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🚨 First they came for social media, next they'll come for parenting.
Today feels like a significant moment, not because of technology, but because of what it says about society.
I've spent most of my life around technology, from the days of the Commodore 64, BBC and Amiga, through the birth of the internet and now into the fastest period of technological change I have ever witnessed with AI, social media and the digital economy.
As a parent, I absolutely believe children need protection online, but I also believe this is becoming a question of government control and parental responsibility.
What concerns me most is not social media itself, it is the idea that politicians increasingly believe they know better than parents.
I don't need Keir Starmer telling me how to raise my children.
⚠️ That is my job.
Parents know their children better than any government department, policy maker or committee ever will.
👉 We decide when they get a phone.
👉 We decide what they can access.
👉 We decide the boundaries.
👉 We decide the consequences.
🏛️ Good parenting cannot be outsourced to Westminster.
What many people overlook is that social media is very different for today's generation than it was for ours.
TikTok and Instagram 📸 are not just places to scroll through videos.
They are platforms to showcase:
🎨 Art
📷 Photography
🎵 Music
👗 Fashion
🎬 Creativity
💡 Innovation
They are also places where young entrepreneurs learn:
📈 Marketing
🏷️ Branding
🎥 Content creation
🤝 Audience building
💰 Some are earning their first income before they leave school.
🚀 Some are building businesses.
🎓 Some are creating portfolios that help them secure university places, apprenticeships and jobs.
My own daughter studies graphic design, a creative portfolio often speaks louder than a CV. Research shows people form first impressions within seconds. A portfolio allows talent to be seen immediately in a way a traditional CV often cannot.
We constantly tell young people to be innovative, entrepreneurial and digitally skilled.
Then we consider removing access to the very platforms where many of those skills are developed.
The answer isn't simply to switch technology off.
The answer is better moderation, stronger safeguarding, digital education and accountability from the technology companies themselves.
⚠️ But what frustrates me most is that I think we're solving the wrong problem.
This feels like a classic case of focusing on the symptom instead of the cause. Politicians are debating how to restrict access to technology.
Very few are asking whether we are actually preparing children for the world they are about to enter.
The education system was largely designed for a different age, an age of factories, offices and predictable career paths. That world no longer exists.
Today's children are entering a world powered by:
🤖 AI
⚙️ Automation
📱 Digital brands
🎯 Personal influence
💼 Entrepreneurship
Many will have careers that don't even exist today. Many will work alongside AI every day. Many will build personal brands. Many will run businesses. Many will create content. Many will earn income online. Many will work for themselves.
Yet we continue teaching them largely through a curriculum that has changed far more slowly than the world around it.
If government genuinely wants to protect the next generation, why aren't we asking better questions?
👉 Why aren't we teaching AI literacy?
👉 Why aren't we teaching social media responsibility?
👉 Why aren't we teaching digital marketing?
👉 Why aren't we teaching content creation?
👉 Why aren't we teaching financial literacy?
👉 Why aren't we teaching entrepreneurship?
👉 Why aren't we teaching young people how algorithms shape what they see, buy and believe?
🎯 These are the skills that will shape the next twenty years. The irony is that many young people are already learning them.
They're learning them on TikTok.
They're learning them on Instagram.
They're learning them on YouTube.
They're learning them by creating, experimenting, failing and improving.
Instead of embracing that reality and teaching them how to navigate it safely, we seem determined to pretend the digital world doesn't exist.
That's why I keep thinking about Animal Farm, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." Orwell's warning was never really about animals.
It was about power, control and who gets to decide what is best for everyone else. Young people need safe places to learn, create, build communities, develop businesses and establish a presence in an increasingly digital world.
Parents should be empowered to guide that journey, not replaced by government policy.
To me, that's the real issue.
We're spending huge amounts of energy trying to control access to the future instead of teaching our children how to succeed in it.
That's not solving the problem.
🚨 That's avoiding it.
What do you think?
#Parenting #Education #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #FutureOfWork #DigitalSkills #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #Technology #SocialMedia #FutureSkills #DigitalTransformation #Leadership #EdTech #ThoughtLeadership #FinancialLiteracy #ContentCreation #Marketing #UKPolitics #FutureGeneration
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/neiljterry_leadership-hiring-talent-activity-7470399789835403268-lvd6
The best people I ever hired didn’t have the best CVs. This week I spent some time walking around our daughters university exhibition Solent University and was genuinely impressed by the quality of work on display from the next generation of creative talent. As someone who has always had a creative eye, it reminded me of a lesson I’ve learned throughout my career. When hiring, I was always interested in more than qualifications, job titles and years of experience. Some of the most talented people I recruited stood out because of their passion, curiosity, creativity and the energy they brought to a conversation. A portfolio often told me far more than a CV ever could. Research suggests we form first impressions in a fraction of a second. Whilst those impressions are not always right, a great portfolio can immediately capture attention, spark curiosity and make you want to learn more. Within moments your brain is already making decisions about quality, creativity and potential. The strongest portfolios didn’t just showcase skills. They told a story, they revealed how someone thinks, solves problems and approaches challenges. Many of the people I hired from seeing that potential have gone on to build successful careers in major organisations, and it is incredibly rewarding to see how far they have progressed. What’s interesting is that this is also something today’s AI models still struggle with. AI is becoming increasingly capable of analysing CVs, qualifications, keywords and experience. It can identify patterns in text and data at a scale humans never could. But creativity is rarely found in bullet points. A portfolio can communicate originality, personality, emotion and visual storytelling in seconds. It can make you stop, think and feel something. Human beings instinctively recognise that, we connect with it. Whilst AI can help us become more efficient, I still believe human judgement plays a critical role in spotting potential, particularly in creative fields where the best candidates often don’t fit neatly into predefined boxes. The exhibition was a reminder that talent is everywhere. Sometimes all it needs is someone willing to look beyond the CV and see the person behind it.
#Leadership #Hiring #Talent #Creativity #ArtificialIntelligence #DesignThinking #SolentSouthampton #CareerDevelopment #FutureTalent #Innovation
For years, Apple keynotes have felt increasingly underwhelming.
There have been plenty of refinements, performance improvements and visual updates, but very little that felt genuinely pioneering. Faster processors, slightly better cameras, a redesigned interface. Features nobody (the customer) was really asking for.
WWDC 2026 started much the same way.
Twenty minutes in, I was struggling to stay engaged.
👉 Liquid Glass.
👉 A few interface tweaks.
👉 Milliseconds shaved off application launch times.
👉 Photo transfers completing a little faster.
All technically impressive engineering, but hardly the sort of innovation that changes how we live or work.
Apple needed a headline act.
A feature that made everyone sit up and pay attention. To be honest, I was close to switching off; then, just as I was about to leave the room, a word caught my attention.
"AI"
Suddenly the conversation changed. The keynote stopped being about operating systems and started being about the future of computing itself.
For the first time in years, Apple showed something that felt genuinely transformative, not another feature, not another interface refresh. A completely different way of interacting with technology.
There is also an interesting discussion to be had about the presentation itself. Steve Jobs had a unique ability to build anticipation and deliver a defining moment that everyone remembered. The original iPhone launch remains one of the greatest product presentations ever delivered. Apple arguably buried its biggest announcement beneath twenty minutes of incremental improvements before finally getting to the feature many people were waiting for.
I will explore that in a separate article because I think there are some important lessons there for anyone building, marketing or presenting AI products.
But once Apple Intelligence took centre stage, I was paying attention again.For years, Siri felt like a voice assistant. Useful for setting timers, sending messages or answering simple questions.
What Apple revealed at WWDC 2026 feels very different. This is no longer a voice assistant, it is the beginning of a personal AI companion that sits across your phone, watch, tablet, Mac, Vision Pro, AirPods and even your car.
