Tag: Computer Science

Weekly Reading List: How to Master AI Fluency and Build Meaningful Leadership

‘The AI Fluent Leader’ by Gísli Ólafsson. Photo: Amazon

Books of the Week

Looking for your next impactful read? This week’s featured selection explores deep human connection, leadership in the age of artificial intelligence, and how to successfully navigate constant technological change.

1. Make It Matter: Unlocking Human Potential Through the Mattering Method

By Matthew Emerzian

Something deeper is happening beneath the surface of our lives and our work. People are more connected than ever, yet feel more alone, achieving more, yet questioning if any of it truly matters. In the quiet moments, more people than we realize are asking: “Do I matter?” (Amazon, 2026)

In Make It Matter, Matthew Emerzian introduces a powerful and timely framework—The Mattering Mindset™—built from over two decades of work helping individuals, teams, and organizations reconnect to what matters most. This isn’t about motivation. It’s about mattering. Because when people know how much they matter, to themselves, to others, and to something bigger, everything changes:

  • How they show up
  • How they lead
  • How they live

Blending research, real-world application, and deeply personal insight, Make It Matter offers a new way forward that addresses the root of disconnection, burnout, and disengagement. Whether you’re navigating your own search for meaning, leading a team through constant change, or trying to make a greater impact, this book meets you where you are and helps you move forward.

“In a world that feels increasingly disconnected, uncertain, and heavy, the most powerful thing we can do is help people know they matter. And when we do that, we don’t just change how people feel. We change what’s possible.”

About the Author

Matt Emerzian is a four-time bestselling author and founder of the nonprofit Every Monday Matters, which has spent nearly two decades bringing mattering work into schools, companies, and communities for people of all ages, reaching nearly four million people.

2. Aligned With Intelligence: Reflections on Leadership, AI, and Consciousness

By Jeff Arnold

Artificial intelligence is accelerating. But the real shift isn’t happening in machines, it’s happening in us. (Amazon, 2026)

Aligned With Intelligence is not a technical book about AI. It’s a guide on how leaders must think, decide, and act in a world where intelligence is no longer limited to human minds.

Each chapter is intentionally brief and designed to be read in minutes, but considered for much longer. Between chapters, you will find space, an intentional design choice because in an age of constant acceleration, the ability to pause, think clearly, and act with purpose will define the next generation of leadership.

The book challenges a simple assumption: that more intelligence automatically leads to better outcomes. It doesn’t. Alignment does. As AI becomes faster, more embedded, and more powerful, the question is no longer “What can technology do?” The question is:

“Who are we becoming while we build it?”

If you are a leader, builder, operator, or thinker navigating the future of AI, this book will help you ask better questions—the most valuable skill of all in the age of intelligent systems.

About the Author

Jeff Arnold is a bestselling author known for a writing style that feels like a conversation with a trusted guide. His work blends vivid storytelling with practical insight, turning complex ideas into clear, memorable experiences. Reflecting his background as an entrepreneur and industry leader, Jeff writes to offer readers ideas that shift how they see the world.

3. The AI Fluent Leader: The Art of Leading When AI Changes Everything

By Gísli Ólafsson

Your AI program is not underperforming because of the technology. It is underperforming because of a leadership gap no one is talking about. (Amazon, 2026)

The AI Fluent Leader answers that challenge with precision and honesty. Gísli Ólafsson studied what separates the 12% of organizations that generate real AI returns from the 88% that do not. The answer is not better technology, bigger budgets, or faster adoption—it is better leadership.

The AUGMENT Framework

The book maps seven leadership imperatives into a complete system:

  1. Architect the Vision
  2. Upgrade Your Workforce
  3. Guard the Guardrails
  4. Manage the Machines
  5. Engineer the Culture
  6. Navigate New Competition
  7. Transform the Executive

Each chapter opens with a leadership challenge, provides a framework for addressing it, and closes with a sequenced action plan. The book includes practical tools such as an AI Leadership Bottleneck Diagnostic, an AI Fluency Self-Assessment, workforce readiness frameworks, and a guide to building AI personas that think alongside you on strategic problems.

“The organizations winning with AI are not using better tools. They have better leadership. This book shows you exactly what that leadership looks like, and how to build it.”

About the Author

Gísli Ólafsson is a technology executive, former parliamentarian, and crisis leader who has worked at the intersection of AI, institutions, and accountability for three decades. From Microsoft to global humanitarian responses and national government, he has led under pressure where technology and responsibility collide.

