Summer Break

Summer Break

Jonathan and I are taking a few weeks break over the summer. Good news we offer 6 pieces of upcoming trends to keep an eye on and across and we recommend 5x podcasts to listen to or listen back to to ensure you are ahead of curve and ready for September. The 6x Themes To Keep An Eye Out For 1. Token cost increase - the more work your team do with AI especially development its engineered to maximise token usage and the push from AI companies is for ROI is going to ensure you spend more. Claude is a monster in tokens and its something many are struggling to contain. 2. The increasing use (approved and unapproved) of AI powered tools - like pendants, the cards, and the always recording devices are entering the workforce and many meetings. Expect the meta glasses and upcoming snap glasses to be used in the office - privacy and disclosure is key here, especially where laws are going to be broken without any warning. Expect the more recording the more nuance is missed and the less present people are (like this Gary Neville Samsung ad [https://www.tiktok.com/@gneville2/video/7657126476579441942]) And remember to include these updates in your AI manifesto [https://aimomentpodcast.substack.com/p/episode-4-ai-policies-versus-manifestos?utm_source=publication-search] ;-) 3. The cost of more AI driven work slop - more summarises, less deep dives, less attention to detail from team members - less effective collaboration and more automation will create big holes and big issues when unmanaged 4. The AI filtering of job applicants and use of AI in job applications - we are seeing ATS filtering out great candidates and starting to show hiring bias. Expect more usage of AI in application period, especially with more hoops and tasks to be completed. 5. The push towards agentic [https://aimomentpodcast.substack.com/p/dr-hannah-fry?utm_source=publication-search] - expect more noise come from the fintech brands fighting to become the canonical option or piping for it. Definitely listen to our episode breaking down Dr Hannah Fry’s agentic/AI experiment 6. Banning of AI models - we are seeing the US government wanting to control and ban models from being released. The question remains where does it leave you and your business with this latest evolution, especially when you build agents, bespoke tools and systems in core models. The 5x podcasts to listen back to or re listen to: 1. Open Source AI [https://aimomentpodcast.substack.com/p/open-source-might-win-long-term] - becoming a hot topic & major companies building on top of Deepseek, Qwen etc to save money but also have more control of the output. Expect developers, Product managers and savvy marketeers recommend moving across. 2. How to run an AI transformation [https://aimomentpodcast.substack.com/p/85] - going to be important pod and breakdown to listen to and roll out post the summer break. I am confident this will lower the cost of AI adoption for you and the business 3. The paradox of productivity [https://aimomentpodcast.substack.com/p/81] - are we expecting better (quality) or more (quantity)? Better! Often people are using AI to create, recreate docs and files when they have barely been engaged in the output or worse still never read themselves, these behaviours have to ironed out and quickly otherwise there will be a big performance gap and hole in your business. 4. What Are The Best Practises In AI Training [https://aimomentpodcast.substack.com/p/what-are-the-best-practises-in-ai] - if you are struggling to make training work or need help Jonathan and I talk through our approaches and what we have seen work. 5. AI, Culture & the Future of Work Interview [https://aimomentpodcast.substack.com/p/ai-culture-and-the-future-of-work] - this is packed full of gems)

HOW TO RUN AN AI TRANSFORMATION, Not another tool rollout

Leaders looking for an immediate AI Transformation action plan this episode is for you, with a 6 step process breaking down into practical 30, 60, 90, and 180-day execution roadmap ! --- In this episode of The AI Moment, Jonathan and I unpack the critical strategic mistakes preventing businesses from transitioning from casual experimentation to genuine, scaled AI integration. Moving away from a purely tool-led approach, I introduce his structured 6-step methodology designed to treat AI implementation as a comprehensive business transformation. Our discussion centres heavily on the practicalities of workflow mapping, highlighting the value of capturing ‘unknown knowns’ those undocumented processes that keep companies functioning but are rarely formalised. I also outline my framework for identifying quick wins by categorising tasks into four distinct buckets: accelerate, optimise, cure, and kill. Additionally, this episode stresses the necessity of senior leadership ownership, the application of clear risk frameworks to guide human judgment, and the deployment of agile, cross-functional SWAT teams to prevent departmental silos.

