Automation of Persuasion

I must have come across this wording (the title of this post) somewhere in my reading in the recent past, but it got stuck in my brain.

What a succinct way to describe how automated systems can eventually take over our lives?

It has already happened via social media over the past decade or so, but it is now scaling rapidly via the deployment of autonomous AI (Artificial Intelligence) agents.

AI is firmly taking hold of our lives. Even people who reject that this is another fad are being influenced (sometimes unconsciously) by AI as it starts to pervade all facets of life, all around the world.

I am not talking here about the potential dangers of AI taking over autonomous weapons in the battlefields of the future, or AI causing bio-terrorism and cataclysmic climate changes. While all these are possible, only very foolish governments would let AI agents roam free when it comes to existential threats. Humanity may not be under immediate threats of extinction, notwithstanding the statements of the OpenAI safety researcher who quit a few weeks ago and went public about the extinction of humanity itself. No one can laugh it off, the threat is real. With the lack of guardrails on AI development it is only a matter of time before some perceived threat actually becomes a real one about which the whole world would feel completely endangered.

My post is however on what we usually consider as mundane activities.

Can my beliefs and behaviours be influenced by AI? Of course, yes.

AI can make me believe what it is communicating as the real thing which I should look at carefully (!). The persuasion becomes automated, and no longer based on what close friends communicate. AI takes precedence over friends and family, as it sounds rather real and very factual. Any number of queries that I have launched on Claude specifically have been returned with accurate responses (since I already knew the correct answers), and I keep testing Claude. There was a time when it apologised after I challenged its wrong answer. I am sure it learnt from that experience, as when I tested it on the same query using a different wording on a different Claude account, it did not give the same wrong answer. The problem with AI is that it gives what appears to be convincing answers to almost anything under the Sun, so you tend to believe them more than non-AI humans who you have trusted all your life! This automation of persuasive ability is very real, and often dangerous.

What about the structured decision-making steps that most of us are used to on any major issue in life? Those steps have been tested by us on numerous occasions all through our life. But now we are surrendering those thinking and thought-provoking steps to AI, which we believe to be more brainy than us! Yes, AI can gather together all the worldly wisdom and thoughts in under 10 seconds or even less and present its analysis and conclusions without us belabouring through our personal thoughts. Sure, it is a good productivity tool. But unless we already have thought about the issue, and know more or less the contours of the possible answer, we would not really benefit from AI’s responses. What good are we if we cannot ourselves figure out a possible solution to a problem?

I treasure my autonomy and critical thinking ability, and so should you. These are skills which have been honed over the years, and I have no intention of surrendering these skills at the altar of AI. My queries would be more like “can you explain why global bond prices are going down, and why interest rates are going up, give me an easily understandable explanation in layman terms, and also highlight what could lead to more instability in global financial and commodity markets in the coming three months?”. I can ask Google itself which would use its Gemini AI to answer. Or I can ask ChatGPT. I always found that long queries with constraints and guardrails in the query itself makes AI think and come up with a long thoughtful response (it takes a few more seconds if you can check for yourself!). I also ask “do you think you can take over my brain’s thinking on complex issues facing my life and run my life for me, managing my finances, and in the process do you think you can do a better job than what I have been doing till now; have you provided similar advice to other humans?”.

I don’t want to be persuaded by AI on any topic. I do not allow AI to advise me on the content of my blog posts, as I do not trust AI to do as good a job! Yes, that’s what I think, and I have no intention of changing my view on this matter. There are areas where AI can help, and we need to figure that out very carefully. So far I have only seen common people using AI as advanced search agents. I would not ask an AI agent to make my flight booking, write my emails or manage my calendar. All these and more are done best by me as I keep constantly juggling my priorities. I don’t want to trust AI on all these personal matters.

When it comes to emotional persuasion involving feelings which appeal to the heart rather than the mind, my sense is that AI would fail (I have not tested this), though I see news coverage on how AI agents are providing “love” to anyone not experiencing love and feeling rather lonely. But this is nothing but fake love feeling to which a normal human being with normal feelings would not succumb. But the world is changing, and I wouldn’t be surprised if AI Love Agents eventually proliferate.

Social persuasion is the most dangerous thing that AI agents are capable of causing in a moment all across the world. Youngsters are very prone to social persuasion by AI. This is a serious danger which needs to be curtailed. Peer pressure can never be the reason to surrender to AI.

A lot more can be written on this rather interesting and relevant topic.

Have a good week ahead,

Cheers,
Vijay Srinivasan
4th October 2026

Unlearning

After a long lived life experience, most of us get wedded to certain beliefs and assumptions in a very strong, unassailable manner.

Nothing wrong with that kind of approach. Howevever, it signifies our reluctance to change our beliefs, opinions or long-held assumptions even in the light of new inputs. We choose to ignore the fresh inputs which could impinge on us time and again, or close our eyes to such inputs. Such behaviour allows us to maintain our being in the same, unaffected way which we prefer as we get older.

It requires courage to question our beliefs and assumptions. Sometimes it might look unnecessary or even undesirable. Why would we want to upend our long-held convictions? We might know for sure that our beliefs are correct, and correspond well with other similar folks in our network. Why question those assumptions? Why even consider newer inputs which challenge those beliefs?

I have personally seen that it is very difficult for me to unlearn things which I had imbibed over a long corporate career. I was not worried that much about my personal beliefs because those were shaped when I was in my teenage years and early-to-mid twenties. But I had to unlearn some of those beliefs as well when my life progressed forward.

