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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Amy Lentz is the chief people officer at Toms Shoes, and she posts HR content on social media.</li><li>While HR departments can be helpful, they can't fix your problems unless you help yourself first.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Amy Lentz, the Chief People Officer at Toms and founder of Hack Your HR in Los Angeles. It has been edited for length and clarity.I've been the chief people officer at <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/toms-blake-mycoskie-talks-growing-a-business-while-balancing-profit-with-purpose-2016-6">Toms Shoes</a> for four years. I manage the nuts and bolts of human resources, including recruiting, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-small-business-help-onboard-support-new-hires-trainees-2023-10">onboarding</a>, and succession planning.I also began <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.instagram.com/hackyourhr/?hl=en">Hack Your HR</a> in 2023, where I create short-form content in the HR space. In my Instagram videos, I share advice to help people get ahead in their corporate jobs and information about the back end of HR.I help people understand how to advocate for themselves at work, what language to use with their managers, and how to ask for help if they're not getting the support they need.Although HR can help with a lot, they can't fix every problem you may have as an employee. Here are three things you're wasting your time on if you take them to HR.<h2 id="42d9c325-db7e-4c68-a2d0-fc6350e149fd">1. HR can't make decisions alone</h2>Every HR department is run differently, so while HR tasks may vary, HR isn't typically a decision-making entity but more of a recommending entity.If someone wants a promotion and their manager says no, they might go to HR, thinking, "I'm going to appeal to HR, and then they will be able to decide if I get it."That's like saying if I go to Mom and she doesn't give me what I want, I will go to Dad. It doesn't work like that.Similarly, it can sometimes be misperceived that HR approves salaries. Typically, HR is the messenger for budgets, not the one deciding. We might recommend a number based on what's legal, compliant, and makes sense within compensation guardrails, but ultimately, someone else might make that decision, like executive leadership or finance.<h2 id="d637ae75-a7ff-45d1-b552-48837da9b7f7">2. HR can't guarantee your growth</h2>You might want to grow in your role or make more money, but as HR, I need to support the department's needs, which may have other hiring priorities that don't have room for your growth.The best thing you can do is know what you want. If you've expressed a desire to grow and haven't been able to showcase your value, I recommend bringing it up with your manager during <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mistakes-managers-make-during-performance-reviews-2023-9">performance review season</a>.On HR's end, they need to be transparent on whether a promotion is possible for you. If a company isn't profitable, if there's been a communicated hiring freeze, or if a promotion is desired but the direct manager has provided performance-related feedback and there hasn't been enough time to show improvement, then it's not the right time to ask.<h2 id="dcbffdd3-b6c6-4144-b000-7feffc3290f7">3. HR can't advocate for you without you</h2>People often assume that their boss or HR will come to them with promotions or opportunities, but HR can't just get you a job or a promotion — you have to advocate for it.People who create growth plans and are a positive squeaky wheel get much further ahead than those who are passive. They ask themselves: What do I want? Where am I now? Where do I want to go? Then, they make a plan to get there, and they're vocal about it.When you first start with a company, I recommend setting up an informational conversation with HR so you can ask about available resources. Also, ask about the performance review process, resources for growth and development, whether a mentor program exists, and any opportunities HR provides to staff that may not be publicized.HR can't do everything for you, but they can help you to the greatest of their ability if you do your part, too.

3 work problems HR can't solve for you, from an HR professional

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Jackie Cuevas shares email tips to avoid sharing personal or sensitive information at work.</li><li>Cuevas advises against using targeted words in emails to prevent unintended HR issues.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@jackiecaves">Jackie Cuevas</a>, a 33-year-old HR administrator in Orange County, California. It has been edited for length and clarity.In 2015, I started my career in recruiting, gaining experience with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-this-is-an-excellent-resume-2013-11">résumés</a>, interviews, and job searching.I transitioned into HR in 2020, where I now work supporting a nonprofit. I handle everything from onboarding and benefits to compliance and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/landed-dream-job-vc-after-offering-set-up-payroll-free-2024-10">payroll</a>.When everyone was stuck at home during the pandemic, I also began posting career-related videos on TikTok. I love using the platform to empower people in their career journeys and share what I've learned so far.One thing I've shared is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-write-better-email-2016-12">how to write an email at work</a>. There are also some things I would never put in an email — here are three of them.<h2 id="3de4a4fa-62f1-4918-93c8-a0056534414e">1. Personal information</h2>You should never share personal information in an email, such as your <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/credit-score/can-you-change-social-security-number">Social Security number</a>, credit card details, or account and routing numbers. If you're buying lunch for yourself and your coworker, don't email them your credit card number. Sharing your address with a colleague is fine, as you might do if they want to send you a thank you card.The internet is dangerous; people can save your information, download it, and use it in ways you didn't intend.You also need to be cautious of hacking and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/phishing-scams-in-your-inbox-waiting-to-steal-your-money-2023-4">phishing emails</a> — you don't want your information caught up in those. Don't open or click any links or attachments you don't recognize. Be cautious of using weak WiFi, as that also makes you susceptible to hackers getting your information.Share sensitive information using your company's secure platforms, like Adobe PDF. Another idea is to enable <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/two-factor-authentication">two-factor authentication</a>. To err on the side of safety, you can also share private information with someone directly, such as over the phone.<h2 id="8c0506af-bc8e-432a-8332-8d8ff5f46c1f">2. Targeted words</h2>You want to be mindful of the words you use in emails. Words like 'bullying,' 'I'm being harassed,' or even 'name-calling' are targeted words, and when you use them, HR will investigate further.Use those words carefully because they can lead to something bigger than you intended. I've seen an employee complain about something they see as small, but it turned into a bigger issue that could lead to termination or someone getting written up.If you need to use targeted words or have an issue with a colleague, ask yourself: Can this be resolved by talking to the colleague I'm having issues with or talking to my supervisor? Or is it a bigger issue where I do need to go to HR?<h2 id="d7b827cd-a9ce-417b-b864-9b0ac5f1768f">3. Information you don't want your company to see</h2>I've seen people accidentally hit "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/11-cringe-worthy-reply-all-email-disasters-2011-11">reply all</a>" when they meant to send a message to just one person or chat on Zoom and not realize everyone could see the chat.Watch out for these things, but also remember that your company can access your email, chat, and Slack messages. It's usually not to pin something on anyone, but if your company needs to access your email for any reason, like obtaining certain documents, they can.That might lead to them seeing something you didn't intend for them to, and information can come out that way. I don't advise using company time and property to say, 'Hey (coworker's name), you were such a b—in that meeting.' Things like that can be seen by HR and documented.Also, if someone complains, remember that you can delete it from your inbox, but the receiver will still have it. In some cases, such as part of an internal investigation, HR can work with the IT department to retrieve deleted emails if the organization's policies allow this. Many companies can retain deleted emails for a certain period in their server archives or backups.This goes for your work calendar, too. You should be mindful that people look at your calendar, and if you <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/how-to-make-google-calendar-private">want something private</a>, like a massage appointment or pickleball, you shouldn't put it on your work calendar. Instead, just say you're 'busy' or free without adding the extra details.If you don't want your company to see something, it's best to keep it offline or say it professionally.

