“Digital transformation is not an event but a continuous condition requiring ongoing adaptive practice. To thrive amid constant change, we must cultivate cognitive, emotional, social and ethical capacities that enable resilience as a way of being rather than a destination to reach. This requires light-touch policy frameworks that advance freedom, human agency and individual liberties while building adaptive expertise, psychological flexibility, and collaborative networks. As I testified before Congress in September 2025, ‘Our policies should help advance freedom, human agency and individual liberties. … Any national AI strategy should ensure we don’t stifle advancements toward reliable, trustworthy AI consistent with the values of both free societies and free markets.‘ The path forward demands that we embrace learning as lifelong practice, develop reflective habits, maintain diverse networks and engage in meaningful contribution. We must shift from seeking stability to embracing change, building systems and communities that can continuously adapt while preserving core values. Most fundamentally, we need ‘light-touch policy’ approaches that recognize ‘interdependencies between AI and other tech advancements’ and allow us to navigate complexity with wisdom, building the collective resilience necessary for human flourishing in a technological age.
We need to cultivate ethical awareness, the habit of asking moral questions about the technologies we create and use. Who benefits? Who is harmed? What values are embedded? What kind of world are we creating? These questions need to be central, not peripheral, to our decision-making.
“In detail, this means several things: Digital transformation is often discussed as if it were a discrete event, something that will happen and then be complete. This framing is fundamentally mistaken. Transformation is not an event but a condition, not a destination but a journey. We are not moving from one stable state to another but entering a period of continuous change. The question is not how to get through this transition but how to thrive in a world where transition is the new normal. This reframing changes everything. Resilience must be an ongoing practice we cultivate. It is not about bouncing back to where we were but about continuously adapting to where we are going.
“Individuals and societies will respond to this reality in different ways. Some will find the prospect exhilarating, embracing the opportunities that constant change creates. Others will find it exhausting or threatening, longing for stability and predictability. Most will experience both reactions at different times and in different contexts. The struggle with transformative change is not a sign of weakness but a sign of engagement. It means we are grappling with real questions about what we value, what we want to preserve and what we are willing to let go. This struggle is where growth happens, both individually and collectively.
“The key is to create conditions where this struggle is generative. Where it leads to learning and adaptation rather than rigidity and breakdown. This requires cultivating specific capacities across multiple dimensions of human experience.
“Cognitively, we need to develop what might be called ‘adaptive expertise.’ This goes beyond domain knowledge to include the ability to transfer learning across contexts, to recognize when old approaches no longer work, and to generate novel solutions. It requires both depth and breadth, both specialization and the ability to connect across disciplines.
“We also need to cultivate metacognition, the ability to think about our own thinking. In a world of information overload and sophisticated manipulation, we need to be aware of our own biases, assumptions and blind spots. We need to question our sources, check our reasoning and remain open to being wrong.
“Emotionally, we need to develop what psychologists call ‘psychological flexibility.’ This is the ability to be present with our experience, even when it is uncomfortable, and to choose actions aligned with our values rather than being driven by immediate emotions. It is the opposite of rigidity or avoidance.
“We need to cultivate a range of emotional capacities: the ability to tolerate uncertainty, to manage anxiety, to process grief and loss, to maintain hope, to find joy and meaning even in difficult circumstances. These are not innate traits but skills that can be developed through practice.
“Socially, we need to invest in relationships and networks. Resilience is fundamentally relational. It is not something we achieve alone but something we build together. The strength of our connections, the diversity of our networks and the quality of our relationships determine our capacity to navigate change.
“We need to develop skills in communication, collaboration and conflict resolution. We need to learn how to build trust, how to repair relationships when they are damaged, how to work productively with people who see the world differently than we do. These are not soft skills but essential capacities for navigating complexity.
“We also need to create and sustain communities. Communities provide belonging, support, shared meaning and collective capacity. They are the context in which individual resilience is nurtured and collective resilience is built. In a world where traditional communities are often weakened, we need to be intentional about creating and maintaining them.
“Ethically, we need to develop practical wisdom. This is not just knowledge of ethical principles but the judgment to apply them in specific situations. It is the ability to navigate competing values, to make difficult trade-offs, to act with integrity even when the right course is unclear.
“We need to cultivate ethical awareness, the habit of asking moral questions about the technologies we create and use. Who benefits? Who is harmed? What values are embedded? What kind of world are we creating? These questions need to be central, not peripheral, to our decision-making.
“Several practices will enable this ongoing cultivation of resilience. First, we need to embrace learning as a lifelong practice. This means not just formal education but continuous curiosity, experimentation and reflection. It means seeking out new experiences, diverse perspectives and challenging ideas. It means treating every situation as an opportunity to learn.
