By Aaron Baar

The rebranding, first reported last month, is expected to impact about 40% to 45% of the media company’s 40,000-strong workforce.

Feature Image Credit: Courtesy of GroupM

By Aaron Baar

Sourced from Marketing Dive

By Chelsea Tobin

LinkedIn usage and engagement are heating up, and for good reason. It can be a goldmine for finding new freelance clients, building your personal brand, and growing your business. In fact, 44% of marketers say LinkedIn is the most important social media platform for B2B (business-to-business) marketing.

Attracting leads and growing our pipeline is important to growing a sustainable and future-proof business. Here are five reasons why a LinkedIn profile is a freelancer’s best way to do this.

1. LinkedIn Is A Powerful Marketing Tool

LinkedIn may have started as a networking platform and an “online CV”, but it has well and truly evolved since then. It’s now a comprehensive marketing tool that freelancers can use to build their brand and source new clients. LinkedIn offers many different options for posting content, such as articles, carousels, videos, and even newsletters. You can use their newsletter function to build a loyal subscriber base and nurture leads, rather than using an entirely separate email platform.

2. LinkedIn Is Where The Decision-Makers Hang Out

Business owners, CEOs, executives, and founders (or anyone who decides to hire you as a freelancer) are all active on LinkedIn. It offers the opportunity to build your personal brand right in front of them by strategically posting consistent and value-first content.

Unlike Facebook, where users usually only add people they know personally, it’s a regular part of LinkedIn culture to connect with people you do not know. You can send invitations to connect with your ideal clients, send a personalized InMail, and implement a value-first strategy to start conversations with them. Hot tip: 86% of people are more likely to read your InMail if you view their LinkedIn profile first.

3. Proudly Display Your Social Proof on LinkedIn

Thanks to a few special features, LinkedIn can be used as a highly curated and personalized resume with undeniable social proof. These features can help you stand out to ideal clients and build trust when they view your LinkedIn profile.

LinkedIn allows colleagues and clients to leave a recommendation on your profile, which is a powerful testimonial to potential clients. If you add skills (make sure they’re relevant to your freelance services) to your profile, anyone on LinkedIn can endorse you for these skills. Again, ask your colleagues and clients (past or present) to do so, as these skill endorsements are powerful social proof.

4. Organic Reach Still Exists On LinkedIn

Despite the ever-present argument that organic reach is dying on social media, LinkedIn has stood the test of time. Freelancers have an exciting opportunity to utilize their personal profiles to get visible and earn reach they may not be able to on other social media platforms.

The best news is you don’t need a large following to earn significant reach on LinkedIn. If you post high-quality, value-first content, share your expertise, and participate in meaningful conversations, you can create large waves of influence in your industry, regardless of your follower count.

5. The LinkedIn Mindset Is Different

People who use LinkedIn are professionals looking to collaborate, network, learn, and invest in themselves. This platform isn’t where you unsupportive aunties or friends with no ambitions hang out!

Your regular users of LinkedIn know that it’s a hub for B2B marketing and business transactions, so their mindset is more primed and open to seeing businesses promoting themselves. This mindset makes it much easier for freelancers to sell their services. As long as you’re also offering value to others and engaging in meaningful ways, you’ll never be out of place.

Every freelancer should add LinkedIn to their marketing strategy. Consistent and strategic use of LinkedIn could be the secret weapon that helps grow your personal brand and client base to new heights.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By Chelsea Tobin

Find Chelsea Tobin on LinkedIn. Visit Chelsea’s website.

Sourced from Forbes

By Lindsey Gamble

Instagram has a new Suggested Fixes feature. When users publish a Reel, they may see a lightbulb icon at the top right of the post creation workflow. When tapped, Instagram suggests fixes to improve the Reel’s performance before sharing, such as adding relevant hashtags or a location tag to reach more people.

Why it matters: Instagram is offering creators proactive tips to help increase the reach of their Reels before they hit publish. So far, the suggestions are simple, and it’s unclear how much impact they will have.

