Open Office, Closed Future
The cartoon mocks corporate tech rhetoric that treats visibility as virtue while using 'openness' branding to cosmetically soften automation-driven disposability. It satirizes leaders who are proudly transparent about process, product, and culture right up until that transparency exposes that employ
A single-panel cartoon set inside an ultra-modern AI startup made almost entirely of glass: glass conference walls, glass whiteboards, glass trophies, and a huge slogan banner reading 'RADICAL TRANSPARENCY.' In the foreground, smiling founders stand on a small launch stage livestreaming the debut of their new workplace-assistant AI, waving at cameras and saying things like 'empowering every employee.' Around them, staff clap and hold branded tote bags. But through the same clear glass and on giant mirrored screens in the background, the AI dashboard is plainly visible generating layoff emails, revoking badges, and auto-updating an org chart where many employees’ boxes are grayed out and their nearby desks are already fading into ghostly wireframe outlines. One applauding worker can see their own name disappearing on the screen while still half-smiling for the company camera. The joke is that everything is visible except any honest acknowledgment of what the transparency is revealing.