Photo: Amazon
Photo: Amazon

‘The Focused AI Captain’: A Leader’s Guide to Successful AI Transformation

‘The Focused AI Captain’ by FocusFirst founder René Esteban. Photo: Amazon

Book Spotlight: The Focused AI Captain

How to Navigate the Storm, Empower Your Crew, and Deliver Real Value

By René Esteban

Master the Art of Leading AI Transformations for Lasting Business Success

Only 5% of enterprise AI initiatives succeed. Are you ready to be among the elite few who truly transform their organizations?

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, businesses face a common enemy—AI initiatives that fail to deliver real impact. Millions are spent on pilots that never scale. But the true obstacle isn’t the technology itself; it’s how organizations are structured, aligned, and led. (Amazon, 2026)

In The Focused AI Captain, René Esteban, CEO of FocusFirst, reveals why most AI transformations stall and what leaders must do differently to succeed. Grounded in real-world enterprise experience, this book provides a clear, practical roadmap to turn AI ambition into measurable business results.

What You Will Learn

Inside, you will discover how to:

  • Master the 10-20-70 Rule: Allocate resources effectively and maximize AI ROI.
  • Apply the 3D Framework: Learn to Diagnose challenges, set Direction, and Deliver results.
  • Bridge the Trust Gap: Turn employee skepticism into active AI adoption.
  • Move Beyond Pilots: Confidently scale your AI initiatives across the entire organization.

Who is this book for? This book is written for CEOs, executives, and decision-makers who refuse to let their organizations fall behind in the AI revolution. Whether you’re leading a large-scale transformation or preparing your team for the next wave of AI adoption, you’ll gain practical frameworks, leadership insights, and execution tools you can apply immediately.

Get your copy now and start leading your organization to AI-driven success.

About the Author

René Esteban brings unwavering passion to making big goals tangible and inspiring people to achieve them.

As the Founder and CEO of FocusFirst, a Keynote Speaker, and a Senior Advisor to top executives, he has made it his mission to accelerate transformations in organizations. He firmly believes that complex change succeeds best through a clear focus on a single goal, excellent communication, and the active involvement of all stakeholders.

René began his career at Merck, where in his mid-20s he led the global build-out of the e-commerce division, today a billion-dollar business. This experience taught him that successful transformations depend not only on the right strategies, but critically on early and open communication with key stakeholders. His insights led to the development of the award-winning PEAK Method, through which FocusFirst has already guided more than 250 transformations.

René is a passionate entrepreneur with several companies alongside FocusFirst. He cherishes inspiring moments of exchange over Italian wine and loves traveling the world with his family – especially to Italy.

‘CRAFT Thinking’: The Practical Playbook for Everyday AI Work

‘CRAFT Thinking’ is the new book by Philip Topham. Photo: Barnes & Noble

Book Spotlight: CRAFT Thinking: A Playbook for Clear Thinking and Better Decisions with AI

By Philip Topham

Get clearer thinking and better decisions with AI without becoming a prompt engineer.

CRAFT Thinking gives you a simple, five-step method that sharpens how you think, improves the questions you ask, and helps you get consistently better results from any artificial intelligence tool. It’s practical, repeatable, and built for everyday work, not technical experts. (Barnes & Noble, 2026)

The CRAFT Chain Reaction:

  • When your thinking improves, your prompts improve.
  • When your prompts improve, your decisions improve.

Whether you lead a company, manage a team, or simply want to do better work with AI, this playbook gives you the structure to turn uncertainty into clarity and AI conversations into meaningful insight.

The Bottom Line: > AI won’t make your work smarter. Clear thinking will, and CRAFT shows you how.

Get your copy today!

About the Author

Philip Topham

Strategic AI Advisor, Speaker, & Creator of the CRAFT Thinking™ Method

Philip Topham is a strategic AI advisor, speaker, and creator of the CRAFT Thinking™ method, a framework designed to bring clarity, intentionality, and better decision-making into the AI era.

With a career spanning corporate leadership, startup ventures, and board advisory, Philip combines the rigor of an engineer with the insight of a relationship-focused strategist. He’s earned two U.S. patents, contributed to peer-reviewed research, and worked across industries from health tech to clean tech to biotech. What sets him apart is not just his technical depth, it’s his shift toward human-centered leadership.