The question is: are we open-minded to accept that there could be new angles to our assumptions? Can we trust ourselves to consider and evaluate those new perspectives? Or, are we afraid of ourselves and whether others known to us would think wrongly about our change in views?

In my case, I became unafraid a long time ago, but kept my radically different views to myself. In any case, I was not given to exhibitionism. I did articulate some of my views in a close-knit group. The key thing then was to not only communicate a different set of world views, but to provoke a certain level of discussion without losing temper on anyone’s part. It was not necessary for me to instigate a discussion as I was quite firm on my own personal views which have already undergone many changes over the years. Neither was I expecting any endorsement from any set of people. I know that different people would have different set of views and there was nothing wrong about that in itself.

But as I stated above, it is necessary to revisit our beliefs and assumptions even occasionally. Things could have changed. People could have changed, World events could have taken a big turn (as they have done so in 2026). Politics could have changed. Social mores could have changed dramatically, and so on. While it is not necessary to adjust to every change in our environment, I think we can lead a better life if we understand the changes in a deep manner.

I always had a personal view that foreign media bad-mouthed India almost consistently, and rarely reported on anything positive about India. Without naming these media (you know who they are), it was clear that negative news developments on India were almost relished by these media. Media is a reflection of the society from which they hail, and Western media reflects Western belief systems. Impartiality was never a virtue in their reckoning.

However, over the years I changed my perception of Western media. I saw that they were always reporting negative news about their own country prominently and repeatedly. They were not focused on India at all, though the news items that they did publish on India was generally negative. In this context, we need to remember that India is not at the top of anyone’s pecking order – China is. I found that negative news coverage on China far exceeds that on India, allowing the general Western society to develop a negative impression about China and what it does. India was not in the running at all as it does not pose any kind of threat to the West. China does.

When a friend of mine pointed out that the latest rape case at Cornell University has not been covered in the Western/American media as much they covered India’s rape cases, I was not amused. I for one, look at my favourite news apps for quite a while (at least the headlines) every morning without fail. I subscribe to The Wall Street Journal. I almost “study” CNN and BBC. I also look at Times of India, The Straits Times, Mint and NDTV – all these are apps on my mobile phone. So, by 7 AM each morning, I am informed on what is happening in the world. I know what news are cross-referenced. After my friend’s remarks, I specifically checked and found his assertion to be untrue. Not only that, the Cornell case was repeatedly covered in CNN and WSJ. I am sure that other Western media would also have covered such an impactful news item.

This only means one thing: our long-held assumptions need to be revisited and re-thought about. No one is right or wrong, but can we be more open minded about what in our mind could have been wrong?

Well, I am still unlearning many things from my past, and it has not been easy. Sometimes I keep doing the same thing in the same wrong way, when I know what is the right way.

The more we are “global” in our mindset, the more “open” we are, and the more “observational” we are, the better our thoughts could be guided in the right manner. This does not mean that we need to change everything we believe in. We will make that determination on our own. It is not necessary to copy anyone’s thoughts or behaviour. We are unto ourselves.

Life is long and life is complex. We mostly like to follow the well-trodden path. There is no risk and there is broad acceptance. But do we have the courage to rethink some of our views and ideas when there are new developments? Are we willing to change our perspective?

Time to rethink, I guess.

Cheers,
Vijay Srinivasan
3rd October 2026

Freedom and Happiness

My partner berated me seriously yesterday about my negativity.

She asked me “why are you so negative in most of your writing” – she was referring to my blog posts, specifically about yesterday’s post. Her point was that if I bring forth all my negative views or impressions on a specific topic, then my day would likely turn out negative as my mental state would pervade my existence (at least for the day!).

I am not disagreeing with her perception.

I decided that I would at least try to write something positive for today’s post, and would try to maintain positivity in most of what I communicate, but practically I know that it would be well nigh impossible given the state of our world today. But why not give it a try?

Today’s topic can be synthesized as follows: “Doing what you like is FREEDOM”, but more importantly, “Liking what you do is HAPPINESS”. It is difficult for anyone to now complain that this is not a positive topic!

Let me dissect the ideas encapsulated in these two sentences. If I am free to do what I like, irrespective of what it is or what it entails, then that can be described as true freedom, or free living. Wherever I choose to live should be able to afford me that kind of sustenance resulting in total freedom.

But that kind of freedom comes with caveats, right? No freedom is absolute. My freedom ends where another person’s freedom starts. I need to be responsible in the exercise of my freedom. I cannot choose to exercise any kind of actions in the name of freedom when what I choose to do hurts someone else. I cannot park my car in a random manner anywhere I like; if there is a designated car park, I need to park only there. That is a very simplistic example. A more emphatic display of freedom lies in the exercise of my religious freedom in a multi-religious society. Can I stand on top of a rooftop and recite my scriptures in a loud voice, or use a loudspeaker to propagate the same, knowing full well that sound waves do not differentiate the sounds which they carry to people around? No, I cannot and rather, I should not, because I am impinging on the freedom of others who may belong to any category of people.

In general however, doing what I like is to be considered my freedom to exercise my due rights, not bothering about others, while at the same time not deliberately bothering them as well! Not all countries would give me that kind of freedom however. Sometimes I need to be careful in the exercise of my own freedom. When people say that they have great latitude of freedom in their countries, you should just take it at face value – they do not really understand the kind of freedoms that they can freely exercise. A journalist able to report negatively on a government sometimes is shown as an example of the exercise of total press freedom, but at the same time, the ability of law enforcement to take out a life almost in a random and free manner is not shown as an example of freedom as such. On the other hand it is shown as enforcement of law on the streets which is nothing but a cruel hogwash of laws on the statute books.