For the first time, Siri appears to have a memory, context and continuity that follows you across devices.
Siri Becomes Your Digital Memory
One of the most significant announcements was the introduction of a dedicated Siri application.
Rather than every conversation disappearing after use, Siri can now maintain conversation history across devices through iCloud. Start a conversation on your iPhone, continue it on your Mac, then pick it up again on your Apple Watch. This moves Siri much closer to becoming a true digital memory system.
From a technology perspective, Apple appears to have built an orchestration layer capable of bringing together information from messages, emails, files, photos, calendars and device activity into a single contextual view.
Whilst Apple has not disclosed the technical architecture in detail, it is likely using a combination of embeddings, retrieval systems and vector database style technology to understand and retrieve relevant information from your personal ecosystem.
In simple terms, Siri is beginning to understand your world, not just your commands.
Visual Intelligence Changes Everything
Perhaps the most impressive capability is Visual Intelligence. Siri can now understand what is happening on your screen and in front of your camera. Point your phone at a restaurant bill and Siri can instantly help divide the cost between friends using Apple Cash.
Select multiple documents on your Mac and ask Siri to compare them, look at a message your child sent you and ask Siri to draft an email based on the content.
This is a major shift.
Traditional assistants waited for instructions, the new Siri understands context and offers actions. The AI is no longer isolated inside a chat window, it is embedded directly into the operating system.
Siri Is Everywhere
Apple’s vision appears to be simple.
Siri should be available wherever you are.
It now extends across:
👉 iPhone
👉Apple Watch
👉 iPad
👉 Mac
👉 CarPlay
👉 AirPods
👉 Vision Pro
On Vision Pro, users do not even need to say "Hey Siri". They simply look at the Siri visualisation and begin speaking.
On iPhone, Siri is integrated directly into the Dynamic Island.
On Mac, Siri is integrated into Spotlight.
The result is an assistant that feels less like an application and more like part of the operating system itself.
Apple Is Building An AI Operating System
The more I look at the announcements, the more I believe the real story is not Siri. It is Apple Intelligence itself.
Hidden amongst the demonstrations was a description of a new system orchestrator that securely coordinates intelligence across Apple's ecosystem. This appears to be the layer that connects applications, devices and personal context together. The implications are significant.
The Phone app can identify information about the people you communicate with and surface relevant context.
Messages understands the flow of conversations and can suggest reminders, notes, actions and even identify the right photos based on people, locations and topics being discussed.
Safari can monitor websites on your behalf, organise tabs into topics automatically and even navigate websites to update passwords without manual intervention.
Apple demonstrated the ability to describe a browser extension in natural language and have Safari create it for you automatically.
The Home app can understand what is happening inside your security camera footage and help locate specific objects, events or moments without manually searching through recordings.
Search has been rebuilt across Spotlight, Photos and Mail, creating a new indexing layer that understands the content stored across your devices.
Visual Intelligence extends beyond the camera itself. Siri can understand what is on your screen, what your camera is looking at and increasingly what actions should logically follow.
Taken individually, these features are useful. Taken together, they reveal something much bigger. Apple is building an intelligence layer that sits above the operating system itself.
Rather than opening apps and manually moving information between them, Apple Intelligence becomes the connective tissue that understands your data, your devices, your communications and your intentions.
This is where Siri starts to feel less like an assistant and more like an orchestrator for your digital life.
There is however one significant caveat.
Shortly after showcasing many of these capabilities, Apple confirmed that a large proportion of Apple Intelligence features will not initially be available within the European Union.
For users across Europe, this is becoming a familiar story.
Whilst Apple is pushing towards a future powered by AI, privacy focused architectures and intelligent orchestration, many European customers may once again find themselves waiting while regulatory, privacy and compliance questions are worked through.
It is a disappointing outcome because many of the most transformative capabilities announced at WWDC rely on the system wide intelligence layer that sits behind Siri.
For now, the future appears to be arriving faster in some regions than others.
An Interesting Partnership Choice
One announcement that may have slipped under the radar was Apple's confirmation that it has collaborated with Google and leveraged technology from the Gemini family of models as part of its next generation Apple Intelligence architecture.
That is a fascinating decision. For years, Apple and Google have been fierce competitors across mobile, cloud services, search and AI.
Yet Apple appears to have recognised a reality that many organisations are now facing. Building everything yourself is no longer the fastest path to innovation. The AI race is moving at an extraordinary pace and even a company with Apple's resources has chosen to combine its own foundation models with technologies developed elsewhere.
What makes this particularly interesting is that Apple has positioned itself as the privacy first AI company. Whilst many competitors are racing to build larger models, Apple appears focused on orchestration, integration and user experience.
The partnership raises some interesting questions.
👉 Will Apple continue developing its own foundation models?
👉 Will future intelligence features blend multiple model providers behind the scenes?
👉 Will users even care which model is answering the question if the experience feels seamless?
The AI market may be evolving from a battle of individual models to a battle of ecosystems and orchestration layers.
If that is true, Apple's strategy may prove to be a very smart one.
Your Phone Is Becoming Your Partner
For years, productivity applications such as Notion helped people build a second brain.
Apple appears to be embedding that capability directly into its ecosystem. The difference is that instead of opening another application, Siri is available immediately through voice, screen interaction or a single button press.
👉 It remembers previous conversations.
👉 It understands your messages.
👉 It can retrieve information from photos.
👉 It can help write emails.
👉 It can find destinations from past conversations.
👉It can compare files.
👉 It can answer questions using both world knowledge and personal context.
👉 It can adapt communication styles based on who you are talking to.
This starts to feel less like software and more like a digital partner that helps organise, retrieve and act upon information.
The Third Brain Is Arriving
I have written previously about AI becoming a Third Brain, a system that supports memory, reasoning, execution and reflection.
What Apple demonstrated is perhaps the clearest consumer implementation of that concept yet.
👉 Memory through conversation history and personal context.
👉 Reasoning through conversational interactions and file comparisons.
👉 Execution through writing emails, sending messages and taking actions.
👉 Reflection through persistent conversations that can be revisited later.
Instead of launching AI tools separately, the intelligence layer becomes embedded throughout the experience.
The Presentation Was As Interesting As The Product
There was another subtle observation from the keynote, the delivery of the presentation itself.
Apple spent surprisingly little time talking about models, benchmarks, parameters or technical specifications.
Instead, the entire demonstration focused on real world outcomes.
👉 Finding information.
👉 Understanding conversations.
👉 Taking actions.
👉 Managing passwords.
👉 Organising life.
👉 Helping people get things done.
This is a very different approach to how many AI companies communicate. Much of the industry remains obsessed with model sizes, reasoning scores and technical capabilities.
Apple appears to be deliberately shifting the conversation towards user value.
The message was simple.
People do not buy models, they buy outcomes.
The technology itself was rarely the hero of the story.
The person using the technology was.
As AI becomes increasingly commoditised, this may become one of the most important lessons for organisations building AI products.
The winners may not be those with the biggest models.
They may be those who are best at embedding intelligence into experiences that feel natural, useful and almost invisible.
That is a topic worthy of an article in its own right.
Are We Finally Getting The Star Trek Tricorder?
Science fiction has long imagined a device that understands the world around you, remembers information and helps solve problems instantly.
The Star Trek tricorder was exactly that, a handheld companion capable of analysing situations, understanding context and helping its user make better decisions.
Apple’s latest Siri may be the closest mainstream technology has come to that vision.
👉 Your watch can hear you.
👉 Your phone can see for you.
👉 Your home cameras can understand what they are seeing.
👉 Your devices remember what matters.
