RZ
Rich Ziade

Rich Ziade

Things Rich Says on Podcasts

Co-founder and CEO of Aboard, a software company, and a serial software entrepreneur who started his career in law. He previously founded and sold Readability, Arc90 and Postlight, which he co-founded with Paul Ford. Co-hosts The Aboard Podcast with Paul Ford, which covers how AI is changing software development and business strategy. Has also appeared as a guest on The Enterprise AI Show.

Where to Find Them

Rich Ziade hosts The Aboard Podcast . They have also been a guest on The Enterprise AI Show .

Recently: “Anthony Ha: Dispatches from a TechCrunch AI Reporter” on The Aboard Podcast (November 2026); “Allison Fine: Making AI-Driven Change Less Scary” on The Aboard Podcast (October 2026); “Ask Aboard: AI Security, Bad Clients, and Yacht Rock” on The Aboard Podcast (October 2026); “Jason Goldman: From VC Pitches to AI Kill Switches” on The Aboard Podcast (October 2026); “Is Jev the New Shape of AI?” on The Aboard Podcast (September 2026); “Charity Majors: Embrace Your Computer’s Chaos” on The Aboard Podcast (September 2026).

What They Said

“I am an unapologetic capitalist, but I've learned one thing working my whole life: value creation is just a component of work. Work is a form of expression. Work is a form of social connection. … Work creates culture just as much as art creates culture. … Just because you automated away something that I do, you're taking away many, many other things from me.” — Rich Ziade, The Aboard Podcast

Responding to the idea that automation only removes tasks, Ziade argues that people are upset because AI takes away more than jobs.

The Aboard Podcast · 2026-11-03 Permalink → Listen →
The Aboard Podcast Around 36:38 into the episode
Rich Ziade

Yeah. I'm going to get philosophical for a second.

Paul Ford

Oh, good. Just use your normal voice.

Rich Ziade

I am an unapologetic capitalist, but I've learned one thing working my whole life and working with many people my whole life. And that value creation is just a component of work. That work is a form of expression. Work is a form of social connection. It is how so much of culture is born out of work, not just. Out of arts and whatnot. Like work creates culture just as much as art creates culture. And I think we're emotional beings and social beings. And just because you automated away something that I do, you're taking away many, many other things from me. And I think that's what we're grappling with in a lot of ways.

Paul Ford

This is not my interview, but I'm just going to say the thing that always sticks out when we talk about this, and I think it's really good for everybody to remember. The highest form of expression for the Valley is not a product, it is a marketplace, right? Like for them, if you can build a…

Rich Ziade

pretty house. Someone needed a place to stay. Just give me 8%. Or here

Paul Ford

are the wonderful search results on top of the beautiful open web and we're going to put some ads in there. And now that is true. And you're getting something too. That's right.

Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.

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