Analog is OK!!! We Need More of It!

The Analog Advantage (Or: Why Your Perfectly Polished AI Output Is Costing You Everything That Matters)
Here’s what I’m seeing right now, and it’s wild!!
Everyone’s scrambling to make their communication smoother, faster, more polished through AI. LinkedIn posts sound like they came from the same content factory. Emails read like they were written by a really well-trained robot who studied “professional communication” but never actually had a beer with anyone. Resumes? Forget it. They’re all starting to look like they went through the same optimization algorithm.
And you know what’s happening? We’re all getting really good at spotting it. That slight uncanny valley feeling when something reads too perfect. Too sanitized. Too… not human.
The pattern I’m noticing – and this is after three decades of connecting people to opportunities – is that authenticity has become the ultimate differentiator. Not despite AI, but because of it!!
Think about it like a VC would: What’s scarce in this market? What’s the actual value creation opportunity?
It’s not polish. It’s not perfection. It’s real human connection. It’s the stuff that can’t be automated because it comes from actual experience, actual vulnerability, actual give-a-shit about the person on the other end.
When I reach out to someone about a role, they need to know it’s ME. Not a template. Not an AI assistant making me sound smarter than I am. They need to feel the energy, the urgency, the genuine belief that this could be THE moment for them. You can’t fake that. Well, you can, but people know. They always know.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Easy feels safe but it’s killing your differentiation. Every time you let AI smooth out your edges, you’re sanding away the very thing that makes you memorable. Your quirks. Your voice. Your actual humanity.
I get it – writing is vulnerable! Putting yourself out there without the safety net of perfect grammar and optimal phrasing feels risky! But that’s exactly why it works!!
The executives I work with, the founders building the future, the leaders making real impact – they’re not looking for polished. They’re looking for REAL. They want to know who you actually are, not who ChatGPT thinks you should sound like.
This applies to everything:
Your outreach? Make it sound like you. Typos and all.
Your LinkedIn posts? Share what you’re genuinely thinking about, not what performed well in someone else’s algorithm.
Your resume? Tell YOUR story in YOUR words. If you learned something the hard way, say that. If you’re excited about something, let that enthusiasm show!!
The analog approach – the handwritten note, the voice memo, the actual phone call, the message that sounds like it came from a human who had coffee and feelings and opinions – that’s what cuts through now. Because it’s rare. Because it’s brave. Because it signals you care enough to show up as yourself.
I’m watching a weird arbitrage opportunity emerge: While everyone else is optimizing for efficiency and polish, the people who stay authentic are building something way more valuable. Trust. Connection. Relationships that actually mean something when it matters.
And in recruiting? In careers? Those relationships are EVERYTHING. They’re the difference between a transaction and a transformation. Between a job and a calling. Between someone who represents you and someone who actually sees you.
So here’s my contrarian take delivered with genuine care: Stop hiding. Stop letting AI make you sound like everyone else. Stop choosing easy over authentic.
Your rough edges? Those are features, not bugs. Your unique way of seeing things? That’s your unfair advantage. Your willingness to be human in an increasingly automated world? That’s what people are hungry for.
The future belongs to people who can leverage technology while staying undeniably, unapologetically themselves. Who use AI as a tool but never as a mask. Who understand that efficiency without authenticity is just noise in an already noisy world.
Be you. Fully. Messily. Authentically.
That’s the real competitive advantage!!
And honestly? It’s the only way to build anything that actually matters.