3 things you should never put in a work email, according to an HR professional

Sharing salary information is considered taboo in India, and 61 per cent of professionals are more comfortable sharing their pay details with family members rather than with co-workers or friends, a LinkedIn report said on Thursday. Just one in 10 professionals said they would discuss their salaries with coworkers they trust (13 per cent) and peers they trust in other companies (9 per cent). According to LinkedIn's <keyword id="9245189" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Workforce-Confidence-Index" source="Orion">Workforce Confidence Index</keyword>, India's overall workforce confidence has dwindled slightly. "This is due to a volatile perception towards jobs, finances, and career progress in these times of global uncertainty," said the report. Despite a dip in overall confidence, India's workforce remains optimistic about navigating these challenges as seven in 10 professionals say they are confident about reaching the next level in their field, their work experience and education and chances of their income increasing. "Professionals are still not comfortable to have conversations about pay in the workplace," said Nirajita Banerjee, India Managing Editor, LinkedIn News. Family and friends remain India's closest confidantes when it comes to sharing the size of their paychecks. However, "the current generation of young professionals are more willing to share pay information with their coworkers and industry peers as compared to other generations", Banerjee noted. In fact, Gen Z professionals are found most likely to share their pay across their whole network as compared to any other age group. Around 72 per cent of Gen Z and 64 per cent of millennials in India say they are comfortable sharing their pay information with family members, while 43 per cent of Gen Z and 30 per cent of millennials are also willing to confide in their close friends. "Gen Z are keen to influence change and eager to lead these conversations in the workplace, Banerjee added. About 45 per cent of professionals in India say pay discussions among peers are discouraged at their workplace. Further, 36 per cent of professionals in India also say they feel anxious sharing their pay information with anyone. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/indian-markets-trade-higher-amid-mixed-cues-from-global-markets/articleshow/95113241.cms">Indian markets trade higher amid mixed cues from global markets</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/dcx-systems-ipo-set-to-open-on-oct-31-grey-market-premium-at-40/share/articleshow/95082270.cms">DCX Systems IPO set to open on Oct 31; grey market premium at ₹40/share</a>

61% professionals tell their families what they earn, not co-workers or friends: survey

Starting your career often means balancing a modest salary with the desire to enjoy life. Learning to manage your finances early on is key to setting yourself up for long-term success, but traditional advice often overlooks the psychological side of spending. How do you budget wisely without feeling restricted? Economics lecturers Amr Saber Algarhi and Konstantinos Lagos share four smart strategies in The Conversation. <h2>Rethinking <keyword id="20571621" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="budgeting" source="keywords">budgeting</keyword>: It isn’t just about pinching pennies </h2>Contrary to popular belief, budgeting isn’t about being stingy. Research shows that personal budgeting plays a major role in how we build wealth, often determining why some people thrive financially despite similar incomes. So, what’s the secret to crafting a budget that works for you? <h2>Knowing your numbers </h2>The foundation of any budget starts with understanding your income. Whether it’s your paycheck, side gigs, or freelance work, knowing exactly what you bring in is crucial. Then, track every pound and penny you spend — yes, even those sneaky impulse purchases. Break your expenses into two categories: “essentials” (like rent, utilities and groceries) and “luxuries” (such as getting brunch with friends or catching a movie). This awareness will help you make smarter decisions and identify where adjustments are needed. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112468057" title="Gen Zers are investing their way out of the 9-to-5" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><h2><keyword id="22867052" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="budgeting-techniques" source="keywords">Budgeting techniques</keyword> </h2>Now that you’ve mapped out your income and expenses, how do you put it into practice? Here are some budgeting techniques designed to fit different lifestyles and personalities. 1. The 50/30/20 rule This simple rule divides your income into three categories: 50% for essentials, 30% for wants, and 20% for savings or debt repayment. It strikes a balance between enjoying life and securing your financial future. 2. Zero-based budgeting Every pound has a purpose. With zero-based budgeting, your income minus expenses equals zero, meaning you assign each bit of your income to a specific need. This method keeps your spending intentional and helps avoid overspending. 3. Pay yourself first This technique flips traditional budgeting on its head. You save first — putting money aside for the future — and then spend what’s left. It’s a powerful way to prioritise savings without sacrificing too much of today’s enjoyment. 4. The envelope system For those who need a tangible method, the envelope system separates your money into different spending categories. Once an envelope is empty, you’ve hit your limit. While this might seem old-fashioned, digital versions of this method exist for more tech-savvy budgeters! <h2>Customising your approach </h2>One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to budgeting. If you struggle with impulse spending, a simpler approach that focuses on hitting a savings target might work better. Conversely, those with better self-control may benefit from detailed budgets for specific categories. A flexible approach might be best for those who need room to adapt to life’s ups and downs. Budgeting doesn’t have to feel restrictive. The key to successful budgeting is finding a method that aligns with your personality and goals. By mastering your money habits and incorporating these techniques, you’ll be laying the groundwork for a financially secure future — without sacrificing life’s little pleasures. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112351781" title="Financial literacy is not always taught in school. Here&amp;#39;s how parents can prepare their kids to budget and invest wisely." mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