I hope you understand how important it is to fully understand the positive meaning of freedom as one’s ability to do what he or she likes without disturbing others in the process. Blaring out music from your balcony in an apartment block is not a true exercise of freedom. It is a nauseating disregard for other people living in the apartment building, who might also wish to exercise their own freedom in their own way. Where it all would end then?

Now let me move on to the second sentence.

You may or may not like what you do. But if you do like what you do, then that would lead to your happiness. The rationale is simple: if you love what you actually choose to do, then that love should translate to you becoming happier than what you are. You should feel elation, or a state of happiness which could lead to your fulfillment. You enjoy what you are doing, and that should mean something big and very important.

For example, I love writing on my blog. Why? Because I am in total control with total freedom on what I choose to write on any specific weekend day, and I enjoy the feeling of writing what all comes to my mind at this moment without any constraints, or even any kind of restraint. However, I am careful not to hurt anyone. I am liking what I do. Am I happy? You bet. At least for an hour or so!

Others might go to a gym because they love the habit of consistent workouts to enhance their physical health. Getting a good workout leads to a sense of happiness for them. They really enjoy what they are doing at the gym.

I can give many such examples. Some folks like eating out and do elaborate planning in going after a specific kind of food – they really enjoy when it comes to fruition at the dining table. May be it is Korean food. The very fact that they love what they are eating leads to happiness.

We cannot discount any kind of happiness. It is not just physical sensation. There is a big impact on our brain (mental) health as well. The positive sensation of feeling happiness percolates upwards to our brains, inducing various chemical reactions which are all positive for our mental health and well being.

So, in essence, both aspects are critical for our physical and mental well-being: feeling a sense of freedom and a sense of happiness. The first arises as a result of our ability to do what we like to do in a free manner. The second arises when we love what we are doing.

I hope I have written a “positive” article, hope you all enjoy it with freedom and happiness.

Cheers,
Vijay Srinivasan
27th September 2026

Heat, Dust and Disorder

While I do not hail from Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu State in India, I have close connection with it having lived there for a few formative years of my life. Overall, it is (or it was!) a good metro city of India with a usually better behaved public and less disorder than what one would encounter in other large metro cities such as New Delhi and Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta). I would even include Bengaluru (formerly known as Bangalore) in that list of “confused” and “disorderly” cities, though it occupies a special place in my heart as the location of my first ever job and also my MBA school.

With economic development and improving prosperity comes a variety of headaches. Other cities and nations have handled growth pains elaborately and assiduously, the prime example being Singapore itself where I live. A committed government and a dedicated bureaucracy are the basic ingredients for dealing with economic growth challenges, and one cannot also discount an “aligned” population which realises the critical importance of public order while growing up.

I have been visiting Chennai at least four times a year, for many years. I have witnessed its rapid economic progress, culminating in the huge investment made by Apple and a host of other international companies who identified with the manufacturing skills available in plenty in the State, and the inherent hunger for economic progress that you can see everywhere. Without that hunger, no city or state or country can move ahead economically. I could see that the Tamil Nadu State was no longer “ideological” in its electorate whose focus has shifted to economic progress. There is a clear plan by the State Government which points to a potential GDP target of USD 1T by 2030.

However, when the rubber hits the road there still are so many problems to be solved all over India, but especially in fast growing states like Tamil Nadu which has already reached a #2 GDP position overall in the country. I am not an economic specialist but a common man walking the roads or being driven by cabs around the city, and I see lots of issues from the vantage point of an “outsider” who has a stake at least in the city of Chennai.

The first thing that any one, foreigner or otherwise, witnesses is the total breakdown of the traffic system in the city, now combined with constant road works for “storm water drainage”. The available road space in so many of the city roads is now constrained by road works, narrowing the already squeezed roads. There are no decent pavements on most roads resulting in pedestrians walking around holding their lives in their hands, forcing them to not only look behind them but also forward ahead of them. The reason for such caution is not difficult to find – motor cyclists, auto rickshaws and cyclists come on the OPPOSITE side of the traffic flow, yes, you have to experience it to believe that such disorder is indeed the case despite the presence of traffic police. What this chaos means is that a pedestrian (there are thousands of them on the roads at any given time) can never be sure who is going to push them to the edge of the road – whether it is going to be the usual traffic flow coming from behind, or the sudden illegal traffic flow coming at them. There is probably no other city outside of India in which such chaotic traffic behaviour happens. Compounding this problem is the random parking of all kinds of vehicles on the roads which surprisingly is not considered illegal.

Imagine travelling in an ambulance through the extremely thick traffic – I personally witnessed what happens if a patient requiring urgent medical care has to travel through a dense traffic situation. It is sheer madness with the ambulance rushing at phenomenal speed with its siren blasting its way through the traffic, with imminent possibilities of an accident due to its speed and also because most drivers are reluctant to give way. I saw drivers cutting into the flow of the ambulance! I cannot dream of such a situation in any major global city. There is a big lack of civic consciousness in the city (which also leads to dumping of waste on the roads).

