Welcome back to The Sunstone Way!
Monday, we are going to take some time to celebrate the workers who make our country, our world, run.
Random Fact – Monday, Sept. 7, is the latest day of the month for Labor Day to happen. Last Monday was Aug. 31.
Labor Day was created in 1894 as a national holiday. Most of the world celebrates workers on May 1, May Day, but Congress and President Grover Cleveland decided to make the first Monday in September the American holiday.
With all the discussion now about how Artificial Intelligence is threatening jobs, I thought it would be a good time to talk about the value of our amazing workforce – including you!
Tool Versus Competitor
While it might seem like Artificial Intelligence burst onto the scene in 2022 with the release of ChatGPT, but the development of neural networks, Large Language models and “thinking” computers can be traced back to the 1980s. Remember when IBM’s massive Deep Blue computer defeated Chess Grand Master Garry Kasparov in 1997? That was an example of brute force computing, but it captured the public’s imagination with the “machine over mankind” imagery.
It took an army of software engineers and coding experts to build and program the many processors and chips working in tandem – built specifically to play chess – before taking on the Grand Master. Perhaps more importantly, someone – a human someone – had to decide to take on the task in the first place. And the computer programmers used information from other grand masters to put the moves to put into Deep Blue.
Computers, and A.I., have advanced quite a bit since then. In 2017, machine learning leaped forward with the development of a “transformer” architecture and higher-powered microchips, allowing for Large Language Model training on a high volume of data. (https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/large-language-models) That allowed computers to handle unstructured human language at scale, and enabled natural communication with machines.
I believe that the most important part of that last statement is “human.” A human directs the computer’s training, and a human decides what tasks the machine is being prepared to do.
Trust But Verify
I am very impressed with the amount of work AI can help us get done. We are learning more daily about how to use this tool to speed up everything from research to processing requests.
But it takes our team to make sure that the work is done correctly – to direct the AI program, then to check to be sure the results are accurate. At Sunstone, we always begin our projects with in-person interviews, site visits, and our own insights developed from years of personal experience. We value showing up in person, building trust, building community, and leveraging AI to give us insights or to automate routine processes.
Innovation requires creativity – a human quality. Over the centuries, mankind has been able to parlay his or her creativity into more productivity as the tools used have advanced – a tractor can plow more fields than a horse, a computer can do more calculations than an abacus. But in each case, it requires a human to show up in person and to make sure the tool is going in the right direction.
Making It Work
As AI becomes more common in the workplace, I believe it has helped workers become more productive. U.S. nonfarm business labor productivity (output per hour) rose 2.2% in the second quarter of 2026 versus a year earlier. In California, a hotbed of AI technology, labor productivity grew 4.2% from 2024 to 2025. (www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/prin4.pdf)
It is hard to put a dollar figure on the value of a worker. There are so many intangibles when it comes to what a person brings to a job – the sense of community, the concern for quality, the aforementioned creativity. It’s great that we have the high-tech computer tools that we have, but I believe they wouldn’t be more than some circuit boards and microchips sitting on a desk somewhere if the person directing it all wasn’t there.
When we talk about economic development (and we do that a lot!), we talk about job creation, not the computer power we’re generating. America, all civilization for that matter, is built on the back of our labor force – the people who do the work.
Sunstone’s core values – Investment, Entrepreneurship, Community – are human values, workers’ values. We should celebrate the people who do the work every day, but it’s fitting to set aside a special day to acknowledge their importance, as well.
I am deeply grateful for the Sunstone team. They are my friends and family as well as my coworkers.
Each and every one invests their time and talent to make our diverse communities better places. They bring value to our entrepreneurial efforts here, and work outside the office to make their community a better place.
I’m more than happy to celebrate them, and you, this Labor Day. That’s the Sunstone Way!
And remember, always be a Sunstone.
John Keisler
CEO & Managing Partner
Sunstone
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Sunstone Investment Group, headquartered in Southern California, is the holding company for the Sunstone family of entities, including: Sunstone Investment Management Services, responsible for administrative services; Sunstone Advisors, an SEC-registered investment adviser, which oversees Sunstone Venture Partners LLC, a private capital fund manager; Sunstone Cities, a government economic development consulting firm; and Sunstone Community Fund, a charitable organization that supports entrepreneurship. Sunstone is dedicated to enriching lives through investment, entrepreneurship, and community.
The information and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the Sunstone Investment Group and are provided for informational purposes only. This content is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a solicitation, or an offer to buy or sell any security or financial product. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice and should not be relied upon as the basis for any investment decision. Readers are encouraged to consult with their own legal, tax, and financial advisers before making any investment decisions.
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