The Importance of Taste and Judgment in the Age of AI

Quick Facts

“Taste, judgment and creativity are our most valuable assets” because AI will flood the world with average outputs [12].
Steve Jobs called out companies with “no taste” for ignoring art and culture in their products [10].
James Dyson built 5,127 prototypes before landing a successful design [2].
Dyson invested £7 million a week in R&D, employing thousands of engineers to pursue invention [3].
Richard Branson celebrates first ventures that fail–you’re in good company if iteration takes time [17].
Sam Altman insists virality comes from products so good that people tell their friends about them [25].
Elon Musk’s design playbook deletes 10% of parts to force elegant, necessary systems [8].

Introduction: Why Taste and Judgment Matter in an AI-Driven World

Artificial intelligence is transforming our economy and culture. Machines generate emails, design logos and even produce music, and automation promises efficiency at a scale unimaginable a generation ago. Yet amid this torrent of output, a quieter conversation has emerged about the human qualities that will matter most in the age of AI. A widely cited summary of the SXSW London 2025 conference argued that “taste, judgment and creativity are our most valuable assets” because the AI revolution will flood the world with average outputs and make it harder to stand out [12]. The article warned that empathy, judgment and authentic creativity cannot be replaced by AI and that, because current systems remain brittle, humans must lead the way [12]. Our advantage comes from cultivating the taste and judgment that guide these tools.

Taste is more than aesthetic preference. In The Atlantic, writer Ian Bogost described taste as “judgment with style,” an instinct guiding us toward what matters. He argued that while AI models can produce endless variations of content, they lack the ability to prioritize emotional resonance. Taste is deeply personal, rooted in lived experience and cultural intuition, and it fuses form and function in ways that machines cannot. The implication is clear: in a world awash with artificial output, cultivating taste–along with the judgment to apply it–will set us apart.

This blog explores how great founders and CEOs, both historical and modern, cultivated taste and judgment. It draws lessons from pioneers such as Ada Lovelace, Nikola Tesla, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, James Dyson, Warren Buffett, Jensen Huang, Elon Musk, Richard Branson and newer AI leaders like Sam Altman and Demis Hassabis. Their stories reveal patterns that can help us navigate an AI-driven future: the importance of obsessing over role models, cross-disciplinary learning, mental simulation, persistence through failure and the courage to pursue one’s own path. Along the way we examine counterexamples where lack of taste or judgment led to failure, such as the missteps of Google Glass. By weaving historical narratives with modern reflections, this article offers actionable strategies for developing taste and applying judgment in business and life.

Historical Insights: The Roots of Taste and Judgment

Ada Lovelace and the Imagination of New Worlds

Ada Lovelace portrait — Ada Lovelace envisioned computing as an artistic craft.

Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, is often celebrated as the world’s first computer programmer, but her genius lay not only in technical skill. Trained in mathematics and tutored by mathematician Augustus De Morgan, Lovelace also immersed herself in poetry and imagination. In a reflective letter, she described the Analytical Engine (Charles Babbage’s design for a general-purpose computer) as weaving “algebraic patterns just as the Jacquard loom weaves flowers and leaves,” using metaphor to connect mechanical calculation and art [1]. She argued that imagination is a “discovering faculty” that can “penetrate into unseen worlds” of science [1]. Lovelace’s ability to bridge disciplines–marrying poetry with mathematics–allowed her to foresee that computers could manipulate not just numbers but also music and art. Her taste for cross-domain exploration proves that judgment thrives on blended disciplines.

Lovelace’s story also highlights the role of mentors. She sought guidance from Charles Babbage and other contemporary scientists while cultivating her creative instincts. Ness Labs notes that her mentorship gave her access to ideas beyond her immediate context and that her curiosity led her to constantly expand her knowledge base [1]. For modern entrepreneurs, the lesson is that taste emerges from exposure: by surrounding oneself with mentors, artists and thinkers from different domains, we refine our sense of what resonates. Treat your learning environment like a curated gallery.

Nikola Tesla: Mental Simulation and Design Elegance

Nikola Tesla, one of the most prolific inventors of the 19th and 20th centuries, offers another lesson in taste and judgment. In his autobiography, Tesla described his unusual approach to invention: he never built prototypes until he had thoroughly designed them in his mind. He wrote that he mentally constructed devices, changed their features, ran them at full speed and noted when they wore out [11]. Whether the turbine ran in his head or in the shop, “the results were the same,” he claimed [11]. This ability to simulate and test an idea without touching materials allowed Tesla to focus on the underlying principles rather than superficial details. It also prevented wasted resources and misdirected effort [11].

