemmer 9:22 Jack, there was something that I wanted to touch on here with, you know, about reclaiming, you know, an hour of time for for the average professional. So you know, if it's saving, you know, each an individual person, you know, around an hour a day, essentially making them, you know, higher productivity, productivity rates whenever we think about, you know, hiring for positions, hiring a professional in their field. You know, how is AI going to you know, you can have a person who's very smart, very, what's the word I'm looking for here Jack? very qualified for the job. How is AI going to take that even a step further? So, you know, it saves them time during a day, yeah, in all that little work. But how about applying AI to grow yourself? You know, if it's saving them, if it's saving us an hour for each person, what about benefit, benefiting the person itself during that hour time? You know, how can it just keep the building blocks of AI? Jack McFarlane 10:31 Yeah, well, one thing that I just thought of when, when you say, like a qualified person, so my mind kind of went to like, um, AI, like, can kind of mask if you're not the best for the job, right, just with how productive it is. So if you're really you know, AI is only as good as the prompts you give it. Yeah, is like a baseline saying so for that qualified person, them knowing just more in general, about the job and about the industry, whatever, they will have better usage of AI by asking better questions and using better prompts. And then they'll be, since they'll be asking really high level questions to the AI. The AI is going to be giving them high level answers, or high level whatever it is, whatever they're asking, they might just be asking a question. They might be telling it to do something, whatever the case, they'll be learning from the AI as the AI is learning from them. So they're going to both be getting smarter together, exactly. So that's kind of where I'm at with because, like, with AI, like, if I went in to do, I don't know, I accounting, if it was, like, if I got if someone said, I need to do this basic accounting sheet right now, and just like gave me, like a homework sheet, I have very bad at accounting, for those that don't know, I would just give it to AI and say, Can you do this for me? And it probably would, and it would give me the right answers, but it wouldn't be able to explain anything to me. It wouldn't be able to really teach me, right? But if I was knowledgeable in accounting, I could say, hey, because you helped me do this sheet and explain everything you did that, and then I would understand what it's saying. I would get smarter. It would get smarter, and we would build together, you know? So it is like you said it. It helps your business, but it helps the person, you know, builds them, makes them smarter. Nick Schlemmer 12:24 We're building AI, while also building the company, the individual. Jack McFarlane 12:28 Yeah, exactly, yeah. It's like, it's a partnership. It's really a partnership that is a part, you know, if you do it right, if you do it right, you know, you could just ask AI, what is the answer? No explanation. Boom, boom, boom. Just. Or, if you're smarter about it, you can, you know, learn with the AI, because it learns from you and you learn from it. So it's, it is a perfect partnership. And I really like that point. So thank you bringing that up. Nick, that was, that was good. Let's jump back to some more statistics here, because that is what efficiency is all about, right? So this one comes from the business stasher institution on an AI report, they're saying that a staggering 92.1% of businesses reported seeing measurable positive results from their AI investment in 2025, so 92% basically exactly percent of businesses that invested in AI in 2025 got not only results, but positive results, you know, so that it's just, it's just another boom. It All. Here's the evidence that it will help your business. Nick Schlemmer 13:36 It all ties back to, you know, $1 in return, $3.50 the 30 million revenue faster. It all ties back to it. Jack McFarlane 13:46 And there's one more point I want to touch on here before we kind of jump into how Gen Z is, like helping with this impact. Because obviously, you know, Gen Z is very tech savvy, and we'll get into that. But one more thing I wanted to touch on in the overall census is that it, yes, it's making your business more effective, but it's even changing business as we know it. So hierarchy, right? Boss, Vice President, manager, worker, everyone knows hierarchies. And almost every business, I don't know if I could think of one where there isn't a hierarchy, because even like police and fight like military. That's all a hierarchy. But this, this comes from