Rescuing human dignity from the AI interview | Kevin Sakamoto | TEDxUTA

In this powerful speech, Professor and Product Manager Kevin Sakamoto tackles the rise of AI-driven job interviews and their chilling effect on candidate dignity. Drawing from his experiences in the classroom, Sakamoto explains how algorithmic hiring risks turning the job hunt into a transaction of "burning tokens" rather than building human trust. To combat this era of automated screening, he proposes The Interview Collective, a multidisciplinary, 100% human alliance of students, faculty, and companies designed to bring empathy, transparency, and rehumanization back to the career journey. Dr. Kevin Sakamoto is a scholar practitioner who bridges the gap between e-commerce innovation and academic rigor. With over 15 years of experience building and leading digital product teams at iconic brands including Zappos, Target, lululemon, and Dollar Shave Club, Kevin has spent his career navigating the intersection of technology and human connection. Beyond his corporate leadership, Kevin is an Adjunct Professor at California State University College of Business, teaching capstone undergraduate and MBA classes. As a post-doctoral research fellow at Pepperdine University, Kevin continues to share his research having presented at the 2025 Academy of Management annual conference in Denmark, and the Asian Corporate & Entrepreneur Leaders annual meeting in Arizona. His latest article, The Crisis of Dignity at Work: Dehumanization during Digital Transformation, Societal Upheaval, and Workforce Uncertainty, was published in the Academy of Management Discoveries in December of 2025. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx