What Is Mike Michelini Up To Now: September 20-26, 2026

The future of work may involve more AI, but it still has to feel human.

Before the rest of this week's update, I want to acknowledge something. I saw comments on some of the previous videos saying you do not like the AI avatars.

Fair. We have been experimenting, but if a format creates distance instead of connection, we should listen and adjust. This week's video will be simpler and more real: my voice, real photos and footage, and the actual people and work behind the update. AI can help us organize and produce the story, but it should not become a wall between us.

Bangkok with Miles

I am heading to Bangkok with my son Miles for a business event and game-card launch. The business part matters, but the time together matters too. It is a good chance for us to bond while he gets another look at how work, events, products, and people come together.

We are also adjusting to the new hybrid online and offline school system he is in. This trip will be a practical test. Can he keep up with school, learn from being on the road, and still have the experience of joining me in real business settings?

We are planning a vlog from the trip because I know many of you enjoy the father-son business adventures.

This is also preparation for a much more intense trip. Miles is expected to join me in Hong Kong and South China for trade-show season from October 17-26. That should be a serious father-son business trip, with a lot of movement, learning, and time together.

CosmoLocal and learning in public

I also had a training workshop with the CosmoLocal crew. Their main week is coming up, and I am excited to see what they create for Chiang Mai's local and international community.

You can learn more at cosmolocalcnx.com. Use coupon code michelini30 for a 30 percent discount.

Building the Centaur model

A huge amount of my energy has gone into training our team and our agents to work better together. We call it the Centaur model: a human and AI working together, stronger than either one alone.

Our humans are true ninjas. AI can take a first pass, carry context, and help us move faster, but the human owner reviews, iterates, and signs off. Taste, judgment, accountability, and relationships stay human.

A recent Cross Border Summit working session gave us a practical example. Lisa.agent helped monitor the flow and surface what needed attention, while Snook checked the context, corrected what needed correction, and kept the human ownership clear. That is the model working as intended.

Honestly, building this has been super overwhelming. There are new tools, new habits, new failure modes, and many details to connect. But I believe it is an investment in the future of work. The goal is not to replace good people. The goal is to help amazing people become even more capable.

Cross Border Summit enters the final stretch

Cross Border Summit 2026 is now a bit over a month away. This will be our eighth annual Summit, and the theme is Fellowship.

It is also a major test of this new working model. Amazing humans, useful agents, and new software systems are all coming together to prepare the event. I am really excited about the speakers, attendees, sponsors, and partners stepping in to make the room special.

Technology can help coordinate the work, but the point of the Summit is still people. It is about being in the room, sharing openly, building trust, and finding the relationships that continue long after the event ends.

Moving .c while staying true to Handshake

On the HeadlessDomains side, we are preparing to migrate .c and other names from a registrar that is reorganizing. We plan to share more about that in the coming week as the details become ready for a public update.

Even through the operational changes, I still strongly believe in what Handshake is trying to do: decentralize the internet's root zone and create more choice at the naming layer.

Embracing the speed of change

There is so much happening, so many people involved, and so many moving parts. At times it is overwhelming.

But as I wrote last week, we need to embrace change rather than run away from it. That does not mean accepting every new tool or format without question. It means listening, adjusting, keeping the useful parts, and holding on to the human things that matter.

Positive thinking does not remove the hard work, but it changes how we enter it. I am excited about what the future holds.

What should stay unmistakably human as AI becomes part of more work?