After stepping away to be a stay-at-home dad, Philip returned with a deeper understanding of what it means to lead with care and purpose. He brings that mindset into his work today, helping leaders think with AI, not just use it, so their organizations can grow wisely, inclusively, and sustainably.

Philip serves as co-chair of the National AI Special Interest Group for the Private Directors Association, and publishes regularly at SavionAI: The Shift.

“AI should serve all of humanity—not just the elite. And it’s our shared responsibility to build companies and institutions worthy of that promise.”

Demystifying AI and Algorithms: A Guide to Making Technology Work for You

‘Human Agency in a Digital World’ is the new book by Marcus Fontoura. Photo: Barnes & Noble

Book Spotlight: Reclaiming Your Role in the AI Era

In an age where algorithms influence everything from our morning playlists to our career paths, it’s easy to feel like a passenger in a vehicle we don’t control. A new book by industry veteran Marcus Fontoura aims to change that narrative. (Digital Agency Book, 2026)

Human Agency in a Digital World

Understand technology and make it work for you

This may be the first true AI-era self-help book—not because we need help using technology, but because we need help using it well. Understanding how algorithms work is the first step in making sure they work for us.

This book is about reclaiming our role, not as passengers, but as pilots, in the fast-moving journey of technological change.

Written by a computer scientist who is also a father and a teacher, this is a deeply personal and accessible guide to the systems shaping our lives.

Why This Book Matters Now

Digital agents are all around us. They suggest songs, answer questions, sort emails, and, often invisibly, shape what we think. But how much power do we really have to redirect their impact?

In Human Agency in a Digital World, Fontoura explores the hidden architectures of modern life, including:

  • Social Media & Search Engines: How they capture and direct attention.
  • Cloud Computing & AI: The invisible backbone of the modern economy.
  • Quantum Technologies: A look into the next frontier of computing.

Drawing from decades of experience building the backbone of the internet, Fontoura demystifies these core concepts, allowing readers to develop digital fluency without needing a computer science degree.

Beyond Optimization

Ultimately, this is a book about people. It explores how we can use efficiency not just for speed or cost-cutting, but to unlock creativity, opportunity, and well-being. With examples ranging from broken playlists to complex protein folding, Fontoura asks a profound question:

What do we want technology to do for us, and what will we do with it in return?

About the Author

Marcus Fontoura is a titan of the tech industry, currently serving his second tenure as Technical Fellow and Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, where he is the CTO for Azure Core.

His distinguished career includes:

  • Stone (2022-2025): Served as CTO, leading engineering and building efficient financial platforms. He remains an advisor to the company.
  • Microsoft (2013-2022): Served as Chief Architect for Azure Compute and led the Azure efficiency team.
  • Research & Development: Previous leadership roles at Google, Yahoo, and IBM Research.

With a career spent at the intersection of complex systems and human needs, Fontoura is uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between “how it works” and “why it matters.”

The Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing AI at Work (2026 Edition)

‘AI At Work’ is the new book on AI for nontechnical professionals by Kate Marshall. Photo: Amazon

New Book Spotlight: AI At Work by Kate Marshall

Stop wondering where to start with AI and start using it.

We all know AI is changing the professional landscape, but without a clear entry point, it’s easy to feel like you’re falling behind. AI at Work: A Step-By-Step Foundational Guide For Implementing AI eliminates the overwhelm by providing a proven, structured process to integrate generative AI into your daily routine. (Amazon, 2026)

This isn’t a collection of random tips or high-level theory; it is a practical roadmap designed to move you from initial setup to full workflow automation.

📘 Overview: AI Literacy Made Practical

Written specifically for non-technical professionals, this guide walks you through a system for bringing generative AI into your daily workflow. The best part? No technical background is needed. Each section is designed to be implemented in under 30 minutes, featuring:

  • Copy-paste-ready prompts
  • Actionable checklists
  • Step-by-step instructions
  • QR codes linking to updated digital resources and FAQs

🚀 What You Will Learn

This book covers the full spectrum of modern AI implementation, including how to:

  • Choose Your Tool: Compare ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, and Grok to find the best fit for your specific needs.
  • Master Prompting: Set up custom instructions and engineering techniques to get useful results on your first try.
  • Automate the Mundane: Triage emails, generate meeting notes, and handle repetitive tasks to save hours every week.
  • Build Reusable Workflows: Create SOPs, templates, and AI workflows for documents and presentations.
  • No-Code Automation: Use Zapier, Make, and Power Automate to build business systems without writing a single line of code.
  • Stay Secure: Navigate data classification, enterprise plans, and “Shadow AI” to ensure you’re using these tools safely.