SHRM, and kind of it's dated from last year, but the article itself is really fascinating. It's kind of something like we do with predictions for the next year, they put out a predictions list, and I've read this in there, and I just wanted to incorporate it, but they think that 20% of organizations are actively using AI to flatten their corporate structure, so it's to make everyone on a more level playing field. I'm not sure the type of effect that would have if you're leveling the hierarchy, that I'd be interested to see what happens as the year goes on, but I just thought that was. Interesting to throw in, because there's a lot of people that aren't a big fan of hierarchy and business. I think it's very necessary, right? You need a boss, you need a manager, whatever. But some people aren't a big fan of that. So it'd be something to keep your eye on as as we use AI more. It kind of loves the playing field. So is there anything that jumps to mind when you think of hierarchy at all, or are you just like me? Interested to see what happens? Nick Schlemmer 15:22 I am interested to see what happens, for sure. But the 20% you know, to try and flatten that corporate structure, I do think that number is going to increase immensely in the in the in the upcoming years, whether you know more and more companies, especially you know, talking about Gen Z, we like to see kind of that open door policy with our higher ups. So if they can utilize AI to make it seem more of a flattened structure to us, and I'm sure other generations would like to see that structure kind of change too. Like you said, you you need the roles. You know, people have to have their, you know, their final say in the company. It's just how it runs, but making it seem more of a flow together, structure... Jack McFarlane 16:14 That's a great point, keeping the hierarchy, but making it seem a little more fair. I didn't think that that's that's fantastic. I think that's the perfect spot. We're going to take a quick break, and then we're going to come back and tell you exactly how Gen Z is going to make this efficiency even better. So we'll be right back. Jack McFarlane 16:39 All right. We are back. We just had a fantastic break. Hopefully you guys enjoyed the new Workhuman ad for 2026, first one of the year. Hopefully that was the most exciting part of the podcast for you guys. But let's jump right back into our topic. Here. We want to shift focus to the Gen Z side of things, right? Yes, as I said earlier in the podcast, and as probably everybody knows, Gen Z is very tech savvy, so AI is right up our alley. You know, we grew up with technology, you know, it's not something that we really had to learn. We just know it. If that makes that's the best way to describe it, right? Gen Z is having a massive boost with AI, while other generations are still learning how to use AI, 82% of Gen Z employees are already using AI as a daily part of their workflow. That has led to workers Gen Z workers being involved in 47% of all new AI develop development initiatives within their companies. So that comes from the London School of Economic Research. Those two statistics there, that's basically just saying most, if not all, of Gen Z is using AI every day, and because of that, they're now involved of half of the decisions made around AI in the company, that's a huge deal, because Gen Z is very young, so to be involved in that high level decision making already shows how much the older generations need the help from Gen Z. So like, if you are a company and you're struggling with AI, what you should do is go find someone from Gen Z, you know, find someone that's 22, 23, 24 that knows all about a that is super comfortable with it, you know, and that kind of leads into or like a reverse mentorship, right? We've talked about that. We've talked about reverse mentorship, and that's usually around AI and technology. You know, 66% of Gen Z employees are now officially or unofficially coaching their managers on how to use AI and be more efficient with AI. 66% are basically at least having this interaction right here. I'm the manager, Nick simply, Hey, Nick, you're really, really good with AI. Can you teach me? Can you give me a little rundown? Boom, just from Nick being good at AI, he just got noticed by his manager, by his boss, and is now getting a bigger role in the company just because of that. So 100% it's happening everywhere, right? It's happening everywhere. Nick Schlemmer 19:10 And Jack right before the break, we were talking about creating, you know, more of a flat line in the hierarchy. Everything that you just mentioned, does that Gen Z helping out their managers. What do you like? How's that going to make us feel very good. It's not going to be He's way up