The other huge problem is the amount of dust on any road. You can be insulated if you are travelling in an airconditioned cab, but remember to change the aircon setting to internal circulation of the air within the cab, otherwise you would be inhaling heavily polluted air from the outside. Due to the heavy construction activities involving the metro transit system (we call it as MRT in Singapore or as subway elsewhere), and the road works plaguing the city ahead of the coming monsoon rains, there is presence of heavy dust in the air. Further it appears that the roads are never cleaned, there are no dustbins anywhere, and people still keep throwing things on the road. The Corporation of Chennai has instituted heavy penalties for segregating waste disposal by every apartment building which is a good development. However, roads are still very dirty.

The worst things that you would encounter on the roads (if you have the misfortune of walking on city roads) are two fold – the sudden appearance of open manholes or construction pits, and hanging live electrical wires. There are big transformers which you would see in most areas, with the wire piping visible on the pavement (if one exists). Safety was never a consideration anywhere in India in any kind of public activities, and that lack of safety consciousness continues to haunt Chennai. This is a danger to every pedestrian.

I can keep writing non-stop. But my intention is simple. I would like Chennai to join the list of the great global cities of the world simply by emulating their best practices and abandoning “failed” practices which have not delivered results for a very long time. It is surely possible with commitment and dedication, and also by civic education. People have to change. This would take a long time, but could happen in the generation after mine, and that is not an unreasonable expectation. There must be an inherent desire and an yearning to reach the peak of one’s existence, otherwise it would not happen. Just increasing the GDP per capita is not enough.

Have a good weekend folks,

Cheers,
Vijay Srinivasan
26th September 2026

The people we remember

We always remember (mostly I should say) people who have influenced or impacted us at various points in our life. We do forget people, or cannot recall names of people we know, or not able to recall important events in our life wherein a few folks have helped us not expecting any return. But we should be able to recall if we invest some time.

How about people who remember us?

Apart from our close circle of relatives and friends, are there others who we have helped? Do they choose to remember us?

I thought this is an interesting topic on which I have some thoughts to share.

I met couple of my MBA classmates yesterday for lunch. They have been close to me over the years, which meant that the remembrance cycle worked both ways without much effort. That is possible only when a deep bond had been established for a long while. We were simply effortless in getting into a discussion on all kinds of things, especially about our children, their priorities, real estate, will, health issues, travels, and what not. This was expected any way, and it is not surprising at all. Most of us would have such classmate friends with who we would be in touch. Even if we do not speak with each other for months or years, the ease with which we could reconnect has always remained as a beautiful sensation to be relished.

The very important aspect of such reconnection is the transparency which engulfs us – nothing is sacrosanct, or nothing too personal. Everything can be shared with an openness which doesn’t come easily when we are with some other non-bonded friends or relatives. In fact, with relatives I have always been more careful!

A similar get-together happened last year with my secondary school classmates about which I have written in this blog. But that was a larger group and so the discussions were on an elevated level, not really personal one-on-one kind of interaction. However, I enjoyed meeting with several classmates who I haven’t seen for more than four decades. It brought back memories of those years including the antics in the classroom!

Next month, there will be an event which brings together my engineering college alumni across many batches. I haven’t kept in touch with that group, and so it would be a revelation of sorts when I meet them. The mutual learning process is priceless, and I hope it would turn out accordingly as something that portrays a re-living experience from those years in the college.

Whenever there was an interesting or impactful anecdote in my life, I have been able to recall the people involved – like a classmate who did unusual antics, a teacher who we teased, a lecturer who delivered fabulous lectures, a corporate colleague who was very helpful in tackling a problem, and so on. There are many I do not just recall, but I guess that’s OK. I have not kept a diary of events wherein I received help from someone connected in some capacity with me!

On the other hand, I do remember people with who I have had unpleasant experiences. I don’t know why however – why should I remember those guys? For instance, I had a very contemptuous boss one time who always looked down on me. I wanted to forget him, but I am unable to do so! His unreasonableness had impacted me so severely that I decided I would never ever inflict such behaviour on people working for me.

Then there are people with who we come in touch infrequently. For example, the janitor in my condominium who I see only once a month or sometimes once in two months. But I recall her face and her commitment to her work. Another example is the very helpful person in the management office of the condominium who always responds rather quickly and fixes any problem. There are many others like both in my immediate environments in Singapore and Chennai. I can get their faces in my memory instantaneously and sometimes with gratitude. Again, this is not unusual for any one of us.

What about the people who choose to remember me? May be for what I did to help them? Or as a classmate or colleague? Or even a relative?

Our life comprises of people we choose to remember and those others who recall us in their memories. We would know of those others only when they contact us even innocuously, otherwise we may not even remember them.

As we get older, it is to be expected that our memories would fade. This is one reason that I keep the names of people in a note that I can access any time. It is not for the purpose of wishing happy birthdays. It is to keep my memory refreshed at all times. When I look at that list, I am able to relive the times in which a specific person on the list was connected with me. Sometimes, I even go to the extent of giving a call or messaging that person. When there is no motive, such interactions are always meaningful and pleasant.

Our life is full of incidents – most of which are routine, some of which are unexpected. We deal with them on an ongoing basis. But do we devote a special time every week to reconnect with at least one person who has influenced us in a positive manner? It is not to thank them, but to stay in touch. That way, there is the opportunity for them to remember us as well. It works both ways, and it is always a pleasant experience.

I am now doing this as a habit. My partner is sometimes surprised when she discovers I am in a deep conversation with a person she has not come across and with who I do not speak usually. But I should say that my emotional balance is better after I finish such a conversation with someone that I have not spoken to for many years.

Life gets to be more meaningful that way!