👉 Your AI can help retrieve, reason and act.
We are not fully there yet, but for the first time, it feels like the direction is obvious.
The smartphone is evolving from a tool into a companion and Siri is evolving from an assistant into something much more interesting.
The real question is no longer whether AI will become part of everyday life.
The question is how quickly we become comfortable with an AI that knows our world almost as well as we do.
Where Does The Paywall Eventually Sit?
There is another question that lingered in my mind throughout the keynote. Who pays for all of this?
Apple demonstrated a future where intelligence is woven throughout the operating system.
Messages, Mail, Safari, Photos, Home, Phone, Spotlight, Camera, Passwords.
And of course Siri itself.
Whilst Apple repeatedly emphasised on device processing and private cloud compute, these capabilities are not free.
Someone ultimately pays for the infrastructure, the models, the orchestration layer and the ongoing computation required to deliver these experiences.
Today many AI providers are moving towards subscription based models.
👉 OpenAI has ChatGPT Plus and Pro.
👉 Google has Gemini Advanced.
👉 Anthropic has Claude subscriptions.
The industry is gradually training consumers to expect a monthly fee for premium AI experiences.
Apple has not yet revealed where that paywall may eventually sit.
👉 Will Apple Intelligence remain bundled within the Apple ecosystem?
👉 Will certain capabilities require an Apple One style subscription?
👉 Will premium reasoning, memory or agentic capabilities sit behind a higher tier service?
Or is the strategy simply to sell more devices by making the ecosystem significantly more valuable?
Historically Apple has been exceptionally good at turning services into recurring revenue streams. That makes it difficult to believe that increasingly powerful AI capabilities will remain completely free forever. Perhaps the most interesting possibility is that Apple sees intelligence as the next major ecosystem lock in.
The more Siri understands your history, preferences, communications, projects and daily life, the harder it becomes to leave the platform.
The real paywall may not be financial, it may be the value of the accumulated memory itself.
And that creates another fascinating question, if Siri becomes our digital memory, who ultimately owns that memory and how portable does it become if we decide to leave?
The Questions Apple Still Needs To Answer
Whilst the announcement was impressive, I actually found myself asking as many questions as Apple answered.
The demonstrations showed what Siri can do. What remains less clear is how users teach Siri who they are.
For example, can I define my own tone of voice? Can I create separate personas for personal communication, professional communication, thought leadership content and customer communications?
Apple demonstrated Siri adapting its writing style based on who you are communicating with. That suggests it is learning from your emails, messages and interactions.
However, many professionals and businesses will want far more control over this.
Can organisations define a corporate tone of voice, brand guidelines and communication standards that Siri follows consistently across teams?
Behind the scenes there must be some form of orchestration layer retrieving relevant information whilst filtering out everything else.
Apple has shown the outcomes.
It has not yet explained the mechanism.
If Apple can solve memory, context, personalisation and retrieval, Siri becomes much more than a voice assistant. It becomes a genuine digital partner.
Looking across the WWDC announcements, I suspect that is exactly where Apple is heading.
Not towards a smarter chatbot, but towards an intelligence layer that sits across every device, every application and every interaction.
If that vision succeeds, we may look back on WWDC 2026 as the moment the smartphone evolved into something far more personal.
A digital companion that understands not just our requests, but the context of our lives.
#AppleIntelligence #Siri #WWDC2026 #ArtificialIntelligence #AI#FutureOfAI #DigitalTransformation #ProductManagement #Innovation #FutureOfWork #Apple #ThirdBrain
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/apples-new-siri-we-entering-star-trek-tricorder-era-neil-terry-cifpe/
IKEA just showed US the future of AI AND it isn't "REDUNDANCIES"
📢 IKEA this is one of the most interesting examples of AI adoption I've seen recently.
A recent article caught my attention.
IKEA introduced an AI chatbot called Billie, within its first year it handled almost half of all customer service enquiries. The technology worked, it was faster, available 24 hours a day and significantly cheaper than traditional support.
Many organisations would have followed a familiar path.
❌ Reduce headcount ❌ Cut costs ❌ Report efficiencies ❌ Move on
Instead, IKEA asked a different question.
💡 What can our people do that AI cannot?
The answer was interior design.
Rather than removing thousands of employees, IKEA retrained over 8,500 customer service staff into specialist customer facing roles. Those same people now help customers design living spaces, make purchasing decisions and create homes they love.
The result?
💰 An estimated $1.4 billion in additional revenue.
For me, this is one of the clearest examples of how AI should be applied.
❓ The Wrong Question
Too much of the conversation around AI starts with efficiency.
How many jobs can we automate?
How many people can we replace?
How much money can we save?
These are understandable questions, but they are rarely the most valuable ones.
AI is becoming exceptionally good at routine work.
🤖 Processing information 🤖 Summarising content 🤖 Answering common questions 🤖 Analysing data 🤖 Completing repetitive tasks
These activities are important, but they are not where most organisations create their greatest value.
The real value often sits in the moments that require:
❤️ Empathy 🔍 Curiosity ⚖️ Judgement 🤝 Human connection
Those are the moments customers remember.
🧠 AI As A Third Brain
At Scenic Mind, I often describe AI as a Third Brain.
Not a replacement for people.
An extension of people.
A Third Brain helps with:
🧠 Memory - Retrieving information instantly
💭 Reasoning - Exploring options and structuring thinking
⚡ Execution - Creating drafts, analysing data and accelerating delivery
🔄 Reflection - Challenging assumptions and improving decisions.
But it does not replace judgement.
It does not replace accountability.
And it certainly does not replace human connection.
The purpose of AI should be to remove friction from work so people can spend more time doing the things that matter most.
That is exactly what IKEA appears to have done.
They removed routine interactions and created space for deeper customer engagement.
🤝 The Most Valuable Part Of The Customer Journey Is Human
Many customer journeys contain moments where people want more than an answer.
They want reassurance.
They want confidence.
They want someone to understand what they are trying to achieve.
A chatbot can tell you the dimensions of a sofa.
A skilled consultant can understand why you are buying it.
🏡 The room.
👨👩👧 The family.
✨ The lifestyle.
🤔 The concerns.
🎯 The aspirations.
One interaction focuses on information, the other focuses on understanding.
That distinction matters.
Customers rarely build loyalty through transactions alone, they build loyalty through experience, and experiences are often created through human interaction.
🚀 The Future Is Not Human Or AI
One of the biggest mistakes organisations make is treating this as a choice between people and technology.
The future is not human or AI. The future is human and AI.
The most successful organisations will use AI to automate routine activities whilst investing more heavily in uniquely human capabilities.
🌟 Relationship building
🌟 Consultative selling
🌟 Problem solving
🌟 Coaching
🌟 Creativity
🌟 Customer understanding
These are the areas where people create disproportionate value.
Interestingly, many of these skills have been undervalued for years because they are difficult to measure on a spreadsheet. Yet they are often the biggest drivers of customer loyalty and long term growth.
🎯 The New Opportunity For Businesses
The lesson from IKEA is not that AI saves money.
The lesson is that AI creates capacity.
The question leaders should be asking is not:
❌ "What jobs can AI replace?"
It should be:
✅ "What higher value work could our people do if AI removed the routine?"
That shift in thinking changes everything.
Instead of seeing AI as a redundancy programme, organisations can view it as a capability multiplier. A way to elevate people into more specialist, more meaningful and more valuable roles.
In many ways, this is exactly what technology has always done. It removes one type of work and creates another. The difference today is that we have a choice, we can use AI to build leaner organisations or we can use AI to build smarter, more human ones.
IKEA's decision suggests the latter may be the more profitable path and perhaps, the more sustainable one too.