here, and I'm way down here. We're working together. So I just wanted to bring that up. Like, everything that you just talked about goes right back. Jack McFarlane 19:35 No, that's a fantastic point. It's the more we talk about it out, like, because, like, when I, you know, sometimes when you read something, you you just read it, right? But when you start talking about it, the ideas start popping into your mind. That's kind of what's happening with that. I'm glad I added it, because you've made some great points on that. So, yeah, flattening the hierarchy, that's really making me think, hopefully it's making everybody else think to. Jumping back to kind of the efficiency level, this this study is from IWG Research, and it says that 60% of Gen Z professionals are automating that the busy work, as we call it. They call it the grunt work, and because of that, they're able to shift their focus to the high impact activities, which then help them rise the ranks, right, be in the more important decision making. If you're, you know, a lot of Gen Z is in college or graduating college. So when you're starting a job, it's very entry level, you know, you kind of get the grunt work of it all. But if you're automating that, you're able to then be involved in the higher decision making and higher level projects, which you can then rise through the ranks even faster. So, I mean, you know this one 60% the other statistic, 66% I mean, Gen Z is it's, it's more rare to find a Gen Z employee that doesn't know and feel confident with AI than one that is, that's, that's the beauty of it, you know. So you really, really should be using AI, as we've been saying all the time. We just have to stress, stress, stress going along with that, you know, because, you know, all the grunt work is automated, and you're able to do that higher stuff. We're seeing a 56% rise in wages with Gen Z and people that are using AI just because, oh my gosh, Nick, you automated all your all your busy work that takes Bob five hours of the day to do, and you're able to help me with marketing. I'm going to give you a raise, even though Bob's seven years older than you. So I don't know one, one question that popped into my mind, and this is slightly off topic, have you used AI in your job at all now, you've been on multiple internships at golf courses for people that aren't aware. So I'd be curious, have you guys or have you seen AI used at all anywhere in the golf course? Just as a quick tangent. Jack McFarlane 22:01 You know, the first thing that comes to mind, we definitely used it in the marketing side of things, you know, whether it's for creating flyers or pamphlets for events. You know, us putting the one we used last year, you know, uploading it to an AI, having it, kind of rework it and give us, you know, five to 10 different new formats that we could use for it, that we have definitely used. It's definitely been utilized in more components of, you know, the private country club industry and in all that that entails. But just from what I've seen, and I've like, personally, been able to use it for, which is very simple, you know, it's a very simple task, creating a flyer. You know, nothing too crazy. But when it does it in two minutes, very big time saver. And then you're able to, you know, upload those, make whatever changes you want to it. Makes the marketing side for, you know, those smaller just the grunt work tasks that you know, us interns might get. It makes it so much easier. Jack McFarlane 23:12 That's super fascinating. I figured there was somewhere that you guys, but you guys weren't using a time, yeah. And I think that even, just like even in a golf course setting where Nick is, you know, face to face with people all the time. He's not sitting behind a desk on a computer, right? Nick is very active, obviously, working in golf, and yet he is still finding ways to use AI that just shows that it can be used for everything. And 100% Yeah, flyer is fantastic, because I know if I was tasked to make a flyer, it could take me all day. I'm not the most artistic, creative person. So yeah, if you were given it goes from all day to two hours. Nick Schlemmer 23:45 If you're giving a blank documentand told to create something, that would take me a while. Jack McFarlane 23:52 Yeah, that's tough. That's fantastic. And I just, I got one more point to make here on Gen Z before we do our 2026, predictions. Nick, you know, we do it every year, but I've just got one more point. And this is a business level one, but also just a life one. And hopefully you guys, if you have aren't doing this, you should start. But it says that about 56% so almost 60% of Gen Z workers now use AI as a Communication Coach, and that's for, like, if you're in a workplace situation, but