MediaClipThe AI-Native Shift - Beyond Industrial Defaults

The six rungs, and don't start at the sixth

October 16, 2026

2:50

Our trust ladder has six rungs, and the one rule is don't start at the sixth.

My co-host Trisha Merriam listed them:

1. Summarize

2. Recommend

3. Prioritize

4. Draft

5. Decide

6. Act

She shared a small change she made this week: when AI has questions for her, she tells it to recommend an answer so she can click and move on instead of stopping to type.

I said the experience is available at every rung. "But don't start at the sixth."

I learned that when I activated Nectar, my AI assistant. She started by offering me options for what she could do for me.

"None of this had happened. There's no trust yet."

So I told her to get to know me first. Start at rung one, and the rest goes faster.

Where this came from

The Trust Ladder: From Summarize to Act — AI Readiness, Part 2

Watch the full conversation this clip was pulled from.