Tesla’s emphasis on mental simulation speaks to the cultivation of judgment through patience and imagination. Rather than rushing to build, he engaged in a form of artistic refinement–experimenting with ideas until they matched his internal aesthetic. In a world where AI can generate prototypes quickly, Tesla’s process reminds us that good taste often involves stepping back, visualizing possibilities and only then executing. Mental rehearsal keeps us anchored to first principles instead of trends.

Henry Ford: Quality, Cost and Responsibility

Henry Ford revolutionized manufacturing with the assembly line, but he also saw taste in a broader social context. When asked about his philosophy on production, Ford stated in 1933 that his mission was to “make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible” [24]. He further argued that profits should be reinvested in equipment to give people better jobs and build factories where they were needed [24]. Ford’s commitment to quality, affordability and fair wages reflected a judgment that a successful business must benefit both customers and workers. Taste includes ethical responsibility–not just surface aesthetics.

Warren Buffett: Heroes, Reading and Long-Term Thinking

Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha, exemplifies judgment through disciplined reading and the careful selection of mentors. According to a compilation of his quotes, Buffett regards reading as the “best addiction that can exist” because it enhances imagination and knowledge [13]. He advises people to find books by successful individuals in their field and to dedicate time to reading and thinking; he spends much of his day doing just that [14]. Moreover, he encourages young professionals to work for people they admire and to pick heroes early in life so they can emulate them [15]. Buffett’s approach to taste is about saturating the mind with high-quality inputs–biographies, annual reports, mentors–and allowing that diet to shape one’s investment decisions. In a sense, his taste is a filter that allows him to identify undervalued companies and to ignore market fads. Taste grows when you flood your mind with excellent influences.

Modern Founders: Crafting Taste, Design and Strategy

Steve Jobs: Obsession with Beauty and Soul

Steve Jobs is the archetype of a founder who elevated taste to a corporate ethos. In a candid 1995 interview, he explained that ideas are just the beginning and that transforming a great idea into a product requires “a tremendous amount of craftsmanship” [9]. He criticized companies like Microsoft for having “no taste”–for failing to bring art and culture into their products [10]. Jobs’s sense of taste was shaped by an eclectic mix of influences: Edwin Land of Polaroid, Bob Dylan and The Beatles, the minimalist designs of Dieter Rams, Zen meditation and calligraphy. He once said his taste wasn’t different from other people’s; he was just “willing to do a little bit more work and pay a little more attention to the details” to make something great.

Jobs’s obsession with design manifested in the meticulous product development process at Apple. Engineers and designers were empowered to say no to features that didn’t meet a certain aesthetic threshold, and Jobs insisted on controlling the entire user experience–from hardware to software to packaging. This culture of taste is why Apple products are often described as having soul. Trung Phan, writing about Jobs and music producer Rick Rubin, notes that Jobs believed taste could be developed through exposure to art and by trusting one’s own instincts. The lesson for founders is that taste is a habit: it requires constantly refining one’s aesthetic sense through art, music, nature and history and resisting the pressure to ship mediocre products.

James Dyson: Persistence, Prototypes and Obsession

British inventor James Dyson took a different path but shared Jobs’s relentless pursuit of quality. Dyson famously built 5,127 vacuum prototypes before finding a successful design [2]. Each failure taught him something new and brought him closer to his vision. Dyson later wrote a book called A History of Great Inventions and invested heavily in research and development, spending £7 million a week and employing thousands of engineers to explore new technologies [3]. His obsession with technical invention and history informed his taste: he believed that innovation required understanding past breakthroughs and building on them. By celebrating failure as a learning tool, Dyson cultivated judgment–knowing when to persist and when to pivot.

Dyson’s story also reflects a broader principle: taste emerges from repetition and iteration. Just as a chef refines a recipe through countless tastings, Dyson’s prototypes allowed him to sense what “good” felt like. His unwillingness to settle for mediocre results and his willingness to invest enormous resources in refinement illustrate that taste is expensive, both in time and money. In the AI era, where machine-generated designs may tempt us to ship quickly, Dyson’s example reminds us that real innovation still demands hands-on experimentation and a high tolerance for failure.