Although, Instagram head Adam Mosseri has said hashtags play a minor role in discovery, which makes the suggestion to add hashtags seem contradictory.

Despite this, the feature has a lot of potential if Instagram provides stronger, smarter suggestions in the future, possibly by using AI to deliver more personalized advice based on a creator’s content.

By Lindsey Gamble

Sourced from www.lindseygamble.com

By Elizabeth Buchanan

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

By Elizabeth Buchanan

Elizabeth Buchanan is chief commercial officer of Rokt.

Sourced from FastCompany

Sourced from www.theglobeandmail.com

Meta Platforms  META-Q -0.60%decrease  aims to allow brands to fully create and target advertisements with its artificial intelligence tools by the end of next year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The social media company’s apps have 3.43 billion unique active users globally and its AI-driven tools help create personalized ad variations, image backgrounds and automated adjustments to video ads, making it lucrative for advertisers.

A brand could provide a product image and a budget, and Meta’s AI would generate the ad, including image, video and text, and then determine user targeting on Instagram and Facebook with budget suggestions, the report said.

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Meta also plans to let advertisers personalize ads using AI, so that users see different versions of the same ad in real time, based on factors such as geolocation, according to the report.

The owner of Facebook and Instagram, whose majority of revenue comes from ad sales, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Social media firms such as Snap, Pinterest and Reddit are increasingly investing in AI and machine learning tools to attract advertisers in an intensely competitive and crowded digital ad market.

Technology firms such as Google and OpenAI have also launched video and image-generation AI tools, but their widespread adoption in advertising remains in doubt as marketers weigh concerns over brand safety, creative control and quality.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg stressed that advertisers needed AI products that delivered “measurable results at scale” in the not-so-distant future. He added that the company aimed to build an AI one-stop shop where businesses can set goals, allocate budgets and let the platform handle the logistics.

Feature Image Credit: Jeff Chiu/The Associated Press

Sourced from www.theglobeandmail.com

By James Peckham

An advertiser could provide an image of a product and ask AI to create a photo, text, or video ad and target it to specific audiences through services like Facebook or Instagram.

Expect to see more AI-generated ads in your Facebook, Instagram, and Threads feeds in the future. According to The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, Meta is on track to offer a fully AI-powered ad service by the end of 2026.

According to the report, Meta is developing a tool that takes advertisers through every step of the process, from ad ideation to publication. An advertiser could provide an image of a product and ask AI to create a photo, text, or video ad, for instance. It would then publish them and target specific audiences through services like Facebook or Instagram.

An example used in the report is that those who live in a snowy location could see an ad for a car driving up a mountain, while those who live in a city may get one where the car drives through an urban environment. It may even allow advertisers to tailor specifically to your location.

Advertising accounted for over 97% of Meta’s overall revenue in 2024, the Journal says. Meta believes combining AI with all the targeted data it has on users will help it become an even bigger destination for advertisers, particularly mid-size companies with smaller budgets. As CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last month, “[It’s a] redefinition of the category of advertising.”

We’ll have to see if this results in a quality drop if footage is generated with no human input.

Feature Image Credit: Jens Büttner/picture alliance/Getty Images

By James Peckham

I’ve written tech news for over a decade, and as a Reporter at PCMag, I cover the latest developments across the gadgets and services you use every day. Previously, I worked for Android Police, TechRadar, and more.

Sourced from PC MAG

Sourced from 3BL

Cutting Through the Noise: Why Brand Strategy Is the Secret Weapon for Social Impact

n a world where attention is a precious commodity, capturing the hearts and minds of an audience has never been more challenging or more critical. As social feeds flood with headlines, causes, and calls to action, even the most urgent messages can get buried in the scroll. For organizations committed to social impact, the question isn’t just what you stand for, but how you get people to stop, listen, and act.

That’s exactly the topic explored in a recent episode of the RENEWables podcast featuring Eric Ressler, founder and creative director of Cosmic, a creative agency focused on empowering mission-driven organizations to rise above the noise.