Four budgeting hacks for young professionals who want to master their money

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Valerie Rodriguez, an HR director, advises against oversharing personal details with managers.</li><li>The modern workplace encourages authenticity, but oversharing can lead to uncomfortable situations.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Valerie Rodriguez, a 31-year-old HR director in New Jersey. It has been edited for length and clarity.I've worked in HR for 10 years, mainly partnering with business leaders to promote best practices. I'm responsible for making people feel seen, heard, and accepted at work.The modern workplace has become an environment where people are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bring-your-whole-self-to-work-risks-experience-2024-2">encouraged to be themselves</a> and not care what others think. Many employees believe that if I'm accepted at work, that's phenomenal. If I'm not, it's not the right workplace for me.With that shift into a new level of acceptance, employees feel empowered to bring their <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bring-your-whole-self-to-work-risks-experience-2024-2">whole selves to work</a>. This can sometimes lead to oversharing information they shouldn't, which can put them in an uncomfortable position in the future because they revealed too much.Here are three things I'd never say to my manager, as these things can hurt you more than help you.<h2 id="a8043536-3cd4-4ff7-a415-6e3668863011">1. Your weekend plans</h2>I'd be careful sharing your weekend plans, especially if they involve going to a concert, partying, lounges, raves, or anything that might make your manager think you're irresponsible or reckless.I recently had a friend share with me that she called out of work because she felt sick, and when she returned to work, it was rumored that she was probably at a concert or a party instead.When I asked why that assumption was made, she said that in the past, she had shared with her manager that she loves going to concerts, so it was assumed that's what she was doing.I told my friend it was wrong that her manager jumped to that assumption and shared that with others, but also to err on the side of caution and be more private about weekend plans.Some managers will associate what you do outside work with what you do at work, and you don't want that. It can be nice to share positive, responsible, or encouraging things that make you look good, but don't candidly tell your manager, "I got so drunk last night."<h2 id="4042af3b-ceb7-4da6-a3dd-7e6ef39d4ec5">2. Personal problems at home</h2>Another thing I've seen come back on people repeatedly is when they lead their managers to think they aren't focused or that their mind isn't on work but instead on a personal problem.An example is: "I just argued with my partner, and they're driving me crazy. We argued about X, Y, and Z, and because of it, I'm not in the best mood." That opens a door where your manager may think you can't separate work and your personal life.You don't want your manager to think that chaos at home makes you unfit for your role or that it's too much for you to handle.To be fair, we're all human, not robots. Sometimes, we think about home at work, but you still want to be careful with what you share. If your manager has set the tone that everyone on the team can share personal things, it may be a safer space.If you need to take personal time, it's OK to say you have a personal emergency. Keep in mind that you don't always have to share what exactly your emergency is. Every organization views this differently, but for the most part, you can be vague.<h2 id="21feb090-a9ba-4109-9aef-cee1c054a966">3. Disliking your coworker for their personality</h2>If you dislike your coworker because they're obnoxious, spread gossip, or for anything related to their personality, I would avoid sharing that with your manager.You should also avoid saying things like, "I hate the way that coworker laughs," or "Their outfits are ridiculous," etc. If you don't like something about your coworker because it's not your preference, then it's inappropriate for sharing. I wouldn't tell a coworker these things about another coworker, either. Unfortunately, people like to talk and can share what you've shared with others, including your manager. You don't know what your manager will do with that information, and it can come across as you're potentially focused on the wrong things. Ultimately, you may be seen as not a good fit for the team, not the coworker.Now, here's the thing: If your coworker is missing deliverables, is unreliable, or doesn't meet certain expectations, and you feel that you need to share this with leadership, I think that can be appropriate.Be cautious about what you share at work, and consider what you're sharing before sharing it. I've seen it happen where people share something, quickly realize they can't take it back, and now feel uncomfortable at work, or their coworkers feel uncomfortable working with them. It happens more often than you think.

3 things you should never tell your manager, from an HR professional

<ul class="summary-list"><li>As an HR professional of 20 years, Leigh Henderson has seen many employees make workplace mistakes.</li><li>She emphasizes that building a relationship with your manager is crucial for career success.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Leigh Henderson, the 42-year-old CEO of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hrmanifesto.com/about">HR Manifesto</a> based in San Antonio. It has been edited for length and clarity.I worked as an HR leader for nearly 20 years, supporting a handful of Fortune 100 organizations before starting my online community, HR Manifesto, and podcast, HR Besties.I've seen people get in trouble in various ways at work — like having sexual relations in the office, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/work-wife-friendship-emotional-affair-cheating-2023-12">starting affairs</a>, or trusting a 'work bestie' who's sharing your secrets with your boss.These things happen rarely, but most commonly, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/things-never-do-work-hr-2024-2">getting in trouble at work</a> involves these three things.<h2 id="c2bfa6c5-d99f-407b-991f-bcf27f58c808">1. Not building a relationship with your manager</h2>One issue that often gets people in trouble is not prioritizing their <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/things-you-shouldnt-say-to-your-boss-employees-careers-2024-5">relationship with their manager</a>. I've seen it repeatedly: managers and employees just couldn't get along, so the employee wanted to avoid the manager altogether.Your manager makes key decisions such as promotions, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pip-what-to-do-hr-exec-apply-job-2024-6">PIPs</a>, terminations, bonuses, merit increases, and more. When you don't put effort into that relationship, it can lead to trouble.I've had managers come to me and say, "I don't like this employee." Then, when I'd ask why, they would say, "He doesn't seem to like me." To me, that's on the leader, but not all leaders are good leaders, and on your end, you want to do what you can.One way to prioritize your relationship with your manager is to have a 'get to know me' conversation. In that meeting, you can ask work-related questions like: "How do you like to be communicated with?" Then, share your preferences, too. Also, if your manager doesn't have a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/one-on-one-weekly-meeting-with-boss-mistakes-2024-1">weekly one-on-one</a> with you, try to set one up.Let your manager know you'd like to stay connected to ensure they understand what you're up to and are on the right track. This will then be your opportunity to get any important company downloads from your manager and ensure you're headed in the right direction.<h2 id="f714ea42-d53c-473f-9f24-243939036805">2. Not communicating or miscommunicating</h2>People often get in trouble for saying things they shouldn't at work. I've seen situations where someone cussed someone out over email, creating a record trail you don't want to have.I worked with someone who would put 'FU' in the subject line of their emails. After a while, I realized they were using it as an acronym for 'following up.' I had no idea because he wasn't using a slash between the letters. In the absence of information, people may assume that you're a bad or rude person, and those things can accidentally get you in trouble if you aren't careful.If you know you aren't good at communicating something, you should share that with your coworkers by saying something like: "I'm not good with pleasantries over digital communications, so please don't be offended." While I don't believe it's always necessary to have small talk before every interaction, if you're talking digitally, I'd at least say "hello" before requesting favors.<h2 id="ea69e160-7f84-4c70-a6ee-c56df673e6f2">3. Alienating yourself from the group</h2>You want to create <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/work-friends-spouses-loneliness-remote-hybrid-benefits-of-work-connections-2024-6">allies in the workplace</a> — people who can protect your name in rooms you aren't in. This becomes harder when you alienate yourself from the group or show no interest in collaborating with others.Even if you're great at your job, if nobody knows you, you become harder to champion. You might miss out on important information, fail to build relationships, and be seen as difficult to work with. This will get you in trouble if you want to keep your job and can hurt your chances of getting promoted.Volunteer in meetings, share your ideas openly, and suggest solutions. You can also step into the break room for a few minutes and try to talk to a few people a day. If you work remotely, you can try to have a one-on-one with your coworkers (just like with your manager).Connecting with coworkers who can keep you grounded is also good for your mental health and well-being. If you know a teammate doesn't have your best interest at heart, I wouldn't overshare, but I'd at least try to stay connected and have a neutral relationship at a minimum.Be mindful of who you can trust at work, protect yourself, and communicate well.

