TLETHE LONELY ENTREPRENEUR

THE DERMER RULE

THE NEW
80/20 RULE

80%AI
20%HUMAN

AI POWERS THE 80%.
HUMANS OWN THE 20%.

Michael Dermer

MICHAEL DERMERFOUNDER, THE LONELY ENTREPRENEUR

01 / THE SHIFT

PARETO PRINCIPLE

THE OLD 80/20 RULE

80% of results
come from 20%
of effort.

The Pareto Principle taught leaders to find the vital few—the small number of inputs that drive most outcomes.

DERMER RULE

THE NEW 80/20 RULE

80% of work should be AI. 20% must be human.

AI is not merely a tool for routine tasks. It can analyze, create, predict, personalize, optimize, coordinate and execute. The advantage comes from redesigning every function around its full capability—and elevating people into the work humans must own.

02 / THE DISTINCTION

NOT 80% OF PEOPLE.

80% OF THE WORK.

The Dermer Rule is not a headcount formula. It is a work-design formula. Let AI bring intelligence, creation, speed, precision and scale to the full operating system. Concentrate human effort where judgment, context, coordination, trust, empathy, taste, ethics, courage, vision and accountability change the outcome.

03 / THE HUMAN 20%

TEN BUSINESS FUNCTIONS. ONE QUESTION.

WHAT MUST
HUMANS OWN?

THE HUMAN 20%:JudgmentContextTeam coordinationTrustEmpathyTasteEthicsCourageVisionAccountability

01

Strategy & Leadership

THE AI 80%Intelligence synthesis, scenario simulation, opportunity modeling, decision support

THE HUMAN 20%

JudgmentContextVisionCourage

Choose what matters, make the tradeoffs and set the intent.

02

Finance

THE AI 80%Dynamic forecasting, capital modeling, anomaly detection, continuous optimization

THE HUMAN 20%

Capital allocationRisk judgmentStakeholder contextAccountability

Decide where to place the company’s bets—and stand behind them.

03

Sales

THE AI 80%Account intelligence, personalization, qualification, forecasting, deal orchestration

THE HUMAN 20%

TrustNegotiationContextHuman connection

Read the room and earn belief when the decision has real stakes.

04

Marketing

THE AI 80%Market sensing, content creation, personalization, experimentation, optimization

THE HUMAN 20%

Point of viewTasteCultural contextReputation judgment

Decide what the company should stand for—and what it should never say.

05

Customer Success

THE AI 80%Predictive guidance, personalized journeys, resolution, health modeling, intervention alerts

THE HUMAN 20%

EmpathyRelationshipException judgmentRecovery

Understand what is really at stake and repair trust when it matters.

06

Operations

THE AI 80%Process orchestration, resource optimization, quality prediction, scheduling, execution

THE HUMAN 20%

Team coordinationException handlingPrioritizationOwnership

Align people and resolve the moments no operating model can fully predict.

07

People & Talent

THE AI 80%Talent intelligence, skills mapping, learning personalization, workforce planning, analysis

THE HUMAN 20%

CoachingConflictCultureHuman potential

See the whole person, create belonging and make the hard people calls.

08

Product & Innovation

THE AI 80%Discovery synthesis, concept generation, simulation, prototyping, continuous testing

THE HUMAN 20%

Problem judgmentCustomer contextTasteVision

Choose the problem, define what good means and decide what deserves to exist.

09

Legal & Risk

THE AI 80%Risk sensing, contract intelligence, issue modeling, compliance monitoring, drafting

THE HUMAN 20%

EthicsRisk appetiteValuesAccountability

Set the boundaries and own the decision no model can be responsible for.

10

Technology, Data & Security

THE AI 80%Architecture support, code generation, threat detection, optimization, autonomous remediation

THE HUMAN 20%

GovernanceSecurity judgmentCross-team coordinationEscalation

Connect technical choices to business reality and protect what cannot be lost.

04 / PUT IT TO WORK

DON’T ASK,
“HOW CAN AI HELP?”

Ask: “Why is a human still doing this?”

  1. List the work.Break every function into its recurring decisions, actions and outputs.
  2. Design the AI 80%.Give AI responsibility for analysis, creation, prediction, personalization, optimization, orchestration and execution.
  3. Define the human 20%.Name the moments that demand judgment, context, coordination, trust, empathy, taste, ethics, courage, vision or accountability.
THE FUTURE IS NOT
AI OR HUMAN.
IT IS KNOWING WHAT
EACH SHOULD OWN.

Michael Dermer

MICHAEL DERMERFounder, The Lonely Entrepreneur
THE DERMER RULE™WE ARE ALL LONELY ENTREPRENEURS. BUT YOU ARE NOT ALONE.