you can use that in life at all the time. Like, I at least once a day ask AI for advice. Might not be communication advice, but just general advice. So let's say Nick and I were in a huge argument, as we always get in. As you could tell, I could go to AI and be like, Hey, this is kind of the situation my co worker, Nick, you know, we're really butting heads over this bowl game. What are some ways I could defuse the situation? And it will give you, like, a huge, really well thought out action plan, basically, and advice. So that is something that is fascinating. It's like a use that you wouldn't initially think of, right, in a business, helping it with workplace problems. But it's a huge one, and it's worth noting. So is there anything you want to add to that, Nick? Nick Schlemmer 25:13 You know, I think you you hit it right, right on the head there, Jack, but you know, AI using it as a communication coach. AI wears so many different hats, so many different titles, there's no there's no ceiling to AI as of yet. So everything you know we've talked about today, whether it's Gen Z impacting or just company wide as a whole, impacting in just the most simplest terms, is very important. Jack McFarlane 25:44 Yeah, it can do it all. It can do it all. So with that, we're going to take another quick break, and we're going to come back with our predictions for 2026 we do it every year, so it's got to be done. So we'll be right back. Nick Schlemmer 25:57 We are back with our predictions for 2026 We always enjoy doing our predictions Jack in the beginning of the year, so at the end of the year, when we do our year in review, we always like to look back and see how we do. I think this past year, we didn't do bad. We missed some, we got some, but we have our new predictions for 2026 we got some sports, some business and pop culture and Jack, I think today I want to start off with, you know, we've been talking about business today, so let's start off with our business prediction. And I've got I've got mine here. Jack, have you ever heard of an NFT? Jack McFarlane 26:35 Yeah, yep. Nick Schlemmer 26:37 So for those of you who don't know, NFT is a non fungible token. It's a unique, unique digital certificate of an asset, essentially. But Jack, I think, and I'm predicting that in 2026, for those of you who know about nfts, they deal with some sort of fashion component in a way. You know, they're all unique in some way. Jack McFarlane 27:03 For those that are having a hard time understanding what is, it's almost like a painting, right? Like, like an original painting. Only one person has the original. So it's almost like it's a digital thing. It's one of one. It's like a rare trading one of one. There's only one in existence, and by owning it digitally, it proves it's like the certificate, it says this is the original. It's the only one in the world. So that that might help anyone out there that's confused. Nick Schlemmer 27:29 Yes, thank you, Jack. And I think that the digital fashion side of things okay, for like celebrities or clothing companies will create their own nfts. And if you own one, maybe you get certain perks, certain discounts, whatever it may be. I'm not sure it's, I'm just predicting a discount or something. Jack McFarlane 27:51 It would be cool, if it was like, if you're like, Oh, you have a part owner of Jordan's NFT Yeah, you have 5% off. That's kind of cool. Okay, I kind of feel like your prediction is a little cooler than mine. Now that I'm looking at mine's a little labor I should have went first. No, that's fantastic for so for my business prediction, I predict that we'll see a fall and a pretty substantial one in not only remote work, but also in person work. So you might be thinking, well, that doesn't make much sense. I think hybrid work is the new thing. It's the big thing. I think you're going to see a huge, huge rise in hybrid working and a pretty big fall in full remote and full in person. I'm I wouldn't be shocked by the year. Yeah, I wouldn't be shocked if by the end of the year, that 51% so a majority of people were either remote or hybrid. You know, I think gone are the days of being in office every single day, nine to five. You know, I especially with AI and how efficient you can be. I don't think you'll have to be there every day. So that's kind of my big thing. You know, hybrid is, it's always either you are in person or you are remote. Right now, there are some hybrid, but it's kind of the lesser of the three. I think it jumps all the way to number one. That's, that's my big business prediction, a hybrid work is the new king by the end of the year. Nick Schlemmer 29:18 Great prediction. We don't want to talk that day. Great prediction. Jack McFarlane 29:21 Yeah, we love the