3 small mistakes that can get you into big trouble at work, from an HR professional

Today is the last day to file your <keyword id="19948101" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="income-tax-returns" source="keywords">income tax returns</keyword> for <keyword id="21169488" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AY-2024-25" source="keywords">AY 2024-25</keyword>, without having to pay a <keyword id="19899183" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="penalty" source="keywords">penalty</keyword>. Starting tomorrow, you will be able to file your <keyword id="19897621" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="itr" source="keywords">ITR</keyword>, but you'd have to forego several benefits, like not being able to choose the old tax regime, or paying a penalty of Rs 1,000 (if your annual taxable income is less than Rs 5,00,000). As per official data, about 6 crore ITRs have already been filed so far, and around 70% of them have opted for the new tax regime. But if you have left your ITR filing to the <keyword id="22611090" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="last-minute" source="keywords">last minute</keyword>, and will rush to meet the deadline today, here's a handy list of mistakes you should avoid while filing your ITR: 1. Do not miss out on reporting on your income from other sources. Generally, we only account for our salary, income from business/profession and capital gains (if any) while calculating our tax liability. However, there is one crucial segment we tend to forget-income from other sources. This includes interest income from your savings account, fixed deposits, recurring deposits and bonds. 2. Income from other sources also includes any dividend income you've received throughout the year through stocks, mutual funds, and any monetary gifts with value of over Rs 50,000 you've received from friends, acquaintances, or anyone but your relatives. Don't forget to account for those as well. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111406215" title="Wondering which ITR form is right for you? Know all about it here" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> 3. In case your total annual income exceeds Rs 50,00,000, you have to disclose all details of your properties, both movable and immovable under <keyword id="22611091" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="schedule-al" source="keywords">Schedule AL</keyword>. This should also include any liabilities you have incurred on these assets. 4. If you are an NRI, or an Indian holding foreign assets, you will have to share details of all your foreign income, assets, accounts and stocks under <keyword id="22334040" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="schedule-fa" source="keywords">Schedule FA</keyword>, along with your ITR. This needs to be done, irrespective of whether your income is taxable in India or not. 5. If you are filing your ITR as per your AIS (<keyword id="20776896" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="annual-information-statement" source="keywords">Annual Information Statement</keyword>) and see erroneous entries, don't ignore them. File your ITR as per Form 26AS, which is a condensed version of AIS, and Form 16A and B, which is provided by your employer (both previous and current). But remember to go back and flag errors in AIS, otherwise the IT department could penalise you for willful misreporting of your income. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111402608" title="ITR filing: Documents you need to file your income tax return" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> 6. Do not forget to e-verify your ITR within 30 days of filing it. If you do not do this, your ITR filing will be considered invalid. If 30 days have passed since you filed your ITR post today, it will be seen as filing ITR post deadline, and you'll have to pay a fine. So, get going on your ITR filing, right away!

Filing your ITR at the last minute? Don't make these mistakes

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A Gen Xer went back to college five years after dropping out in the hopes of boosting his income.</li><li>He struggled to find a high-paying job even with a degree, but the journey was eventually worth it.</li></ul>David Houde feels like he's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-money-you-need-feel-rich-henrys-six-figures-2024-6">made it</a> — and he thinks it wouldn't have been possible without his college degree. But it's been a long, winding road to this point."If you knew me in my 20s you wouldn't think I would have been successful," the 48-year-old, who's based in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/flying-from-nyc-to-michigan-every-week-for-work-supercommuter-2024-4">Michigan</a>, told Business Insider via email.After graduating from high school in the mid-1990s, Houde enrolled in a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/student-loans/average-college-tuition">four-year college</a> but said he dropped out before his second semester after struggling in his classes.For the next five years, Houde worked various "dead-end jobs," including door-to-door salesman, gas station clerk, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/typical-fast-food-worker-age-hourly-wage">fast food worker</a>, landscape laborer, and delivery driver. He said his favorite of these jobs involved making glasses in an optical lab, but he saw no path for advancing or increasing his pay.Around 1999, at roughly the age of 23, he decided to go back to school. By 2006, he'd earned an associate degree in computer information systems and a bachelor's degree in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/computer-science-major-myth-job-security-money-salary-2023-11">computer science</a>.A degree didn't immediately solve all of his problems: He struggled to find a job and pay off his student debt — and even had to withdraw from a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/investing/401k-early-withdrawal">401(k)</a> from a past job. But ultimately, the journey was worth it.Houde is making nearly $150,000 annually as a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/recruiter-how-filter-applications-software-engineering-job-post-atl-interview-2024-5">software engineer</a>, according to documents viewed by Business Insider. He said this income has allowed him to pay off roughly $45,000 in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/save-plan-blocked-student-loan-borrowers-debt-cancellation-credit-options-2024-7">student debt</a> in about eight years, travel regularly with his wife, and for the first time in his life, buy a new car before his old one breaks down."For me, going back to college was the best thing that I ever did," he said.Houde is among the many Americans who have grappled with the same fork-in-the-road life choice: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/student-loans/is-college-worth-it">Should I go to college</a>? In recent years, the cost of a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/student-loans/average-college-tuition">four-year education</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-ibm-accenture-dell-companies-no-longer-require-college-degrees-2023-3">job opportunities</a> for workers without degrees have led many people to decide that college isn't worth it. A Pew Research survey of over 5,000 US adults conducted late last year found that 76% of Americans thought a college degree <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/young-men-working-less-no-college-degree-student-loan-debt-2024-5">wasn't worth the cost</a> if the student has to take on debt — this sentiment has also shown up in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/college-enrollment-declining-student-debt-job-market-politics-2023-3">declining enrollment figures</a> over the past decade. What's more, paying for college doesn't guarantee employment — graduates can be subject to the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/college-graduates-cant-find-jobs-earn-less-strong-labor-market-2024-6">whims of the job market</a>.However, for many people, going to college can be a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taking-out-student-loans-was-the-best-decision-i-made-2018-7">great financial decision</a>. The typical graduate has a considerably <a target="_blank" href="https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market#--:explore:wages">higher income</a> and is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bls.gov/emp/chart-unemployment-earnings-education.htm">less likely</a> to be unemployed than people without degrees. Some areas of study tend to be <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/high-paying-college-majors-six-figure-salary-tuition-engineering-jobs-2024-3">more lucrative than others</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/typical-student-loan-borrower-balance-millennial-woman-debt-relief-biden-2023-11">student debt burdens</a> can offset some of the benefits of a higher income, but in the long run, getting a degree has paid off for many Americans, including Houde.Houde shared how he went from dropping out of college to earning a six-figure income — and why he feels like he got lucky.<h2 id="a6eece19-8c89-46d7-a001-d6f8c0baa31f">A college degree helped him eventually land a high salary</h2>When he first enrolled in college, Houde didn't have any idea what he would major in. But after he dropped out, he said he realized he was good at working with computers.He'd taken some basic computer courses in the past, but he said his eureka moment came one night when he helped a friend with their college programming course."I was able to fix her code," he said. "That was pretty much the moment I figured out what I should be doing and that I needed to return to college."Houde enrolled in a local community college and in 2002, he received his associate's degree in computer information systems.But he wasn't sold on the benefits of a degree quite yet because he struggled to find a job.In Houde's estimation, the early 2000s were the "second worst time" to be looking for a software industry role in the last 25 years — he attributed this to the software industry hiring <a target="_blank" href="https://aparc.fsi.stanford.edu/news/remembering_y2k_the_impact_today_20050303">slowdown</a> after "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/11-hilariously-wrong-internet-predictions-2013-11#in-a-1998-issue-of-byte-magazine-edmund-dejesus-made-the-claim-that-y2k-is-a-crisis-without-precedent-in-human-history-1">Y2K</a>" and the temporary <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/Macroeconomic%20impact%209_11%202009.pdf">impacts</a> of the 9/11 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/september-11-911-newspaper-headlines-2018-9">terrorist attacks</a> on the broader job market.So he decided to go back to school again, pursuing his bachelor's degree part-time. By the age of 31, he'd graduated with a degree in computer science.This time, Houde graduated into what he called the single worst job market for software industry workers of the last quarter-century — the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/woman-warned-great-recession-2008-brooksley-born-wall-street-sexism-2024-3">Great Recession</a> was beginning to take hold.Houde eventually found a job that paid $32,500 a year, but he struggled to get by financially, in part because he had student debt and mortgage payments to grapple with. He said he was eventually forced to cash out $16,000 from a 401(k) he'd accumulated from a previous job."There were so many times that I felt like I was just digging myself a bigger and bigger hole financially," he said.But over time, things steadily improved as his income rose to the six-figure level it's at today. About eight years after receiving his bachelor's degree, he paid off his student debt.In hindsight, Houde said going to college and taking on the debt was necessary to put himself in the position he is now."Somehow I persisted and now live a very different life and have an amazing salary," he said, adding, "I'm entirely grateful that things worked out the way they did for me. I know not everyone is as lucky."However, Houde continues to be somewhat uncertain about the value of pursuing additional education. In 2016, about a decade after he graduated with his bachelor's degree, he decided to pursue an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mba-jobs-search-consultancies-offers-business-school-careers-2023-11">MBA</a>. But he said he's not sure it was worth it because it hasn't helped him advance in his career or boost his pay."I'm 50-50 on success going back to school," he said. "My bachelor's did wonders for my career. My MBA, not so much."Have you gone back to college later in life? Have you found financial success without a college degree? Reach out to this reporter at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:jzinkula@businessinsider.com">jzinkula@businessinsider.com</a>.

