• After going on over 20 cruises in the last 10 years, I've picked up some unconventional tips.
• A roll of duct tape is easy enough to pack and comes in handy for small emergencies.
• I also like to book spa appointments on port days because they're sometimes cheaper.

I've been on over 20 cruises in the last 10 years, and always have another one on the horizon.

Over the years, I've accumulated an array of helpful travel tips, but my favorite hacks go beyond the usual advice like downloading the cruise line's app and packing a lanyard.

Here are five unconventional cruise tips I swear by that make life on board easier, more comfortable, and more cost-effective. 

I always pack a roll of duct tape, which can fix almost everything.

I always add duct tape to my list of things to pack because it's easy to bring and comes in handy for small emergencies.

For example, I've used it to repair a broken suitcase in a pinch or to bind flip-flops back together long enough to limp to the gift shop to buy a replacement pair.

On one recent cruise, I even used it to cover the motion sensor on the light in our room, which turned on automatically whenever someone walked between the bed and the bathroom.

Though a motion-sensor hall light was convenient in theory, we didn't want to wake each other up if we got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. We just made sure to remove the tape before we left.

For an elevated shower experience, I like to visit the gym.

In my experience, cruise ship bathrooms are designed to be efficient, not spacious. The small shower gets the job done, but it's definitely cramped, especially if you're a bigger person.

I've found that the showers in the gym are almost always larger and sometimes have additional bathroom amenities, such as mouthwash and elevated bath towels.

Doing laundry on board makes packing for longer cruises much easier.

There's usually a laundry or ironing room tucked away on deck for guests. I always make use of these rooms, as washing clothes mid-trip is a great way to minimize how much I need to pack.

Cruise cabins are small, and storage space is limited, so doing laundry on board is the perfect solution.

Plus, I've found these rooms are a surprisingly good place to meet interesting people.

I like to book spa appointments on port days.

Port days are often quieter on the ship because most passengers are ashore exploring.

If I'm not excited about a particular stop or I've visited it before, I consider staying on board and going to the spa instead.

On sea days, it can be tough to book a facial or massage, but on port days, I've found the schedule tends to be much more open. There are often money-saving specials, too, and the relaxation rooms feel so much more peaceful.

I don't think a balcony room is necessary.

In my opinion, a room with a balcony isn't essential unless you're on an Alaskan cruise, where being able to take in the scenery is important.

On my first cruise, a travel agent told me I "had" to book a room with a balcony, and that once I did, I'd never be able to cruise in an interior cabin again. However, I don't think that's true.

I love a luxe stateroom as much as the next person, but I've had just as much fun on cruises where we've booked the cheapest cabin without any windows.

• Gen Z loves old-school finance while older investors want the new, Robinhood's CEO says.
• Younger investors are opening retirement accounts, CEO Vlad Tenev says.
• Robinhood aims to serve both Gen Z savers and older investors drawn to innovation, he says.

When Robinhood launched its app in 2015 with a commission-free trading platform, it positioned itself as the anti-Wall Street offering for a generation skeptical of big banks and old-school brokers.

But in a recent interview on Jack Altman's "Uncapped" podcast, CEO Vlad Tenev said a surprising cultural reversal is now underway: Gen Z is embracing financial traditions their parents ignored, while older investors are chasing the new and shiny.

"Now I think Gen Z and Gen Alpha, there's almost this opposite thing happening where the old big storied incumbents are kind of cool again," Tenev said. "There's a broader trend of things that are old and kind of, you know, maybe that your grandparents would use, being cool again."

He pointed to the resurgence of older technologies as examples of that shift.

"Gen Zs are really into buying vinyl, and cassette tapes are selling again," he said. "My daughter asked me if she could have a Walkman."

That same nostalgia, Tenev added, is showing up in Gen Z's personal finance.

"I think the same way, financially, people are like — the younger generation is interested in retirement," he said. "Now Gen Zs are opening retirement accounts at 19 years old."

Generations swap playbooks

For Tenev, that early financial seriousness reflects a new mindset. Gen Z wants control, stability, and legitimacy — values that once made Vanguard and Fidelity household names.