Why Open Source Models Might Just Win The AI & LLM Race

In this episode, Jonathan and I dive into the rapidly evolving world of open source AI models. We explore why the industry is seeing a significant shift toward "open weight" models like Meta’s Llama / Meta AI (the names are changing rapidly) and China’s DeepSeek, particularly as businesses grapple with the "token budget crisis" where annual AI spend is being exhausted in mere weeks. I argue that open source is not just a cost-saving measure but a strategic move for any leader who wants to maintain control over their data and their tech stack as venture capital subsidies for AI begin to dwindle. The discussion highlights the trade-offs involved, including the critical need for governance. While open source models offer incredible flexibility, they also require a "Verify and Validate" (The Two Vs) approach to manage potential biases and ensure output quality. Whether you are a startup building a new product or an SMB to enterprise leader looking to optimise operations, this episode provides a roadmap for why and how to start integrating open source into your AI portfolio. "Want more? Subscribe to our newsletter at https://aimomentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe [https://aimomentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe] for deeper dives and intelligence delivered with every podcast episode.

The AI Moment Interview: From Scattered AI to Scaled AI with Hannah Eisenberg

Are you actually scaling AI in your business, or are you just scaling inconsistency? In today's episode of The AI Moment, Jonathan and I sit down with author and digital coach Hannah Eisenberg to unpack why so many organisations are stuck in the trap of "scattered AI". Hannah reveals that while many CEOs feel "AI forward" because of high ChatGPT or Claude adoption , they are often just scratching the surface and throwing tools at broken processes. True growth requires moving to "scaled AI" a methodology built on clean data and a deeply codified, corporate knowledge base that captures your unique "tribal knowledge". Key Takeaways: * The Tools Aren't the Problem: Success isn't about choosing Claude over ChatGPT; it’s about establishing a clear foundation of your brand's unique context, value proposition, and standards. * The Trust Leader Method: Learn Hannah's 3-step framework to extract, structure, implement, and amplify your business workflows. * The Reskilling Imperative: Why mass layoffs are a shortsighted mistake, and why CEOs must urgently reskill their teams to manage incoming agentic workflows. Hannah highlighted how small businesses can leverage their agility to gain a massive competitive edge over slow-moving enterprises and thats something we do not hear about much at all! Book & Contact Information * LinkedIn: Hannah Eisenberg [https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannaheisenberg/] * Free Tool: She offers a 15-question Foundation Scorecard [https://scorecard.trustleader.co/ai-foundation-scorecard] online to check if a business is structurally ready to scale its AI. * Upcoming Book: From Scattered to Scaled AI(Audiobook expected August 2026; Physical book launching October 1, 2026)

The Invisible Cost of AI Outsourcing: What Your Team Is Really Losing

In this episode of The AI Moment, Jonathan Wagstaffe and I dive into a crucial mailbag question from a business leader: what do our team members actually lose when we outsource more work to AI? While the conversation around artificial intelligence normally revolves around productivity gains and speed, we turn our attention to the invisible, secondary effects that threaten the core fabric of team capability. We explore how cognitive offloading erodes the vital "muscle memory" that junior staff need to develop into senior leaders. I share my personal philosophy on why "writing to think" is an irreplaceable forcing function for clarity, and explain why a team that cannot draft a stellar brief will only end up producing a loop of decaying work. We look closely at the shift in workplace dynamics, highlighting the risk of losing psychological ownership over ideas, the dilution of trust at the executive level when data cannot be defended, and the slow death of those spontaneous, collaborative "magic moments" that drive true breakthrough innovation. Ultimately, this episode is a call to action for leaders to move away from blind, tribal AI adoption. We map out the distinct difference between the "sheep" who accept automated answers at face value and the "lions" who use AI to rigorously iterate their thinking. To safeguard your organizational capabilities, you must implement intentional guardrails and clear operational principles today.