“Second, we need to develop reflective practices. This might include journaling, meditation, coaching or simply regular time for thinking. The point is to create space to step back from the rush of events, to process experience, to integrate learning, to reconnect with values and purpose.
“Third, we need to build and maintain diverse networks. This means intentionally connecting with people from different backgrounds, disciplines and perspectives. It means participating in communities of practice where we can share challenges and learn from others. It means both giving and receiving support.
“Fourth, we need to engage in meaningful work and contribution. Resilience is not just about coping with difficulty but about finding purpose and making a difference. We need opportunities to use our talents, to contribute to something larger than ourselves, to see the impact of our efforts.
We need to invest in our own development. This means taking responsibility for our learning, our health, our relationships and our contribution. It means making choices that build capacity rather than depleting it. … we need to create cultures and structures that support resilience. This means moving away from rigid hierarchies and toward more adaptive, networked forms of organization. It means valuing learning over knowing, experimentation over perfection, collaboration over competition.
“The actions we must take right now span multiple levels. At the individual level, we need to invest in our own development. This means taking responsibility for our learning, our health, our relationships and our contribution. It means making choices that build capacity rather than depleting it.
“At the organizational level, we need to create cultures and structures that support resilience. This means moving away from rigid hierarchies and toward more adaptive, networked forms of organization. It means valuing learning over knowing, experimentation over perfection, collaboration over competition.
“At the community level, we need to strengthen the bonds that hold us together. This means investing in public spaces, civic institutions and opportunities for participation. It means creating inclusive communities where everyone has a place and a voice.
“At the societal level, we need policies and systems that promote resilience. This includes education systems that prepare people for continuous learning, economic systems that provide security and opportunity, governance systems that are responsive and accountable and social systems that ensure everyone has access to the resources they need to thrive.
“New vulnerabilities will emerge as our world becomes more complex and interconnected. Some of these we can anticipate – cybersecurity threats, misinformation, algorithmic bias, privacy violations, economic disruption, social fragmentation, mental health challenges. Others will surprise us.
“The coping strategies we need are not just reactive but proactive. We need to build systems that are robust, with redundancy and diversity. We need early warning systems that help us detect emerging threats. We need rapid-response capabilities that allow us to adapt quickly. We need learning systems that help us improve continuously.
“At the individual level, we need to teach and nurture practices for well-being and resilience. This includes physical health practices like exercise and sleep, mental health practices like mindfulness and therapy, social practices like maintaining relationships and participating in communities and spiritual practices like reflection and connection to purpose.
“At the community level, we need to create support systems that help people navigate challenges. This includes everything from mental health services to job training programs to mutual aid networks. It includes creating cultures in which asking for help is normalized and people look out for each other.
“At the systems level, we need governance approaches that are adaptive and anticipatory. This means not just responding to crises but working to prevent them. It means not just regulating technology but shaping its development toward beneficial ends. It means not just managing change but guiding it.
Resilience in a digital age is about developing the capacities, practices and resources that allow us to navigate change with wisdom, courage and care. It is about building systems and communities that can adapt and evolve. … It is also deeply meaningful work. It is about nothing less than shaping the future of human flourishing in a technological age.
“Most fundamentally, we need to shift our mindset from seeking stability to embracing change. This does not mean abandoning all that is stable or valuable. Core values, deep relationships and enduring institutions remain essential. But we need to hold them lightly enough to adapt when circumstances require.
“Resilience in a digital age is not about resisting change or being swept along by it. It is about developing the capacities, practices and resources that allow us to navigate change with wisdom, courage and care. It is about building systems and communities that can adapt and evolve. It is about cultivating the human qualities that technology cannot replace – judgment, creativity, empathy and moral courage.
“This is demanding work. It requires effort, attention and commitment. But it is also deeply meaningful work. It is about nothing less than shaping the future of human flourishing in a technological age. And it is work that we must do together because resilience is not an individual achievement but a collective one. Our fates are intertwined and our capacity to thrive depends on our willingness to support each other, to learn from each other and to build together the world we want to inhabit.”
This essay was written in January 2026 in reply to the question: “AI systems are likely to begin to play a much more significant role in shaping our decisions, work and daily lives. How might individuals and societies embrace, resist and/or struggle with such transformative change? As opportunities and challenges arise due to the positive, neutral and negative ripple effects of digital change, what cognitive, emotional, social and ethical capacities must we cultivate to ensure effective resilience? What practices and resources will enable resilience? What actions must we take right now to reinforce human and systems resilience? What new vulnerabilities might arise and what new coping strategies are important to teach and nurture?” This and 200-plus additional essay responses are included in the 2026 report “Building a Human Resilience Infrastructure for the AI Age.”