The irony, he said, is that older investors now crave what Robinhood offers: a sense of innovation and ease.

"You would think with older customers, we would emphasize how stable and how long we've been around and all these things, but actually that resonates very strongly with young people — and older people want to be that you can be plugged into the cool new thing. It's innovative, easy to use, we have all these features."

That generational flip is forcing Robinhood to rethink how it presents itself.

The company built its brand on disruption — free trades, crypto, meme stocks — but it's now trying to appeal across age groups without getting "stuck in a generation," as Tenev put it.

"E-Trade was very popular with Gen X — it became a Gen X broker," he said. "Schwab's average customer is in their 60s or 70s now, so it's very much the broker of the boomer generation."

Robinhood, he added, is trying to break that pattern.

"What we try very hard to do is always pay attention to the next generation while also moving up market in the sense of being able to serve older customers."

• A battery caught fire while passengers were boarding an SAS flight, with 8 people sent to the hospital.
• Airlines have been tightening their rules on power banks since a large fire earlier this year.
• Some flights have been diverted due to the safety risk posed by devices that go missing on board.

Airlines are becoming increasingly vigilant about batteries — and a recent fire on a flight in Norway is a stark reminder of why.

Eight people were taken to the hospital after a battery caught fire in someone's hand luggage, according to Norway's Accident Investigation Board.

Passengers were still boarding a Scandinavian Airlines plane that was about to embark on a flight from the Norwegian capital, Oslo, to Bergen, less than an hour west.

The incident occurred on October 14 but came to light on Tuesday when Norwegian officials announced their investigation.

About 50 people had boarded SAS Flight 295 when smoke was seen coming from a suitcase.

The cabin was evacuated while the pilots put on oxygen masks and the flight attendants wore smoke hoods.

Cabin crew members tried to extinguish the fire, but it flared up again. The suitcase was taken out of the plane, where the fire service put out the fire.

The ambulance service was called, and eight people were taken to the hospital for observation after they were believed to have inhaled toxic fumes. They were all discharged within 48 hours, Norwegian investigators said.

SAS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

How are airlines cracking down on power banks?

The safety risks posed by lithium-battery devices have grown more apparent this year, with many airlines tightening power bank rules and some flights being forced to divert.

Power banks, phones, and laptops are all powered by lithium batteries — but the former are more susceptible to damage or overcharging. This can result in thermal runaway, which leads to a rapid temperature increase and, in some instances, fire.

Back in January, 27 people were injured when an Air Busan flight caught fire on the ground at South Korea's Busan Airport.

The plane was written off, and investigators pointed to a power bank as the source of the fire. Then, the South Korean government banned passengers from charging power banks on planes.

Airlines around the world have followed suit with similar rules, including Emirates and Southwest Airlines.

In June, the day after its new rules took effect, a Southwest flight diverted as a battery charger started smoking.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a safety alert in September, recommending airlines ensure that passengers keep lithium-battery devices visible and accessible.

It has recorded over 60 incidents involving lithium batteries since the start of the year.

Sometimes, the mere risk of a fire has prompted pilots to turn planes around.

Last month, a United Airlines flight U-turned over the Atlantic Ocean after a passenger dropped their laptop down the side of their seat, and it fell into the cargo hold.

That meant those on board wouldn't know if it had caught fire until it was too late. It's the same reason you're not allowed to pack electronic devices in checked luggage.

"We don't know the status of it, we can't access it, we can't see it," one of the pilots told air traffic control during the incident. "So our decision is to return to [Washington] Dulles and find this laptop before we can continue over the ocean."

A similar incident occurred just five weeks later, when another United passenger dropped a laptop during a flight from London to Washington, D.C.

"Maintenance crews retrieved the laptop, inspected the aircraft, and the flight later departed for Washington Dulles," an airline spokesperson said.

• Employees around the world are feeling busier than ever at work, according to a major EY survey.
• 64% of employees believe their workload has increased in the last twelve months, the survey found.
• A top EY exec told BI that AI is creating "pressure, uncertainty, and fear of falling behind."