A Gen Xer shares how going back to college 5 years after dropping out landed him a nearly $150,000 salary that paid off his student debt

July is here, and while we are still 5 months away from the end of 2024, the deadline to file your <keyword id="19897621" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ITR" source="keywords">ITR</keyword> is July 31st, which is looming large. While it is best to not "file away" filing your income tax returns for later, are you aware of the right ITR form that applies to you? Out of the 7 ITR forms available, how do you know which one is the right fit for you, and where to start? For starters, the first 4 ITR forms (ITR-1,2,3,4) are necessary for an individual to know about, while filing taxes. Lets decode all these forms in detail with Tanya, a 22 year old IT professional who earns Rs 10,000 per month. Her mother has a monthly rental income of Rs 12,000 per month. Will the two of them be required to file ITR? Well, the answer is no. You see, Tanya's <keyword id="21120362" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="annual-income" source="keywords">annual income</keyword> comes to about Rs 1,20,000, while her mother's total rental income comes to about Rs 2,40,000. If you opt for the old tax regime, you don't need to file an ITR if you annual income is below Rs 2.5 lakh. In the new regime, this limit stands at Rs 3 lakh. Similarly, if your grandparents are aged between 61-79, they need not file an ITR if their annual income (via rent, pensions) falls below Rs 3 lakh. And if they are aged above 80, this threshold if of Rs 5 lakh for the year. <h2>ITR-1: Sahaj </h2>Lets continue with Tanya's life. She works super hard, and over the years, earns a few well deserved raises. Now, her monthly income is Rs 50,000. In this case, she will have to file ITR-1, which is also known as Sahaj. This form applies to you if your total annual income for the year does not exceed Rs 50,00,000. The best part? This form is generally pre-filled, and all you've got to do is verify the information through your <keyword id="22247325" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Form-16" source="keywords">Form-16</keyword> and Annual Information Statement (AIS). <h2>ITR-2 </h2>Over time, Tanya decides to start investing in mutual funds. While she holds most of her investments for the long-term, she is compelled to sell some units of her investment in equity mutual funds, due to a medical emergency at home. She had purchased some equity mutual fund units worth Rs 2,00,000 on April 1, 2023. Due to the emergency, she had to sell about Rs 80,000 worth of units in December of the same year. On redemption, she received Rs 1,10,000. Since she had held these securities for less than 12 months, Tanya would have to pay a short-term <keyword id="20301441" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="capital-gains-tax" source="keywords">capital gains tax</keyword> of 15%, Had Tanya held on to these securities for more than 12 months and then sold them at a gain, she'd have to pay long-term capital gains tax, which is applicable at 10% for equity mutual funds. And to account for such capital gains, be it from sale of shares, mutual funds, property or the like, Tanya needs to file ITR-2. <h2>ITR-3</h2>Tanya's brother, Vishal, is a freelancer who got hooked to trading in futures and options during the pandemic. Initially, he made solid profits, but during FY24, he ran into losses worth Rs 5 lakh. In this case, he will have to file ITR-3 to report his losses. This form is to be used by those who earn income under the head of profits (or even losses) of business or profession, other than regular salary. In case Tanya's mother starts receiving rental income from more than one house properties, she will also have to file ITR-3. Or, in case you are a CA, or a doctor and have your own practice (are self employed), this form is for you. <h2>ITR-4: Sugam </h2>This form is exclusively for those who opt to be taxed under the presumptive taxation scheme. You can opt for this scheme if you are a small business/firm and your annual turnover is less than Rs 3 crore, or you are self employed with an annual revenue of less than Rs 75 lakh. Under this, you don't pay taxes on your actual income, rather, you pay taxes on a presumed income. As per law, under this scheme, your net income will be considered as 6% of your total revenue, and you'll have to pay taxes on that. Here, you're really not calculating your income for taxation, and hence, it is not even mandatory to maintain records. In case you file the wrong ITR, you can always file a revised return by December 31, 2024. In case you miss filing your ITR on time, you’ll have to pay Rs 5,000 as a penalty. Moreover, you’ll be charged interest on your outstanding tax liability, if there is any. So, get down to work, right away!