hybrid work. Nick Schlemmer 29:23 Jack, which one? Which one do we want to do next? Sports. Pop, let's go. Jack McFarlane 29:31 Oh, let's go sports. We talk about sports a lot on here. Let's jump to sports. I can give mine first. It's kind of a prediction that hurts my heart. I don't really want to make it, but, man, do I think it's going to happen, so I kind of have to, and I think a lot of people are going to have this as well, but I think we're going to see the first three peat in the MLB since 1998 through 2000 with the Yankees. You know, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera; a three peat is winning three championships in a row, for those that don't know. And sadly, I think the Dodgers will get it done as much as that hurts to say, as much as I don't want them to, and I want to be wrong on this. It just seems more likely every day, they wonder out of Yeah, then they went out, yeah, they just want it again, and then they go out and they add one of the best relievers in baseball, okay, okay, they're gonna win. It's kind of a sad prediction for me as a Cardinal fan, especially with how bad the Cardinals are going to be this year. Yeah, but yeah, I mean, a three peat is a huge deal. The Chiefs almost got it done in the NFL. I think those Yankees were the last professional American sports team to three peat. But since then, the more recent was UConn women's basketball did it twice, like 2013 to 2016 and then once before that. So at the very least, it's been 10 years since any team has done it in any sport. So big deal. Sad prediction. Light me up. Nick, what did you think's gonna happen? Nick Schlemmer 31:05 Well, you know, I can try and light you up, Jack, but mine's talking about Nebraska volleyball. I know you're a Utah guy, but I'm predicting. volleyball gets it done. We finally make it to the national title game, and we come out as a winner. I think we're gonna win the national title. Like title next year. Jack McFarlane 31:25 Yeah, came the last couple years you were ranked one. Nick Schlemmer 31:28 We haven't been able to finish it. Even on an undefeated season going into the Final Four. But next year, next year is our year. Jack McFarlane 31:37 Yeah, you guys can do it. That is something I can get behind. You know, Utah volleyball, I don't think is bad, but we're not good. I think we're very mid. You know, I'm not exactly sure. I don't follow volleyball that much. I just know that Nebraska was number one. So, yeah, I'll be hoping for you, Nick I will be hoping for you so perfect. Why don't you take me through what's your pop culture before we get to our favorite, or at least it's my favorite. Is the wild card prediction. Right? Yeah, it's some crazy prediction. But take us through your pop culture, and this could be music, movies, yeah, anything. It can really be anything. Nick Schlemmer 32:11 So mine brings in the music and the movie component. My prediction is that, like a Disney or Pixar collaboration is going to happen more with today's music artists, essentially companies buying the rights to different media, audios, videos that the artist produces. So, you know, say who's Bad Bunny signs with Disney. Maybe he puts out, you know, different music videos or songs for different movies, yeah, but... Jack McFarlane 32:49 Is it like the Taylor Swift thing where, like, she's gotten a whole documentary. And, yeah, they kind of saw a movie. Nick Schlemmer 32:59 Yeah. Jack McFarlane 33:00 I went and saw a movie, and there's a preview for some Billie Eilish movie about a concert or something. So is it stuff like that? It's stuff like that. Nick Schlemmer 33:09 So it has already started, but I think more and more artists and social media influencers, however it may work out, will be signing these kind of major deals with different production companies. Jack McFarlane 33:26 Yeah, no, that makes sense. Because, I mean, as you know, personally, you know your mom, my aunt, she loves Taylor Swift. She was watching that Taylor Swift documentary. I started watching it. Like a lot of people really, really enjoy that stuff, especially if it's an artist or an influencer or an athlete, you know, like with Netflix's Quarterback and stuff like that. Yep, that you love, you'll watch it, you know. So that's a fantastic prediction, and and mine's gonna stay on the music side of things. And you actually mentioned his name for my prediction. This is out there because there have been a lot of good Super Bowl halftime shows throughout the years. Prince doing it in the rain. Michael Jackson waiting two minutes before he started his performance, just sitting there, enjoying it like yeah, there have been a lot of good ones. Katy Perry on the giant lion. A lot of memorable ones. But I'm thinking that Bad