If you're feeling like your workload has increased in 2025, you're not the only one.

A new EY survey of 15,000 workers found that nearly two-thirds of employees believe their workload has increased in the last 12 months.

AI isn't directly to blame, but, as with most workplace trends today, it's a big part of the story.

"Our research doesn't show that AI is actually increasing workloads," Kim Billeter, EY's global people consulting leader, told Business Insider.

Instead, broader anxieties about AI in the workplace — including fears of skill erosion, a lack of training, and uncertainty over how technology will affect roles — were adding to a sense of pressure to perform, she said.

"That mix of pressure, uncertainty, and fear of falling behind has left many feeling stretched thin," said Billeter.

Training is a particular sticking point, she added, given that employees are often expected to develop new skill sets while continuing to deliver on their existing responsibilities.

EY's findings were reported in the latest edition of the Big Four firm's Work Reimagined Survey, an annual report exploring the changing workplace, published earlier in November. The report is based on responses from 15,000 employees and 1,500 employers across 29 countries.

Perception is not a wholly accurate measure of reality, but employee workloads could be rising globally, Billeter told Business Insider.

"Economic pressures will likely be driving a 'do more with less' mindset, meaning fewer people are handling more tasks. Role complexity is growing as organizations shift to skill-based models, requiring employees to learn continuously while managing existing responsibilities," she said.

On the AI front, poor integration and limited training may create temporary spikes in workload, she said.

As Business Insider recently reported, many US workers have been voicing frustration over the growing flood of AI-generated junk cluttering their workflows — dubbed workslop. AI workslop may look well-organized, informative, and professional, but lacks substance, leaving whoever receives it with more work sifting through the 'slop.'

The 'productivity paradox'

Just because people are using AI doesn't make them more productive, a disconnect known as the "productivity paradox."

EY's survey found that 88% of respondents use AI at work; however, most of their usage is limited to basic applications, such as search and document summarization. These may save a few hours here and there, but won't change how work gets done or how the business performs, EY said.

Only 5% of respondents qualified as advanced users who blend multiple tools and extract far more value from AI by using it as a thought partner rather than a simple tool.

Overall, EY found that companies are missing out on 40% of the AI productivity gains they could achieve with the right strategy.

Addressing workload challenges and balancing the productivity paradox requires focusing on the human side of AI adoption, said Billeter.

Gaining an AI advantage is "inextricably connected" to the talent foundation, she said.

EY has identified five key areas, termed the "Talent Advantage," that it says businesses should combine with their investment in AI tools: AI adoption excellence, learning, talent health, organizational culture, and reward structures.

"Simply investing in technology is not enough. The AI era demands the ability to build strong human foundations and advanced technology in a synchronized and integrated fashion to unlock meaningful transformation in the workforce," said Billeter.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at pthompson@businessinsider.com or Signal at Polly_Thompson.89. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Bobbi Brown reflected on her emotional exit from her namesake beauty brand at Estée Lauder.
• She described feeling angry after leaving the company she built from the ground up.
• Brown found new purpose by exploring wellness, dance, and eventually launching a clean beauty brand.

Bobbi Brown built a billion-dollar beauty brand only to find herself feeling pushed out of it in 2016.

Though she is one of the beauty industry's most influential founders, she coped after exiting Estée Lauder in the same way many would after leaving a job.

"My neighbors came over and I drank tequila with them," said Brown at The Wall Street Journal's CMO Council Summit on Wednesday.

Brown, who recently published her memoir, "Still Bobbi," said she considers herself fired from the beauty conglomerate, even though it never officially terminated her.

Roughly two decades after the corporation acquired her makeup brand, her work contract was canceled, and she was given a new role without involvement in daily operations, Brown said in a recent "Master of Scale" podcast episode.

"My new position was to be the face of the brand, but get out of the day-to-day," Brown said on the podcast.

Estée Lauder didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

When she left the company, Brown still had four years remaining on a 25-year non-compete contract that prevented her from being associated with another makeup company — but at 59, she wasn't quite ready for early retirement.

