Thoughts on AI, business automation, and the future of marketing.
Three posts on how intelligence got built, and what that tells you about what to hand a machine.
Everything that feels hard to a person turns out to be easy to build, and everything that feels effortless turns out to be brutally hard. Here is why, and what it tells you about what to hand a machine.
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Reward is a forecast rather than a feeling, and imagination is a cost saving device. Between them they explain most of what is good and most of what is missing in the AI you use every day.
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Today's AI is superb at the newest trick a brain ever learned, and thin on everything underneath it. Once you can see that, you can look at any job and guess how it will go before you hand it over.
ReadQuick thoughts distilled from recent posts.
You could put prices up 10%, lose a third of your clients and still make the same profit. Three tables: the real cost of a discount, the real benefit of a price rise, and how many clients you could afford to lose.
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The thing that changes as you get good with AI isn't how clever you get. It's how far you let it run without checking every word. That's trust, and it's the whole arc.
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Building the tools that help you work is trivial now, so the build stops being the moat. Five things still matter, and they all start with D.
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The future isn't a date on the horizon. It already arrived, in the overlap of business, marketing and AI. What I see from where I'm standing.
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AI that makes you more of what you already are. An extra human on your team. And time to focus on the extra-human stuff.
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The tasks change but the purpose never does. That's been true for a century of advertising.
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Speaking is 4x faster than typing. But speed isn't even the main benefit.
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AI doesn't guess anymore. It writes code, runs calculations, and computes real answers.
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Terrible delegation habits? Perfect training for the age of AI.
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Don't ask AI why it made a mistake. Ask which file to change so it never happens again.
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Don't treat AI like an oracle. Treat it like a slot machine. Change the input, pull again.
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The hardest thing isn't building anymore. It's stopping.
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Code is deterministic but can't reason. AI reasons but forgets your preferences. Skills give you both.
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Two ways to use skills - in Claude AI directly, or in the 8020brain. Both work. One is dramatically more powerful.
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What data can you safely put into AI tools? The answer isn't complicated. But it needs to be deliberate.
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Your expertise is the most valuable thing you have. Stop leaving it locked in your head.
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Soft skills are delegation skills. And delegation is how you leverage a team of fifty waiting to work for you virtually for free.
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You don't need 2,000 AI concepts. You need 30-40 Lego bricks. Put them together and you build systems that draft emails, create content, and run your reporting.
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Both need the same credentials. The difference is where the data goes - and that changes everything about what you can do with it.
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You don't need to be technical. After 30 minutes of setup, you just talk to your computer. And it does stuff.
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I taught 10-80-10 to hundreds of agencies back in 2016. It works even better with AI, once you stop checking everything and start closing loops.
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Think AI is too difficult? If you grew up playing Super Mario, you already have every skill you need. 😆
ReadA series on AI adoption, team transformation, and building for the future.
Eight years ago, I said AI wouldn't take your job. I was wrong. Here's what I've learned watching the shift.
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The biggest unlock with AI isn't the technology. It's trust. Here's how the flywheel works.
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When everyone uses the same models, the advantage comes from how you use them. Engineer diversity into your process.
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Ideas don't appear from nowhere. They're sparked by inputs colliding with problems. Just-in-time vs just-in-case.
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Dashboards aren't for staring at. They're for spotting anomalies. How AI changes monitoring.
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Perfectionism is a productivity killer wearing a quality costume. Ship at 80%.
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If you're reading, learning, and experimenting - you're early, not late. Most businesses haven't really started.
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Certainty is what clients want most. Scouts run ahead, test the terrain, and return with maps.
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Automating feels slower before it feels faster. That's the trap - and here's the math that matters.
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Creativity and play aren't distractions. They're leverage. Every good presentation is a story.
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AI adoption isn't an upgrade. It's an adventure. When you expect failure as learning, everything changes.
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AI is a left-brain tool. Relationships, taste, judgment, meaning - these remain stubbornly human.
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Accountability isn't about doing more work. It's about doing what matters. AI as mirror and nudge.
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Every person carries decades of experience and wisdom. AI can help capture what would otherwise be lost.
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Privacy isn't binary. It's a trade-off. Neither fear-mongering nor naivety is useful.
ReadReflections on AI transformation written in December 2024.
The future divides into two paths: those using AI like it's 2022, and those achieving what looks like magic.
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Why traditional approaches to business operations are becoming obsolete.
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A deep dive into ad spend optimization in the age of AI.
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Exploring the transformative potential of AI agents.
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The challenges and solutions in scaling business expertise.
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How advertising is transforming through AI integration.
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Leadership in the age of AI orchestration.
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A practical guide to implementing AI agents in your business.
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How AI is redefining productivity and focus.
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Bringing it all together - the future of business with AI.
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