Wondering which ITR form is right for you? Know all about it here

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Dietary supplements aren't FDA-approved like drugs. </li><li>The US' leading supplement expert recommended buying third-party certified products.</li></ul>From <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/colostrum-health-benefits-unclear-experts-say-2024-9">colostrum</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/creatine-most-effective-fitness-supplement-science-burn-fat-build-muscle-2024-8">creatine</a> to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ions-mane-mushroom-benefits-mental-health-cognition-2023-12">lion's mane</a>, it feels like every few months there's a buzzy new supplement and debate over whether it works. But another equally important question — the quality and contents of the product you choose — often gets less attention, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-top-supplement-expert-takes-3-supplements-busy-2024-9">US' top supplement expert</a> told Business Insider.Dietary supplements aren't FDA-regulated like drugs, and the onus lies on manufacturers to ensure their products are safe and accurately labeled. The FDA can remove a supplement from the market if it discovers it is adulterated or misbranded.As such, dietary supplements aren't uniform, Stefan Pasiakos, the director of the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health, said. One multivitamin, for example, could contain a few essential vitamins and minerals, while another could feature a huge number of micronutrients mixed with various non-required nutrients, he said.This can lead to quality control issues including <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/risks-popular-supplements-vitamin-d-magnesium-2024-4">contamination</a> and inaccurate labeling, studies show. For example, one 2023 research letter published in JAMA Network Open that looked at performance-enhancing botanical ingredients found that 89% of the 57 dietary supplements tested didn't accurately list their ingredients, while 12% contained at least one ingredient prohibited by the FDA.A 2020 editorial published in Annals of Pharmacotherapy, meanwhile, highlighted "major quality issues" with dietary supplements, including contamination with microbes or heavy metals, unapproved ingredients, lower than stated doses, and products not containing an ingredient stated on the label.Pasiakos therefore encourages people to do their "homework" before taking a supplement: "All I would say is that people make sure that they become educated on these products, understand what's in them, and know that the industry is not out to get them. But there are certainly aspects of certain dietary supplements that may be considered unsafe."He shared three tips for sourcing good-quality supplements and assessing whether they're right for you.<div type="image" title="A supplement label" height="1414" width="2121" msid="114548607" hostid="261" sizebytes="259144"></div><h2 id="ef40d16a-48fc-4765-803b-e14e51dd2e58">Look for supplements with third-party verification</h2>If you're concerned about what's in a supplement, buy a product that has been verified by a third-party organization, Pasiakos said.There are several trustworthy organizations that rigorously test supplements to ensure that they contain what the label says, and no contaminants, he said. They also help companies ensure they're meeting government guidelines. However, such organizations don't<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/should-i-take-supplements-scientist-benefits-2024-4"> test how effective supplements are </a>or back the company's health claims.Pasiakos highlighted NSF certification and the US Pharmacopeia Verification Program.Usually, if a product has been third-party verified, it will say so on the packaging or company website.<h2 id="add64b05-1130-4e7a-804a-a24c4c2422d2">Ask your healthcare provider for personalized recommendations</h2>Pasiakos recommends speaking to a doctor or healthcare provider before trying a new supplement.They might be able to refer you to a dietitian or pharmacist who is knowledgeable about supplements and can advise you depending on your specific needs, he said. For example, if you're already taking supplements or prescription drugs, they will know about potential interactions.A dietitian will also assess your diet as a whole and give you nutritional recommendations, which is important because supplements should complement, not replace, a healthy diet, he said.<h2 id="d95e9da7-c796-4d02-ae5c-f6a75e60847a">Do research based on reputable sources</h2>If you can't get advice from a medical professional, it's important to get information from a reputable source, Pasiakos said."There's information everywhere. You just type in a given supplement online and you'll get everybody under the sun with an opinion on whether a dietary supplement works or not," Pasiakos said.The ODS has lots of information on its website, including dietary supplement fact sheets, which are up-to-date, evidence-based reviews of the available information, he said. There's a fact sheet for most existing supplement ingredients that explains what it is, how it works, and the evidence for or against claimed health benefits.Pasiakos also pointed to the National Center for Complementary Integrative Health, which is part of the NIH, and the FDA's website as good sources of information on supplements.

Your supplements might not contain what's on the label. The US's leading expert shared 3 tips for buying safe products that are right for you. 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Alexandru Voica transitioned from engineering to marketing communications and joined Meta in 2018.</li><li>Voica's role at Meta involved cross-functional collaboration, and he was promoted once.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Alexandru Voica, a 39-year-old communication professional based in London. It has been edited for length and clarity.I'm from Romania and studied <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/computer-science-job-market-was-tougher-than-i-expected-2023-12">computer science</a> at a university in my home country. After graduating, I accepted a position with ARM in Cambridge. I've lived and worked in the UK for the last 15 years.I started in engineering roles but soon realized my passion for technology and storytelling, which drove me toward marketing communications. This transition wasn't financially motivated but about finding joy in my work.Entering the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-rising-stars-in-public-relations-in-2024-2024-2">PR and marketing world</a> came with a learning curve. My roles often involved bridging the gap between engineers, scientists, and journalists, leveraging my technical background and communication skills.<h2 id="fc52ef30-31dc-48a3-adef-a46f4e9d2c9e">I joined Meta because of its impact and scale</h2>In 2018, I left my role as head of technology PR and communications at Ocado Group and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-hiring-strategy-2024-7">joined Meta</a> after seeing a role that interested me on LinkedIn. I started interfacing with teams around the world.I was clear about what I wanted regarding salary and benefits, including stock options. Meta offered me a comprehensive benefits package that met my expectations. It included healthcare, parental leave, gym memberships, and a pension plan.I wasn't offered a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jobs-offering-massive-signing-bonuses-to-combat-labor-crisis-2022-8">sign-on bonus</a>, but my compensation included a yearly bonus, half based on my performance and half on the company's financial performance. The percentage increased with promotions, starting at 20% and moving to 25% as I advanced.By the time I left in 2022, I was making £135K, around $173,000, in base salary and £190K in total, around $244,000, including the bonus and RSUs.<h2 id="379a3d3f-6755-4ba3-b048-4063dc67f6f8">To get promoted at Meta, you need to perform and collaborate effectively</h2>The promotion process at Meta involved a twice-a-year <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mistakes-managers-make-during-performance-reviews-2023-9">performance review</a> cycle. Promotions were about individual achievements and how collaboratively and effectively you worked with others.The process sometimes feels like navigating social dynamics, as building positive relationships is crucial. I was promoted once.At other companies I've worked for, decision-making was mainly driven from the top, and teams had clear areas of focus, which they rarely strayed away from. Meta was unique because decision-making was also done cross-functionally, spanning multiple teams, which meant you could leverage the expertise of people outside your organization.<h2 id="f5d087f5-b862-4478-84f3-0ccc7b4a462b">The size of Meta was a new experience for me</h2>The company's size was unlike any I had worked at before. The vast scale introduced challenges and opportunities unique to a global company with significant societal impact.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-median-yearly-pay-employee-2024-4">Meta's large scale</a> meant initiating projects was more complex than in smaller companies. Projects required buy-in from cross-functional teams and sometimes had to pass through several layers of approval, which, while thorough, could slow down the process. There would be times when you'd have dozens of people involved in a decision or project that shouldn't have required much debate.The company's prominence also meant that the media and the public constantly scrutinized our work, which is expected for a company with such a broad societal impact.<h2 id="b73c3ce0-e00b-4c22-87da-0f0f2f884ffd">There are advantages and disadvantages of being associated with such an impactful company</h2>The name recognition and validation of my experience provided a competitive edge when seeking jobs, which I started to do after I had been at Meta for around 3 ½ years. This part of my résumé often caught the attention of recruiters.There were also some drawbacks. Smaller companies might hesitate to hire someone from a major tech firm due to concerns about matching salary expectations or fearing that I might be overqualified for the roles they were offering.My visibility on platforms like LinkedIn increased to the extent that I frequently received unsolicited messages from both recruiters and random individuals seeking assistance. It occasionally placed me in awkward situations where I had to redirect these requests to official support channels.While the professional network I had built was beneficial, it also led to an overwhelming number of requests for recommendations or guidance on <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jobs-microsoft-meta-google-nvidia-hiring-process-explained-interviews-recruitment-2024-7">getting hired at Meta</a>, which were difficult to manage.<h2 id="1fc0b994-1fd3-4053-bd09-1ad3de5acbb0">I decided to leave Meta for personal reasons</h2>After the demanding pandemic years, I wanted to spend more time with my family. An internal hiring freeze and subsequent layoffs confirmed my decision to seek opportunities elsewhere, leading me to a role in a different sector aligned more closely with my professional goals and values.Before the layoffs in November 2022 were publicly announced, I had already sensed that the company might be scaling up unsustainably. During my tenure, I watched the employee count surge from about 50,000 to 90,000. This near doubling of the workforce seemed disproportionate, even for a company of Meta's scale.<h2 id="9ec60bf8-9cae-4d30-aeeb-0ab95586996a">It's good to be cautious when considering transitioning into tech</h2>I've been working for a startup in London specializing in AI avatars for eight months. Unlike larger corporations' structured and layered settings, I have direct access to the company's leadership, which allows me to make a bigger impact on decisions.I also <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/generative-ai-chatgpt-getting-close-peak-2023-12">advise the world's first AI university in Abu Dhabi</a>, which taps into my network and experiences from Meta to raise the institution's global profile in AI education. Relationships cultivated in Big Tech can lead to meaningful opportunities even after moving on.I have no regrets, but I do miss my Meta colleagues. I'm open to returning to Big Tech if the right opportunity arises. My positive experiences at Meta mean I would consider another role there.Want to share your story? Email Lauryn Haas at lhaas@businessinsider.com.

