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There’s a generational shift happening in workplaces that goes far deeper than debates about RTO or perks and snacks. Gen Zthe cohort that learned to communicate through stories, stickers, and swipe cultureis fundamentally reimagining how work gets done. After analyzing data from 2,475 professionals across our latest research, I’m convinced they’re crafting the future of work. Gen Z intuitively understands something many organizations are still learning. As we live in a world drowning in information, clarity is a competitive advantage. And increasingly, that clarity is offered visually. The Visual-First Expectation Sound familiar? Workplace tools mirror social behaviors, just with a lag. Just like how early 2000s texting culture paved the way for Slack, were now seeing Gen Z’s visual-first communication style make its mark on how we collaborate at work. Technology isn’t driving generational change, it’s catching up to how people already interact. Now, all work is expected to be visual, collaborative, and intuitive by default. For senior leaders managing distributed, multigenerational teams across time zones, the challenge is dual: translating complex ideas into clear visual communications while cutting through visual clutter to reach precise audiences. The goal remains constantmake every design count through compelling, memorable visuals that drive engagement. Among Gen Z professionals we surveyed, the majority say they do their best work visually and believe visual fluency makes them more valuable employees in addition to a critical skill to future-proof their careers. Other generations approach AI with varying degrees of skepticism or caution, but Gen Z sees it as a natural extension of their creative capabilities. Yet despite this confidence and capability, Gen Z workers are being systematically slowed down by outdated systems and fragmented tools that hinder their natural workflows. More than half want their companies to shift to a visual-first approach entirely. The Business Case for Visual-First Our neuroscience research, conducted in partnership with Neuro-Insight, provides objective evidence that Gen Z’s instincts for visual communication are spot on, aligning with how human brains actually process information. Visual content triggers memory encoding 74% faster than dull alternatives. In controlled laboratory settings, participants exposed to high-quality visual presentations showed 21% more emotional intensity and 16% greater likeability compared to boring or poorly designed versions of identical content. Documents with superior visual design generated 26% higher emotional intensity and 9% improved likeability. The report bears out that emotion fuels attention. And attention fuels retention. These represent fundamental differences in how information resonates and persists. Companies that embrace visual-first communication report 66% clearer and more efficient communication, while 61% achieve stronger brand cohesion and sharper differentiation. With 89% of business leaders now considering visual fluency a must-have skill for leadership positions, the question for ambitious professionals isnt whether or not to adapt at allits how quickly can they upskill across their teams. Organizations that resist this shift face measurable consequences. In the U.S., companies invest $65,000 annually per creative team member on visual content creation. Despite this substantial investment, more than 90% of leaders and their Gen Z colleagues continue to face obstacles that prevent them from producing their highest quality creative work. The creativity gap compounds these costs. Despite the fact that the U.S. is expected to pour over $143 billion annually into the visual content economy, teams remain locked into fragmented tools and text-first workflows. This creates a productivity bottleneck that stifles returns on massive organizational investments. Perhaps most concerning, 85% of creative leaders and 83% of Gen Z have resorted to using unapproved tools, while 82% of leaders bypass IT entirely to accomplish visual work. When talented employees consistently work around your systems, the systems need examining. An Action Plan for Future Forward Leadership For forward-thinking leaders, Gen Z’s visual fluency represents more than operational efficiencyit unlocks motivation, autonomy, and high-impact creative thinking. When we asked Gen Z what broader visual fluency across their companies would enable, their responses revealed aspirations that extend far beyond job satisfaction to be more motivated to contribute, more creatively empowered, and more confident in sharing ideas. Gen Z workers want to lead with AI, experiment with new approaches, and create visual experiences that drive results. The organizations that provide the right