"I don't have girls waiting for me at the tennis courts, or a book group," Brown said on the podcast, adding that her kids were also out of the house by that point.

Rediscovering herself

Brown said on the podcast that she no longer feels "tortured" by her departure, but at the time, she was angry and hurt. She said at the WSJ CMO Council Summit that her former employees, many of whom she had hired, were given orders not to contact her.

After meeting with Estée Lauder's legal team that day in 2016 and deciding to leave, Brown said on the podcast that she called her husband, a real-estate developer, who met her in the city.

He told her he was glad she'd left — he'd been waiting a long time to "get a little bit" of her, she said. Then he suggested they turn a historic building he had just bought into a hotel, Brown said. They eventually went on to do just that, creating The George, in Montclair, New Jersey.

In the days following her exit, the makeup founder began to figure out how she wanted to move forward.

"The third day, I started just going to the city and meeting people for breakfast and lunches, because I never had time for that," Brown said at the WSJ CMO Council Summit.

Brown kept herself busy, taking on hobbies like hip-hop dancing, and building a TikTok presence.

"I love to dance," Brown said. "Any wedding or Bar Mitzvah, I don't leave the floor."

She soon started to take on new projects. Richard Baker, who was owned Lord & Taylor at the time, reached out to Brown and suggested that she create a curated shop called the Just Bobbi Shops. In 2019, MasterClass asked her to lead its first-ever makeup course. She also earned a health-coach certification, focused on her own wellness, and published a book called "Beauty from the Inside Out."

"It just hit me: I wasn't done," Brown said on the podcast. "I had more things to teach, and the world had changed. I had changed since I left the company."

Brown said she wanted to launch a new business before her non-compete agreement ended, but her husband wouldn't let her. So she counted down the days, even purchasing a charm with the date the agreement was set to expire — October 2020.

That exact month, she launched Jones Road Beauty, a makeup brand focused on creating "no-makeup makeup" looks with clean formulas.

• Starbucks shared with Business Insider what its holiday drink menu looks like around the world.
• The holiday season is a key driver of foot traffic and global sales for the coffee giant.
• This year, it's also a test of the brand's ongoing turnaround effort, analysts told Business Insider.

For Starbucks, its rotating menus of festive flavors are a carefully crafted global strategy to define what the holidays taste like.

Each November, the world's largest coffee chain rolls out limited-time menu offerings designed to spark both joy and revenue — from Latin America's Hazelnut Caramel Latte to gingerbread classics featured across the Asia Pacific region.

Underneath the whipped cream this year is a clue to how the brand's turnaround effort is going, analysts told Business Insider.

Starbucks shared with Business Insider what its 2025 holiday drink menu looks like around the world, featuring 12 regional drinks meticulously curated to ring in the new year.

"Starbucks' holiday menu is designed to reflect the traditions and preferences of the communities we serve around the world," Brady Brewer, chief executive of Starbucks International, said in a statement about the holiday launch. "By localizing our menu, we celebrate our customers' tastes with global holiday traditions reimagined with a local twist."

Global holiday flavors, reimagined

In Tokyo, the holidays this year taste like creamy milk tea poured over strawberry pulp. In Havana, they come steeped in hazelnut, cranberry, and cinnamon. And in London, red cups are brimming with matcha and red velvet.

In addition to holiday staples like the Peppermint Mocha and Gingerbread Latte, this year, Starbucks debuted its Hazelnut Praline Mille-Feuille Oatmilk Latte in the Asia Pacific region, along with an Iced Sugar Cookie Matcha Latte in Canada, and a Strawberry & Joyful Medley Tea in Japan and Thailand.

The 2025 seasonal menu also includes:

• New Toffee Nut Cream Matcha Lattes and Gingerbread Matcha Lattes in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa
• The return of Caramel Brulée Lattes in the US, Canada, and their debut in Latin America and the Caribbean
• The return of Cranberry White Mocha, Hazelnut Caramel Latte, and Holiday Cinnamon Latte in Latin America and the Caribbean
• A Toffee Nut Cheesecake in China, and a Pistachio Chocolate Mille-Crepe in Taiwan

The seasonal drinks, which launched on November 6, aren't just a festive tradition; they're a key driver of sales for Starbucks.