💬 The organisations that win with AI won't be those that replace the most people.
They'll be the ones that create the most value from the people they already have.
What do you think? Is IKEA showing us the future of AI adoption, or is this the exception rather than the rule?
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #FutureOfWork #CustomerExperience #Leadership #IKEA #DigitalTransformation #Innovation #ProductManagement #HumanCentredAI #ScenicMind
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ikea-just-proved-ai-should-create-better-jobs-fewer-neil-terry-afnze/
AI is not replacing product people ★ It is exposing the difference between feature factories and real product thinking🦄⚡
The future belongs to people who can combine AI speed with human judgement.
There is a growing narrative that AI will replace product managers, designers, analysts, strategists, and even engineers.
I think that misses the point entirely.
The real shift happening is not replacement, it is amplification. ⚡
The people and organisations that will thrive are not the ones handing decision making over to AI. They are the ones learning how to combine AI speed with human judgement.
That is the thinking behind what Marty Cagan terms the Product Model and Unicorn 🦄
This is a modern product mindset where AI expands capability, but humans remain responsible for direction, outcomes, ethics, and decision making.
This idea has been heavily influenced by Marty Cagan’s thinking around empowered product teams and the product model. Particularly the distinction between teams focused on outputs versus teams focused on outcomes.
At the centre of this model is a simple belief ✨ AI provides options, humans choose what is right.
The problem with the wrong AI narrative 🚨
Many organisations are still approaching AI like a productivity race.
⚙️ Write requirements faster 🚀 Ship features faster 📄 Generate more outputs 💷 Reduce headcount.
The issue is that faster output does not automatically create better outcomes.
As Marty describes, AI can simply become:
“garbage in, garbage out faster.”
If teams are already operating like feature factories, AI just accelerates the factory.
📋 More tickets ⚡ More backlog 🚢 More shipping 🔊 More noise.
But very little real customer or business value. The real opportunity is different.
AI dramatically reduces the cost of exploration, learning, experimentation, and execution. That means the bottleneck shifts away from delivery and towards thinking.
That is where human judgement becomes even more important. 🧭
AI as a Third Brain 🧠
I often describe AI as a Third Brain, not a replacement brain, not artificial wisdom, not autonomous strategy.
A support system for thinking, used properly, AI strengthens four areas:
🗂️ Memory - Helping retain context, decisions, research, and information.
🧩 Reasoning - Helping structure complex thinking and compare options.
⚡ Execution - Reducing friction between idea and output.
🔍 Reflection - Helping challenge assumptions and improve over time.
But none of these replace accountability.
Humans still provide:
❤️ Empathy ⚖️ Ethics 🧠 Experience 📈 Commercial understanding 🧭 Strategic judgement👥 Human context
This is the part many AI conversations miss. The real value is not AI doing the work for us, the value is AI helping us think better, move faster, and learn quicker.
The modern product leader 🦄
The future product leader is not just a backlog manager.
That role is already under pressure.
The future product leader sits at the intersection of:
🎯 Product sense 🎨 Design sense ⚙️ Engineering judgement
Not necessarily as a master of all three, but as someone capable of understanding how they connect together.
This is where the “triple threat” idea becomes powerful. Marty Cagan describes these people as rare, but incredibly valuable.
The organisations that succeed with AI will not remove these capabilities, they will amplify them. 📈
Because the real challenge is no longer:
❌ “Can we build this?”
The real challenge is:
❓ “Should we build this?” ❓ “Will it create value?” ❓ “Will customers care?” ❓ “Does it solve the right problem?” ❓ “Is it ethical?” ❓ “Can people trust it?”
Those are deeply human questions.
Human in the loop is not optional 🔄
One of the biggest risks with AI is misplaced confidence.
🤖 AI can sound convincing 📝 AI can generate polished outputs ⚠️ AI can create the illusion of certainty.
But certainty is not understanding.
This is something I explored heavily while working on a prediction systems and AI assisted decision tools.
The systems can identify patterns, they can surface signals, they can scale analysis.
But they do not truly understand emotion, meaning, humour, ethics, cultural nuance, or business context in the way humans do.
That distinction matters.
The goal should never be autonomous decision making without oversight.
The goal is augmented intelligence. 🤝
🤖 AI surfaces possibilities 🧠 Humans apply judgement.
This becomes even more important in areas involving:
🏥 Health 💰 Finance 📺 Advertising ⚖️ Governance 💼 Employment.🧘 Wellbeing.
Human in the loop design is not friction, it is safety, it is accountability, it is responsible innovation.
AI changes the speed ★ Humans set the direction
This may be the single most important mindset shift. AI changes the speed of product development dramatically.
⚡ Discovery becomes faster ⚡ Prototyping becomes faster⚡ Analysis becomes faster⚡ Iteration becomes faster
But speed without direction creates chaos.
The organisations that win will be the ones combining:
🎯 Clear strategy 🔍 Continuous discovery 👥 Customer understanding⚡ Fast experimentation 🧠 Human judgement.
That combination creates leverage.
This is why I believe product discovery and strategic thinking are becoming more important, not less.
As delivery becomes cheaper and easier, differentiation moves upstream into:
💡 Understanding customers better 🧩 Framing problems better 📚 Learning faster 🧠 Making better decisions
AI amplifies all of that, but only if humans remain actively engaged in the thinking.
The future belongs to amplified humans
I do not believe the future belongs to humans alone. And I do not believe it belongs to AI alone.
I think the future belongs to people who learn how to combine both effectively.
People who can:
🧠 Think critically 🤖 Use AI practically 🎯 Frame problems clearly ⚡ Validate ideas quickly🔍 Challenge assumptions 👥 Stay customer focused 🎨 Move between creativity and structure ⚖️ Balance speed with responsibility.
That is the Product Model Unicorn. 🦄 Not someone replaced by AI ✨ Someone amplified by it.
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #ProductManagement #ProductLeadership #MartyCagan #ProductDiscovery #HumanCenteredDesign #AILeadership #Innovation #DigitalTransformation #CustomerExperience #UX #ProductStrategy #FutureOfWork #ScenicMind #GenerativeAI #Leadership #TechLeadership #BusinessTransformation #AIProducts
I used to sit in sessions, take notes, then spend more time turning them into something useful.
Now I get to clarity in minutes, not hours. Instead of writing notes, I turn meetings into a visual story. Not everything, just what matters.
👉 The flow
👉 The decisions
👉 The turning points
It’s simple, but powerful, it forces you to focus on meaning, not noise.
And it makes it much easier to share, align, and act. This is something I’ve been leaning into more as part of how I use AI as a thinking partner, not just a tool.
So I built a reusable prompt to do exactly that.
Here is an example from a great talk by Marty Cagan last week 👇
Curious if anyone else prefers thinking in visuals rather than notes? 🎯
#AI #ProductManagement #Meetings #Productivity #VisualThinking #Innovation #ThirdBrain
Create Your Own Wellbeing at Work ★ Because Better Teams Deliver Better Outcomes
May is a good moment to pause, not because everything suddenly changes, but because it gives us a reason to notice what is already there.
In the UK, Mental Health Awareness Week runs from 12 to 18 May 2026, led by Mind and supported by MHFA England® . It creates space for conversations that often get missed in the day to day.
But here is the reality, most teams are not struggling because people do not care. They struggle because people do not fully understand each other.
👉 How someone works best.
👉 What support looks like for them.
👉 What happens when they are under pressure.
In Agile and Scrum teams, where collaboration, pace, and change are constant, this gap shows up quickly.
It shows up as:
👉 Miscommunication
👉 Rework
👉 Frustration
👉 Slower delivery
This is not just a wellbeing issue, it is a team effectiveness issue. When understanding is low, friction increases and outcomes suffer. When understanding improves, friction reduces and teams deliver better outcomes.
A simple way to support wellbeing and improve team performance
I wanted something practical, something that helps people explain how they work, and helps teams understand how to support each other better.
So I created a simple, visual tool through my approach to AI which I publish through my website and LinkedIn as Scenic Mind. http://scenicmind.co.uk
It helps you build a one page “Ways of Working and Wellbeing Profile”.
Think of it as:
👉 A quick guide to you at your best
👉 A signal for when things are not right
👉 A way for others to support you properly
It works really well for:
👉 Scrum teams Agile teams
👉 Product and delivery teams
👉 Leadership teams
👉 EXEC Teams
👉 Any team that wants to move faster with less friction
Because when people understand each other, everything improves. Communication improve, Trust builds faster, Support becomes easier and Outcomes improve.
How to use it
This is designed to be simple.
Just copy the prompt below and paste it into ChatGPT.
It will guide you step by step and create a visual profile you can share with your team. You can do this individually, or run it as a team session. Keep it optional, Keep it safe, Let people share what they are comfortable with.
Ways of Working and Wellbeing Profile Generator by Scenic Mind
Copy everything below and paste it into ChatGPT to start.
This is not about process, it is about people. Life is not consistent, it changes day to day, even hour to hour.
That means how people show up at work changes too. If we want better teams, we need to understand that.
AI can help structure thinking and support how we work, but it does not replace human judgement or understanding. And understanding each other is still one of the most powerful things we can do.
If this is useful, please like and re-share it with your network so more teams can benefit.
And if you are interested in practical ways to use AI to improve how we work and support each other, follow along. I will be sharing more on here and http://scenicmind.co.uk
#MentalHealthAwarenessMonth #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek #WorkplaceWellbeing #EmployeeWellbeing #HR #PeopleFirst #FutureOfWork #Agile #Scrum #HighPerformingTeams #Leadership #Teamwork #PsychologicalSafety #AIForWork #Productivity #ScenicMind
Your CV is not being rejected by people
It is being rejected by a machine that cannot read it 🤖
Following on from my post yesterday. 👇
We have more advanced technology than ever, AI is everywhere. Yet the front door to most roles is now endlessly blocked by systems that struggle with anything beyond plain text.
You need to stand out, show personality, demonstrate creativity. Then the moment you do, your CV gets filtered out because the system cannot read it properly.
And here is the real problem 👇
⚠️ You cannot risk it not being read.
⚠️ You do not know if the first pass is a robot, a human, or a human reviewing what the system has filtered.
So you end up playing it safe, back to something bland, boring and risk free 😐
Whatever that looks like is now the challenge we all face, so we end up in a strange place.
🎨 Designers removing design.
📊 Product people removing clarity.
🧠 Great candidates simplifying themselves just to get past a gatekeeper that is not built to recognise real value.
It raises a bigger question, are we hiring the best people, or just the people who know and excel at passing the system? 🤔
The irony is hard to ignore, we talk about AI transforming how we work, yet many hiring pipelines are still stuck in a format that rewards compliance over capability.
The best people I have hired did not look like a template. Their CVs told a story, their work showed thinking, their presentation showed care.
Now we risk filtering that out before a human even sees it, this is the real challenge. 🚨
Not just how candidates adapt, but how organisations rethink hiring in a world where the tools are shaping who gets seen. Because if the front door is built for text only currently, you are going to miss the people who think beyond it.
If you like this kind of thinking around AI, human in the loop, and the idea of AI as a third brain, give me a follow and let’s figure and build this out together. 🚀
So why are most people still sending walls of text?
Claude might be leading in LLM capability right now, but ChatGPT still has some huge strengths.
The real shift is not which tool is best. It is using the right tool for the right job, with human judgement in the loop 🧠
One area where ChatGPT stands out is turning your experience into something visual, engaging.
You can take your CV and turn it into a clean, high impact infographic that actually shows your value quickly.
Start with something as simple as this:
“Create a one page infographic CV for me.
Use a clean, modern black and gold theme.
Highlight key impact, achievements, and experience.
Keep it structured and easy to scan in under 10 seconds.”
Then layer in context:
Your CV
Your achievements
Your positioning
Your tone
And iterate 🔁
Tools like Claude are great for deep thinking and structuring ideas. ChatGPT is strong at turning that into something visual and usable 🎨
This is where it clicks for me.
AI does not replace thinking, it amplifies it and speeds it up.
Use the tools, Shape the output, Stay in control ⚡
Here is one I did earlier 👇
hashtag#ArtificialIntelligence
AI as a Third Brain
This competency framework is grounded in real use, not theory. It is shaped by what works when AI is applied in everyday work.
Progression is not defined by how much AI is used. It is defined by how well it is used.
The framework focuses on five practical areas.
- How clearly problems are framed before AI is applied
- How context is managed and carried forward
- How outputs are reviewed for quality and risk
- How AI is embedded into daily workflows
- How individuals help others adopt AI effectively across the business
At its core, the framework treats AI as a support system for thinking. It connects logical thinking, such as analysis, structure, and planning, with creative thinking, including ideas, exploration, and problem solving.
AI helps bridge the gap between concept and action.
The Third Brain model
The third brain model provides a practical way to understand how AI should be used.
Rather than focusing only on prompts or tools, it focuses on capability. What AI is helping people do and achieve.
Memory
AI acts as an external memory. It helps individuals and teams store, retrieve, and reuse information in a structured way.
Used well, AI becomes a reliable source of context. It reduces repetition and helps thinking build over time rather than starting from scratch.
Reasoning
AI supports structured thinking. It helps break down complex problems, compare options, and organise ideas clearly.
This improves clarity, reduces noise, and helps people think more effectively.
Execution
AI accelerates delivery. It reduces the time between having an idea and producing a usable output.
This can include creating drafts, analysing large volumes of data, or automating repeatable tasks.
Execution without thinking can create poor outcomes, so it must be balanced with reasoning and reflection.
Reflection
AI supports learning and improvement. It helps people review outputs, challenge assumptions, and refine their thinking over time.
Reflection ensures AI use improves rather than stays static.
Capability levels
The framework defines four levels of capability.
- AI Awareness
- Structured Prompting and Informed Use
- Prompt Engineering and Productivity Architecture
- Agentic AI, Enablement, and Governance Leadership
The key principle is simple. AI should support judgement. It should not replace it.
Source: AI Competency Framework by Scenic Mind
An AI release I helped take from initial product ideas and screen designs through to delivery has just gone live. Outputs are easy, outcomes are what really matter.
Over the last decade, I have been using AI to help businesses and their customers make better decisions that lead to better results. Not just experiments, not just demos, real products used by real customers. What really counts is the value created and the outcomes improved.
This week, System1 Group’s Test Your Ad 2.0 has gone live, a release I have been part of.
System1 has announced the next evolution of its platform. It is a major step forward, and it is great to see it out in the market.
What makes this different is not just the technology, it is how the technology is applied.
This is where this type of capability becomes important. It creates an early evaluation step. It allows teams to explore options, filter out weaker ideas, and focus time and budget on what is most likely to perform.
It helps balance speed with confidence, using evidence to guide decisions before moving into market.
That shift matters, it means you can:
👉 spot signals earlier
👉 understand where something is working, and where it is not
👉 make changes before going live
👉 move forward with more confidence
Alongside this, the platform introduces faster access to insight through a simple interface. It makes complex data easier to explore and act on without needing to dig through reports.
There is also a strong evolution in how results are presented. A clear timeline view highlights key moments and brings customer feedback into context. It makes insight easier to understand and easier to act on.
📚 Built on real evidence This is built on a large set of real world data and years of behavioural science. That gives you something very different.
Not just output, evidence. Not just insight, direction.
⚡ Turning insight into action this is where many products fall down. They generate interesting outputs but stop short of helping you act.
A big focus here was making insight usable. Clear, simple, actionable.
Not just what is happening. What should I do next.
It also supports teams in having better conversations with customers. Human expertise still matters. It is just supported by faster, clearer insight.
🧠 Where the real value comes from Technology on its own is not the differentiator.
The value comes from combining strong data with a clear, simple experience that helps people make decisions.
That is where behaviour changes. That is where value shows up.
🤝 My role in this journey I led delivery across a number of these initiatives.
Working across product, UX, engineering, data, commercial, and legal to bring everything together.
A big part of the role was creating clarity. Taking complex ideas, aligning people, and turning that into something that works in the real world.
It is not just about building, it is about:
🧩 shaping the problem properly
✨ making the output usable
🔒 ensuring trust and clarity
🚀 delivering at scale
🧠 The Third Brain in action
This is where my Third Brain thinking comes in. AI supports better thinking. It does not replace it. People still bring context, experience, judgement, and creativity. The best outcomes come from combining both. AI as support, humans in the loop.
🚀 Why this matters We are moving into a world where speed is no longer the advantage.
Everyone can build faster, the advantage comes from making better decisions. This is a strong example of applying AI in a practical way, turning data into something that helps people decide what to do next. Really pleased to have been part of this and to see it now live.
If you are working in product, data, or advertising, it is worth paying attention to where this space is heading.
#ProductManagement #AI #CustomerExperience #Data #DecisionMaking #ThirdBrain #ScenicMind #System1Group #BusinessAnalyst
The Moment Your Notes Started Thinking for You ⚡
Something just changed inside
They have launched AI Agents in beta until 3 May. This is not a small feature update, it’s a sizemic shift.
This feels like the moment your notes stopped being storage and started becoming a thinking partner.
✍️Not just auto writing
📝Not just summarising notes
💬Not just answering questions
These agents can operate across your workspace.
They can reason across pages.
They can take action on your behalf.
And this is where it gets interesting for product teams 👇
This is not about saving a few minutes drafting a document. This is about changing how work flows.
What happens when your backlog can be analysed automatically?
When insights are pulled together before you ask?
When context is carried across projects without you stitching it manually?
This could fundamentally change how all departments work 🚀
💥Powerful
🍺 Addictive
Over the next few days I will share a series of posts on my experiments over the last 48 hours. What this really means for product leaders, department heads and companies.
#AI #PRODUCTMANAGEMENT #NOTION #AIAGENTS #FUTUREOFWORK
🚀 The Modern CPO: From Translator to Value Creator
Enjoying catching up on some learning today. Today marked the first part of
’s AI Conference 🚀 Listening to many speakers on how AI is shaping the role.
One message stood out clearly. Product leadership is changing.
“No longer is it enough to act as the translation layer between technology and the business.”
For years, many Chief Product Officers operated between engineering and commercial teams, translating requirements, managing trade offs, aligning roadmaps.
That role is no longer sufficient and the expectation now is different.
Product leaders must sit inside the business model itself.
📈 They must move the needle on measurable outcomes
🎁 They must understand value creation at a structural level
One framework shared today was the "Value Stick", developed by a Harvard Business School professor.
It is simple, yet powerful. It frames business value across four levers:
Willingness to pay
Customer Delight
The goal is to increase willingness to pay and manage costs to boost margins while preserving customer delight.
🎯 They must move the needle on measurable outcomes.
🎯 They must understand value creation at a structural level.
is a great thought leader to follow on pivoting to measurable outcomes.
More reflections to follow as the conference continues.
AI is not the product, learning is 🚀
There is a strong push to include AI in every offering. It appears in most RFPs (Requests for Proposal) and long term partnership conversations.
But adding AI is not the goal, learning through skills such as active listening and problem solving. 🎯
We are currently running an experiment to test the market. Not to launch a finished product at the onset, not to prove we are clever, but to learn. 🧠
Prototypes exist to reduce risk.
Value. Do customers care.
Viability. Does it make commercial sense.
Usability. Can people use it easily.
Feasibility. Can we build and run it well.
Our current version is a learning vehicle.
After spending time with valued clients, listening carefully and discussing real use cases, it is already clear that it will evolve. 🔄
The level of fidelity should match the level of risk. Test what matters most. Do not over engineer the rest.
These iterations help us get it right.
Step by step. With evidence, not assumption. 📈
Discovery before delivery.
🚀 AI Will Not Transform Your Business
🔄 Unless You Transform Your Business
Many companies are not seeing real return from AI. Not because the technology is weak, but because they are only playing half the game.
Yes, AI has huge potential, every week brings new models, new tools and new promises.
Yet the impact often feels small.
🧠 Most organizations focus on AI literacy: Licenses, Training, Prompting skills. Everyone gets an assistant, that matters, it raises the baseline.
But most people use AI to improve what they already do. Faster emails, quicker slides, shorter summaries. Those are quick wins.
Some articles suggest AI does not reduce work, in many cases it increases it. People take on more and stretch their hours.
The real value sits elsewhere.
⚙️ Very few organisations redesign how work actually happens.
Not just automating steps, rethinking workflows, challenging approval flows and changing responsibilities.
That cannot happen in isolation, it needs cross functional collaboration. Clear problems, Intentional experiments, Strong leadership support.
It is slower and it feels riskier.
But this is where the real return lives.
🚀 The shift I am seeing
Some organisations are building structured AI Labs. Anthropic has spoken openly about this model. Cross functional teams exploring high impact use cases before scaling them.
We are building AI Champions in each department. Not just people who can prompt, People who understand the business problem, Who connect teams, Who challenge how work is done.
Upskilling is step 1️⃣, reinventing how the organization works is step 2️⃣.
AI success is 10 percent tools and 90 percent change.
Most companies focus on the 10 percent.
The winners will focus on the 90 percent.
Are you giving everyone an assistant or are you redesigning the way your business works? 🤔
🚀 Friday Inspiration
I've just seen this guide on using Seedance2 for AI video creation. Honestly, this feels like a proper level up.
🎥 Camera angles that feel intentional
💡 Lighting that looks cinematic
❤️ Emotion that actually lands and connects
It looks directed. Not generated.
From an advertising point of view, this could be big.
⚡ Faster creative testing
🎯 More variations for different audiences
💰 Lower production friction
🧠 More focus on ideas and impact
Are China leading the way in AI video right now? It certainly feels like they are pushing hard.
The bar for creative production just moved.
Happy Friday 🙌
#AI #AIVideo #Advertising #GenerativeAI #Seedance2 #System1
This really resonated with me 👀🧠
I do not see this as replacing a step in product work. I see it as changing where the detail lives or perhaps is efficiently reused.
The craft of product thinking does not go away. Problem framing, trade offs, customer understanding, and strategy still need strong human judgement 💭
What changes is how that thinking is expressed. Instead of pouring it into long documents, it is channelled into faster and more efficient forms of reuse.
That raises an interesting question for me 🤔
Who should actually own the prototyping execution layer. Is it the Product Management Team or the Development Team.
I wonder if this fits best within discovery work done in scrum team.
A short discovery sprint used as an experiment 🧪
Something designed to test movement on the north star ⭐ and real outcomes, rather than perfecting artefacts.
For me, the most valuable time a Product Manager has is still spent with end users.
Listening 👂, observing 👀, understanding real problems, and translating those insights into a clear strategy that adds customer value ❤️ and grows the business towards the North Star 📈
AI does not replace that! It simply gives us a more efficient place to put the thinking that follows.