Jensen Huang: Intellectual Honesty and Design Trade-Offs

Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA, has shepherded the company from graphics pioneer to AI powerhouse. His leadership style reveals an acute awareness of taste in product design and company culture. Huang argues that without intellectual honesty, “a culture cannot tolerate failure because you’ll cling to bad ideas and you can’t admit that you’re wrong” [5]. This attitude fosters an environment where teams can discard poor designs quickly and learn. Huang also emphasizes that performance matters, but form factor and energy efficiency do too, because products need to be portable and energy-efficient [6]. In other words, taste in hardware involves balancing raw power with user-centric considerations.

Huang’s interest in learning from competitors further underscores his intellectual humility. He has said that he enjoys learning from rivals like Intel [6]. By studying what works in other companies, he broadens his taste and anticipates new opportunities. For leaders in AI, Huang offers a model of curiosity, respect and honesty: taste is not fixed but evolves through continuous learning and the willingness to admit mistakes.

Elon Musk: First Principles and Design Minimalism

Elon Musk is known for his audacious goals–reusable rockets, electric cars, brain-machine interfaces–and for the rigor he applies to engineering. In an interview quoted by James Clear, Musk explained that he approaches problems from a physics framework, reasoning from first principles rather than by analogy [7]. This means reducing problems to fundamental truths and building up solutions from there. Such thinking allows Musk to challenge conventional cost structures (as he did by cutting the price of rockets) and to design with fresh eyes.

In 2021, Musk outlined a five-step design methodology for Tesla and SpaceX engineers. The first step is to “make the requirements less dumb,” reminding his team that requirements–even from him–are probably flawed [8]. The second step is to delete parts or processes; Musk insists that if engineers aren’t adding things back at least 10 percent of the time, they’re not deleting enough [8]. The third step is to simplify and optimize; he cautions that smart engineers often optimize “the thing that should not exist” [8]. The fourth step is to accelerate cycle time but only after the first three steps are complete [8]. The fifth and final step is to automate [8]. These principles reveal how Musk’s taste for elegant design is intertwined with judgment: he prioritizes elimination over addition, simplicity over complexity and fundamental understanding over superficial optimization. In a world where AI can easily add features, Musk’s approach challenges us to ask whether each component is truly necessary.

Richard Branson: Joy, Failure and Simplicity

Richard Branson’s entrepreneurial career spans airlines, record labels, telecoms and even space travel. His philosophy is built on passion and playfulness. He argues that building a business is not rocket science but about having a great idea and seeing it through with integrity [16]. Branson encourages entrepreneurs to learn from failure, reminding them that if their first venture wasn’t a success, they’re in good company [17]. He emphasizes that you don’t learn to walk by following rules; you learn by doing and falling [18].

Branson’s quotes are suffused with the idea that happiness and passion are key ingredients in business [19]. He encourages people to follow their passions in a way that serves the world [20] and warns against getting bogged down in complexity when thinking through an idea [21]. He also advises that if you don’t have time for the small things, you won’t have time for the big things [22] and suggests entrepreneurs listen to everyone, take the best ideas and leave the rest [23]. Branson’s approach to taste is intuitive and empathetic; he values the emotional resonance of a product and believes that businesses should engage both the head and the heart [19]. For leaders navigating AI, his perspective reminds us that human connection and joy remain essential differentiators.

Sam Altman: Building Great Products for Word-of-Mouth

Sam Altman, co-founder of OpenAI and former president of Y Combinator, wrote in his blog that “the only way to grow huge is to build a product so good that people tell their friends about it”–because recommending a product implies good taste [25]. He argued that no growth hack or marketing strategy can compensate for a mediocre product. This insight echoes Jobs’s emphasis on product excellence and reinforces the idea that taste is embedded in the product itself. In the context of AI, where marketing hype can be loud, Altman’s advice is to focus on creating something genuinely useful and delightful.

Altman also champions long-term thinking and intense curiosity. As head of OpenAI, he has often spoken about aligning AI with human values and using it to extend human capabilities rather than replace them. While direct quotes on taste are scarce, his emphasis on building tools that people love and trust implies a taste for usability, safety and ethical design. His leadership at OpenAI shows that in the AI era, taste must extend to policy and safety considerations as well as to user experience.