A Podcast for the Impact-Driven Age
In this episode, Ressler shares his belief that strong brand strategy and compelling digital experiences aren’t optional for today’s change-makers—they’re essential. While many nonprofits and advocacy organizations still treat branding as secondary, Ressler argues that in the age of information overload, your visual identity, messaging, and online presence may be the most powerful tools you have.

And it’s not just about looking polished. It’s about making sure your message resonates, your mission is clearly understood, and your audience feels inspired to engage. When attention spans are short and distractions are endless, the organizations that communicate clearly and authentically are the ones that make the biggest impact.

“If we want to compete in the digital space where attention is limited, we need to meet people where they are—with a message that breaks through.” — Eric Ressler

Why This Matters More Than Ever
While the episode focuses on storytelling and branding, its underlying relevance is hard to miss. Across the globe, nonprofits are navigating tighter budgets, donor fatigue, and increased competition for engagement. At the same time, they’re being asked to respond to complex issues like climate change, equity, education and mental health with speed and scale.

In this context, effective communication isn’t a luxury, it’s a strategic necessity.

Cosmic’s work bridges this gap by helping social impact organizations clarify their theory of change, craft purposeful content, and create experiences that connect emotionally and visually. It’s a holistic approach to brand-building that doesn’t just support the mission—it amplifies it.

Listen & Learn
If you’re leading, supporting, or partnering with a mission-driven organization, this episode is a must-listen. Whether you’re a marketer looking for sharper messaging, a nonprofit executive rethinking your outreach, or simply someone who believes in the power of good design for good causes—Eric Ressler’s insights offer fresh perspective and practical takeaways.

Tune in to RENEWables Podcast Episode #59 featuring Eric Ressler here: https://biostarrenewables.com/resource-library/renewables-59-empowering-social-impact-organizations-to-catalyze-real-world-change/

Don’t just share your message. Make it matter.
Learn how to harness the full potential of your brand to create lasting social impact—one digital interaction at a time.

Sourced from 3BL

By Erik J. Larson

The mechanization of mind is changing how we think about creativity — and not in a good way

In the 2000s, I was fascinated by the question of how to imbue search engines with some appreciation of serendipity. This is a bit like squaring the circle, as it turns out. But the general ambition was clear enough: sometimes, when searching for something — a pair of keys, a word on the tip of our tongue, who was president in 1960, the chemical formula for iodine — we end up finding something else.

The “something else” is a surprise because we weren’t looking for it, or at least didn’t think we were. And yet, it turns out to be exactly what we wanted — or more compelling than what we originally sought.

We’ve all had the serendipity experience, even online — clicking through a chain of links, scanning Google search results, drifting between loosely connected ideas. But search engines and information retrieval systems aren’t designed to enhance serendipity. They are designed for accuracy — for retrieving exactly what is implied by the keywords. In other words, they return what we want. What we are looking for.

If only we always knew what that was.

Image Credit: andreybiling – Adobe Stock

Serendipity is a major force in science, discovery, and the open-ended nature of thought itself. The famous cases remain compelling: Fleming didn’t set out to discover penicillin, Kekulé’s benzene structure came to him in a dream, and Gödel, lingering in the Vienna Circle, wasn’t supposed to uncover the limits of formalism but did. These moments fascinate not only because of what was found, but because they reveal how discovery actually works — not always through direct search, but through unexpected encounter.

Why serendipity fell into disuse

By the mid-2000s, my band of misfit UT Austin grad students and I had abandoned the attempt to program serendipity — not because the idea lacked merit, but because the web itself had made it unnecessary. Internet search, in its emergent form, already provided workarounds: we could rejigger keywords (“it’s something like…”), frequent discovery-oriented platforms like the now-defunct StumbleUpon, or, later, rely on the social graph. Once Facebook took off, our “friends” became serendipity engines of their own, feeding us surprises all day long.

Building serendipity into search became a nonstarter.

The loss of the unexpected

Image Credit: adistock – Adobe Stock

Even so, the web has never been the ideal medium for pure serendipity. I still find that wandering through old bookstores does a better job of summoning the angels (or sisters, if you know the story) of serendipity than anything algorithmic. This is part of a larger cultural turn.

