Why performative networking is failing and how to reclaim real connection in the age of AI

If you’ve ever stood in a room of 50 people, clutching a coffee cup and waiting for a 29-second countdown to pitch your business to a room of people who aren’t actually listening, you’ve felt the "Chamber of Commerce" exhaustion. We have replaced real relationship-building with "Identity Flashcards"—a phenomenon I call Brand Warmth Simulation. In this episode, we dissect why this extractive style of networking is hollowing out our professional lives, the heavy cognitive cost of "performative vulnerability," and why the rise of AI is about to make these polished, hollow scripts even more obvious—and more avoidable.