Have a good week ahead,

Cheers,
Vijay Srinivasan
20th September 2026

What I don’t need anymore

When I was young, I wanted to have many things in life. And that desire continued through much of my working life.

It is not unusual to want a better home, a better car, more money to spend on discretionary items (the things you really don’t need!), more travels, more physical things like better quality suits for instance, accessories and gadgets, expensive ties, pens, and a series of status symbols. The list kept mounting as I witnessed all these things and more in my network of corporate colleagues and friends. I thought “there is nothing wrong in wanting more such items – may be these things would enhance the quality of my life”. I am not using English grammar well here, so please excuse me but you get the point.

I used to be very possessive of my things. I would rarely ever throw items which I was not using anyway. The inventory of such things kept growing over the years. I loved what I had bought, never mind it was just a T-shirt. I always thought I should preserve things on which I had spent my hard-earned money. Nothing wrong with that orientation, I should say.

But a deeper examination of my own desires led me to the conclusion that I had the inherent tendency to not only be part of some esoteric group, but also to impress people I came across. I did not wish to be left outside of any such group of which I was a part. Further, status symbols were part and parcel of the growing greed of capitalism and people affiliated with the practice of capitalistic businesses. I have to disclose that I was an active participant in that kind of practice. Again, nothing wrong with that.

As I matured into my retirement, I discovered that those things were no longer relevant for my life. In fact, the list of items that I want to have now is much, much shorter than that long list of items of “conformity”, laced with personal desires. I want hardly anything now, may be change my sneakers at best? or, buy a book? or, indulge in dark sugarless chocolate? It is so much different now.

I am getting out of my “possessive” mode of mindset. I bundled together a whole lot of good T-shirts, collared business shirts, pants, jackets, and so on, and gave these much treasured items to the janitor in my condominium complex. She was very happy. Now I am hunting for more items to give away – just shortlisted old luggage pieces still in good usable condition which I would have never given away in normal course. The list of such items is growing, while the list of things I want now is shortening.

Apart from such physical things, I am also looking at other non-tangibles – do I need to be on LinkedIn for instance, do I have to be part of certain groups (I got out of my IIM group two months ago), do I have to debate and win arguments all the time, do I have to be “right” every time, can I allow myself to be “wrong”, do I still have to impress people, and so on.

It is interesting to see how things which were once too important to me are no longer important or relevant to the conduct of my current or future life. I gave up my car though I could have afforded it, and when I walk on the roads I feel more in tune with the commoners – just a feeling. As I take bus and MRT (subway or metro) rides, I feel that I am just as common as any other passenger. Not special or esoteric anymore. Nothing unusual about me. I merge with the millions rather than with the few hundreds.

The main thing that I am investing my time on these days is social and personal relationships. I love to reconnect with old friends with who I have had remote connections on and off, but with who I had built a symbiotic relationship. I like to call them up and arrange for a meeting. Today I am having a lunch session with two such dear friends, one of who I have not met for more than 16 years. As I realise that life does not afford the luxury of indefinite time permanence, my wants have been changing.

One other significant desire of mine is to visit a few countries – a bucket list. I ticked off a few in the recent past, such as Scotland, Spain, Croatia, etc., but how about identifying one such place for 2027? That kind of focus distracts my mind from any physical things. The other facet of my life is research on a variety of matters, the recent one being meditation techniques suggested by Andrew Huberman of Stanford. I hardly had any time to do such research during my working life, but I have plenty of time now.

I also discovered the pleasure of “coffee dates”, though I am no fan of Starbucks or Coffee Bean kind of cafes. I learnt the idea of such dates from my daughter. The concept itself is not new, I have been meeting colleagues for coffee wherever I worked. But the difference now is that you have time to dissect a variety of topics over an hour of coffee (which I personally avoid!) with a syncing mind of another individual. It could be a dear friend or it could be your spouse, daughter or son-in-law. I even went for a coffee date with my grandson! We talked about his passion for building lego toys.

You see that the list is ever shrinking and ever changing all the time. It could be comprised of anything. How about getting the home deep-cleaned? My mind is engaged on such mundane matters of current interest and relevance to my life. I am working on a project to build a screen for my balcony to reduce sun glare and achieve more usable area, and this has taken up a lot of my time but it has been enjoyable. I run everything through my partner, or sometimes do a joint project.

In conclusion, there is just no conclusion! Life continues with much less desires and many fewer things.

Have a good weekend,

Cheers
Vijay Srinivasan
19th September 2026

An Earlier Version

We all use computers, smart phones and smart watches (at least most of us do!).

Almost like clockwork, every couple of months you get an update notification – the operating system needs a BIOS update, a security update, a version update, and so on. I am not sure of what is happening in the Windows world as I have long ago left that beautifully confusing world of Microsoft, and have been committed to Apple products ever since. Unfortunately, not all the application software I use is from Apple, because Apple does not make those applications. I have to depend on external apps (some of these emanate from Microsoft!). I have a habit of updating my Apple-oriented software almost instantaneously, as soon as the notification arrives either on my laptop or on my iPhone. So, I can say with confidence that my Apple products are always up to date. The reason is simple – if a hacker has got into the tightly coupled Apple ecosystem, then that is a big unusual danger; and if Apple releases a patch or a full update, we must quickly pay heed to it.

Now, this blog post is not about IT devices or Apple products.

It is about myself.

Yes.