Foot traffic data from Placer.ai shows that, on November 13th's Red Cup Day, visits to US Starbucks locations spiked 44.5% above the year-to-date daily average. The Red Cup Day, during which customers receive a free reusable holiday cup with their purchase, reached a higher traffic peak than that seen on November 6, when the company launched its Bearista collectible cup.

CEO Brian Niccol previously described November 6 as the official start of the company's holiday season, as Starbucks' biggest sales day ever in North America.

A key season in Starbucks' broader turnaround

"Holiday is really important to Starbucks' business; seasonally, it's an important quarter," Sara Senatore, managing director of global equity research and senior analyst covering restaurants at Bank of America, told Business Insider. "Starbucks is intrinsically kind of part of American holidays."

Michael Della Penna, chief strategy officer at the digital advertising research firm InMarket, framed Starbucks' holiday rollout as a multi-layered strategy: one that builds its global brand identity, satisfies local tastes through its regional offerings, and captures multiple forms of consumer spending — from beverages to merchandise to gift cards.

In prior years, Starbucks gift cards have been so ubiquitous that as many as one in seven Americans received them as a gift during the holiday season. Last holiday season, Starbucks' Q1 earnings report revealed that its US gift card sales reached $3.5 billion, maintaining its position as the #2 brand in the US by gift card sales.

In Della Penna's view, the holiday season exemplifies how personalization options and seasonal momentum can converge for Starbucks to "own the moment" globally.

"The holiday season at Starbucks is part of the zeitgeist, and really, really embedded into our annual rituals, in many respects," Della Penna said. "There's something for everyone on a global basis, which makes this much bigger than a domestic promotion."

Innovation beyond the holidays

While Starbucks has successfully embedded itself in seasonal rituals, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, president of the strategic design agency, Shikatani Lacroix Design, told Business Insider the next phase of the company's continued "Back to Starbucks" effort will have to be about rediscovering — but not repeating — its roots, in order to keep customers interested.

"Where they were no longer exists," Lacroix said. "They need to reinvent themselves, not just go back."

Experimenting with new regional flavors is a good start, and the holiday season presents the perfect opportunity to do so while remaining culturally relevant, Lacroix said.

This year's holiday marks the first one that will carry the full weight of Niccol's influence since he became CEO last September, and the peak season presents a major test of his leadership and innovation strategy as part of his broader turnaround plan, Senatore said. It will also stress-test Starbucks' Green Apron Service model, which was introduced this year with the specific goal of improving service.

The first innovation that debuted entirely under Niccol's purview was the September rollout of its protein milks and cold foams. In October's earnings report, Starbucks said that the new protein offerings were behind a 1% rise in its fourth-quarter comparable sales — the first time in seven quarters that the coffee chain has reported an increase.

"Now, the innovation flywheel, if you will, is starting to spin faster," Senatore said. "I think there's certainly an expectation that we'll continue to see that trajectory: more consistent innovation, better marketing, and all of those components of better operations coming together."

• VC partner Shaun Maguire outlined key traits that help people succeed at an Elon Musk company.
• He also named another tech CEO who has a lot in common with Musk.
• Maguire has led investments in several Musk companies, including SpaceX.

If you want to succeed at one of Elon Musk's companies, you might try listening to Shaun Maguire.

As a partner at Sequoia Capital, Maguire has led investments in several of Musk's companies, including The Boring Company, xAI, and SpaceX. He said that three key traits help people excel at Musk's businesses on an episode of "Relentless," which aired on November 17.

Anyone who works for Musk can volunteer to take on a task, said Maguire, who The Information has dubbed the "Musk Whisperer." Continuously raising your hand and delivering will help you move up.

"Being extremely competent and being willing to bet on your own competence, and always delivering," Maguire said on the podcast. "And knowing your limit."

It's OK, he said, to admit when you can't do something, or when someone else might be better for the task.