Bunny, doing this halftime show in just a couple months in February, will be the highest rated Super Bowl halftime show ever. I'm not exactly sure what holds number one, if I had to guess, it'd be Prince, but I think for one, he's very popular in America, bad bunny. But if you think he's popular here. You need to see how popular he is elsewhere, especially in, you know, Latin and Spanish speaking countries. He is the guy. He is the Beatles, right? Yes, and I think we'll see, maybe not the first time ever, but the biggest of people joining the Super Bowl just for the halftime show and then turning off the game just people in those countries want to see it perform. So that's my big bold pop culture, and it could kind of tie into sports, but, yeah, bad money, highest rated super performance. So we'll see. We'll find out just a couple months here. Nick Schlemmer 35:15 Yep, and Jack, I'm gonna send us right into our wild, our wild prediction here, and this is another one that's already started in the trial runs, but I said the Uber and Lyft will be adding and pursuing more self driving vehicles to their fleets and bringing those to more major cities. They're in Atlanta right now. That's kind of one of the major cities where they're test running it. And, you know, only handful other cities have it, but Atlanta was the main but, you know, something like Uber and Lyft talking about AI a lot today. AI can probably drive a car. I only think it's a matter for Maybe there's even a new company that's fully, yeah, self driving, automated. Jack McFarlane 35:59 Like a Waymo or something. Yeah, those are crazy to see on the road, just as I haven't seen just, you know, nobody driving, but yeah, I saw it in San Francisco. It didn't even have a passenger, so it's just an empty car going down the road crazy. This is, this is kind of crazy. We didn't, we didn't tell each other our predictions beforehand. For those listening, my wild also has to deal with a car, you could say so my prediction is Tesla flying car, and you're going to think that's ridiculous. I would have thought that's ridiculous. Hear me out. I was listening to Joe Rogan and Elon Musk on a podcast their most recent one, and Joe Rogan kind of made a joke about, when are we going to have flying cars? And well, Elon Musk was like, well, actually, just stay tuned. This was in November, and he said, we've got a really, really big launch coming, a product launch that will, regardless if it goes good or bad, will be the most talked about launch of all time of any product, okay, even if it goes bad. Now, I say car, because Elon Musk was like, he wasn't saying it's a flying car. He was hinting at it, but he was also like, he doesn't know if it can be classified as a car, yeah, so I don't know quite what to call it. My best guess is the way he was hinting is that it was a flying car. Now, in November, he had said it could be by the end of the year that they launched this product or do the event for it. They're still working on all the legal stuff, so that obviously hasn't happened yet, but within the next couple months, it most likely will, and it very well could be a fly car. So that's my out there prediction, and I'm sticking to it. Jack McFarlane 36:52 That's a good one. If I was, if I was Elon in that interview, Joe Rogan asked me that question, I'd just be like, a big smile on my face. Well... Jack McFarlane 38:10 All right, that's, that's fantastic. Let's, let's take one more super duper quick break. We'll come back with the quote of the show. Nick Schlemmer 38:24 Alrighty, we are back wrapping up today's episode with the quote of the show and Jack, I think I have a good one for you. I think you're gonna like this one. This quote is by Charles Darwin, he said, and I quote, "It's not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent but the most responsive to change." We talked about AI and how it's adapting and evolving, and how we're adapting and evolving with it. You know, how are we all going to adapt to it? I think Jack McFarlane 37:24 it's a good quote, yeah. Oh, that is a fantastic quote. If it was me just change the word species with business. And that sums up our episode, right there. Yeah. I mean, business is all about adapting, all about changing. Just look at failed businesses like Nokia or Blackberry. They did not change to the smartphone, and now they're gone. So that is fantastic. Crushing it with the quotes, Nick, starting 2026, strong. You're gonna have to do even better somehow next time, I don't know, you set a high bar! Nick Schlemmer 39:22 I did that's all right. Well, well guys, thank you for tuning in. It was a great show. A great time recording it, and bye for now. Jack McFarlane 39:31 Thank you, guys. Transcribed by https://otter.ai