Being decent used to be the minimum. Today it is an extravagance. In innovation meetings, generative models, failed metaverses, and any promise that sounds complex but scales quickly is applauded. But speaking the truth, paying on time, acknowledging mistakes, or treating employees well are not on the list of disruptions. Coherence went from quiet virtue to strategic rarity. So much so that some brands already patent it as if it were a competitive algorithm.
We move on a plane in which the technical becomes equal and the tangible becomes cheaper. How to distinguish yourself in a market where anyone offers the same thing as you, faster and cheaper? The uncomfortable answer—because it cannot be easily bought or simulated—is behavior. When promises are saturated, fulfilling what is promised becomes a radical gesture. Being decent, seriously, is now a disruptive agent.
But it is not anachronistic decency, good business manners or catwalk philanthropy. It is a coherent, visible and, above all, measurable ethic. That is to say: practices that resist public audits. Does your brand boast that it values diversity? Shows hiring figures. Do you crow about sustainability? Share your historical carbon footprint without tricks. Narrative without deep data is nothing more than fanged presumption; with data, it can become a model.
AI has no consciousness, but it has the potential to amplify ours. Their decisions are not born out of a vacuum: they are a reflection of the biases, omissions, and values—or lack thereof—that we transfer to them. Therefore, talking about ethics in AI is not discussing machines, but about the condition of humanity. What biases will an algorithm that analyzes biased medical records inherit? What justice can an AI trained with racist, classist or misogynistic data offer? Ethics cannot be presented as an aesthetic accessory: it is the foundation that defines whether a tool amplifies the best or worst of us.
It’s just that the more powerful AI becomes, the more diffuse accountability seems. Who is responsible for an automated decision? The programmer, the company, the user? In this shifting land, an everyday ethic is urgently needed, not a list of well-intentioned wishes, but transparent, traceable, verifiable protocols. Trust in AI will not come from its capabilities, but from its governance. It’s not enough to be surprising; It must be fair. And for this, less technical astonishment and more moral vigilance are essential.
Curiously, this turn was driven not by morale, but by fear. Social networks democratized ridicule. Today any employee can tell how they are treated, any customer can show how they were cheated, and any shareholder can know why the share price fell. Given this reputational fragility, ethics is not just right: it is profitable.
And yet, the cynical idea persists—deeply rooted in management spaces—that being ethical is a luxury, a courtesy that is exercised only when it does not threaten utility. They are wrong. Internal coherence reduces friction, aligns teams, improves talent retention. And, more importantly, it protects against crises. Companies that know who they are don’t fall apart with a scandal. They have foundations.
Is it more difficult? Yes. Slower? Also. But in an ecosystem where everything is accelerated and copied, perhaps the only genuine differentiator is what doesn’t change when no one is looking.
There, on that invisible line where it is decided whether doing the right thing is optional or essential, the future of business leadership is at stake. Not for philosophical reasons, but because there is no longer room to improvise principles when the only thing that cannot be outsourced is trust.
About the author:
* Eduardo Navarrete is a specialist in Futures Studies, journalist, photographer and Head of Content in UX Marketing.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eduardo-navarrete
Mail: (email protected)
Instagram: @elnavarrete
The opinions expressed are solely the responsibility of their authors and are completely independent of the position and editorial line of Forbes Mexico.
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