Silicon Valley Girl: AI, Tech and Career Growth

Susan Wojcicki helped build Google and led YouTube for nearly a decade. In this episode, I sit down with her husband, Dennis Troper; her mother, Esther Wojcicki; and her sisters, Anne and Janet Wojcicki, to hear the stories that show who Susan was beyond her work.They talk about how Susan made time for her five children, what happened when she was diagnosed with lung cancer despite having no smoking history, and why her family is working to change how the disease is understood. We discuss the need for earlier detection, the stigma that keeps people from seeking care, and the Lung Cancer Genetics Study Susan helped inspire. Learn more about the Susan Wojcicki Foundation and its work on early detection and prevention of lung cancer: https://susanwfoundation.org/Resources:Susan Wojcicki Foundation: https://susanwfoundation.org/About lung cancer: https://susanwfoundation.org/about-lung-cancerLung Cancer Genetics Study and eligibility: https://www.23andme.com/lung-cancer/How Susan helped inspire the study: https://susanwfoundation.org/post/susan-wojcicki-lung-cancer-genetics-studyThank you to the Susan Wojcicki Foundation and Susan’s family for sharing their archival photos and footage. Archival family materials courtesy of the Susan Wojcicki Foundation.The opening excerpt of Susan speaking is courtesy of Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California (2017). Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbEeamhK2Kk. Thank you to the Commonwealth Club for sharing this material. Commonwealth Club channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC78euTMh9KcVbql3UeWOqBwMy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/siliconvalleygirl/X: https://x.com/siliconvalleymmLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marinamogilkoMy companies and products: https://partnerships.marinamogilko.co

Ethan Mollick is a Wharton professor who co-directs the Generative AI Labs and was named by TIME as one of the 100 most influential people in AI. His new book Co-Intelligence: The Next Phase of AI just came out. AI can draft most of your work in seconds — but if you only fix 10% of what it writes, what are you actually losing?In this episode, I ask Ethan how to work with AI without handing over your own thinking. He explains why he still types every first draft himself, why he brainstorms alone before opening Claude, and what happened when AI fact-checked his new book and found errors in the papers he was citing. We talk about the four skills you need to use AI well, why entry-level jobs no longer train people the way they used to, and how he actually manages AI agents step by step. At the end, I ask the question I keep thinking about: what happens when AI learns taste?Links: 📌 Subscribe to my free newsletter where I go deeper on AI tools, career strategies, and building with AI: https://siliconvalleygirl.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=futureproof-sub&utm_term=ethan-mollick⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠𝕏 : ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/siliconvalleymm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🔗 Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/siliconvalleygirl/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/marinamogilko⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📌 My Companies & Products: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Marinamogilko.co

Using AI every day doesn’t automatically make you better at your job. So how do you use it to build real expertise? In this episode, I talked to Karim R. Lakhani, a Harvard Business School professor whose research with BCG, Procter & Gamble, and H&M explores how AI changes the way we work. We talk about three ways people work with AI – cyborgs, centaurs, and self-automators – and why the way you delegate matters for what you actually learn. Karim shares why he never takes the first answer, how to make AI challenge your assumptions, and why “the AI gave me that” is no excuse for poor work.We also get into what Harvard MBA students now build with AI, how juniors can develop judgment and taste, why CEOs need hands-on experience with these tools, and how to set bigger business goals as AI gets more capable. And we end with a question every founder should be asking: when the next AI model launches, does your business become more valuable – or does the model absorb what you do?📩 Follow my Newsletter (Future Proof): https://siliconvalleygirl.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=futureproof-sub&utm_term=karim-lakhani📌 Help shape what’s next on Silicon Valley Girl!Take our quick survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdQEqUy3wiE7TlzM_haWLEcgV8eJUeSBIVaK2QjDsAVEsXm3w/viewform?usp=publish-editor Links: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠𝕏 : ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/siliconvalleymm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🔗 Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/siliconvalleygirl/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/marinamogilko⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📌 My Companies & Products: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Marinamogilko.co

Felix Rieseberg has led engineering for Claude.ai, Cowork, and Claude Code Desktop at Anthropic. He thinks many of us are still giving AI tasks it has already outgrown. If you’re only asking Claude to summarize emails, what are you missing? How to hand AI bigger goals. Why “you’re an expert” isn’t enough аnd how to catch mistakes when the answers sound convincing. Felix shares how to start trusting AI with more – and stop being the bottleneck in your own company.📩 Your first AI agent in 20 minutes — get the guide through my free newsletter: https://siliconvalleygirl.beehiiv.com/p/your-first-autonomous-agent-in-20-min-5429?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=futureproof-sub&utm_content=first-agent&utm_term=felix-rieseberg ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠𝕏 : ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/siliconvalleymm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🔗 Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/siliconvalleygirl/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/marinamogilko⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📌 My Companies & Products: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Marinamogilko.co

James Manyika runs research and labs at Google, and his team recently studied millions of real Gemini conversations to see how people use AI at work. In a typical job, it's only about a fifth of the tasks. I asked him what that means for your job and your salary, why he bet against the people who predicted half of white-collar jobs would disappear in two years, which three signals would change his forecast, and which AI breakthroughs are already in your life without you noticing.📩 Follow my Newsletter: https://siliconvalleygirl.beehiiv.com/subscribe?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=futureproof-sub&utm_content=30-days-plan&utm_term=james-manyika⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠𝕏 : ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/siliconvalleymm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🔗 Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/siliconvalleygirl/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/marinamogilko⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📌 My Companies & Products: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Marinamogilko.co⁠