Serendipity is not an isolated phenomenon — it belongs to a broader category of how discovery happens. This takes us to creativity.

From serendipity to creativity

Serendipity is a natural lead-in to creativity because both involve a departure from rule-following. If you find something you thought you didn’t want, then the rule that led you there —by definition — failed.

Rules, despite the old saying, aren’t made to be broken. They are made to deliver consistent results.

“If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule? – Anton Chigurh, No Country For Old Men

The cultural decline and slow death of serendipity

Serendipity survives in attenuated form on the web but, like creativity, has undergone a kind of reduction to the status quo, part of a larger theme in modern culture to demystify and disenchant concepts that, well, don’t fit mechanical or rule-based descriptions. The culture seems to have anticipated its left hemisphere command-and-control leaders here, as no one seems to have the time anymore to go looking for the latest news about DOGE and end up with a cool piece on the intelligence of the octopus.

As the mind is increasingly reframed in digital terms, serendipity — unless it can be measured, categorized, or controlled — is treated as an inefficiency. The public, too, seems increasingly content to let “thinking outside the box” mean assembling a slick PowerPoint rather than pursuing anything that might actually change their thinking.

A similar reduction has taken place with our concept of creativity. Not only has it been increasingly misunderstood, but its essential conditions—those that allow it to emerge at all—are being eroded. Iain McGilchrist (following many others) explains that creativity unfolds in three stages.

The three phases of creativity

McGilchrist describes creativity as unfolding in three essential phases, each with its own requirements—what must happen, what must not happen, and what can happen if an idea is carried through to completion.

1. Generation (generative requirements)

Image Credit: Negro Elkha – Adobe Stock

The first phase is generation — the chaotic, undirected process of preparing for and allowing ideas to germinate. This is not the same as “brainstorming,” which implies a deliberate, conscious search for candidate solutions — listing possibilities on a whiteboard, for instance. True creative generation is messier, nonlinear, and difficult to formalize.

Generative requirements are what must happen for creativity to emerge.

2. Permission (permissive requirements)

Next comes permission — a stage that involves stepping aside so that an idea or insight can surface. This stage is not rational in any strict sense; it is a mystery, even to those experiencing it. Crucially, in order to have any hope of success, one must not try. Ideas percolate subconsciously. Sleep becomes more important than study. Serendipity belongs here, as do other “unwillable” aspects of life.

Permissive requirements are what must not happen — over-efforting, rigid structuring, or forcing an idea too soon.

3. Translation (translational requirements)

Finally, there is translation — the phase where the raw insight is shaped into something usable. Kekulé, upon dreaming of a snake devouring its own tail, still had to translate that image into the benzene ring. The idea alone meant nothing without this step.

Translational requirements define what can happen — if ideas are carried through to completion. Here, a bit of aplomb and raw courage prove helpful, and the rational mind can finally play a role.

Creativity as a black box

While the translation phase can be studied (it is largely ex post facto), the generation and permission phases remain fundamentally opaque. We don’t know where ideas come from — generative requirements are never a sure bet. Nor do we fully understand why some ideas rise while others vanish — permissive requirements are mostly about avoiding “blocking” activities.

Creativity remains one of the last true black boxes of cognition — of mind itself, or perhaps of the universe. And yet, modern culture seems increasingly indifferent to this mystery. The conditions that allow creativity to emerge — the space for ambiguity, the freedom to let ideas percolate — are steadily being eroded. Our tech-driven society seems uniquely bad at preserving these conditions, even as it grows more fascinated with the mechanics of thought itself.

Lacking a way to nurture creativity, we have turned instead to studying it. What we can do today, increasingly, is observe creative minds in action — glimpsing the process through neuroscience.

This isn’t QED. But it’s better than business books. Let’s turn to neuroscience next.

By Erik J. Larson

Follow Erik Profile  Twitter

Erik J. Larson is a Fellow of the Technology & Democracy Project at Discovery Institute and author of The Myth of Artificial Intelligence (Harvard University Press, 2021). The book is a finalist for the Media Ecology Association Awards and has been nominated for the Robert K. Merton Book Award. He works on issues in computational technology and intelligence (AI).

