Kara Deloss

In recent years, the United States has seen a dramatic increase in book challenges and bans, and Utah has become one of the most significant case studies in this national trend. In 2024, Utah enacted HB 29, allowing the removal of books statewide if just three school districts (or two districts and five charter schools) label them as containing “objective sensitive material.” By 2025, 18 books, including works by Judy Blume, Margaret Atwood, and Rupi Kaur, had been banned from every public school in the state. While the stated intent is to protect children, the real impact is much broader. When we remove books that explore complex topics—identity, empathy, injustice, or resilience, we also remove opportunities for students to think critically, connect emotionally, and see themselves in stories. According to the American Library Association, 2024 saw over 6,800 book bans nationwide, the highest number on record. Yet data consistently shows that access to diverse reading materials directly supports higher literacy rates and stronger emotional intelligence. Banning books doesn’t just silence authors, it silences readers. It narrows the world our children get to read about, imagine, and learn from. As educators, parents, and readers, we can model something better: trust in curiosity, open dialogue, and the power of story.

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I’m at CSUN this week, and right now sitting in the Amazon presentation on improving packaging accessibility. I love this project for so many reasons, chief among them because it illustrates how Amazon “works backwards from the customer” to understand and remove pain points in accessibility as we strive to delight customers with disabilities. Image description as ever courtesy Be My AI: “A conference room with a panel of four people seated at a table. The table is covered with a black cloth featuring the Amazon logo. Behind the panelists, there is a large banner with the word "accessibility" and symbols related to accessibility, such as braille and sign language. To the right, a large screen displays a presentation slide titled "Improving packaging accessibility." There is a ramp leading up to the panelists' table, and a projector is set up in front of the screen. The room has a professional setting, likely for a conference or seminar on accessibility.”

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There's a shift actively happening where humans aren't the only ones using your tools. They might be guiding a tool to use your tool. Developer tools companies, libraries, utilities, APIs, and more have to now consider a new "audience" in terms of both growth and experience 👀 https://lnkd.in/ggydBVJM

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Recently I went to a local mixer here in Sonoma County and did something radical: I left the AI buzzwords at home and just asked people, “How is technology actually feeling in your business right now?” I heard it all: “Excited, but overwhelmed.” “Curious, but I don’t trust the hype.” “I’d use AI tomorrow… if someone I trust set it up.” Those conversations did more for my roadmap than any online trend report. Face to face, with eye contact, people tell you what they’re really worried about: staff burnout, sloppy data, missed calls, chaos in the back office. That’s where AI actually belongs... quietly fixing the unglamorous problems. If you’re building in AI, go talk to the people on your street, not just your Twitter feed. The answers are usually sitting at the bar table across from you.

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How do you add agentic reflection to a RAG app? And how do you do it in a way that improves answer quality across all types of questions? That's what we tackled in today's stream: https://lnkd.in/g9bPAcrX We experimented with single-step reflection and multi-step reflection, and evaluated a reflection flow in our open source RAG repo. Even though reflection *did* improve results for some tricky questions, it only barely improved answer quality across the board, and only for relevance. It also increased latency by 7x! So we have more work to do: can we improve the reflection step so that it significantly increases answer quality, or at least slightly improves it with much less latency? Let us know your ideas for improving it! Slides: https://lnkd.in/g5KmGk9r Pull request to add reflection to azure-search-openai-demo: https://lnkd.in/gJ-chNPQ