Sometimes, I wind myself back to an “earlier” version of me, and look at that character with serious interest. It is exactly like the external hard drive that is connected to my Apple laptop, which uses Apple Time Machine settings to constantly keep my files updated in its drive. The unique thing is that it keeps an entire copy of the system as on various dates/times, and I can traverse back by dates/times and look at what was the state of the system some two weeks ago, or even two months ago. Of course, there is a limit since the hard drive can hold only so much, right? I think you get the picture.

All of us keep ourselves “updated” to the current time, what with the changes engulfing the world around us. The worry is that if we do not constantly keep ourselves up to date, we might either be out of date, or completely become irrelevant. So we try to , and aspire to be, the latest version of ourselves. Funny, but that is the way it is.

Now you see that you can choose a specific year in the past, or a range of years in the past of your life and browse back to those periods to see how you were – how did you dress, what did you do, and how did you behave? Were you a good guy, or were you kind to others? What exactly did you achieve in those years?

Fascinating to browse back and take a deeper look. I would get a variety of feelings when I zero in on a specific year – could be sheer happiness, or a kind of depression, or a sense of fulfillment, and so on. Many a time the year(s) I choose would be related to specific milestones, such as when I became the business head of a country’s business operations, or when my first grandchild was born, and so on. Those are the dates that you always remember. You should indeed.

The manner in which we operated in a specific past year would have been very different from what you would do in this current year. This is because our mind continues to constantly develop itself (never stops) and so our maturity and perception of events continue to change constantly. The way we view certain people in our business or personal life changes. The way we design or execute things changes. We become a different person eventually. We become more mature and more measured. We may not be that expressive as we were in the past. We gauge the situation around us more cautiously as we get older. If you do not agree with that, it is perfectly fine. You are just a “non-updated” operating system, which still survives well!

When I wander into my twenties, I wonder how I managed it all with what I would consider an obsolete operating system operating in a rather strange environment with lots of constraints. I come to the conclusion that if I had persevered and survived all those years, then I would just do well with whatever I have at the present moment.

Wrong conclusion.

Everything changes incrementally in life, and before we fully realise the impact of those continual changes, many years would have passed by. If we do not track those incremental changes, and continuously measure their impact, then our earlier operating system would not function properly. So, a constant update is a required necessity to handle the ever-changing world. I would need a new system, and had to keep updating myself almost every month, if not every day.

This is the reason why I never appreciate folks who refer back to the glorious past of any history, including theirs. Those great events are no longer relevant, and have not been relevant for a long time. You may then turn around and ask me, “Hey, I learnt a lot from my life experiences. Are you saying all that learning is a waste and I cannot apply any of that to my current life situation?”.

No, I am not saying that. You can use your learning, but do not expect the same results from the same learning or effort. Why? Because apart from situational differences, the people around you and the world around you have undergone vast changes and they do not care about your past learning from your past experiences.

I have stopped saying anything about my past successes, experiences, achievements, accomplishments, failures, and so on. These are not necessary ingredients in today’s world, and will never be relevant to the Gen Z folks who are increasingly determining how the world would be run henceforth.

While visiting an earlier version of myself is a cathartic experience for me, I am not applying any of those behaviours to my current time. But I have to say I surely enjoy those little excursions! It helps me in many ways, least of all delivering fresh energy to my being!!

Cheers,
Vijay Srinivasan
13th September 2026

Thinking around corners

This is not a “new” topic per se.

The ability to “see” around corners in our business or personal life is an invaluable asset. We all have it, but we do not deploy it often.

There are several issues in not being in a position to think or see around corners, though there could be multiple signs staring at us which should have been quickly recognized. But we don’t and persevere on the same well-trodden path. We all agree that this ability could lead us to a better prognostication of where life would take us, and allows us to be better prepared for future eventualities, but we refuse to use it.

There are always “weak” signals in the information that we have about a situation. For instance, it could be the high fiscal deficit in a government’s financing of its budget obligations, which would inevitably lead to rating agencies downgrading the country’s debt. There might be impact on the foreign exchange rate of the country’s currency as a result. Are we (as commoners) able to see where the fiscal data is trending towards? Of course, we do as most of us are well read and keep dissecting financial and economic news. If a particular currency is of importance, we should be able to see the potential negative impact on it and take action to at least partially exit towards a stronger currency (in my personal case, it is always the INR and SGD). I did not always “see” around the corner properly, and so I have lost significant money, though I think I am well read and understand the markets (to a certain extent).

Often, we make assumptions about data which eventually turns out to be incorrect. Or, we do not read in between the lines. There are enough data points in the economy at any point in time to indicate where inflation and therefore, interest rates are headed. Are we stupid not to pay attention to critical data staring at us? Are we stupid in making assumptions which are grossly wrong? Why are we always trying to defeat our own rational thoughts?

Human psychology is tough to decipher. We are often led to wrong assumptions or even conclusions by our desire to beat the rest of the world. This might sound “big” but it is true – we always wish to be “better” than most other folks in our society. Tell me if I am wrong.

In business situations, we always analyse the market from multiple angles and a wide variety of perspectives emanating from our colleagues. We do scenario planning. We do contingency planning. We prepare for bad times. But there is always a desire to excel and beat the market at its own game. If things do not turn out as we desired, a blame game would ensue notwithstanding facts on the ground and all the plans that were made.