Sourced from MIND MATTERS

The B2B commerce landscape is undergoing a profound transformation driven by advancements in AI, shifting buyer expectations, and increasing economic pressures. Companies effectively leveraging digital technologies while staying consumer-focused will gain a competitive edge while those slow to adapt risk falling behind in an evolving market.

This article explores seven major trends expected to define the future of B2B commerce based on insights from Forrester, IDC, and leading industry examples.

1. Artificial Intelligence Revolutionizes B2B Commerce

AI has shifted from experimental technology to a vital instrument embedded in every aspect of B2B operations. Organizations are utilizing AI to enhance product recommendations, optimize search relevance, and implement AI-powered strategies like dynamic pricing.

Key applications of AI in B2B commerce include predictive analytics and generative AI. With predictive analytics business can detect customer churn risks, enabling proactive retention strategies. From drafting automated responses to helping sales teams make informed decisions in real time, generative AI is reshaping the customer experience.

Despite AI’s potential, some businesses still struggle to achieve meaningful results due to disconnected data and fragmented systems. Establishing a robust AI adoption strategy remains critical as companies aim to fully integrate AI into their operations.

2. The Rise of Smart Procurement Systems

Industrial B2B organizations are beginning to deploy AI-driven procurement agents to automate purchasing decisions. These agents can analyze massive amounts of data to quickly evaluate factors such as costs, ESG compliance, and supplier data, ensuring informed decision-making. Per Forrester, almost 30% of B2B firms will integrate AI buying agents¹.

For example, Siemens has applied AI procurement tools to streamline supplier management, achieving cost efficiencies while adhering to sustainability mandates. Businesses prioritizing ESG-compliant procurement tools will find themselves better positioned as these practices become industry standards.

3. Challenges in Chatbot Adoption

While advances in conversational AI technologies are evident, many organizations remain hesitant to adopt them broadly. According to Forrester, only 20% of brands are projected to implement conversational AI for commerce by 2025¹.

A key concern lies in the limitations of traditional, deterministic chatbots—systems designed to follow predefined paths and respond within a fixed decision tree. These chatbots often fall short in handling the complexity and variability of real-world human interactions. In contrast, agentic AI systems offer a more dynamic alternative. By learning autonomously and adapting in real time, they can navigate evolving conversations and create their own paths forward. For businesses, investing in this next generation of conversational AI agents unlocks more natural, responsive client interactions while helping to overcome persistent integration and user experience challenges.

4. Augmenting Human Relationships with AI

AI’s role in enhancing efficiency does not diminish the need for human expertise in B2B interactions. While AI simplifies tasks like personalization and data processing, strategic partnerships and high-value sales still rely on relationship-building. According to IDC, integrating AI efficiencies with high-touch customer engagement will drive the strongest business results².

Leading organizations are integrating AI as a supportive tool alongside traditional methods. For instance, PROS Collaborative Quoting empowers sales teams by combining AI tools with human oversight for seamless, bi-directional client interactions. This hybrid approach preserves trust while boosting efficiency.

5. Redefining Sales Strategies with AI “Coworkers”

Sales teams are finding that partnering with AI agents can provide support in managing customer data, analyzing patterns, automating repetitive tasks, and optimizing sales strategies—ultimately enhancing productivity. Forrester predicts that by 2025, 40% of businesses will adopt these virtual assistants³.

An example of this is the 2024 collaboration between PROS and Microsoft to create smart quoting solutions. These tools enable sellers to generate emails with accurate, personalized quotes attached, demonstrating how AI coworkers can simplify daily tasks and enhance responsiveness, solidifying the role of AI coworkers moving forward.

6. Composable Architectures Offer Agility and Growth

To manage the growing complexities of B2B commerce, IDC recommends businesses move toward composable architectures and API-first solutions². Unlike traditional systems, these modular platforms provide flexibility, scalability, and seamless integration with other tools.