👤 Is This Book For You?

AI at Work meets you where you are, whether you are an individual contributor, a manager, or an executive. This book is for you if:

  • You are drowning in repetitive work and ready to reclaim your time.
  • You want productivity tools that fit into your actual routine, not another app collecting dust.
  • You are done with the hype and want a beginner-friendly, structured system.
  • You want real outcomes: time saved, better workflows, and professional growth.

Note: The 2026 Edition is updated quarterly via QR codes to ensure you stay current with the rapid evolution of tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.

About the Author

Kate Marshall helps professionals implement AI safely and effectively, drawing on over 20 years of experience in cybersecurity training, project management, and courseware development.

She is the founder of TheGrai, a consultancy focused on AI adoption, training, and governance. Kate works with executives, HR leaders, and small teams who know AI matters but don’t have time for endless experimentation.

Inside The Means of Prediction and Why the Future of AI Depends on Who Owns It

The Means of Prediction by Maximilian Kasy explains how power, not technology, will define life with AI. Photo: The University of Chicago Press

Book Spotlight: The Means of Prediction by Maximilian Kasy

Publication Date: November 4, 2025
Publisher: University of Chicago Press

“An eye-opening examination of how power—not technology—will define life with AI.”

Artificial intelligence is everywhere. It filters what we see online, screens us in job interviews, and even factors into decisions about justice and warfare. Its presence has become so vast that many people feel resigned to its rule, believing AI is simply our collective destiny. (The University of Chicago Press, 2025)

In The Means of Prediction: How AI Really Works (and Who Benefits), economist Maximilian Kasy challenges that narrative. He argues that AI is not an inevitable or uncontrollable force, it’s a human creation, shaped by the choices and interests of those who own and operate it.

Kasy makes a bold claim: AI isn’t especially mysterious or complex. What makes it powerful and dangerous is who gets to control it. The “means of prediction,” as he calls them, consist of the essential ingredients of AI: data, computing power, expertise, and energy. These are the levers through which ownership and influence are exercised.

Inside the Book

Some of the chapters include:

  • The Story of Humans Versus Machines
  • What is Artificial Intelligence?
  • The Means of Prediction
  • Automation
  • The Ancient Questions Behind AI

Across these chapters, Kasy offers both a primer on how AI really works and a powerful critique of how it’s governed. He cuts through the noise of technical debates to ask the fundamental question:

Who controls AI’s objectives and how is that control maintained?

A Call for Democratic Control

Rather than treating AI as an unstoppable technological wave, Kasy invites readers to see it as a political and social choice. In a world already shaped by inequality, he argues that AI will deepen existing divides unless it’s placed under public and democratic control.

His framework is analytical and visionary, a blend of economics, ethics, and practical insight into how society might reclaim agency over one of the most consequential technologies of our time.

About the Author

Maximilian Kasy is a professor of economics at the University of Oxford and previously taught at Harvard University. His research explores machine learning and the social impact of AI, focusing on how technology intersects with power, equity, and governance.

The Price of Belonging: Exploring Selfhood in the Digital Age

‘Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age’ is the new book by Vauhini Vara. Photo: Barnes & Noble

Books that explore the human condition in the digital age offer profound insight into how technology reshapes identity, connection, and meaning. Some examine AI’s emotional entanglement with humans, blurring the lines between empathy and programming, while others critique our obsession with surveillance and digital transparency. These narratives question what it means to be human when algorithms influence choices, relationships, and self-worth. As artificial intelligence grows more integrated into daily life, literature becomes a crucial mirror, reflecting both our fears and hopes for the future.

New this month, from the author of “The Immortal King Rao,”finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, is “Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age,” a personal exploration of how technology companies have both fulfilled and exploited the human desire for understanding and connection. (Penguin Random House, 2025)

“Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age” by Vauhini Vara

When it was released to the public in November 2022, ChatGPT awakened the world to a secretive project: teaching AI-powered machines to write. Its creators had a sweeping ambition—to build machines that could not only communicate, but could do all kinds of other activities, better than humans ever could. But was this goal actually achievable? And if reached, would it lead to our liberation or our subjugation?