systems, support, and trust will unlock better work entirely. Audit your tool chaos: Task your department leads with taking inventory of their current visual tools. If it’s more than four, you have a cost center that might need consolidation. Document the inefficiency: Map all current visual tools your teams use, taking stock of overlaps and redundancies. Present the data to justify consolidation and to align Marketing, IT, and Finance on the operational cost of inefficiency. Run a 30-day pilot: Test AI-powered visual tools in real workflows with baseline KPIs: time saved, output volume, and brand consistency. Use the results to build a data-backed case for investment, focusing on performance over potential. Lead a “Visual Sprint”: Pick one legacy processonboarding, product briefs, or internal communicationsand task your teams with redesigning it using visual-first approaches. Give your team permission to break the mold and set big goals. Bridge the generation gap: Host recurring, informal office hours or workshops where everyone from interns to execs can bring new AI projects theyve been working on, showcase new visual workflows, and ask for help. This is about visual and AI literacy, and about building a new type of creative muscle memory. Four generations now share the workplace, with a fifthGen Alphaapproaching quickly. Organizations that harness the visual fluency, AI confidence, and creative instincts that Gen Z brings naturally will discover a competitive advantage. The visual communication revolution is here. Gen Z is ready to lead the visual era with intuitive platforms, visual-first communication, and freedom to experiment with AI. The companies that meet them with the right systems, support, and trust will invest in more than employee satisfactionthey̵ll invest in the future of how work gets done.
Category:
E-Commerce
When Raising Canes recently opened its first-ever location in Meridian, Idaho, it wasnt a particularly remarkable event for the restaurant chain. The fast-growing chicken purveyor also opened six other restaurants in five other states on the exact same day in November. It aims to open close to 100 new stores this year. But some Idahoans were willing to stand outside in chilly fall weather for more than 48 hours to be the first in the state to get a taste of Raising Canes, whose exceptionally narrow menu features chicken fingers, french fries, a secret proprietary dipping sauce, and simple sides like garlic toast and coleslaw. We had customers camping out since Sunday morning, AJ Kumaran, co-chief executive officer and chief operating officer of Raising Canes, tells Fast Company of the new Idaho restaurant that opened on a Tuesday. People are excited about our entry into that market. A boom in a cooling restaurant economy At a time when restaurant chains including Chipotle, Cava, and Sweetgreen are confronting a sales cooldown as Gen Z and millennial diners are pressured by inflation, high housing costs, flat income growth, and other broader macroeconomic challenges, chicken-focused restaurant chains like Raising Canes and Daves Hot Chicken have been consistently expanding across the U.S. and are posting sturdier sales and traffic growth. The fastest-growing chain in America last year by unit count was Hangry Joes Hot Chicken & Wings, according to data provider Datassential, which also reported the domestic unit total for all chicken restaurant concepts increased by 4.7% in 2024 from the prior year, far exceeding the industrys increase of 1.5%. Systemwide sales for chicken restaurants now exceed $52 billion annually. [Photo: Refrina/Adobe Stock] Total restaurant traffic for all quick-service restaurant concepts dropped 1% for the year-ending September 2025 from the comparable prior-year period, while that same metric increased 3% for the chicken concepts, David Portalatin, senior vice president and a food and foodservice industry advisor for Circana, told Fast Company. The market researcher says that traffic for the QSR restaurant industry, which was battered by shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, is still down 8% from 2019, but has increased 15% for QSR chicken. The chains defying fast-food slowdown trends Were obsessed with fried chicken, says Portalatin. He believes that more innovative twists on chicken prep and unique sauces have put a more modern twist on classic, Americana staples. Chicken, Portalatin adds, is among the very few bright spots in growth areas within the restaurant landscape. Since Raising Canes opened its first location in Louisiana in 1996, the chain has only sold chicken fingers and cooks every dish fresh to order, which Kumaran says results in efficient restaurants that are focused on making just a few menu items. There are no heat lamps or microwave ovens in the chains kitchensand no limited-time menu offers or