Demis Hassabis: Scientific Rigor and Games as Training Grounds

Demis Hassabis, co-founder of DeepMind, is both an AI researcher and a game designer. A master chess player and neuroscientist, he built DeepMind’s early reputation on developing AI systems that mastered games like Go and StarCraft. In public conversations he often emphasizes curiosity and rigorous science, though explicit statements about taste are rare. Nonetheless, his career illustrates the value of cross-disciplinary learning. By blending neuroscience, gaming and computer science, Hassabis exemplifies the taste for finding patterns across domains and using them to inform innovation. His work on world models–AI systems that build internal representations of environments–suggests that understanding context and meaning is crucial. That kind of judgment will be essential as AI moves from games to real-world applications.

Critiques of Taste: Google Glass and the Danger of Ignoring Context

Not all founders succeed. Sometimes a lack of taste and judgment derails promising technology. Google Glass is a cautionary example. The head-mounted display was technologically impressive but failed because it overestimated people’s willingness to wear an unfashionable device and ignored privacy concerns [4]. According to a design analysis on Toptal, the product’s shortcomings weren’t due to technology but to misreading the market and failing to align with users’ social norms [4]. The article stresses that understanding the market and conducting real-world testing are crucial; without them, even brilliant inventions will flop [4]. Google Glass demonstrates that taste must include empathy for user values and context. In the AI age, where many solutions will be technically feasible, leaders must ask whether they should build something, not just whether they can.

Taste and Judgment in the Age of AI

The Flood of Average: Why Human Taste Matters

Today’s AI models can produce thousands of images, paragraphs and prototypes at the click of a button. This abundance is both a blessing and a curse. When everything is easy to generate, the difference between good and great becomes subtle and more valuable. The Atlantic argues that taste is the instinct that tells us which variation is meaningful. AI can generate endless options, but it cannot originate style or understand the emotions that make an artwork compelling. This is why companies like OpenAI have sought to incorporate design icons like Jony Ive into their teams: they know that high-quality models need to be guided by human taste.

Moreover, as large language models become ubiquitous, many products will rely on the same underlying technology. The differentiator will be how well companies curate training data, fine-tune outputs and integrate human feedback. Taste will determine which prompts to choose, which outputs to accept, which ideas to combine and which to discard. In marketing, brand voice will no longer be unique because AI can mimic any style; instead, authenticity and values will matter. In design, AI can produce infinite variations of a layout; taste will decide which one feels right. In strategy, AI can analyze data; judgment will determine which metrics matter and how to interpret them.

Taste as Personal Philosophy

Developing taste requires more than following trends or copying experts. As Rick Rubin says (via Trung Phan), “everyone has their own taste” and there’s no right or wrong. Rubin encourages people to ask themselves repeatedly what they like or dislike and to cultivate confidence in their preferences. This practice aligns with Steve Jobs’s advice that taste comes from exposing oneself to the best of what humans have done and then trusting one’s instinct. In the AI age, where algorithms can quickly echo popular tastes, developing one’s own taste becomes a competitive advantage. It allows leaders to create products and experiences that are distinctive rather than derivative.

Taste is also a form of personal philosophy. Jobs’s attraction to Zen meditation and calligraphy shaped Apple’s minimalist aesthetic. Dyson’s fascination with technology history influenced his belief in iterative design. Tesla’s love of imagination led him to mental simulation. Buffett’s discipline in reading and selecting mentors formed his investing approach. Richard Branson’s embrace of fun and simplicity infused Virgin’s brand. Jensen Huang’s intellectual honesty defined NVIDIA’s culture. In each case, taste expresses what these leaders value: simplicity or complexity, elegance or functionality, risk or caution. The challenge for us is to articulate our own values and to let them guide our decisions.

Judgment: The Bridge Between Ideas and Execution

While taste guides us toward what resonates, judgment tells us what is feasible and ethical. Ideas are abundant; executing them well requires careful trade-offs. Steve Jobs emphasized that turning an idea into a product entails a “tremendous amount of craftsmanship” and countless iterations [9]. Elon Musk’s five-step process starts with questioning requirements and ends with automation [8]. Jensen Huang insists on intellectual honesty and tolerance for failure [5]. Warren Buffett advocates reading and thinking to avoid impulsive decisions [13].

