The Year of Due Diligence

2026 has been the year of due diligence for me.

Every day you hear more and more really scary things about AI, it’s becoming more and more important to protect ourselves.

Massive Transformation: The World Economic Forum projects that by 2030, AI will significantly affect 22% of all jobs, transforming 86% of businesses.

White-Collar Impact: Many experts anticipate that AI will "wipe out" or significantly disrupt half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within 1–5 years, driven by generative AI.

Near-Term Job Loss: Some experts are more aggressive, predicting that 99% of work could be replaced by AI and humanoid robots in as little as 5 years, leaving 60–80 hours of free time for humans. 

So this year I’m having all clients sign the NAVA AI rider. Most seem to understand, and sign it willingly.

I’m especially following through with new clients.

I had two inquiries last week. 

One of them was super straight-forward and professional. And though the casting went in another direction, told me I’d be invited to future castings. Lovely.

The other had red flags all over it. From a non-branded email account, no subject line...just felt a bit sketchy.

So I asked some questions and got mostly satisfactory answers. And I asked for 50% up front.

They are a sub-contractor. (Who am I to poo poo that. After all, so many of us are gig workers, right?) So they couldn't  do 50% up front. Instead they wanted to release 75% upon delivery and the remaining after it passed a quality check. 

Ummm...no.

I said we’d have to come up with other milestones. And I added some lines to the rider. Important things like a billing company name, address and email and sent it along.

They sent the specs, which read like many others, seemed legit (too much detail for a scam), have a deadline of 5 days, and said the texts we attached. 

But they weren't. And neither was my AI rider.

So I let him know and reminded him of the rider.

And when I got no response, I reminded him the next day.

On the third day, I thought I’d make one last ditch effort.

An entire weekend passes…crickets.

Monday morning I write it off. Putting traceable contact info on the rider was probably too much. I doubt they intended to AI me. I think they had no intention of paying me.

But then an hour later the scripts arrived!…But no rider.

(Sigh) So I told them that I’d be able to start the project tomorrow AM, if I received a completed and signed rider.

Why am I not hopeful?

Maybe because after a while you develop a sixth sense for when something is moving forward… and when it’s quietly drifting away.

And that’s the frustrating part. This really is a great project. The kind of work you’d happily clear your schedule for.

But in this business, talent and enthusiasm aren’t the only things that matter. Clear agreements matter too.

So for now, the scripts sit in my inbox… waiting for a signature.

And I’m hoping—just a little—that tomorrow proves me wrong