discounts. [Photos: Raising Cane’s] We dont take shortcuts and we dont play any gimmicks, says Kumaran. You will not see us in discount mode or saying, Heres the flavor of the month. Over the past decade, Raising Canes has grown from a $350 million business to $5.1 billion in system sales in 2024. The company says it is marching toward $10 billion in annual sales from more than 1,600 locations, which would be an increase of around 600 restaurants from whats in operation today. Earlier this year, Raising Canes leapfrogged KFC to become the third most-popular chicken chain in the U.S. after Chick-fil-A and Popeyes. The chain even has a nickname for its most devoted fans, the Caniacs. That popularity has led to some increased competition from other chains outside of the chicken specialists that have added the protein to their menus. There are a lot of people jumping in, says Kumaran. Whether it’s taco players or fajita players or burger players, everybody’s got a chicken dinner option right now. The new competition crowding the chicken category Chickens soaring growth has been attributed to some yearslong trends like Chick-fil-As aggressive expansion beyond that chains initial regional focus in the south, the sandwich chicken wars that kicked off in 2019 when Popeyes debuted a new menu item that led to a social media and in-store frenzy, and the more recent perception that all proteineven fried chickenis better than other quick-service food options. Whether that’s true or not, I’m not, I’m not being the judge of that, says Portalatin. I’m not a dietitian or nutritionist, but the consumer will often perceive the chicken option as the better-for-you option. How the protein halo reshaped fast-food preferences Chickens protein halo is particularly relevant to consumers who are taking GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, and that connection led Daves Hot Chicken earlier this year to debut a promotional meal called the Davezempic, featuring mini sliders. It gives influencers and customers a way to engage with the brand in a funny and quirky way, says Srishti Handa, vice president of marketing at Daves. [Photo: Daves Hot Chicken] Founded in 2017, Daves Hot Chicken recently sold a majority stake for a reported $1 billion to private equity firm Roark Capital and ended 2024 with 260 locations. The chain expects to have 400 locations in operation by the end of this year and has signaled it expects to open more than 125 restaurants every year for the foreseeable future. When asked about a north star target, Daves President and COO Jim Bitticks told Fast Company the chain could easily support 1,000 domestic locations. Talk to me in 15 years and that number could be 2,000 or 3,000 restaurants, adds Bitticks. The chain serves its Nashville-style chicken tenders and sliders at seven different spice levels ranging from no spice to the reaper, the latter requiring a signed waiver promising that yes, its that hot. I dont recommend it, but you know, youve got to try everything once, says Bitticks. It definitely blows your head off. Bitticks says that Instagram and other social channels have been a big driver of traffic when Daves establishes restaurants in new markets, especially attracting Gen Z to the concept. Im not from that generation, I dont get the idea of following a brand that Ive never tried before, he added. I dont understand it, but it is a huge piece of Daves story. Slim Chickens bets on variety, content, and sauce innovation Slim Chickens, an Arkansas-based chain with 300 locations across 34 states, has a more expansive menu than its peer upstarts with tenders, wings, salads, wraps, and even chicken and waffles. The chain says that it is alluring Gen Z consumers and even Generation Alpha, children born after 2010 who are asking their parents to take them to a Slim. [Photo: Slim Chickens] Variety is a competitive advantage for us, Patrick Noone, chief marketing officer of Slim Chickens, said in an interview. To stand out in a crowded category, Slim has created an in-house recording studio so that the chain can pump out a steady drumbeat of content across social channels. Noone says that these creative assets have a short shelf life online, losing their relevance after just 10 days. Slim is also in the process of developing and debuting a new mobile app in the first quarter of 2026. The chain is also continuing to think through the physical restaurant space to make it easier for customers who place a mobile order and want to pick up their food in the store. But Noone says one top priority will always be innovation for Slims range of sauces, which today includes 14 different flavors like Korean BBQ, sweet red chili, and cayenne ranch. We spend as much time innovating around sauces as we do on tenders and the center of the plate, says Noone. Chicken is just the perfect canvas.