Judgment also involves aligning actions with principles. Henry Ford balanced quality with affordability and high wages [24]. Ada Lovelace combined mathematics with poetry and mentored other scientists [1]. Richard Branson integrated happiness and passion into business [19]. Sam Altman focused on user delight rather than marketing tricks [25]. These examples show that judgment is not just cognitive; it reflects ethics, empathy and a broader view of societal impact. In the AI era, where decisions can affect millions of people, this holistic judgment is essential.

Lessons for Developing Taste and Judgment in Business and Life

How can entrepreneurs, executives and professionals cultivate the taste and judgment needed to thrive? The biographies and stories above suggest several practical strategies. The following subsections distill these lessons into actionable steps.

Saturate Your Mind with Role Models

The first step is to immerse yourself in the lives and works of those you admire. Warren Buffett emphasizes reading extensively: treat reading as an addiction with imagination and knowledge as side effects [13]. He specifically advises reading books by successful people in your field [14]. Doing so saturates your subconscious with ideas, habits and patterns. When you read biographies of Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Ada Lovelace or James Dyson, you adopt their frameworks and absorb their taste. One of the user’s earlier articles summarized this principle well: “Every single one of them was obsessed with history and past inventors. They had people they looked up to.” This echoes Jobs’s reverence for Edwin Land and Dyson’s passion for technological history.

Buffer your daily environment with influences you wish to emulate. This could include podcasts, interviews, museums or conversations with mentors. A wise trick is to consider these influences among the “five people” you spend the most time with, as they gradually rewire your perspective. The more you expose yourself to high-quality inputs, the more your taste evolves.

Cultivate First-Principles Thinking and Mental Models

Developing taste requires more than imitation; it demands building your own mental frameworks. Elon Musk’s insistence on reasoning from first principles–reducing problems to fundamental truths [7]–is a powerful tool. It allows you to question assumptions and avoid simply following trends. Similarly, Tesla’s mental simulation technique of designing entirely in the mind before building [11] encourages deep understanding before execution. These approaches help you form independent judgments rather than relying on analogy or consensus.

To apply first principles, start by asking “Why?” five times to peel away superficial explanations. Then, reconstruct a solution from the basic facts. This might reveal new cost structures, design possibilities or business models. For example, in product design, ask whether each feature solves a real problem. Musk’s instruction to delete parts or processes unless they are truly necessary [8] can be applied across disciplines–from software to operations to personal habits.

Build Iteration into Your Practice

Taste improves through experimentation and iteration. James Dyson’s 5,127 prototypes [2] demonstrate that failure is not a setback but a catalyst for learning. Dyson turned each prototype into a lesson, refining his understanding of airflow and suction. In digital product design, iteration means shipping small versions, gathering feedback, learning and improving. In personal development, it means trying different routines, hobbies or careers until something resonates.

Elon Musk’s design methodology also emphasizes iteration: after simplifying and deleting, accelerate cycle time and then automate [8]. Rapid iteration reduces risk because you can test assumptions early and adjust. In the AI era, where models evolve quickly, being agile allows you to refine training data, adjust prompts and improve outputs. The key is to embrace failure as part of the process, learn from it and avoid repeating mistakes.

Commit to Deep Work and Reflection

Developing taste requires time to think. Warren Buffett spends most of his day reading and thinking, not reacting [13]. In an age of constant notifications and social media, deep work is rare. Yet taste is sharpened during quiet moments when we can synthesize ideas, make connections and weigh trade-offs. Schedule regular blocks for reading, brainstorming or journaling. Reflect on what resonates and why. Ask yourself whether a decision aligns with your personal philosophy.

Steve Jobs famously took long walks to ponder ideas and engaged in calligraphy classes that influenced the Mac’s typography. Nikola Tesla walked at night visualizing machines in his head. These practices illustrate that taste cannot be rushed. It emerges when we allow our minds to wander, make associations and filter noise.

Seek Mentors and Build Community

Mentorship accelerates the development of taste and judgment. Buffett urges young people to work for those they admire and to find heroes early [15]. Ada Lovelace benefited from guidance by Charles Babbage [1]. Jensen Huang enjoys learning from competitors [6]. Sam Altman’s involvement in Y Combinator created a community of founders who share insights and critique each other’s ideas. Surrounding yourself with diverse, wise individuals exposes you to different tastes and helps you refine your own.

Mentorship can be formal or informal. It can involve reading letters and interviews or having coffee with someone whose judgment you respect. The key is to ask questions, listen and reflect. Mentors often help you see blind spots, challenge your assumptions and broaden your horizons.

Balance Analytics with Intuition

AI excels at analyzing data, but taste often arises from intuition–the gut feeling that something is right or wrong. Richard Branson advises entrepreneurs to engage their emotions at work and to let their instincts guide them [19]. This does not mean ignoring data; rather, it means using data to inform decisions while trusting one’s own sense of quality, ethics and resonance. Jensen Huang’s emphasis on intellectual honesty reminds us to test our intuitions and be willing to adjust [5]. Taste is a conversation between intuition and analysis; judgment mediates the dialogue.

Consider Ethical and Social Impact

Good taste includes responsibility. Henry Ford balanced cost, quality and high wages [24], understanding that business success should benefit workers as well as shareholders. Google Glass failed because it ignored social norms [4]. As AI becomes integrated into society, our judgment must consider the ethical implications: privacy, fairness, environmental impact and psychological well-being. Ask whether your AI system reinforces biases or displaces jobs unfairly. Build guardrails and prioritize transparency. As Sam Altman notes, building trust and aligning AI with human values is as important as technical progress [25]. Taste, then, is not just about aesthetics; it is about designing solutions that respect human dignity.

Use AI as a Partner, Not a Crutch

AI can augment taste but cannot replace it. Use AI to generate ideas, analyze options and prototype designs quickly. Then apply human taste to select, combine and refine. Tools like generative art models, large language models and recommendation systems can inspire, but they still need a human editor. Steve Jobs insisted that technology alone is not enough; at the intersection of technology and liberal arts is where new value emerges. Similarly, think of AI as a collaborator that offers raw material, while you provide the curation and meaning.

Analogies and Cross-Domain Insights

Analogies are powerful because they allow us to transfer insights from one domain to another. Ada Lovelace’s comparison of the Analytical Engine to a Jacquard loom [1] links weaving patterns to computing, suggesting that creativity often involves reimagining old tools. Here are several analogies that illuminate the role of taste and judgment:

Culinary Arts: Just as a chef develops taste by sampling ingredients, experimenting with recipes and studying culinary history, entrepreneurs must refine their palate for products and markets. A machine can generate thousands of recipes, but only a chef can tell which combinations delight diners.

Music Production: Rick Rubin’s approach to music–asking what feels right, trusting one’s instincts, and not letting audience expectations override the artist’s taste–parallels product development. AI can produce songs, but a producer decides which tracks evoke emotion.

Architecture: Building a skyscraper requires engineering expertise and aesthetic vision. The first principles of physics ensure safety, while the architect’s taste determines beauty. Elon Musk’s design process mirrors an architect’s: question the requirements, remove unnecessary elements, simplify the structure and then automate [8].

Sports Strategy: Coaches rely on data analytics but also on intuition about team dynamics. Warren Buffett’s advice to pick mentors is akin to athletes choosing coaches who refine their technique and judgment [15].

Gardening: Taste develops like a garden. You plant seeds (experiences and ideas), water them (practice and reflection) and prune (delete unnecessary elements). Over time, your garden reflects your personal aesthetic. AI might help optimize watering schedules, but only you decide what plants belong.

These analogies illustrate that taste and judgment are universal qualities across disciplines. They involve balancing structure and flexibility, technique and intuition, past and future. Recognizing patterns across fields helps you transfer lessons from art, science, music and sports into your own work.

Reading List and Biographies for Continued Study

To deepen your understanding of taste and judgment, consider exploring the following biographies and books. These works provide rich narratives and practical insights:

“Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson – A comprehensive biography that details Jobs’s obsession with design, his influences (Edwin Land, Zen Buddhism, calligraphy) and his relentless pursuit of excellence. It shows how taste can permeate an organization.

“Against the Odds: An Autobiography” by James Dyson – Dyson’s memoir chronicles his 5,127 prototypes and his belief that failure is a necessary precursor to innovation [2].