I quit my $240,000 job at Meta. Here's how I got hired and grew my salary — and why I left.

On September 12, Business Insider convened a roundtable of top technology executives as part of our <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/build-it-series">"Build IT" series</a>.These executives spoke about how they use AI large language models in their personal and professional lives, how their roles have evolved as a result of the AI boom, and their top priorities. The conversation was moderated by BI's senior tech reporter Emma Cosgrove.The roundtable participants were:<ul><li>La'Naia Jones, the chief information officer of the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.cia.gov/">CIA</a>.</li><li>John Roese, the global chief technology officer and chief AI officer of <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=89435d8fc76d09828f04475db59d25e39ae30562373c6e7d81ff9d9cffa72374&amp;postID=66eb0f7b69657a7deb4351bd&amp;postSlug=technology-executives-on-artificial-intelligence-applications-role-of-cto-cio-2024-9&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dell.com%2Fen-us">Dell Technologies</a>.</li><li>Elaine Zhou, a co-CEO of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.sagecxo.com/">SageCXO</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.change.org/">Change.org's</a> former CTO.</li><li>Faisal Masud, the president of worldwide digital services at <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=b9201568fbe393fd7c8826f24b11068b25db2ec28af44407721de564b92896e5&amp;postID=66eb0f7b69657a7deb4351bd&amp;postSlug=technology-executives-on-artificial-intelligence-applications-role-of-cto-cio-2024-9&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hp.com%2Fus-en%2Fhome.html">HP</a>.</li><li>Erin DeCesare, the CTO of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ezcater.com/">ezCater</a>.</li></ul>The following transcript of the discussion was edited for length and clarity.Emma Cosgrove: What's your favorite use of an LLM in your daily life right now?Erin DeCesare: My favorite use of an LLM lately is trying to do more cross-functional, creative prompting. So using ChatGPT to say, "Can you give me some creative prompts to start the meeting?" has been a super fun way to bring energy into these conversations.John Roese: I renovated a 1780 house a couple of years ago, and I embedded a home AI system called <a target="_blank" href="https://www.josh.ai/">Josh</a>, which runs on a server in my basement.It's very privacy-oriented. I have a house that I just talk to or ask a question. I could ask it to close the shades, turn up the air conditioning, or tell me what the weather is. Or, I can say, "Could you explain something about the historical house down the street?"We all know that intrusive and difficult technology is never successful until it becomes invisible. That's what's happening in my world, where I forgot that I have an LLM in my house.Faisal Masud: For me on the personal front, it's been medical issues. A friend of our son recently had an issue. We just took a picture of it, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/anthropic-claude-chatbot-google-chatgpt-2023-3">Claude</a> gave an unbelievable diagnosis. Turns out the doctor's review was 100% identical to that diagnosis as well.I was at an outdoor event, got a rash, and did the same thing, just took a picture of it. It's literally having access to the world's encyclopedia at your fingertips.La'Naia Jones: I typically ask general questions and summarizations. I also look at how the LLMs are formulated to include topics such as bias, and how the underlying technology is used, which largely consists of data from the internet.Elaine Zhou: The thing I find most exciting about AI usage is my mom. She's turning 80. She's using it to plan for her Spain trip in November. She asked ChatGPT in Chinese, "How do you spend your time in Spain?" and it spit out all the recommendations for what you should do in Madrid.Cosgrove: How has the role of the CTO and CIO changed in the past 18 months?DeCesare: Historically, we thought of the CTO as leading engineering and the CIO as leading all the technology, the business uses. But we've had all these dynamics coming together, like cloud-based AI, where that line is completely blurred.My team realized this past year how things operate very differently. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-strategy-low-code-development-market-cloud-wars-2021-6">Low code</a> was a promise a few years back, but now it's a necessity. And we are in the phase where we want to move away from costly engineering and toward more automated practices.Things like Retool or Nintex are platforms that allow us to move what would be a software-engineering concern over to an IT-like business-operated capability.These distinctions are going away, and having the whole organization partner and cocreate is really testing people's identities. It's a creative, fun way to challenge people to think differently and out of their comfort zones.Roese: Every industry has technology disruptions that show up every few years. When you think about the speed at which we have to take advantage of these, that's not a typical IT cycle; that is a research and development cycle. So, obviously, we're blurring the lines, not just in terms of who does what work but how that work is done.We have to be able to interface in ways that we didn't before. The question is, how do you get the internal part of a giant company to move faster and behave more like an R&amp;D organization?We've been focused on understanding how our processes are evolving before we AI them. We don't waste a lot of time AI-ing bad processes, which was our biggest strategic risk at our scale. So there's lots of discipline and prioritization, but most importantly, a dramatic blurring of advanced software-development culture and the rest of the company. In the long term, those two have to come closer together to achieve the speed necessary for an AI cycle.Masud: To me, a lot of CIOs, specifically, as the lines blur, are looking at AI for all the purposes that we mentioned earlier but also to have fewer people because AI will solve XYZ problems.I feel like it's the opposite. It's about doing more with what you have versus what you potentially can get rid of. There has been a massive shift in consumer expectations and end-user expectations. If you look at Gen Z, they don't expect to wait five minutes for the computer to boot up. That's just not acceptable. They were born and raised in this generation, they use all the LLMs, and they're expecting a seamless experience.The challenge is going to come in where a lot of orgs are not going to allow you to use publicly available, cloud-sourced LLMs on corporate devices because they want to protect their data. Of course, they need to, but policing that is not going to be anywhere near easy. It's probably never going to happen because people have their own devices. So the quality of what you produce in your organization as a CTO — if you're going to provide models built in-house — better be superstar quality, or no one's using it.Another challenge is that the adoption of things like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-copilot-everyday-ai-companion-paid-subscription-2024-1">Copilot</a> is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pharma-cio-cancelled-microsoft-copilot-ai-tool-2024-7">not as rapid</a> as one would have expected because the end users are used to a lot more, so the corporate user is still behind.Jones: Many of our colleagues have backgrounds in the IT or the defense community. There is nothing that