Vauhini Vara, an award-winning tech journalist and editor, had long been grappling with these questions. In 2021, she asked a predecessor of ChatGPT to write about her sister’s death, resulting in an essay that was both more moving and more disturbing than she could have imagined. It quickly went viral.

The experience, revealing both the power and the danger of corporate-owned technologies, forced Vara to interrogate how these technologies have influenced her understanding of her self and the world around her, from discovering online chat rooms as a preteen, to using social media as the Wall Street Journal’s first Facebook reporter, to asking ChatGPT for writing advice—while compelling her to add to the trove of human-created material exploited for corporations’ financial gain.

Interspersed throughout this investigation are her own Google searches, Amazon reviews, and the other raw material of internet life—including the viral AI experiment that started it all. “Searches” illuminates how technological capitalism is both shaping and exploiting human existence, while proposing that by harnessing the collective creativity that makes humans unique, we might imagine a freer, more empowered relationship with our machines and, ultimately, with one another.

Vauhini Vara has been a reporter and editor for The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and the New York Times Magazine, and is the prize-winning author of “The Immortal King Rao” and“This is Salvaged.”

“Vara humanizes the influence of technology in highly personal terms [and] projects what the future holds as tech oligarchs gain political influence. . . . Provocative, challenging, and concerning, Vara’s clever, eye-opening approach brings home the often uneasy confluence of individual desire, social benefits, and corporate ambition.”—Booklist, starred review

“Tragic, funny, and relatable[, SEARCHES] is by turns absurd and insightful, engaging with the ethics of algorithms, surveillance, and privacy in a meaningful way. . . . A must read.” —Library Journal, starred review

“Readers will be profoundly moved by this remarkable meditation.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Reviewing ‘Mastering Knowledge Management Using Microsoft Technologies’: Insights and Evaluation’

‘Mastering Knowledge Management Using Microsoft Technologies’ by Tori Reddy Dodla offers practical guidance and strategies. Photo: Amazon

“Mastering Knowledge Management Using Microsoft Technologies” is essential for professionals looking to get the most out of Microsoft tools when dealing with knowledge management. It is expertly put together and thoroughly explores the complexities of knowledge management systems, offering practical insights and strategies.

The author begins by defining knowledge management principles and then incorporates Microsoft technologies such as SharePoint, Teams, and Office 365 into the discussion. Each chapter is formatted to progressively build upon the previous one, ensuring a consistent and logical learning experience. The graphs, figures, and illustrations throughout each chapter summarize the topic being discussed. Each chapter begins with a Chapter Goal and ends with a Chapter Summary and Key Takeaways.

The book is divided as such:
Chapter 1: Introduction to Knowledge Management
Chapter 2: The Knowledge Base
Chapter 3: Power Apps for Knowledge Sharing
Chapter 4: Power BI for Knowledge and Insights
Chapter 5: Integrate AI with Microsoft Co-Pilot
Chapter 6: Knowledge Management for Document Management
Chapter 7: Discussion of Knowledge Sharing Tools
Chapter 8: Knowledge Management Metrics and Analytics
Chapter 9: Challenges and Solutions
Bibliography
Index

Highlights:
Chapter 4: Power BI for Knowledge and Insights
Section 4.2 Gamification in Knowledge Management because it explains how it takes the most popular elements used in gaming to make knowledge management more engaging, interactive, and fun. These elements are points and scoring systems, badges and achievements, leaderboards, levels and progression, feedback and recognition, and challenges and quests.

Chapter 6: Chapter 5 – Integrate AI with Microsoft Co-Pilot because it explains how to use AI for advanced knowledge management to automate routine tasks, speed up information retrieval, and streamline data analysis. I particularly like that it has sample prompts on section 5.5 for writing and editing, e-mail assistant, data analysis, presentation, meeting assistant, and other such tasks.

It includes real-world examples, case studies, and step-by-step instructions that empower readers to apply knowledge management solutions successfully within their organizations. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced professional, her writing style and depth of knowledge make this book a valuable resource.

“Mastering Knowledge Management Using Microsoft Technologies” is a must-read for anyone seeking to use Microsoft tools for improving knowledge sharing, collaboration, and organizational effectiveness. Dodla’s expertise shines through, making this book a definitive guide in the field.

*The author was contacted for an honest review of this book. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.

Rating: 5 out of 5.