Category:
E-Commerce
Hello again, and thank you for spending time with Fast Companys Plugged In. Last October, I visited the Silicon Valley headquarters of 1X Technologiesthe startup behind a humanoid home robot called Neoand spoke with its VP of product and design, Dar Sleeper. Among the points he made was that long-standing public expectations have set a high bar for household robots. Naturally, he name-checked the worlds most iconic one. The ultimate, North Star, in a lot of people’s minds, is Rosie the Robot, he told me. A Jetsons world where you ask and receive, and it makes your life better, you spend more time with your family, you’re more present. Sleepers reference returned to the front of my brain last week, when I attended a Wired event in San Francisco featuring an interview with Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince. Explaining AIs transformative impact, he turned to an obvious precedent: George Jetsons reliance on Rosie. I keep watching reruns of the old cartoon show The Jetsons, Prince said. There are a lot of things that are anachronistic about it. But I think asking the question, Where does George get his information from? is a really interesting one. And the answer is Rosie the Robot. When he says, Hey, Rosie, I want a recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Rosie doesnt say, Here are 10 blue links, go find one yourself. Rosie says, Heres a recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Rosie comes up so often in discussions of the future of technology that its easy to tune out rather than nod in appreciation. But hearing two executives mention her by name got me wondering why this secondary character from a 1962 Hanna-Barbera prime-time cartoon, canceled after only one season (albeit rerun endlessly), has been such an extraordinarily durable touchstone. Its not an easy question to answer. Even if, like me, youve already spent more time contemplating the Jetsons cultural impact than most people. Before we go any further, a few Rosie factoids for you: Her name was originally spelled Rosey, but the more common Rosie won out over time. The very first Jetsons episode, Rosey the Robot, told the story of how she entered the Jetsons’ home, initially as a short-term rent-a-robot. She appeared in only one other episode among the 24 in the first seasonthat shocked mebut was much more prominent in the additional Jetsons shows Hanna-Barbera produced in the mid-1980s, including starring roles in the episodes Rosie Come Home, Mothers Day for Rosie, and Rip-Off Rosie. As a sassy-yet-kindhearted maid, she drew undeniable inspiration from the title character in the newspaper comic Hazel, which had been turned into a popular TV sitcom the previous season. (The rest of The Jetsons knocked off another comics mainstay, Blondie.) Her Brooklyn-tinged voice was provided by actress Jean Vander Pyl, much better known as Wilma Flintstone. If you need to catch up on Rosies adventures, as I did for this newsletter, youll find The Jetsons widely available on streaming servicesI watched the show on Huluand airing every day on MeTV Toons. None of this explains why technologists are still talking about Rosie. The most superficial reason is that it would be pretty cool to off-load tedious household chores to someone else. Most of us cant afford human help, making a robot maid an alluring proposition. (As shown in the first episode, even paying for Rosie was a challenge for Jane and George: She was a discounted previous-year demonstrator model, and they were able to keep her only because Mr. Spacely gave George a raise.) But if all Rosie did was the dishes, I dont think shed be so well remembered. She is a piece of sophisticated technology with an uncommonly humane user interface. Thats why the Jetson family loved her so much, and why she sticks in our minds. And given that her features are presently morphing from fantasy into stuff that might actually be possible to build, shes only growing more relevant. As with many things about The Jetsons, Rosie is both old-timey and prescient. At one point in the first episode, she opens her front and dumps in Judy Jetsons homework tapes to incorporate them into her knowledge base. Thankfully, magnetic tape petered out as a primary form of data storage well over 40 years ago. But Rosies ability to crunch Judys classworkand presumably help her with itsure looks similar to an LLM ingesting data. Rosie was an uplifting presence in the Jetsons’ household. [Screenshot: Hanna-Barbera] In todays buzzwordy AI parlance, Rosie is also agentic. She handles tasks with a sizable degree of autonomy, is fine-tuned to behave responsibly and, though engaging and supportive, never slips into sycophancy. If Elroy confided that he was planning to become a juvenile delinquent, we can be certain she wouldnt aid him. Instead, shed push back on the idea andif necessaryalert his parents. Our 2025 chatbots are crude by comparison, if not downright dangerous. Still another reason why Rosie remains resonant is the timeless appeal of The Jetsons optimistic air. As depicted in the show, the future is a pretty wonderful place, and Rosie is part of that. Even by the end of the 1960s, our culture had grown darker. 