With composable architectures, businesses gain the agility to adapt quickly to market demands, streamline workflows, and create personalized customer experiences. Businesses should leverage pre-defined out of the box experiences and workflows, followed by bespoke and unique experiences leveraging some of their core commerce componentry. Organizations leveraging these advanced platforms can innovate rapidly while maintaining competitive advantages in an evolving commerce ecosystem.

7. Compliance Moves to the Forefront of Strategy

As data privacy regulations and sustainability standards evolve, forward-thinking businesses recognize the importance of embedding compliance mechanisms directly into their strategies. IDC highlights that proactive compliance is no longer optional; it is a necessity for avoiding financial and reputational harm².

Advanced risk monitoring tools, automated reporting, and responsible AI frameworks are helping companies meet regulatory requirements. Businesses that integrate transparency, ethical AI practices, and sustainability efforts into governance structures will benefit from enhanced trust and reduced risks.

Looking Ahead

The future of B2B commerce lies at the intersection of AI, strategy, and execution. Companies that prioritize innovation, implement customer-centric solutions, and adapt to compliance standards will emerge as industry leaders. Those that hesitate to modernize risk becoming less competitive in today’s fast-moving market.

If your organization is considering integrating AI to transform operations and customer interaction, now is the time to act. Whether it’s optimizing procurement, redefining sales processes, or adopting composable architectures, today’s investments will set the foundation for tomorrow’s success. Competitive advantage is no longer a choice; it’s a business imperative.

Feature Image Credit: Dowell via Getty Images

By John Bruno

Sourced from Forbes

By Adam Brotman & Andy Sack

Adam Brotman and Andy Sack are co-founders of Forum3. Adam was a Chief Digital Officer at Starbucks where he helped lead the creation of their mobile order payment and loyalty programs. He has also served as co-CEO of J.Crew, and today he works with companies navigating their brand, digital strategy, and AI strategy. Andy spent over two decades as a tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He had the privilege of serving as a Senior Advisor to Satya Nadella at Microsoft, where he led digital transformation and innovation of new products.

What’s the big idea?

Our AI moment is a time for business leaders not just to adapt to the new wave of technology, but to imagine something new and lead with it. To help start shaping your company’s next chapter, AI First is a real-world playbook based on conversations with top AI builders and business executives making their transition to the AI era. It lays out action points that every leader needs to be thinking about right now if they want to stay in the game.

Below, co-authors Adam Brotman and Andy Sack share five key insights from their new book, AI First: The Playbook for a Future-Proof Business and Brand. Listen to the audio version—read by Adam and Andy—in the Next Big Idea App.

Audio Player

1. 95 percent of marketing as we know it will be done by AGI.

When we sat down with Sam Altman, he shared a perspective that completely reframed how we think about the future. Within five years (and granted, this was 18 months ago at this point) he believed that 95 percent of what marketers rely on agencies, strategists, and creative professionals to do for them will be handled by AI: free, instant, and nearly perfect. Sam was talking about marketing, but this applies to every function of a business.

As long-time brand builders and innovators, we took that seriously. This isn’t about some distant possibility. If you’re leading a team or growing a company, now is the time to experiment and start getting fluent. The real risk isn’t that AI will replace your people. It’s that others will learn how to use it faster and more effectively, and replace your company. When we spoke with Sal Khan, he reflected that his only regret about adopting AI at Khan Academy was not doing so sooner. We hear versions of that all the time. Companies that act now will leapfrog the competition. Those who wait will be playing catch-up.

People ask, “When will AI start really changing how we work?” Our answer is that it already has. The companies that we’re learning the most from aren’t on the side lines. They’re experimenting right now, using and learning with AI today.

2. An AI first enterprise starts with an AI first leader.

Culture moves at the speed of the CEO’s own AI “holy shit” moment. When leaders model curiosity, learning, and AI-powered thinking, that growth mindset spreads across the company. Teams grow braver, experiments happen faster, and AI fluency goes viral.

