The Trust Deficit: Why Scaling Trust is Harder Than Scaling Tech

Lately, I’ve been grappling with a thought, a trend really, that extends far beyond the walls of our colorful campuses. It’s about trust. Or rather, the growing lack of it in the very systems and technologies we’re building at breakneck speed. We’re amazing at scaling technology, but scaling trust? That’s a whole different ball game.

The last few years, maybe even the last decade, have been a period of unprecedented technological advancement. We’ve seen breakthroughs in AI, an explosion of the cloud, the rise of the metaverse (still early, I know), and the ubiquity of mobile technology. We are surrounded by tech, in a state of tech adoption saturation. Each innovation promises to revolutionize our lives, to make things easier, faster, better. And to a large extent, they do. But amidst this relentless march forward, I believe we’ve been neglecting a fundamental ingredient: trust.

The Erosion of the Implicit

Think back to the early days of the internet. It was the Wild West, sure, but there was a certain naivety, an implicit trust in the information and connections we found online. We trusted strangers in chat rooms, we believed the claims on websites, and we generally assumed good intentions. That’s not to say there weren’t bad actors – there always have been. But the scale was smaller, the reach limited.

Now? The internet is a sprawling metropolis, a vast and complex ecosystem where good and bad actors intermingle, often indistinguishable from one another. We’ve seen the rise of misinformation, the proliferation of deepfakes, the weaponization of social media, and the erosion of privacy. Each of these events, each breach of security, each manipulative algorithm chips away at the foundation of trust we once took for granted.

Scaling Tech vs. Scaling Trust: The Disconnect

As product leaders, we’re obsessed with scaling. It’s in our DNA. We build products and services designed to reach millions, billions even. We have sophisticated systems and processes for scaling infrastructure, scaling teams, scaling features. But what about scaling trust?

Here’s the rub: scaling technology is fundamentally different from scaling trust. Technology scales linearly, often exponentially. We add more servers, optimize code, and voila, our product can handle more users, more data, more complexity. Trust, however, doesn’t follow the same neat curve.

Trust is built on human relationships, on consistent positive experiences, on transparency and accountability. It’s earned, not manufactured. And it’s incredibly fragile. One misstep, one breach of confidence, and years of carefully cultivated trust can evaporate in an instant. I feel we have seen many recent examples of this in the world of tech. And these examples cut deep. Each day, it feels we read about another such instance where we are let down, our expectations dashed against the jagged rocks of reality, and once again another person becomes a little bit more cynical and distrustful. It’s exhausting.

The Consequences of a Trust Deficit

The consequences of this “trust deficit” are far-reaching and profound. When users don’t trust the platforms they use, they disengage. They become skeptical of information, they’re wary of new technologies, and they’re less likely to adopt the very products and services we’re pouring our hearts and souls into building.

This lack of trust also has societal implications. It fuels polarization, erodes faith in institutions, and creates an environment of fear and uncertainty. In a world where trust is scarce, it’s harder to build consensus, to collaborate, and to solve complex problems. This is as big an issue in the world of business, as it is outside of it.

So, What Can We Do? Building Trust in a Scaled World

The question then becomes, how do we, as product leaders, as builders of the future, address this trust deficit? How do we scale trust alongside technology? There are no easy answers, but here are a few principles I believe are essential:

1. Radical Transparency: We need to move beyond superficial transparency and embrace a more radical approach. This means being open about our data practices, our algorithms, our business models. It means acknowledging mistakes and being upfront about the limitations of our technologies. And perhaps most importantly: it means owning up, and admitting we were wrong. Taking ownership, apologizing, making amends. And I feel that this is becoming increasingly rare.
2. User-Centricity Beyond the Buzzword: User-centricity is more than just a design principle; it’s a philosophy. It means putting the user’s needs, their safety, and their privacy at the forefront of every decision we make. It means empowering users with control over their data and their experience. It’s more than a marketing tagline. It needs to mean something. It needs to be embedded in a product organization’s culture and principles.
3. Security as a Foundational Element: Security can no longer be an afterthought, a bolt-on feature. It needs to be baked into the very fabric of our products and services. This means investing in robust security infrastructure, implementing rigorous security protocols, and constantly adapting to emerging threats. It means thinking like our users and understanding their priorities - they care about security and they need to feel safe using our products.
4. Ethical AI and Algorithmic Accountability: As AI becomes increasingly pervasive, we need to ensure that it’s developed and deployed ethically. This means addressing issues of bias, fairness, and transparency in algorithms. It means establishing clear lines of accountability for the decisions made by AI systems. It feels to me that this is the next big problem we need to solve for, but it’s also an amazing and unprecedented opportunity: To design our products and scale them, prioritizing ethical AI, right from the beginning.
5. Building for the Long Term: Scaling trust is a marathon, not a sprint. It requires a long-term commitment to building relationships with users, to fostering a culture of trust within our organizations, and to engaging in ongoing dialogue with the broader community. The short-termism that permeates our industry is a serious problem. Leaders come and go. Teams are incentivized for short-term growth, for fleeting engagement metrics. But genuine, durable growth is predicated on sustained trust. This kind of trust is nurtured, it requires consistent investment and unwavering focus.

A Call to Action: The Responsibility is Ours

The future of technology is not just about faster processors or sleeker interfaces. It’s about building a digital world that is worthy of our trust. As product leaders, as innovators, as citizens of this increasingly interconnected world, we have a responsibility to ensure that technology serves humanity, not the other way around.

We have the opportunity to shape not just the products we build, but the very fabric of society. Let’s choose to build a future where trust is not an afterthought, but a foundational principle. Let’s commit to scaling trust with the same passion, the same ingenuity, and the same determination that we bring to scaling technology.

This is not just a challenge for product teams, or for tech companies. It’s a challenge for all of us. It’s a call to action to be more mindful, more discerning, and more demanding of the technologies we use and the companies that build them.

Let’s start a conversation. Let’s challenge the status quo. Let’s build a future we can all trust. What do you all think? What did I miss? Let me know in the comments.