Lori Cashman, VC and Mother of 5, Encourages Her Children in AI

Founder of a venture capital fund and mother of five, Lori Cashman encourages her children to use AI tools while framing their usage in an academic context. She emphasizes interdisciplinary learning and a playful approach to skills, in a setting she views as destabilizing yet full of opportunities.

Helping Young Adults Face Unprecedented Change

Lori Cashman believes that the current pace of change has never been faster. She argues that mentoring, informal discussions, and internships are ways to help young adults prepare for an uncertain future. According to her, Generation Z will be highly entrepreneurial and will follow paths different from past careers. She sees AI as a promise of accessible tools for more people to create successful businesses, provided they can imagine new ideas.

Framing AI Usage: Subscriptions, Debates, and Academic Gray Areas

Together with her husband, Lori Cashman pays for AI tool subscriptions for their children and fosters nuanced discussions on the topic. She notes that messages about AI are often contradictory, especially on campuses, where the definition of academic dishonesty varies among professors. She hopes her children will use AI responsibly and observes that there are still no clear answers on this matter. In light of the rapid evolution, she has started, over the past year, to encourage her children to broadly explore AI tools, convinced that they can engage early in a field that will gain importance and that they need to learn for themselves.

Cross-Disciplinary Learning: From Economics to Certificates and Intersections

As three of her children prepare for university, Lori Cashman encourages them to prioritize interdisciplinary learning. The majority of them are studying economics, and she hopes they will also obtain concentrations or certificates in addition to their degrees. In her view, university is no longer just about preparing for a specific job, but represents a space where one learns to mobilize skills at the intersection of various fields, whether it be medicine and climate, humanities and technology, or sports and marketing. She believes that the ability to provide solutions to problems spanning multiple disciplines will be an advantage for Generation Z.

Developing Skills Through Play and Following Curiosities

Lori Cashman wants young adults to adopt a playful approach to skill development, without limiting themselves to building a resume. She believes that following one's curiosities and interests allows for concrete experience and valuable exposure for future jobs.

Family Context and the Perspective of a Generation Z Investor

Lori Cashman is the mother of five children, including two sets of twins, all born within three years. Her twins are 21 and 19 years old, and her youngest son is 18. The older children are about to start their final year of high school, while the younger ones will begin university in the fall, and the youngest will be entering his senior year. She indicates that she found managing early childhood easier, thanks to anticipating needs and adapting routines, but faced more challenges during adolescence, without having the time necessary to adjust her parenting style, while doing her best. As the founder of a venture capital firm working with Generation Z founders, she believes this generation is coming of age in a destabilizing moment where AI is redefining work, while remaining optimistic. To investors, she summarizes her philosophy with "The surfer chooses the wave," believing that the waves of opportunity from the internet and mobile will repeat with AI for those who seize them. She also observes that her children, despite being very close in age and raised almost simultaneously, are very different.