We’ve seen it first hand. At Moderna, a C-suite podcast and internal prompt contest helped pull 5,000 employees into daily AI use. At Suzy, the CEO took a build-it-yourself approach by showing, not telling, what it looks like to lead with AI. These visible examples build trust and break down scepticism of AI.

“People don’t need to be pushed into AI.”

Being an AI first leader isn’t about mastering every tool. It’s about creating the conditions for your organization to move with confidence. That starts with a belief in the usefulness of the technology, but even more so in your people. People don’t need to be pushed into AI. They need permission to explore it in ways that feel relevant to their work. You can’t outsource this mindset. If you want your company to be AI first, you have to go first.

3. AI is the new utility.

One of the biggest mindset shifts is treating generative AI not as a tech initiative or bolt-on project, but as something foundational to how your business runs. Like electricity or the internet, it will soon be impossible to imagine doing your job without AI.

Brice Challamel, VP of AI Products and Innovation at Moderna, said it best: Nobody asks for the ROI, electricity, or laptops. AI belongs in that category. It’s becoming an always-on cognitive layer across how work gets done. Organizations that move the needle stop isolating AI as something experimental and start baking it into their systems, workflows, and expectations. It becomes part of how the company operates.

The technology is evolving quickly. Scaling laws suggest we’ll see multiple generations of improvement over the next few years, each bringing stronger reasoning and more agentic capabilities at every turn. This moment demands a dynamic mindset, as the landscape is changing in real-time. It’s not just about whether AI will integrate into your company. It’s about how thoroughly and how fast.

4. AI co-pilots for every role.

Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, Manas AI, and Inflection AI, often describes the shift we’re seeing as the steam engine of the mind. A future where every function—finance, operations, legal, creative—has an AI co-pilot by its side. Not replacing humans but augmenting them and enhancing judgment, speed, and imagination. This is what makes AI so powerful.

“The payoff is real.”

Hoffman said it will be like having a 10x multiplier on every key function in your company. We’ve seen companies use co-pilots to help less experienced team members ramp faster. We’ve seen internal assistants generate legal summaries, polish executive communications, build financial models, and follow up on sales leads all within the same week. The payoff is real. Studies have already shown productivity gains of up to 25 percent and quality improvements of nearly 40 percent when people work in tandem with generative AI tools.

More than anything, co-pilots create leverage. They help you move faster with fewer meetings, test more ideas with smaller teams, and get more done with the same headcount. That’s not just efficiency. That’s a competitive advantage. The question is no longer whether AI will show up across your business. It’s whether you’ll structure teams and workflows to take advantage of it.

5. You can pick your approach, but you can’t wait.

There’s no one-size-fits-all model for rolling out AI. But one thing is clear: doing nothing isn’t a strategy. Effective AI transformation is ultimately about people, culture, and leadership, which means the right approach depends on understanding your team and how change occurs within your organization. After speaking with hundreds of leaders, we have observed that different paths can be effective. Here are three that stand out:

• The run approach, a fast company-wide push. Leaders like Eric Vaughan, CEO of IgniteTech, took this path of immediate company-wide activation. It was gamified, fast-paced, and intentionally designed to encourage every employee to engage in hands-on experimentation from day one.
• Start small and prove fast. Alicia Parker at Tishman Speyer began within her marketing team, rolling out AI tools and training, capturing quick wins, and using them to build momentum and influence the broader Tishman organization. It was focused, fast, and designed to scale.
• The top-down pilot approach. Matt Britton, CEO at Suzy, began by building and demoing internal tools himself. Instead of selling AI to his teams as a transformational idea, he showed what was possible and let the results speak for themselves.

No matter where you start, the first unlock is going to be AI literacy and education. People need to understand how these tools work, what they can do, and how to use them responsibly. Without that foundation, you can’t govern well, spot good use cases, or build with confidence. And you can’t afford to wait.

Sam Altman said AGI might be five years out, and he said that 18 months ago. This wave is gaining speed, but it’s not too late to catch up with it. The companies that win in this era won’t be the ones that have the most resources. They’ll be the ones that move first, learn fast, and scale what works.

By Adam Brotman & Andy Sack

Sourced from Next Big Idea Club