In personal life situations, we are often slaves to our emotions which could often be irrational. I want to buy a Mercedes which is my “desire”, and I should work towards fulfilling that desire. But do I look around the corner and understand that a simpler and more fuel-efficient car would also do the job it is intended to do in light of the rising fuel prices and taxes?. The facts are known, and the trend can easily be seen though the future data points have not occurred. There are many such examples from our life, where our desire to emulate a particular lifestyle blinds us to the possibilities of a potential (and often inevitable) downturn in the economy. Or, may be you would lose your job due to AI, and then how are you going to finance the EMI for the car or your new apartment?

We cannot exactly see a specific event happening in the future, neither can we identify accurately a potential problem on the road ahead. But if we do not think through potential roadblocks in advance, we would be thrown off our tracks in life, which we do not want. So, constant planning is called for, whether in business or personal life. With things becoming increasingly uncertain, the ability to see around corners will become a prized asset.

The amazing thing about this critical ability is the extent to which it is NOT practiced. When we get together, we speak about current events in business, politics, finance, economy, et al. But we do not predicate what is likely to be the shape of the world in five years from now. We do not wish to do that simply because we are usually afraid, though we are capable of “imagining” things. However, we do not apply our valid imagination skills to our own country for instance, we only “hope” that things will be going good forever. That is nothing but what I would call as “wishful” thinking, not the ability to see around corners.

It is not necessary that such fresh thoughts about the future are good assumptions – they can be wild or completely out of the ordinary. Only by thinking on the totally unknown quantities, scientists delivered innovations which power our life. Is that a rather difficult proposition, only endowed with “special” people like Elon Musk? No, it is not. We need to free our thinking, we are bound by too much conventions and the unwise need to always conform. Obviously, no new things would come out of such traditions.

If you just close your eyes (don’t sleep!) even for couple of minutes, you would possibly see a world wherein there are no cars, or wherein there are no country boundaries, or some such outlandish imagery. This is what is needed to become capable of seeing around the corners where not many people venture out. Not that any of these things would ultimately come true but the fact remains that you are one of the few people who have imagined what could potentially turn out to be our future world.

Well, may be all this sounds hogwash, but close your eyes for a few minutes and imagine a different world!

Cheers,
Vijay Srinivasan
12th September 2026

Why MBA education is no longer relevant

Enrollments for all kinds of under-graduate and graduate programs have started anticipated declines over the past few years, with pronounced drops in highly expensive MBA programs.

The above statement applies to the U.S. primarily, but other countries are also having problems with declining higher education enrollments.

Is it because of the rapid onset of AI in every facet of business and life?

May be, but not entirely. Like every complex issue, there are many factors impinging on this aspect of higher education. One straightforward factor has been the change in the nature of business roles. Corporations no longer want the regular MBAs educated and trained on fundamental business principles. They are now preferring MBA graduates who possess AI fluency which would facilitate them becoming AI product road map managers for instance, or AI strategy consultants who would provide inherent AI knowledge and value to companies in order for them to compete in this new world of business dominated by AI.

There are other factors such as antipathy towards capitalism per se. Younger generations are progressive on social issues and do not appear to be seeking only the riches that the MBA graduates always dreamt about. When the world is apparently changing from a Gen Z perspective, obviously the future consumers are bound to have sympathies very different from that of the baby boomers or even the millennials. Are the world’s large corporations ready for such a huge change, which in their analysis would show up as having a cataclysmic impact?

I have an MBA degree (called as Post Graduate Diploma in Management) from one of the top schools in India. I have to admit that it was a great experience to go through such a rigorous management program, comprising of subjects about which I had no clue coming from an engineering background. I had good classmates who went on to establish themselves (mostly succeesful) in business. Of course I used my pedigree to secure a good job and then move ahead in corporate business circles. Fortunately, I did not have an “MBA attitude” because I left India for Malaysia and then to Singapore in quick succession, wherein there was no grasp of the “power of MBAs”. The situation could have been vastly different in the U.S. In the Far East, my MBA school or the quality of its education was just not known. So I merged with the rest of the folks and never once mentioned the name of my school or amplified what I had learnt. The only big advantage was that you get ever sharper on numbers and analysis due to the MBA training, that’s about it.

After some 25 years of passing out of my MBA school (with flying colours, should I say!), I became a socialist, tired of the excesses of capitalism. I benefited from capitalism at the entry and mid levels to be sure, but reading about inequalities in society, the GINI coefficient, poverty, and the failure of capitalistic democratic governments accelerated the changes in my views on how I perceived society’s picture as a whole (without any guilt). I used capitalism to achieve stability in my life with a variety of attendant uncertainties and big challenges, but I could have survived as well without an MBA degree. It was not an essential accoutrement to my profile or accomplishments.

There have always been two big issues with MBA education: the excessive focus on capitalism and wealth generation to the complete oblivion of the state of the society in which we live in, and the greed it generates in each and every MBA graduate to make money quickly, come what may. Things have changed of late with heavy focus on corporate social responsibility and sustainability, climate change, socialistic approaches towards solving society’s problems and how MBAs can help, poverty reduction, and so on. I do not really know the actual changes in the MBA curriculum even in my own alma mater. Nevertheless, I know that changes have been happening as I receive a regular monthly newsletter from the institute.

Is an MBA qualification required for making money and making good in business?

I would say it is a firm NO from my perspective. My classmates could differ and might have their own rationale for their views. However, my view is that anyone with a basic degree who is very adaptable, agile, sharp, flexible and committed can make it in any business.