we do singularly within the intelligence community because it's a team effort and a team sport.When talking about the question of the CTO and the CIO and about how it's changed in the last 18 months, I do think that government and public sector have a little bit of a different perspective versus the private sector, partially because within the public sector and more directly within government, the role of the chief information officers is actually listed or written in policy and statute.I think the role of the CIO has become, at least in government, a little more ingrained. We meet with lawyers, civil liberty and privacy experts, policy SMEs, and many others since data is foundational to the intelligence mission.We also do a lot of large-scale procurements and acquisitions with technology companies. We want to ensure that the contracts and the business relationships are fair and equitable as they may serve a government organization or even the nation from a broader national security perspective.Cosgrove: What's the most important North Star priority that you're looking at?DeCesare: It is trying to make something that's either benefiting the customer or driving productivity internally. You've got to have every function thinking of themselves as customers and seeking the solution because it's changing by the month — and unless you're having them actively test and try out new AI products, you're unlikely to find that value.I'll give a recent example: Our whole product team, we've been trying to encourage them to leverage AI to move faster on getting ideas to market and to test in our software product and having them pay attention to the GPT store. The recent <a target="_blank" href="https://www.chatprd.ai/">ChatPRD</a> is a way to automate creating the product-requirements documents. It's sort of fascinating how great it can actually get an initial baseline and just having the product manager create some edits, and that is enabling our speed to market for our own features out into the product. Everyone's got to be looking for the solutions and then understanding if it is actually helping them do their job better.Roese: The first and most important questions you have to answer as a company to figure out where to apply this technology are pretty simple: What makes you special? What is the core of your company?At Dell, it's four things: We have a giant at-scale engineering capability, the largest secure supply chain in the world, a global services capability, and the largest enterprise sales force in the world. You take those four things, and anything I do to them that makes them more competitive materially impacts my business. What you'll notice isn't on that list: HR and finance facilities. I could do lots of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dell-workers-layoffs-reaction-ai-restructuring-jobs-tech-2024-8">AI projects</a> there.We are interested in other areas, but in terms of prioritization, where do we land on <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-openai-ai-dictionary-help-understand-nvidia-2023-12">our GPUs</a>? What do we run in our data center? Where do we put the resources today? They are in those four areas as a priority. Once you understand that those are high level, then you have to ask if you are actually on a path where if you apply AI, you're going to get to an outcome.Are your processes and people even oriented to be successful when you bring AI into the equation? Each of those needed to go through a level of process re-engineering consideration. If you can't get to a point where your vision of a process re-engineered to solve a strategic problem is executable, your path to production is questionable.Masud: I spent the early part of my career at Amazon, and we were always about the inputs and not the outputs. When you focus on the inputs, the single biggest import in your company is your customer. Everything else, honestly, has to take a back seat.The implementation of any gen-AI or AI capabilities is first a crawl. What are the thorniest issues that the company faces today? If you can't solve those in a rapid fashion with the most basic, easy use cases, then trying to go from crawling to walking is a bit of a mirage because you're assuming you'll have some capability when you haven't even solved the most basic issues.What we should be measuring is how to use AI to prevent those issues from happening. That's the focus area for us at HP, through all sorts of mechanisms that we deploy in anomaly detection and remediations that don't require humans to be out of the loop.Zhou: The hardest part is to determine what is the problem. The No. 1 thing for me is that once you determine that, then, based on the problem, you can have all kinds of metrics and figure out how to measure the successes. The bottom line is to actually solve the problem in a good way.Cosgrove: How do you keep up with the artificial-intelligence space?Jones: It's constant learning. I would say we all deal with that, but the beauty of technology is it's always changing and evolving, and so I think all of us should focus on continuously learning, evolving, and embracing new ideas and not getting stuck in the same way of dealing with the issues that we have.Masud: I have two older kids, 26 and 22. Both of them code, so they are immensely involved in everything from ChatPRD and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/15/arts/design/aaron-ai-whitney.html">Aaron</a>, and I get links every day from my son on what he is building next. I think this rapid transformation of what [<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-taiwan-tsmc-jensen-huang-china-disruption-2024-9">Nvidia CEO</a>] <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-details-ai-infrastructure-roi-goldman-sachs-2024-9">Jensen [Huang]</a> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/jensen-huang-advises-against-learning-to-code-leave-it-up-to-ai">said</a>: Not a single line of code is going to be written after next year by a developer. Well, let's see. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-swift-returns-on-ai-infrastructure-2024-8">Jensen</a> is somebody I follow. Jensen is somebody I have an unbelievable amount of respect for. This is the GOAT.Zhou: So I love the concept of mom tests. If I can explain to my mom or someone who has absolutely no background in tech and then, in the way that I can explain, she can understand, that means I truly get it. And second, I keep up with my developers and many youngsters and crazy ideas, and they help me keep up and then use AI to help me keep up to date for AI development.DeCesare: I've been most inspired to drive the leverage of AI through the company by finding out how people have applied it. So honestly, with anyone that I'm meeting, whether it's on my team or my colleagues at other companies, I'm asking, "Where have you been applying?" and, "What are you learning?" Because it's the use cases that spark most of the creativity, leading me to a new idea of how we could use it in our company.Roese: Your customers will tell you what the problem is. They don't know what the solution is, but you have to listen to them about what the problem and the pain point is to figure out the solution. I spend a great deal of time out with startups and Silicon Valley companies and anybody in academics, anybody I can talk to, not because any of them have the answer but because they expose patterns. So it's very important to talk to the industry and the innovators to see what they're thinking about, even if they don't know what problem they're solving.

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