A framework by Boyd Cohen, PhD
The corporate ladder is breaking. Meet the Abundance Ladder.
AI is making intelligence cheap, and robots will soon make physical work cheap too. The old climb of degree, entry-level job, mortgage and promotion is failing at the bottom. If that climb hasn't worked for you, the ladder failed, not you. There is a new one, built on ownership instead of permission, and on it you choose your rung.
The two ladders
From the corporate ladder to the Abundance Ladder
The old ladder
Runs on permission and debt
Purpose, if you ever get there
- Borrow against themRewards whoever is closest to cheap credit
- Stack assetsEasiest for those who already have assets
- PromotionFewer middle rungs as AI flattens companies
- MortgageHomes priced out of reach of wages
- MBAAnother credential, another loan
- Entry-level jobThe first rung AI automates
- Degree, financed with debtCredentials open fewer doors; the debt stays
Climb in order, borrow to keep climbing, and stopping partway means you failed.
The Abundance Ladder
Runs on ownership and permissionless leverage
- Massive Transformative PurposeBuild something that changes life for millions
- Earn · SaveIncome from the machine economy; savings no one can debase
- Own · BuildMachines that earn while you sleep; a company run with AI agents
- The ShareA stake in the machines for every citizenCitizen dividendsBasic equityBasic income
Move up or down. Stop on any rung.
Why now
Three shifts are rewriting the rules of getting ahead
Intelligence is getting cheap
The price of a given level of AI capability has been falling about thirteenfold a year. Expertise that took a decade to learn is becoming something anyone can call on.
Source: Epoch AI, “The plunging price of thought,” 2026 (price for a fixed level of capability)Machines are getting bodies
Robots, self-driving vehicles and drones will work around the clock and soon outdo us in strength, speed and dexterity. This is not only about knowledge work.
The old ladder is breaking at the bottom
Employment of workers aged 22 to 25 in the jobs most exposed to AI is already 19% below its expected trend, and homes cost several times more, relative to income, than a few decades ago.
Source: Brynjolfsson, Chandar & Chen, Stanford Digital Economy Lab, August 2026 update (ages 22 to 25)The rungs, from the top
Every rung is a place you can stop and live well
Massive Transformative PurposeFor the few who want it
Build something that changes life for millions. Salim Ismail calls this a Massive Transformative Purpose. Few people will want it, and that is fine. The rungs below are its tools.
Earn · SaveIncome beyond a salary
Earn from what you own and build in the machine economy, not only from your time. Save the surplus in something that holds its value when money loses it, so the gains from falling prices reach you instead of passing you by.
Own · BuildPermissionless leverage
Own machines that earn while you sleep: solar that sells power back to the grid, computing you rent out, one day a self-driving car that works as a robotaxi when you don't need it. Build with a team of AI agents what once took a whole company. No admissions office, hiring manager or loan officer has to say yes.
The ShareA stake for every citizen
It already exists in pieces. Alaska has paid every resident a dividend from its oil fund since 1982, and Norway's fund owns about 1.5% of the world's listed companies on behalf of its people. Next come ideas like universal basic equity and an investment account for every child.
The Floor · Personal PurposeWhat reaches everyone
Cures for diseases that took people we loved, energy cheap enough to change what is possible, a tutor and a doctor in every pocket. For many people the Floor and the Share are enough to reach a Personal Purpose: time for children, grandchildren, community, craft and play, without ever having to work for a living.
You choose your rung.You don't have to be an entrepreneur. The old ladder made you climb before you could afford a purpose. This one puts purpose within reach of the Floor.
You can move.Reach your Personal Purpose and, years later, be seized by an idea that sends you climbing. Or aim high and decide the life you already had was enough.
The rungs are levels, not verdicts.Most people will live somewhere in between: a little more than the Floor, one robotaxi rather than a fleet, more freedom over where they live and how they travel.
Self-assessment · 19 questions · about 6 minutes
Find your rung
Answer for your household as it is today. You'll see where you want to be, where you stand now, and three moves to get there. Your result is worked out in your browser. If you leave the box at the end ticked, an anonymous copy is saved for the live map: your answers, your rung and goal, your Personal Purpose and old-ladder scores, your language and the date. No name, email or IP address. Untick it and nothing leaves your device.
Where do you live?
Where you want to be
The Independent
Earn · Save
Where you stand today
The Builder
Own · Build
Your three moves
See your full profile
Share it
To save the image, press and hold it on a phone, or right-click it on a computer.
Follow the ladder
This is a reflection tool, not financial advice. Nothing here recommends a specific investment.
Where people stand
The live map
Every anonymous result adds to this map: where people stand on the Abundance Ladder today, and where they want to be.
Today vs. goal, by rung
Where people are today Where they want to be
From where people are (rows) to where they want to be (columns)
The book
Abundance Capitalism: From the Corporate Ladder to the Abundance Ladder in the Age of AI
The Abundance Ladder comes from a book in progress by Boyd Cohen. It asks one question: in a world where machines can produce almost everything, and many of us no longer have to work to survive, how can markets deliver abundance to all of us?
Boyd is a six-time founder and the author of four books, including Climate Capitalism and Bitcoin Singularity. He created the Smart Cities Wheel, spent two decades teaching entrepreneurship at business schools in the Americas and Europe, and today builds infrastructure for AI agents that spend money on people's behalf.
Follow the ladder
Boyd posts live results from the map, and a weekly “state of the ladder” with the latest data, on LinkedIn and X.