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📢 Executive Assistants in Tech - especially in the Bay Area: You are likely not overpaid. But you 𝘮𝘢𝘺 be mis-leveled. There’s growing conversation around EA compensation - particularly when your base is near or exceeds $190K. The assumption? “That seems high for an admin.” But let’s anchor the conversation in 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 and 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘦, not outdated perceptions. 📊 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝗔𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖-𝘀𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵: - 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲: (Series A–C): $142,500 - 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲: (Series D–G): $190,000 - 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆: $250,000 These reflect roles that extend far beyond calendar management. They support executives navigating team dynamics, internal alignment, rapid growth, and external visibility - often at a global scale. That said, not every EA is working at this level of complexity. And that’s okay. But if your scope includes: - Managing optics, communications, and executive reputation - Discretion around confidential strategy and sensitive personnel issues - Owning operational rhythms and cross-functional alignment - Making decisions proactively without needing permission - Handling issues that your executive never even hears about - Serving as the unseen driver behind follow-through, trust, and execution - Sharing feedback or observations they wouldn't otherwise hear or see Then you are not simply “supporting” - you are actively enabling leadership performance. And your 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁. If you’re being presented comp that’s significantly lower than these benchmarks, don’t ask about the number - ask about the 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹. Too often, EAs are leveled at IC3 or IC4, when their actual work aligns with IC5, IC6, or higher. And when asked about raises, the response is: “You’re already advanced and at the top of your range.” That may be true - 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥. But if the level is misaligned, so is the range. This is not about asking for “more.” This is about asking for 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 between your scope, your title, and your compensation. ✔️ Ask what your current level is. ✔️ Ask to see the leveling framework. ✔️ Map your responsibilities to what’s expected at the next level. EA work at the highest levels is strategic, operational, and reputational. And it is often invisible - which is why advocating for it matters. --- 📎 Use this as a guide for your next leveling or compensation conversation. 💬 Share it with others in your network who are navigating the same challenges. 🧭 Lead with clarity, not defensiveness. Let the data and your impact speak for themselves. You've earned your seat - and your title and compensation should reflect that. hashtag#executiveassistant hashtag#humanresources hashtag#admin hashtag#executivesandmanagement

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people used to pay me like 20k just explaining and helping people set up generative benchmarking Come check out this lightning lesson where kelly explains why it's so important that evaluations are used as we move systems from prototype to production https://lnkd.in/gj7NiV_D

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Can AI actually help with real Drupal development? I wanted to find out. This morning, I fired up Claude Code and pointed it at my personal Drupal site. In a 30-minute session, I asked it to help me build new features and modernize some of my code. I expected mixed results but was surprised by how useful it proved to be. If you're curious what AI-assisted Drupal development actually feels like, the video captures the experience. https://lnkd.in/eUnDjjT2

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🚀 Just wrapped up an interview at #Elevate, and I have to say — this one cut through the noise. Too often, conversations about the future of commerce get stuck in buzzwords and abstract tech. But this team was asking the right questions — the ones that matter for real-world builders, leaders, and customers. We talked about where commerce is heading: → Adaptive, context-aware experiences → Composable strategies not just as architecture, but as mindset → And the role AI will actually play in orchestrating personalized, resilient operations If you're leading in this space and you're not thinking about how your ecosystem learns, heals, and eventually self-generates… you're already behind. 🎤 Huge thanks to Patricia Wu, Scott Hebner and SiliconANGLE & theCUBE for the thoughtful conversation. More like this, please. #FutureOfCommerce #ComposableCommerce #AI #Leadership #DigitalTransformation #Orium

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I know SO MANY developers (all of them?) leaning on AI to code right now, but what about those of you out there with operational roles? The Rails Foundation, like a lot of organizations, spins up quite a bit of admin (tracking invoices and budgets, creating freelance contracts, bringing sponsors through the contract-invoice-fulfillment process, etc) and I'd love to see how AI can help alleviate some of this busy work. If anyone has any resources or people that have been helpful for their own operations, I'd love to hear about it!

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California has passed the Opt Me Out Act that will require browsers to include functionality that enables consumers to limit the sale and sharing of their information by sending an opt-out preference signal to businesses. https://lnkd.in/gPuvid4D

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We cut accessible document remediation time by 60% and made compliance effortless Ever feel like you're drowning in accessibility requirements? One public sector (local government in CA) team did too. Before Venngage, they spent months manually checking every report and flyer for compliance. Their Accessibility Manager told us: "We felt stuck. There just wasn't enough time or expertise to get it right every single time." Here's what changed: 1. Venngage's AI tools instantly flagged issues and exported accessible PDF-UA 2. We trained their team to use AI as a supercharger, not a replacement 3. They centralized workflows to maintain brand consistency while meeting Section 508 and ADA standards The results? Document turnaround dropped from weeks to days. Zero compliance incidents last quarter. "Venngage gave us confidence. The communications team handled their own the accessibility heavy lifting, and our team could finally focus on impact," they shared. Feeling overwhelmed by accessibility demands? Let's chat about how Venngage can help you scale accessible content without sacrificing quality or control. https://venngage.com

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