2001: A Space Odysseys HAL 9000 may be as famous as Rosie, but hes also a grim object lesson in the dangers of trusting technology to work in our best interest. You wont catch tech execs speaking approvingly of HAL as a font of inspiration. The Jetsons was never dystopian, but neither was it naive. A sizable percetage of its humor stemmed from the downsides of theoretically useful technology, often in ways that are, in retrospect, as forward-looking as any other aspect of the show. As youll recall, the end credits of every episode concluded with George becoming overwhelmed by a runaway automated treadmill and calling for Jane to stop this crazy thing. (In real life, Pelotons safety issues with its Tread treadmill werent so funny.) Rosie does not appear in another 1962 Jetsons episode called Uniblab. But its moralthat artificial intelligence in the office might be a pointless waste of moneyis the furthest thing from entertainingly quaint. Mr. Spacely introduces George to his new boss, Uniblab. It doesnt go well. [Screenshot: Hanna-Barbera] Uniblab is a workplace robot that Mr. Spacely acquires for $5 billion (!). Apparently an AGI true believerhe gloats that Uniblab has a higher IQ than GeorgeSpacely demotes George to serve as the robots assistant. It turns out that Uniblab uses his always-on microphone to spy on Spacelys employees. He also induces them to play rigged gambling games. And thats about all hes good for. After being sabotaged by the shows resident hacker, the Jetsons handyman, Henry, Uniblab suffers a hallucinatory meltdown in front of Spacely Space Sprockets board of directors. Hes unceremoniously decommissioned. Humanity triumphs, at least for the moment. When The Jetsons premiered in 1962, publicity materials explained that it was set exactly 100 years in the future, in 2062. That indicates that even 37 years from now, AI may struggle to definitively prove its worth. For now, countless present-day Mr. Spacelys are currently overspending on the technology based on unrealistic expectations. Rosie, meanwhile, is clearly based on more mature AI than Uniblab. But in the first Jetsons episode, Jane and other characters are astonished at her capabilities, a sign that domestic robotics will still be in the process of going mainstream in 2062. Which means that it may be several more decades until Rosie is truly, unquestionably real. May she continue to serve as an aspirational stretch goal for the entire tech industry. Youve been reading Plugged In, Fast Companys weekly tech newsletter from me, global technology editor Harry McCracken. If a friend or colleague forwarded this edition to youor if you’re reading it on fastcompany.comyou can check out previous issues and sign up to get it yourself every Friday morning. I love hearing from you: Ping me at hmccracken@fastcompany.com with your feedback and ideas for future newsletters. I’m also on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads, and you can follow Plugged In on Flipboard. More top tech stories from Fast Company The case only Netflix can make for buying Warner Brothers DiscoveryEverything about its past suggests its the best future owner. Read More The Disney-OpenAI tie-up has huge implications for intellectual propertyThe House of Mouse is one of the most aggressive defenders of its IP. OpenAI literally just said itd welcome erotica. Whats going on? Read More This startup is building a network of home batteries to help solve the grids woesHaven Energy works with homeowners to install batteries and solar in homes that qualify for state incentives around areas where the grid is particularly overloaded. Read More AI is killing review sites. Can they fight back?With AI replacing traditional search, review sites must evolve fastor risk being cut out of the buying journey. Read More The Kalshi-fication of everythingThe predictions platform is revealing what a world of total financialization will look like.Read More OpenAI is clapping back at Googles Gemini 3 with a new GPT-5.2The new model displays expert-level skill in work tasks, and exceeds Gemini in several benchmarks. Read More
Category:
E-Commerce
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