"The next thing is very, very quickly learning that you need to go five levels deep," Maguire said. "You need to be able to handle five levels of questions or so in anything."

Lastly, Maguire said that loyalty is crucial — but that doesn't mean "blind loyalty." Instead, he said it's about trusting the system and that Musk "sees things other people don't see."

Though Maguire said Musk as an individual is hugely impressive, he added that part of the billionaire's strength lies in "Elon the collective." He didn't name the group, but said it includes around 20 people who have worked for Musk for years and built tremendous trust.

"They can almost read his mind, and they know what he would want to have done in some situation," Maguire said of the group.

Beyond that inner circle, Maguire said Musk looks for certain traits in capital investors: being willing to work hard, not letting information slip, and being there through good and bad.

"Most investors are leaky," Maguire said. "This is a very low bar, but just not leaking things."

Musk is famous for his work ethic and warned Tesla engineers last year that they might have to sleep on the manufacturing line at the Texas factory.

In turn, Maguire said Musk is good at attracting investors through marquee events, like when Optimus robots took center stage at an event last year.

For all that sets him apart, Maguire said Musk has "a lot in common" with another tech leader: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Maguire said that he bought Nvidia stock in 1999 as a 13-year-old, but "underestimated" Huang at first.

"He's really pushed his advantage in an incredible way, and he's been so aggressive," Maguire said. The podcast aired just one day before Nvidia reported blowout earnings.

Maguire came under fire earlier this year for comments he made calling New York City mayoral elect Zohran Mamdani an "Islamist." Musk was among those who came to Maguire's defense as other tech leaders criticized him.

• Western soldiers are using Xbox controllers to fly interceptor drones.
• The drones, part of the Merops system, have been used in Ukraine and are now being deployed by NATO.
• A US soldier training on Merops said the Xbox controller makes it easy to work the system.

NOWA DĘBA, Poland — Western soldiers are using off-the-shelf Xbox controllers to pilot $15,000 interceptor drones that are combat-proven in Ukraine and now part of NATO's toolbox for battling a growing threat.

The Merops system, an American-made air-defense setup that comes with an Xbox controller for the operators, launches interceptor drones capable of destroying enemy drone threats midair. US, Polish, and Romanian troops have been training on it as NATO rushes to field affordable air defenses across Eastern Europe.

A US soldier who pilots the interceptors told Business Insider that the Xbox controller is an ideal choice.

"It's compact and easy to pack and store, and Xbox controllers are very rugged," Army Sgt. Riley Hiner said on the sidelines of a Merops demonstration in southeast Poland this week.

'Very intuitive'

The US and other global militaries have long used Xbox-style controllers to support operations, including those involving drones. The practice has expanded to the war in Ukraine and is now being applied to the Merops system.

Controllers akin to those of Microsoft's Xbox or other video game systems have been increasingly integrated into military systems. The controls are often easier for soldiers who grew up playing with something similar to operate. They adapt right away, something that might not happen with an overly engineered system built to meet specialized military specifications.

Microsoft didn't respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the use of its gamepad in a military system.

Hiner said that he has experience playing video games on Xbox and believes that being a gamer can translate into being a good pilot. With the Merops system, there's already a level of familiarity with the controls.

"I feel like a lot of soldiers nowadays do play Xbox," he said. "It's very intuitive. Once you learn the scheme of the controls, you just send them out, and you can fly."

Other American soldiers, as well as Ukrainian operators, have said gamers make good drone pilots, and Hiner agreed, saying that troops with experience playing video games tend to have few problems handling the Merops system. The biggest challenge is just figuring out the best course for interception.

The first-person-view (FPV) drones that dominate the battlefield in Ukraine tend to require similar equipment to video games — controllers, screens, and headsets — but Ukrainian operators have stressed that the real missions are far more complicated with serious consequences. It's often life or death.

For the Merops system, it's a similar situation. A failed intercept means the target threat is likely to fly on to find its mark, potentially delivering death and destruction, as many Shahed-type drones in Ukraine have done.

