94: What Remains When Everything Changes? AI, Identity, and Meaning with Michael Landers

Business Origin Stories for Entrepreneurs, Coaches, and Leaders

Business Origin Stories for Entrepreneurs, Coaches, and Leaders
94: What Remains When Everything Changes? AI, Identity, and Meaning with Michael Landers
Dec 16, 2025
Amy Schutte

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What happens when the thing you’ve built your identity on… stops being the thing the world needs from you?

In this episode of Business Origin Stories, host Amy Schutte sits down with Michael Landers — global leadership and culture consultant, author, and founder of Culture Crossing — for a raw, honest conversation about AI, identity, purpose, and what remains when everything around us changes.

Together, they explore:

  • How 20+ years of expertise in leadership and culture suddenly felt shaky in the face of rapidly advancing AI
  • Why so many of us tether our worth to productivity, titles, and credentials — and what happens when those are stripped away
  • The idea of an “existential vacuum” and why AI layoffs and disruption may intensify questions of meaning and purpose
  • Viktor Frankl’s framework of creative, experiential, and attitudinal values — and how it can guide us through identity shifts
  • Jungian psychology’s concept of the “second adulthood” and why so many people in their 30s–50s feel like the life they built no longer fits
  • Why Michael believes AI will increase the need for authentic interaction, community, and shared experience
  • How leaders, founders, and organizations may need to reinvent the playbook for leadership in a world where expertise is increasingly commoditized

Who are you if you’re not your job?
What remains when your expertise becomes obsolete?
And how do we navigate this shift with more self-awareness, humanity, and hope?

If you’re a leader, founder, or high-achiever who feels like your identity is in motion, this episode will give you language, frameworks, and a sense that you’re not alone in the “lab.”



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@amyschutte_

Work with us: www.hudsonandco.co



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