So, what is needed to be successful in business? One critical factor is curiosity – the focus on discovering or finding new things and ways to solve or fix problems in the business context; the other is the ability to lead others in business towards a common goal (very critical); a third factor is the ability to make very complex judgements in the absence of data; and, finally, the critical ability to demonstrate a strategic approach to business instead of being good just in an operational mode only. There are other angles of course, but the above four are what I would consider absolutely essential – and all these do not need an MBA education or even an AI tool. Thinking in vacuum is what would position one ahead.

If you are looking for advice on how to save big money by not enrolling in an expensive MBA program, then you have come to one of the useful places (this post obviously!). If I were you, I would focus on quickly building AI skills and demonstrate the use of AI to solve business problems. Remember, AI tools are already being used for complex data analysis, financial modelling, presentation deck preparations, and so on. You can therefore only marginally improve on what such tools produce as output documents – and don’t forget, these tools are becoming more sophisticated and ever more capable every day. There seems to be no end! So, your ability to demonstrate oversight skills, complex judgement, and portray a strategic direction – all become very critical as you get into business even at the entry stage!.

Life is getting to be more interesting, right?

Have a good week ahead, and forget the MBA,

Cheers
Vijay Srinivasan
06 September 2026

The futility of arrangements

You guessed it right, this post is not about some “arrangements” that you get to make in your life. It is about the most significant of all, which is your marriage!

During my time in the past, arranged marriages were the norm. Parents get to decide who you would marry, or at least they would introduce someone to you in the hope that you would choose her or him as your life partner. You would have to generate very strong reasons to reject their recommendation!

Whatever one says, marriage is a rather risky gamble, may be the riskiest of any venture you would undertake. If the bet goes wrong, you are done for. If the bet works out, everything else in life would take care of itself.

I am not saying anything wrong here. Let us say you marry a total stranger with not even a basic introduction, just because your parents insist on the marriage alliance. You must understand that their motive may not always be in your interest. It could be for business-to-business growth purposes as both families are business families, looking to expand via an alliance. And what alliance could be stronger than a successful business-oriented marriage?

But there is always the huge risk of not syncing up with your partner – there could be many reasons starting with personality, psychology of relationship, attitude, mutual respect, belief systems, religious orientation, and so on. For sure, it is not possible to sync up on such factors even in a love marriage. There is no perfect marriage union in any case.

During my time, it was considered that the best manner in which a marriage could work out was when the potential bridegroom and bride at least get to spend a bit of time talking to each other (mostly in front of the parents!), so that there was no possibility of instant likes or dislikes. The girl was always watched closely by her anxious parents who were always desirous of getting her married at the earliest possible opportunity, so that their responsibility would go away. The guy was also watched closely, but it always appeared to me that he had more leverage in the transaction (!), his acceptance of the proposal was seemingly “more” valued. Of course, the girl could firmly reject and walk away. In this description of a potential alliance, I am elaborating on civilised and educated folks on either side, not those from a village environment bound by strict traditional practices where there was always zero chance of saying “no” to a marriage proposal. In the context of cities with modernising population, there was always a chance one could say “no” and walk away from any proposal, though such occurrences should have been rare in my opinion. The key reason for proceeding with a proposal was always the families matching on either side in terms of status in society.

The practice of “dowry” which is a financial gift from the girl’s side to the boy’s side has been a despicable system for hundreds of years, and has not disappeared still even when the girl is as educated with a good employment as the boy. Look at the recent case (there are many such cases), where a highly educated and intelligent bride was allegedly murdered in a high class family in North India for lack of dowry related performance, wherein the mother-in-law was an ex-Judge in a court of law. Amazing to note how the dowry system has deep roots in the Indian society, and has persisted all these years.

However, in these modern times, dowry is losing its importance. Further, the way in which people interact on social media and dating apps leads to a possibly better understanding of a potential relationship, whether it results in a marriage or not. Increasingly, the practice of a marriage alliance which does not involve one’s parents from the start (as was the usual practice), is becoming a de facto method of finding life partners. In “advanced” cases, the partners get married and inform their parents on their successful marriage!

There should be no obligation on anyone’s part to pay dowry money to the other side. Though there are laws on the statute book, these are rarely implemented. Tightening of the dowry laws with exemplary punishment is highly warranted.

Marriage as an institution has already come under investigation because of the money involved in a traditional marriage, most of which is unaccounted for. If “black” money is deployed in paying off the service providers involved in executing a big wedding, the tax sleuths should have been very busy. But unfortunately, that is not the case even today.

The fundamental issue in “marriage corruption” is the mindset of the people (even the civilised, educated ones) which is refusing to accept the new societal norms. If the bridegroom’s parents demand dowry or jewels, there is hardly anything that a willing bride’s family can do, except to accede. If they don’t they lose the alliance, and the possible sync between the two life partners would be torn to shreds.

Let me conclude by saying that the enormous money spent on conducting a wedding by both parties could be spent better in establishing a home and kickstarting the family journey. Is that not more important for the two partners to proceed with their life together?

How about a simple, least expensive “reception” instead of a whole load of ceremonies and functions driven by event planners with budgets to spend? How about getting the whole marriage function executed in a temple or a church, and donating food to the homeless?

Such notions would be anathema to most parents, at least in the Indian context. I am raising these views just so that people would think differently when the next opportunity arises. I know that this is a super-sensitive subject matter which could ruffle feathers.

Whatever it is, the peaceful and successful union of two willing souls cannot be predicated on customs, practices, ceremonies and dowries.

The “arrangement” to agree to live together is not decided by any of these, whether you agree or not as a parent. You are not going to live the lives of the new life partners, right?

Cheers,
Vijay Srinivasan
5th September 2026