Merops, developed by the American initiative Project Eagle, consists of a ground control station, launch platforms that are capable of firing from the bed of a pickup truck, and the "Surveyor" interceptor drone. It is operated by a team of four, including a commander, a pilot, and two technicians.

Ready in weeks, not months or years

Merops has been used extensively by Ukraine to intercept Russian strike and reconnaissance drones; US military officials said Kyiv has logged over 1,000 kills of the Shahed-type one-way attack drones Russia uses to bombard Ukrainian cities.

Now, NATO forces are training on the Merops system after Poland and Romania decided to purchase and deploy it to defend their airspace following a string of Russian drone incursions. The US is involved with the training program but has not procured the technology.

Merops, like other interceptor drone systems, comes delivered to the buyer with the necessary Xbox controller, the same exact system someone somewhere is using to play Call of Duty. If it breaks, soldiers can just purchase another off the shelf; they sell for as little as $30 on Amazon.

Soldiers training on the Merops system undergo a two-week course, a significantly expedited commitment compared to what's required for other weapons. Part of the process involves simulated operations and drawing from lessons learned in Ukraine.

US Army Brig. Gen. Curtis King, the head of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, described Merops as a user-friendly system and said some of the NATO soldiers involved in training have never flown a drone before.

"Within days, they're able to figure out how to operate the capability," King said on the sidelines of this week's technology demonstration. Within two weeks, soldiers will be able to "demonstrate how to effectively kill a drone. So this doesn't take six months, it doesn't take a year."

• Goldman Sachs says that trillions of private wealth assets are eager to invest in hedge funds.
• Hedge funds long favored pensions and endowments over private wealth.
• With institutions tied up in illiquid private funds, the wealthy could be hedge funds' new fundraising focus.

The $5 trillion hedge fund industry is backed by some of the biggest pools of money in the world — pensions, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds.

But those big-name institutions are facing a cash crunch thanks to capital tied up in illiquid private equity and venture funds. For hedge funds looking to grow, there are trillions of dollars outside the institutions wanting in on the action, according to Goldman Sachs.

Private wealth — which refers to money held on platforms run by the private banking divisions of places like Goldman as well as wealth advice giants like Merrill Lynch, independent advisors, and family offices — is eager to invest in hedge funds and has plenty of capital to put to work.

Goldman's report estimates that less than $500 billion of the $50.7 trillion of private wealth assets are in hedge funds. If this segment of capital followed the recommendation of chief investment officers from these platforms and family offices for hedge fund exposure, there would be more than $4 trillion in hedge fund investments — close to the industry's total assets.

"Even closing 10% of this gap would double the current assets" that private wealth has in hedge funds, Goldman's report states.

There have been big-name managers that have already tapped this space. Millennium has sold LP stakes in its flagship fund via private bank advisors and offered a piece of its business to wealthy clients of banks like Goldman, Morgan Stanley, and UBS. Jain Global tapped the private wealth channel for capital before launching in mid-2024. Coatue and Tiger Global count platforms like JPMorgan's private bank as investors.

The channel is hungriest for more hedge fund exposure, according to Goldman's report. A survey done by the bank's capital introduction team found that 68% of private bank advisors and RIAs wanted to increase their hedge fund bets this year, while only 4% intended to cut them. Meanwhile, only 31% of pension and insurance investors wanted to put more into hedge funds. For endowments, foundations, and sovereign wealth funds, it was even worse — 30% wanted to increase hedge fund exposure while 14% wanted less.

Hedge funds thrive in chaos

For years, private wealth managers shunned hedge funds, which were perceived to have high fees and middling performance.

But choppy markets and higher interest rates since the pandemic have led to an "improved image" of the industry in the eyes of the rich and their advisors, Goldman's report states.

It helps that firms have made money too: Goldman notes that the average fund has returned 9.4% annually from 2020 through June of 2025, while a 60/40 stocks-bonds portfolio was up only 6.6% annually over the same period.

The question for managers is, where do all these assets go? The industry is as big as it has ever been, and plenty of well-known firms are closed to new capital or returning money to investors to avoid becoming too bloated. Marshall Wace is the latest, according to Bloomberg, with plans to give $3.1 billion back to investors in its two largest funds.

