Anthropology has long been misunderstood. Regularly filed under “worst degrees” lists by people who think culture is a soft skill it is overlooked and underestimated, labeled ‘cute, but useless.’ Wrong.
(also, ugh)
Anthropology is the leadership skill you didn’t know you needed — especially right now, in the middle of a double shift: the remote work era colliding head-on with the AI era.
So, what do anthropologists actually do?
At its core, anthropology is about studying human culture. Not in an abstract, Indiana Jones kind of way (though I get that a lot), but in the here-and-now:
How people work together
How they communicate
What rituals and systems bind them into something bigger than themselves
In other words: anthropologists study culture as a system. And guess what every business is right now? A system for transition.
The Remote/AI Tension
Let’s face it: we’ve moved far beyond “WFH because of COVID.” Remote is here. Hybrid is here. Async is here. And AI is rewriting workflows, communication norms, and even entire roles overnight.
Leaders are asking:
How do I keep a sense of belonging when my team is spread across five time zones and talks mostly in Slack threads?
How do I maintain trust when half our workflows are now run by bots?
How do I avoid culture collapse while everything feels in flux?
Spoiler: your company trivia night on Zoom is not going to cut it.
Enter the Anthropologist Consultant
Here’s where anthropology flexes. We’re trained to:
Strip away assumptions (your “open door policy” doesn’t mean much on Zoom).
Spot the invisible rituals and signals that actually hold a culture together.
Translate them into practices that survive outside the office (and now, outside the purely human workforce).
Big brands like Zappos and GM have used anthropologists to understand global customers and build strong internal structures. But the real power move? Using anthropologists internally to navigate cultural transitions.
From Rituals to Systems
Here’s an example. Back in the early days of lockdown, one of my clients (an event company) pivoted to “virtual dinner + a show.” Cute idea. But what made it work wasn’t the livestream — it was the kit we shipped to customers’ homes. Candles, snacks, printed menus — the sensory stuff that recreated the ritual of a night out.
That’s anthropology in action: understanding that culture lives in rituals and embodied experiences, not just in the event itself.
Today, the same logic applies to remote + AI transitions. An anthropologist might recommend:
Creating new rituals that replace hallway chats (async video “coffee drops” work better than forced happy hours).
Designing workflows where AI isn’t just a silent replacement for human labor, but an integrated part of the culture (“How do we talk about what the AI did today?” is a cultural question, not a technical one).
Helping leaders recognize bias creep — because AI tools are only as “objective” as the humans feeding them.
Tools Are Nice. Culture Is Everything.
Yes, there are shiny platforms (virtual offices, presence-mapping dashboards, etc.). They help. But let’s be real: tools don’t fix culture. People do.
If you’re a business owner or leader, stop thinking of culture as “what happens when people are in the office.” Culture is the fabric that holds the business together no matter where — or with what (human or AI) — the work happens.
And that’s why anthropologists belong in the room.
Quick Wins for Leaders in Transition
If you’re mid-pivot (remote, hybrid, AI… pick your poison), start here:
Audit your rituals: What did you used to do in-person that quietly built trust? Figure out the remote/AI version, or invent a new ritual entirely.
Name the AI: Seriously. Whether it’s “our bot” or “Clippy 2.0,” integrating AI into company language makes it part of the culture instead of a silent, looming replacement.
Bias check, quarterly: Assign someone to actively look for bias in workflows, hiring, and AI output. Don’t wait for it to bite you.
Final Take
Remote work isn’t “temporary.” AI isn’t “just a tool.” Both are here, and both are cultural earthquakes. If you’re leading a business, you can either:
Pretend your old office playbook still works and watch culture unravel, or
Call in people who actually study culture for a living.
Anthropologists aren’t just for academia anymore. We’re the secret weapon for navigating paradigm shifts.