¡Próspero Año! (Prosperous New Year!) I hope 2026 is already treating you well, bringing health, clarity, and momentum.
There's a saying in Spanish:
"Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar"—Traveler, there is no road; you make your own path as you walk.
This past year, Nikki and I have been quietly forging a new path, driven by a powerful shift and a growing urgency to tackle one of the most significant challenges of our time. We've been forging the road by walking it, connecting everything we’ve done in our respective careers with everything we believe about our AI future. And, this week, that path leads to something I'm incredibly excited to share with you: FlipWork.
I've spent my entire career closing divides.
At Goldman Sachs, I pioneered Returnship® to bridge the gap between talented women and the opportunities they deserved. At EY, Google, Bank of America, and beyond, I built systems to give voice to those who'd been overlooked. I became fluent in the unwritten rules. I learned how to architect programs that didn't just open doors, but fundamentally changed who got to walk through them.
But today, the divide I'm focused on is different. It's not limited to some groups of people.
𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.
This is why we've launched FlipWork, a transformation partner built for the speed and scale of AI.
AI is changing work faster than people can change how they work. The leaders I talk to are wrestling with the same challenge: massive investment in AI tools, but culture and adoption lag behind.
The gap between what we can imagine and what we can become is widening. And it's not because the technology isn't ready. It's because we're trying to fit revolutionary tools into old ways of working.
FlipWork exists to bridge that divide.
We help organizations reinvent culture, not just their tools. We diagnose where AI can create real impact, run intensive sprints that rewire how teams think and work, then build AI agents designed for how humans actually operate.
The result is what we call 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜-𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧™, where humans and AI amplify each other, where output becomes exponential without more hours, where people become People Squared™ (People²™).
This isn't about replacing people. It's about what people can become when they co-evolve with machines.
I've spent two decades building pathways. Now I'm building the bridge to what comes next.
Because the most powerful force for change has always been human potential. Now we need to architect the systems that will enable it to thrive.
2026 is the year we stop trying to fit the future into the past.
The year we build systems worthy of human potential.
The year we prove that technology doesn't diminish us...it reveals what we've always been capable of.
Let’s build it together.
Happy New Year!
THE SHIFT
AI is changing work faster than people can change how they work.
The gap between what we can imagine and what we can become is widening. And it's not because the technology isn't ready. It's because we're trying to fit revolutionary tools into old ways of working.
FlipWork exists to bridge that divide.
The old model was about efficiency, doing the same work faster. The new model is about amplification, where humans and AI work together to create exponential output.
FlipWork moves companies beyond task automation to true Agentic-Human Reinvention™.
It's people freed from the mundane to focus on what makes us irreplaceable: creativity, judgment, wisdom, and connection.
That’s when people become People Squared™. It's the multiplier effect of humans and AI co-evolving together.
People² = (Human Creativity + Contextual Wisdom) × Agentic Scale
THE STRATEGY
How do you actually build a People² workforce? It doesn't happen by buying licenses; it happens by reinventing how your teams think, work, and collaborate.
- The Diagnosis: We identify where AI can create real impact and change the economics of the business. Knowing exactly where to focus your transformation efforts generates faster results.
- The Sprint: We run intensive 90-day sprints to help teams learn a new way of thinking and working. With AI as a co-evolution partner, people shift from doing tasks to orchestrating outcomes.
- The Build: Finally, we build AI agents designed for how humans actually operate, ensuring high adoption and delivering higher ROI.
If you lead AI transformation for your organization and want to explore further, let's connect.
THE STACK
To navigate this shift, you need two different maps: one for your personal reinvention and one for your organization's success. Here are the two channels to serve you:
¡Ay Ay Ay, AI!
- The Purpose: Navigating the AI revolution with a focus on personal productivity and human potential.
- The Goal: Helping you lead, work, and thrive in an AI-driven world.
- The Vibe: Actionable insights for the modern leader.
FlipWork Intelligence
- The Purpose: Organizational reinvention.
- The Goal: Business growth, AI Governance, Organizational Design, and Transformation ROI.
- The Vibe: Tuesdays. Playbooks. Systems-focused.
TRY IT THIS WEEK (Micro-Action)
In my last newsletter edition, we talked about “the unspoken bottleneck,” how your fingers and old habits often hold back your AI productivity more than the model itself.
This week, I want to extend that idea from the individual to the organization:
Pro Tip: Before you add another AI tool, flip a single workflow.
Choose one high-friction process your team does every week, something that is important, repetitive, and just a little bit painful. Then run a simple FlipWork-style mini-sprint around it:
-
Define the outcome, not the task.
Don’t start with “create a deck” or “draft a report.” Start with the outcome:
“A client-ready narrative with three clear recommendations,” or
“A weekly update that lets leaders make a decision in under 5 minutes.” -
Map how it gets done today.
Who touches it? How many handoffs? Where are people copying, pasting, reformatting, or fixing things at the last minute? These are your friction points. -
Separate what humans should own from what AI should own.
- Humans: judgment, context, relationships, nuance, trade-offs
- AI: first drafts, summaries, structuring information, basic analysis, formatting
-
Design a simple “People² play.”
Write a short, step-by-step play that describes how humans and AI now partner on this workflow:
“Step 1: AI drafts… Step 2: Human edits for nuance… Step 3: AI formats and summarizes… Step 4: Human approves and sends.” -
Run it for 2 weeks and measure.
Track:- Time saved
- Quality of the final output
- Energy: Does this feel lighter, clearer, faster for the humans involved?
This is Agentic-Human Reinvention™ in practice: not a 50-page strategy deck, but one flipped workflow at a time, where AI doesn’t replace people, it releases them to do the work only humans can do.
If you decide to run this experiment with your team, I’d love to hear what you learn. Hit reply and tell me:
- The workflow you chose
- How you paired humans and AI
- The biggest "FlipWork" surprise (good or bad)
With your permission, I'll feature a few anonymized stories in a future edition to show others what this looks like on the ground as we forge this new path together!
Closing Thought
The future of work isn't just about adopting AI; it's about reinventing how we work, lead, and unleash human potential alongside it.
This reinvention journey is exhilarating, and I'm thrilled to be building this bridge with you.
Hasta la próxima, Abrazos!
Monica Marquez
When You're Ready...
Here's how I can help you and your organization navigate this new era:
AI Workforce Transformation: Bridge the exponential divide between AI capabilities and human readiness. Reinvent culture, workflows, and tools for the AI age.
Keynotes & Workshops: I deliver engaging, high-impact keynotes and workshops on AI-driven leadership, personal branding, career advancement, and transformation. Whether it's a corporate event, leadership summit, or industry conference, I bring practical insights and strategies that empower professionals to thrive in today's rapidly evolving world.
Learning & Development Consulting: I partner with organizations to design and implement tailored strategies and learning experiences that drive real impact. From AI-powered career development programs to leadership training tailored for their talent, I help companies advance their workforce and create growth opportunities for high-potential professionals.
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