A Novel by Daniel Schwartz

What a company depends on without knowing it.

Unavoidable Agency is a novel about teaming in the age of AI — about the COO who is told to cut two hundred and fifty jobs, and the outside operator who helps her find out what the company would actually lose.

A short, occasional letter on teaming and agency. No filler.

Speaking

Talks on High-Stakes Teaming

Keynotes and fireside conversations for organizations navigating the human-AI frontier. Topics include collective agency and the myth of efficiency.

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Advisory

For Leadership Teams

I work with executive teams to translate the book's ideas into internal practice. Bespoke workshops and short advisory engagements.

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Portrait of Daniel Schwartz
About

Twenty years inside the operating room.

I have spent more than two decades inside fintech, AI, and operations — as CEO, COO, and partner at firms including Healos, Oliver Wyman, and Moven. Unavoidable Agency is my first novel, and the most honest thing I have written about what teams actually do for a living.

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From the Book
“There's a particular quality to the silence after someone has told you something they haven't said out loud before. It isn't uncomfortable. It's structural. The person on the other end of the line has just put down a thing they were carrying alone, and the air around them has to redistribute itself before the next sentence.”

— Chapter One