Curious how others are experimenting with this shift 👀👇
#ProductManagement #Discovery #OutcomesOverOutputs
The Third Brain still needs you to read, write and rewrite
As I have been shaping prompts for my agent, one thing has become impossible to ignore.
AI does not replace thinking, it exposes the quality of it.
When I read back what I have written, the gaps show up fast. Unclear prompts point to unclear thinking. Vague language hides weak assumptions or understanding.
The left brain wants logic, structure, and sequencing.
The right brain wants intuition, creativity, and pattern recognition.
Reading and writing are what force them to meet.
Writing turns thought into something visible. Reading it back is where understanding is tested.
This loop matters:
- Write to expose what you think
- Read to see what was actually created
- Revise to remove noise, errors, or misunderstanding
- Iterate until you get something that is at the quality you require
AI can generate words. Only reading and rewriting sharpen meaning.
The Third Brain removes friction. But clarity still comes from applying effort.
If we stop reading carefully. If we stop writing things or applying our thoughts. If we skip review and iteration. We do not just lose quality. We lose judgement. We lose personality and our perspective.
So part of my experiment looks like this:
- Read more slowly
- Write more deliberately
- Review what I produce, enough times, even when it feels good enough
- Use AI to support the loop, not short circuit it
My agent is coming together. It helps me organise and iterate. But writing and rewriting are where understanding actually forms.
Without reading and writing, the Third Brain has nothing solid to amplify. With them, it becomes a force multiplier.
In a world where answers are cheap, which soft skill do you think becomes most valuable to protect?
Ever wanted a brain that does not forget 🤔🧠
We live in a busy world. We are doing more than ever before. The pace keeps increasing and expectations keep growing.
AI adds a third brain ✨
One that remembers everything you choose to give it. If you let it, it can hold your thinking, your decisions, your drafts, and your patterns over time. Not to replace you, but to reflect you back to yourself.
This is not about shortcuts or laziness. It is about amplification.
The real shift is not using AI to do the work for you 🤖
It is using it to help you think better, write clearer, and connect ideas that would otherwise stay scattered.
Treat AI as your third brain. Train it with your thinking. Then use it to go deeper, not always faster 🚀
#ThirdBrain #AIThinking #HumanInLoop #BetterThinking #AI #ThoughtLeadership
This image is funny But it also misses the real issue ⚠️
The problem is not that the machine is "unsafe".
The problem is that we keep putting machines into roles that require judgement, context, and responsibility. Then we act surprised when they fail.
AI is fast, fluent, confident.
It is very good at patterns.
It is very bad at knowing when being wrong really matters.
Like any powerful tool, it needs boundaries.
👉 Clear questions
👉 Clear refusals
👉 Clear ownership by humans
This is why writing matters.
This is why reading, reviewing, refactoring and iterating still matter.
And this is why thinking does not get outsourced just because something sounds confident.
The third brain 🧠🧠🧠 only works when the first two stay switched on.
Left brain. Right brain. The real shift in 2026 is building a Third Brain.
The left brain gives us logic, analysis, structure, and sequencing.
The right brain gives us creativity, intuition, and pattern recognition.
Both are powerful. Both are necessary. Neither is the problem.
The friction shows up in the space between them.
For most of my career, I assumed that friction was personal. Too many ideas. Thinking faster than the structure around me. Strong at direction, weaker at follow through.
Over the last few months, I have been running an experiment. I have taken 25 years across Product, Technology, User Experience, Customer Experience, and delivery, plus hands on AI experience over the last 5 years, and started shaping what I now call my Third Brain.
The Third Brain does not replace the left or right brain. It connects them.
The Third Brain
- Structures ideas without stifling creativity
- Removes cognitive drag so impact can scale
- Maintains context and memory across complex work
- Connects logic and creativity into one continuous flow
I have nicknamed mine Super Ted. Super Ted does not think for me. It does not make decisions. It does not replace judgement.
What it does is remove friction, so my time stays focused on outcomes, creativity, leadership, and communication.
This is still an experiment, and it is growing when I have spare time.
Over 2026, I will be sharing what I learn, including how to build out an AI Third Brain, how to use machine and AI as leverage and a true partner, and how fast thinking brains can work with themselves, not against themselves.
Just thoughtful exploration of how experienced people multiply impact.
Are we looking at a creative breakthrough in AI video Ads?
I have just seen this Sora vs Veo 3 comparison and it is not a small upgrade. It is huge.
From a System1 perspective, where emotion and effectiveness drive long term brand growth, this moment is key to its success.
Sora, OpenAI
- Glitchy visuals
- No sound
- Lacks emotional depth
Interesting technology, but unlikely to be emotionally effective.
Veo 3, Google
- Realistic motion and physics
- Expressive character visualisations
- Lip synced dialogue and sound
Feels like it can tell a story, not just generate a clip.
What does this mean for advertising?
Cost and production time could shrink.
Creative teams might shift from execution to quicker proof of concept.
AI might soon deliver creatives that test well emotionally.
Has anyone tested these models? Could this be the moment AI starts generating 5 Star Ads?
Let us explore this big change.
S1 Hackathon
Last week, I had the opportunity to lead a team of ten people during the first S1 48 hour hackathon.
The mission was to deliver actionable insights. We already had descriptive insights, but they needed more depth. We wanted to understand not just what happened, but why it happened.
The team
A diverse team was built across User Experience, Product, and Engineering. Each person brought a different strength, which helped the group move quickly and test ideas from several angles.
The approach
The team used an Agile Product Discovery approach. Progress was incremental, with stand ups every two hours to discuss progress, roadblocks, and small wins.
The result
The team delivered a working prototype that could improve S1 Guidance Reports. By automating parts of the process, the prototype could save around 12 hours of manual effort.
The hackathon showed the value of clear problem solving, diverse teams, and short feedback loops.
Las Vegas "The Sphere" - 2023 Game changer & 1st Global Brand Commercial Adverts!
A Las Vegas clash of the titans, for two global, innovative technology & gaming brands!
Microsoft vs Sony on "The Sphere".
Microsoft (XBOX) and Sony (PS5) are the first to run a global non sporting/music brand Commercial Ad on The Sphere in Las Vegas.
Since August 2023, The Sphere has gone viral across social media and news. Publicity went crazy, even more so after U2 played the first show at The Sphere - Las Vegas.
* The NFL Sunday Subscription Service was the first brand advert on The Sphere.
Last Thursday (19th October) Microsoft executed its XBOX Marketing campaign for TwitchCon. Then just a day later Sony released a campaign to launch their Spider-Man 2 game! One of Sony's exclusive headline games for the next gen console.
🚀 2023 - The rise of the world's most recognized Digital Billboard!!
Las Vegas (USA) has delivered a global market game changing engagement stunner!
Las Vegas (USA) has delivered an absolute ❤️ STUNNER ❤️ with The Sphere. Developed by Sphere Entertainment Co.
The building of The Sphere took several years, and cost in the region of $2.3 Billion.
The Sphere stands 366 ft tall. This architectural marvel offers a 360-degree canvas known as "The Exosphere" boasting 580,000 square feet of programmable LEDs.
The Sphere has unprecedented visibility, global reach, and endless customization possibilities. Advertising on the Sphere is an unparalleled way to engage audiences and make a lasting immersive visual experience.
Sphere Entertainment Co claim that when lit up (by over 1.2M bright LEDs), its highly engaging exterior screen (The Exosphere) can be seen from space. Most of us cannot go to space, however it can also be seen for miles across Las Vegas (via high rise casinos, hotels, tower buildings), and flights landing and taking off have a great vantage point.
The closest to this kind of digital billboard is Times Square (New York), Piccadilly Circus (London), and Tokyo with the rise of 3D billboards in 2021, now taking off in 2023.