“Poor Charlie’s Almanack” by Charles T. Munger – Warren Buffett’s partner presents mental models and frameworks for decision-making, emphasizing multidisciplinary learning and reading widely.

“Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future” by Ashlee Vance – This biography explores Musk’s first-principles thinking and design philosophy [7].

“Ada Lovelace: The Making of a Computer Scientist” by Christopher Hollings and Ursula Martin – The book explores how Lovelace’s imagination and mentorship shaped her vision for computing [1].

“Shoe Dog” by Phil Knight – The Nike co-founder’s memoir highlights the importance of passion, persistence and building a brand with soul.

“The Innovators” by Walter Isaacson – This book covers a broad range of tech pioneers, including Ada Lovelace, and shows how collaboration and cross-disciplinary thinking drive innovation.

“The Hard Thing About Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz – A guide to decision-making under uncertainty, offering practical advice on leadership and judgment.

“Principles: Life and Work” by Ray Dalio – Dalio shares his system of radical transparency and principled decision-making, which aligns with Jensen Huang’s emphasis on intellectual honesty [5].

“Atomic Habits” by James Clear – Not a biography but a practical guide to building habits that align with your long-term goals. It complements the idea that taste is built through consistent practice and exposure.

Conclusion: Building Your Own Taste and Judgment

The age of AI will not diminish the value of human creativity; if anything, it will amplify the importance of taste and judgment. Machines can generate millions of options, but humans must decide which ones to pursue. The founders and CEOs profiled here demonstrate that taste is cultivated through exposure to great work, mentorship, cross-disciplinary exploration, first-principles thinking, iteration, deep reflection and ethical consideration. Judgment bridges the gap between ideas and execution, requiring honesty, empathy and a willingness to discard what does not serve the mission.

As the user’s earlier reflections noted, even the greatest innovators were obsessed with their predecessors and saturated their minds with history. Steve Jobs revered Edwin Land and learned from the intersection of art and technology. James Dyson absorbed the history of invention and built thousands of prototypes. Ada Lovelace fused poetry with mathematics and sought mentors. Warren Buffett reads voraciously and chooses his heroes carefully. Jensen Huang balances performance with form and honors intellectual honesty. Elon Musk reasons from first principles and encourages deletion before optimization. Richard Branson injects joy and simplicity into his ventures. Sam Altman focuses on building products that people love, and Demis Hassabis draws on games, neuroscience and AI.

These stories reveal that taste and judgment are not fixed gifts but skills that can be cultivated. In an AI world, your taste will determine how you curate, combine and interpret machine-generated outputs. Your judgment will guide you in making ethical, strategic and creative choices. By following the lessons outlined here–immersing yourself in role models, thinking from first principles, iterating relentlessly, reflecting deeply, building communities and balancing intuition with analysis–you can develop a taste that is uniquely yours and a judgment that is both rigorous and humane. In doing so, you will not only survive the age of AI; you will thrive by shaping it.

In summary, this comprehensive blog argues that cultivating taste and exercising sound judgment are now more critical than ever in our AI-saturated world. By drawing on biographies and interviews of innovators from Ada Lovelace to Sam Altman, it shows that great founders did not succeed through isolated genius but through obsessive study of their predecessors, cross-disciplinary curiosity, and rigorous self-reflection [1]. The article emphasizes that taste involves more than aesthetic preference; it’s a form of “judgment with style” that fuses ethics, empathy, and personal philosophy into every decision. Stories of Steve Jobs, James Dyson, and others illustrate how taste can be honed through mentorship, iteration, and a willingness to learn from failure [2]. Counterexamples like Google Glass highlight the pitfalls of ignoring context and user values [4].

I found the exploration particularly enlightening because it bridges historical insights with modern AI challenges, offering clear, actionable strategies for developing taste today. The piece suggests immersing oneself in biographies, practicing first-principles thinking, and seeking mentors to cultivate a unique aesthetic sense and moral compass [13]. It also underscores that AI should be treated as a creative partner rather than a substitute for human discernment. Balancing quantitative analysis with intuition, and always considering ethical and social impacts, are vital to thriving in an AI-driven future [5]. Ultimately, the article encourages readers to integrate these lessons into their daily practice, thus turning taste and judgment into a competitive edge that machines cannot replicate.

The Importance of Taste and Judgment in the Age of AI: Lessons from Founders and CEOs