Why AI Needs Ethics First | Nekia Nichelle & Shekhar Natarajan | Live at CES 2026
2/18/202616 min
Recorded live at CES 2026, this special episode of Tomorrow, Today by SKN features tech journalist Nekia Nichelle in conversation with AI transformation leader Shekhar Natarajan.
As artificial intelligence accelerates at unprecedented speed, one critical question rises above the noise:
Are we building AI responsibly or just rapidly?
In this deeply thoughtful discussion, Shekhar challenges the current AI leadership narrative dominated by speed, valuation, and optimization metrics. Instead, he argues for a people-first approach grounded in ethics, dignity, and long-term societal impact.
This episode explores:
• What truly defines responsible AI leadersh...
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsNekia Nichelle· Guest0:00
[upbeat music] Nakia Michelle here at CES 2026, and I have been running into all kind of founders here. Interesting conversations about innovation and how AI is taking charge over the world. So I'm here with Shaker. What's one thing that the AI industry can benefit from slowing down?
Shekhar Natarajan· Host0:29
Well, I, I think, like, uh, if you, if you think about, uh, artificial intelligence, um, and the profound impact it's gonna have on the society, uh, it's gonna be multi-generational. It's as big as Industrial Revolution. But with Industrial Revolution, we had, like, 70 years. 70 years, right? Like, you know, when, when, like, people looked in the eye of basically their employers and said, "Hey, like, we need to have weekend." Weekend was created because of Industrial Revolution and the negotiating capability of the employee with the employer.
Nekia Nichelle· Guest1:03
Mm.
Shekhar Natarajan· Host1:03
Right?
Nekia Nichelle· Guest1:04
Mm-hmm.
Shekhar Natarajan· Host1:04
We, we actually, like, passed rules on basically, like, not to have child labor.
Nekia Nichelle· Guest1:08
Right.
Shekhar Natarajan· Host1:09
So these are all things basically, like, that were generated because time was created. And now with artificial intelligence, even before you know it, at 3:00 a.m. the call center is gone because all, all it takes is for you to update the code and everything is automated. And, and that's a scary thought. Like, you know, like, whenever you're going after efficiency, you pull