AI and Religion
Miguel de Unamuno, as quoted by Facundo Cabral, said that a truly religious person is one who seeks the truth in order to share it. I would add that each of us holds a personal truth, shaped by how we choose to perceive and make sense of our lives.
If there’s one truth life has taught me, it’s this: real fulfillment is found in creating value for others. I learned -the hard way- that it doesn’t come from outperforming people, chasing titles, or accumulating things. It comes when you help someone else succeed, when you know your presence has made a difference.
I see this every day with my children, but there are two experiences I would like to share that shaped this belief deeply; one in business, one in personal life. Both taught me that empathy, guidance, and authentic care can transform lives.
The Junior Trust Officer Everyone Had Given Up On
When I joined a new company as a manager, I inherited a situation that seemed already decided. A junior trust officer on the team was underperforming. His productivity was low, his attention to detail was poor, and his motivation appeared nonexistent. The general opinion was clear: he wasn’t going to make it. The decision to dismiss him was already in motion.
But as I observed him more closely, I felt something different. He wasn’t incompetent. He was simply lost. Nobody had truly trained him. Previous managers, buried in their own responsibilities, had never given him the time, the structure, or the mindset he needed to succeed. He was set up to fail.
So I made a choice. Instead of letting him go, I decided to invest in him. I sat with him, explained the fundamentals step by step, not just the “what” but the “why.” I showed him how his work mattered to clients, to the team, to the company. Every day, I gave feedback, encouragement, and most importantly, example. For the first six months, whatever I asked him to do -scanning, naming files, drafting payment instructions- I did alongside him.
The transformation was astonishing. Slowly, he gained confidence. He started asking sharper questions. He began taking initiative. His work improved dramatically. Within a few months, the same young man who had been on the verge of dismissal became one of the most reliable members of the team.
I will never forget his smile the day he delivered flawless work on a complex case. That smile wasn’t about competing with anyone, it was about knowing he was valuable. And in that moment, I realized something profound: when you give someone the chance to grow, you don’t just change their trajectory, you create happiness for both of you.
The Adolescent Who Needed Examples, Not Words
Outside of work, I met a young adolescent who was causing endless trouble for his family. He was rebellious, constantly arguing with his parents, and struggling at school. His parents and relatives, kind and well-meaning, tried to guide him through advice, lectures, and long conversations. But nothing seemed to work.
Spending time with him, I noticed the real issue wasn’t lack of intelligence -he is brilliant and has outstanding emotional intelligence skills- or even lack of will. It was benchmarks. His parents spoke about values like discipline, but they weren’t living them in a way he could see. Children -and adults- rarely learn from words. They learn from what is demonstrated in front of them.
So I decided to take another path. I invited him into my world and we played a game together, which allowed me to show him not with speeches, but with actions. During the game I let him watch how I handled my responsibilities, how I treated people -other kids- with respect, how I kept calm under pressure, and if I failed, I respected the rules. Instead of telling him about values, I let him witness them.
The shift was powerful. He started asking questions and opened himself, not because anyone forced him to, but because he genuinely wanted to understand and share.
He didn’t need another lecture. He needed an example to follow.
The Common Thread: Adding Value
These two very different experiences -one in business, one in life- taught me the same universal lesson: when you create value for others, it feels very good. Do you want to call it Fulfillment? Happiness? Purpose?
It is easy to get caught up in competition. To measure ourselves by how much “better” we are than others, how much more we have achieved, or how fast we move up the ladder. But the truth is, this path often leaves people unfulfilled. Competing to be better drains you. Contributing to make others better fills you.
I firmly believe that the future will reward those who care. Artificial intelligence will automate countless tasks, but it will never replace empathy, trust, or genuine human connection. The leaders of tomorrow will not be those who simply outperform others, but those who know how to uplift them.
When you add value:
You build trust, and trust creates collaboration.
You spark gratitude—not just in others, but also within yourself.
You unleash creativity, because solving problems for others is one of the most joyful forms of expression.
You build resilience, because human networks built on empathy are far stronger than competition-driven isolation.
AI and the Space for Something Deeper
I also believe that AI is not here to replace our intelligence. It is here to make space for something deeper to emerge: wisdom, compassion, perspective.
It pushes us to stop asking how to be more efficient—and instead start asking how to be more effective at helping others, using our strengths to solve problems, and becoming more human.
In other words, how to develop as an individual growing with intention, so that my growth becomes useful—relational—in service of something greater than myself.
Because I am convinced that true development is never private. Your clarity strengthens our dialogue. Your discipline shapes our systems. Your transformation uplifts the collective.
I believe that we are not here to escape each other, but to evolve for one another.
The purpose of becoming more is to give more. To widen the circle of care. To expand the surface area of meaning. To offer your uniqueness not as a brand, but as a contribution.
The Philosophy of Entrepreneurship
This is why I admire entrepreneurship. True entrepreneurs don’t chase wealth for its own sake. They solve problems that make life brighter, easier, or fairer. They know fulfillment doesn’t come from accumulation—it comes from impact.
The beauty of this model is sustainability. When you tie solving real problems to economic value, your impact can grow, scale, and last. And paradoxically, when you focus less on yourself and more on others, you often achieve both fulfillment and traditional success. Purpose and profitability align.
What makes life meaningful is not outperforming others, but delighting them. The joy on that junior trust officer’s face when he realized his worth, the change in that adolescent once he found the right benchmarks—those are victories no competition could ever replace.
I am convinced that fulfillment grows in proportion to the value we bring. And once you experience it, you want more. You want to help 5 people, then 50, then 5,000. Not because you’re forced to, but because it feels like the most natural thing in the world.
Does Real Happiness Depend on the Number of Candles on Your Birthday Cake?
Age is not what defines a meaningful life. What matters is how you choose to see and live it. The best stage of life begins when you start thinking the right way; when you stop complaining about what is missing and begin to appreciate the incredible, magical, even spiritual things that surround you at every single moment.
Of course, this is easier said than done. It is difficult to feel grateful when someone attacks you, insults you, or tries to harm you. But let’s imagine this: suppose you earn $20 an hour, and suddenly someone gives you $10 million. At that precise moment, if a stranger were to insult you, would you really care? Probably not. You would be so overwhelmed with joy, so grateful for the gift, that the insult would lose its power. Happiness shields us, it makes negativity irrelevant.
The Argentine singer Facundo Cabral shared a story that captures this perfectly. He imagined God offering someone money in exchange for their body: “I’ll give you a fortune for your eyes.” The person refuses. “Then for your arms, your legs…” Again, the answer is no. Cabral’s point was simple yet profound: if we would not sell these treasures for any price, why do we fail to value them daily? We are already unimaginably wealthy, yet we forget to feel grateful for the abundance we carry within us.
Now think of this: if you woke up each day truly grateful for everything you have (for your health, your senses, your ability to think, to love, to create) wouldn’t it be much harder for someone else’s insult to disturb your peace?
Gratitude builds resilience. It creates a buffer between your heart and the world’s negativity.
Of course, there are limits. Life brings dramatic, painful situations -illness, loss, injustice- and no philosophy can erase the weight of those experiences. But I believe that for most of us, most of the time, this principle holds true: gratitude is a shield, and happiness grows in direct proportion to how deeply we appreciate what we already have.
That is the life I believe in. A life where empathy, contribution, and trust define success. A life where we remember that purpose, empathy, and contribution, not competition, are the sustainable path to joy.
And AI is a tool that can amplify the impact of our actions in that direction—or not.
The choice is ours.
