Office workers of the world unite: it’s time to revive the three-martini lunch | Andrea Javor

The three-martini lunch allowed us to mix business and pleasure, a phenomenon that is missing during the AI boom

As a 46-year-old executive who now has both people and AI agents reporting to me on the org chart, I think corporate America needs to revive a much-mocked relic of mid-century American business life: the three-martini lunch.

In 1978, Gerald Ford called the ritual “the epitome of American efficiency”, asking: “Where else can you get an earful, a bellyful and a snootful at the same time?” He meant it as a joke, but in 2026, I think it should be our strategic plan.