The firms that have become the largest in the industry are the multistrategy behemoths that now have headcounts in the thousands and teams based around the world. These managers, especially those with established track records, such as Millennium, Citadel, and Point72, are often able to raise assets quickly but are constrained by a lack of talent.

Still, for funds seeking capital and willing to hire fundraisers focused on the needs of the private wealth channel, there are trillions of dollars available for the taking.

"The wealth segment offers both a new frontier and a formidable — but surmountable — challenge for managers. Those who invest in understanding the landscape, building the right capabilities, and fostering long-term relationships will be best positioned to capture this wave of growth," Goldman's report reads.

• Deep Shah has been a Google employee since 2018.
• Support from mentors and peers helped him transition from India to the US at Google.
• Having a clear agenda with mentors maximizes learning and growth in tech and AI careers.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Deep Shah, a 30-year-old senior software engineer at Google, based in Mountain View, CA. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Since I joined Google in 2018, it has been amazing to see the impact I've had.

I started at Google Bangalore in India, where I was part of a team using machine learning and AI on Google Maps. After spending a few years there, I moved to the US in 2021 to work at the Google Mountain View location in California.

I've been at Google Mountain View for around four years, and over my career, I've learned that mentors are one of the greatest things to have. Good mentors have changed the way I approach problems and have impacted the engineer I've become.

Older peers became my first mentors

Growing up, I played computer games a lot and wanted to develop my own games. That was the main reason that I chose computer engineering in the first place.

I also learned through conversations with peers older than me, who were already working on their bachelor's. They told me this field involves a lot of logical reasoning and automating machines to do things on my behalf, which was very intriguing.

During my bachelor's, I became involved in competitive computer programming. That helped me get reach-outs from leading tech companies in India, and was one of the main reasons I got my first job.

A friend helped me decide to pursue a role at Google

At my first job out of school, I was part of an AI and machine learning team that helped advertising clients. During that time, I learned a lot of the fundamentals about how AI and machine learning work.

I was there for almost a year and a half, and then I had the opportunity to apply for a position with Google. Fortunately, I also had a friend who worked at Google, so I was able to talk to him and ask whether it would be a good fit for me.

After talking to him, I was convinced that Google could be the right place for me. I went through a standard Big Tech interview process, and then I landed my job at Google.

My network helped me transition from India to the US

Moving to the US was a big transition, but I wanted to be involved in improving the way users use Google search. The team working on that project was based in Mountain View, and my skill set was a very good match, so I decided to relocate here in 2021.

Google India has a culture very similar to that of Google US, making for a smooth transition. Outside work, I needed to get used to a lot of different things. Searching for housing is very different here, and so is setting up healthcare. I also had to get a car.

However, I had a couple of more senior peers and friends here who were able to guide me through these transitional things, which I was very thankful for.

Mentorship can determine what kind of engineer you are

I've been fortunate to have had a lot of great mentors throughout my career, as well as in my undergrad, who actually supported me and gave me good ideas.

College students should try to be involved with a professor or someone who can give them exposure to any machine learning or AI problems that they're excited about, no matter how small or large.

You can always start small, but as time passes, more and more things will naturally become attached to a project, and your ownership and confidence with it will evolve. That will also be a great addition to your résumé, demonstrating that you already possess the skills and experience required to succeed in a working environment.

Having a clear agenda with your mentor makes a big difference

My mentors taught me how to navigate organizational dynamics and influence stakeholders — skills that are rarely learned just by doing the core work.

It should be very clear what specific things you'd like to use your mentor for, and I recommend having a proper agenda to go over together. It helps them give you the right advice, and you can have clearer expectations.

Each mentor will teach you different things, and the person doesn't necessarily need to be a professor. They could be an alumnus or someone who's more senior at your college. It doesn't matter how you find them, but they should be someone who you think is a good role model.

Do you have a story to share about mentorship in Big Tech? Contact this reporter, Agnes Applegate, at aapplegate@businessinsider.com.