What are the benefits of The Sphere?
The benefits of this new sensory approach to advertising include:
- Increased attention: 3D Digital Billboards make people stop in their tracks! The optical illusion in the digital content keeps the viewer's attention, allowing them to take in the brand message. Viewers are engaged and cannot turn away. This increases revenues and product & brand recognition.
- Engagement: People love interaction and eye candy. Bright 3D Digital Billboards provide this, boosting engagement and ultimately leading to increased sales for brands.
- ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): Brands using 3D Digital Billboards are driving higher return on ad spend. Statista predicts that by 2025, the annual revenue from 3D ads and images will increase by 3X.
Going from 2D to 3D adverts?
With the rise of immersive technology, how long will 3D ad trends continue to dominate?
3D ads are now the most promising solutions for advertising. Not only do you see the digital signage in person, but the best ads are now being videoed, photographed and published on Social Media platforms. Every shot is unique and from different vantage points. Whether it is from a hotel, plane, standing on the high street, or even driving — every photo and video is different due to the time of day.
2023 now sees the rise of 3D digital billboards. 2D ads are now second best to 3D; they are not engaging enough. Humans have always craved a multisensory experience, that inspires, either at home, when shopping or even on the commute to work.
3D Digital Billboards catch our attention, meaning we take in the message the advertiser is trying to get across and at the same time associate it mentally with the brand.
It's exciting to see this next generation, new revolution of digital ads in 2023! Microsoft & Sony are the first to start "The Sphere" advertising channel in Las Vegas. And wow, it has worked very well!
What does it cost a company to run an ad on these high reach/high engagement channels?
Super Bowl
In 2017 the average price of a 30 second ad was $5M, this has now risen to $7M in 2023.
The Sphere - Las Vegas
Microsoft and Sony are believed to have paid *$450,000 each for their marketing campaign slots on The Sphere.
Is The Sphere the new multi-channel, 24x7, 365 days a year version of the Superbowl?
The Superbowl has a captive market, before, during and after the match! It's regarded as one of the most influential advertising channels for raising awareness for products, brands, movies and TV shows. The match has a reach of circa 100M, then on top there is social media and news coverage which snowballs (viral) the "official" creative reach!
The Sphere is not just about reaching the people in Las Vegas, it's about making a global statement. Your business and brand will be associated with innovation and excellence.
So what does this all mean? What are the best ads?
I work for System1Group in the product delivery team. System1 Group is a highly established worldwide business, that has been operating for over 20+ years, testing ad creatives and offering consultancy to brands.
System1 Group helps protect and justify companies' marketing and advertising spend, helping them create the most influential and engaging ad campaigns.
System1 have created a leading PaaS product "Test Your Ad" that can test any form of advertising creative, from TV commercials, audio (radio/Spotify ads) and more recently social media digital ads and outdoor digital billboards.
Best Super Bowl Ads - as tested by System1
2021:
- Boston Beer - Your Cousin from Boston (⭐4.9)
- Cheetos & Doritos - Push It Flamin Hot (⭐4.9)
- KIA - Robo Dog Kia EV6 (⭐4.8)
- Universal Pictures - Jurassic Park Trailer (⭐4.5)
- Sketchers - On the road again (⭐4.3)
2023:
- Disney - Disney100 (⭐5.3) 👉 Part of "The S1 1% Ad CLUB" ❤️🔥🚀
- M&M's - Back for Good (⭐4.8)
- T Mobile - New Year New Neighbor (⭐4.7)
- Amazon - Big Game (⭐4.4)
- Paramount - Stallone Face (⭐4.2)
Summary
💲 Dollar for 💲 Dollar, The Sphere is the next generation, smart, innovative and potentially cost effective route for leading brands with million dollar marketing budgets.
Do I spend $7M on one Superbowl ad, once a year, or invest that $7M budget in a handful of HIGH REACH, HIGH ENGAGEMENT Sphere Ads for $450,000?
No brainer!
Whilst I don't have any stats to prove this, dollar for dollar, if executed well there should be an exceptionally high ROAS (Return on Ad Spend).
The big boys will surely spend the marketing budget on the Super Bowl alongside prime time advertising slots on The Sphere and other 2D digital billboards such as Times Square and Piccadilly Circus.
** Whilst I am employed by System1Group, my views, thoughts and ideas are my own and not necessarily representative of System1Group thinking or concepts.
Customers are changing, are you?
One key truth in the contact centre landscape is that customers are ever more demanding and have higher expectations than ever before. In order to really delight consumers (and stand out against the competition), organisations must keep looking for ways to improve and fine tune their customer experience and customer service.
After speaking to a number of Azzurri contact centre customers throughout January, I've noted seven key areas that organisations are looking to develop further in 2016 and beyond.
1. Next generation voice & video
WebRTC and Skype are growing in recognition. This technology opens up the ability for customers to quickly communicate directly from the company website. Keeping your website up to date and integrated with your contact centre is going to be essential for providing a great experience for your consumer. Allowing the customer to quickly engage with the contact centre, and being able to automatically supply any relevant details over to the agent are all things which can be achieved when combining voice and data using tools like Skype for Business or WebRTC.
2. Offer multi-channel options and grow multi-skilled agents
Although the most popular communications media is still voice (especially for older demographics), followed by email, there is a real growth in demand for consumers to be able to interact with the company via web chat, website, mobile, social media, Skype (or basically any channel of their choice). Giving the consumer different options to engage with you, simply and in an effective, integrated way is going to be a key differentiator.
No one channel is right or wrong, and to reach the widest range of consumers you need to offer the options your consumers choose to use. Consider your target audience and the importance of different channels for them. For example, 47% of customers will not call when they have a problem, turning first to the internet and social media and picking up the phone as a last resort.
3. Proactive customer experience
Customers expect every contact centre agent they engage with to know the history of their account and interactions and they don't like having to repeat themselves.
On the other hand, the contact centre agents must have a good understanding of both the customer and the media which the customer uses and engage with them on. There are different skills to responding on different channels and this can hugely influence the customer experience.
4. Mobile & tablet growth as a platform for engaging with contact centres
With mobile technology becoming ever more accessible and ubiquitous, the way people engage with contact centres is changing. Rather than just supplying "contact us" information to discuss a problem, companies that want to stand out will start providing a more integrated and consumer centric experience either from a dedicated mobile application or from a mobile friendly website.
5. Tailored experiences
Using big data and analytics to adjust the experience a customer receives to one which is unique to them is going to be a key growth area. For example, when you call into a contact centre you receive a more personalised queuing experience, hearing relevant offers and discounts on services or products which you have recently been browsing for while you wait.
6. Knowledge management
Demand for higher skilled agents that can handle various different types of contact will grow over the coming years. Agents will deal with less common issues, and supporting agents with better knowledge management/knowledge base systems are going to be vital to delivering a fast and efficient customer experience.
7. All-in-one contact centre software
Demand for a platform that can do it all in an efficient, pleasurable and meaningful way which helps support companies' CX programs is growing momentum. Companies don't want lots of suppliers; they want one solution that does it all.
The ideal all-in-one solution is media agnostic, and allows inputting of all media channels into the ACD or queuing engine. It ensures the media gets routed to the most appropriate agent for handling. It provides full collaboration and history of the contact and all the management information in one place. It also offers self-servicing functionality like IVR.
Make sure you investigate and understand how your contact centre solution maps to the demands and needs of your customer now and in the future.
My view of Contact Centre Expo 2015
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Neil Terry
Senior Business Analyst · Product leader · AI and delivery thinker
https://www.linkedin.com/in/neiljterry/
Havant, Hampshire