Build vs Buy in the AI Era: What’s a Real Moat Now?

Shipping is Easy, Adoption is Hard, Conference Season Edition

Unfiltered with Matt & Nige | Episode 13 🎙️ Everyone is looking for ‘the next big thing’ at conferences.Most of the time, what you actually need is simpler. Maybe it’s signal.Context. Or sometimes just connection. The gap is still the same.The headlines move fast.The industry moves slow(er).Regulated adoption is slower still. TLDR: The best events are not always the biggest. They are the ones that create real conversations. And the best insight still comes from real conversations, not the noise or hype. This week on Unfiltered, the two talk all things: * Choosing the right event format, because you cannot do everything and “everything is going on everywhere all at once” * Stone Point’s AI Insurance Symposium, smaller, one stage, focused, and brilliantly useful * Separating hype from reality, and why hearing where customers really are still matters most * Scout Conference, the concierge, white glove introduction service at scale * Legora in Barcelona, a rocket ship legal AI business, and the parallel to Sønr 2.0 * AI liability, bundled vs standalone, and why people still do not understand the risk properly yet The only conference format that keeps working You do not need more events.You need the right ones. Smaller.Curated.One stage.Good audience.Actual conversation. Not because panels are ‘bad’.But because most people are still doing the boring work, while the internet shouts breakthrough. Scout, and why it feels different Matt’s description of Scout: You get swept up. In a good way.Introduced to others, with context.Synergy created properly.Then the Scout team disappears back into the shadows. At 500 people, it is magic.At 10,000 people, can it stay in play? The adoption gap, again Model companies are launching at a rate of knots.Most organisations cannot adopt at that speed, especially regulated industries. So the work becomes governance and controls.Not as the boring blocker but as the thing that lets you move safely. Legora, and the ‘wait a minute’ moment Matt headed to the Legora stand in Barcelona. One of the main sponsors.Gets a demo.Walks away thinking there is an inordinate amount of parallel to what they’re building with Sønr 2.0. Just in a different space. If a rocket ship business is building in that pattern, you are probably pointing in the right direction. AI liability, early market shape Nigel calls out the Allianz US view on AI liability - it gets bundled and not a standalone class like cyber. Nigel’s view is the opposite.Too niche. Too misunderstood. Too early.It probably does become its own space while people work out what it even means. The human ending Matt is doing the family thing properly. Ish.Cooking. Friends. Then a weekend or work! And next week, a seven hour round trip to take family to a hospital appointment, because that is what you do. Nigel is taking a break. First one in years. Seville. Hot. The big takeaway The winners are the ones who can turn speed into adoption, with controls that let them move, not freeze. Subscribe for more Unfiltered every week 🎙️ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit unfilteredwithmattnige.substack.com [https://unfilteredwithmattnige.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Job Apocalypse, SaaS Pricing, and the Guardrails Era

Unfiltered with Matt & Nige | Episode 12 🎙️ London is a thousand degrees. Maybe more. Nigel has already been to the gym #hero Training chat. Life chat. A bit of Barcelona. And then into the good stuff. This week the conversation talks the “job apocalypse” narrative. The SaaS apocalypse narrative. The constant cycle of “everything’s broken. Woah, that’s all sounding a whole load less upbeat than it actually is. TLDR: the hype loops are getting faster, but the fundamentals still matter.And the real question is not whether the cycle turns.It’s whether there are still jobs on the other side of it. This week on Unfiltered, the two talk all things:1. The “job apocalypse” narrative and why these cycles keep repeating, but faster 2. Subscription versus usage pricing and why SaaS might have to rethink everything3. The bubble reality check4. Guardrails in life and guardrails in tech, because without them you just meltand the quiet reminder that switching off is now a skill, not a luxury The apocalypse narratives (and why they keep coming back) Nigel’s take is simple. We’ve heard this before.SaaS is dead. AI kills everything. Jobs are gone. The sky is falling. Then three months later, everyone rebounds.Because the fundamentals are still good.The businesses that matter still have distribution, data, workflows, and customers who cannot just switch their world off overnight. But Matt brings the human point. He hopes it’s true. If the job story breaks the wrong way, that’s not a headline. That’s real life. And it’s not a great look for any of us if the outcome is needing “generational wealth” so we can survive the future. Subscription versus usage: the uncomfortable pricing question This is a really interesting space. If your product is getting hammered with usage, charging per usage is a beautiful model.If it isn’t, a subscription model starts to look like a comfort blanket. The shift is already happening in AI and it forces SaaS to ask a slightly brutal question:Are you charging for value, or are you charging because you can? The bubble moment: “My mate has never used ChatGPT” We live inside a bubble. We read the threads. We talk about agents, orchestration, governance, and new operating layers like it’s normal. Then you meet someone outside the bubble and they ask:“What is SaaS?”Or they haven’t opened ChatGPT once. It’s refreshing. It’s grounding. And it’s the reminder that mass adoption is always slower than the loudest people think. Guardrails are the theme, whether you like it or not Nigel says it outright. He needs guardrails in life.Food. Apps. Browsing. Time limits. Tab limits. The whole thing. Because without guardrails, you overdo it. You scroll. You snack. You measure everything. You record everything. You do everything except actually unwind. Matt agrees and pushes the “switch off” bit.Sometimes the best thing you can do is leave the headphones behind, hear the birds, speak to another human, recall your dog. And that’s the bigger point of this episode. Not “AI is good” or “AI is bad”. It’s that the pace is faster, the loops are tighter, and if you don’t build guardrails, the cycle eats you. The big takeaway The apocalypse narratives are loud.The cycles are real.And they’re speeding up. But the winners will not be the ones shouting the loudest.They’ll be the ones who can keep a grip on fundamentals, adapt pricing and value models, and build guardrails for people and systems so the upside doesn’t come with burnout. Subscribe for more Unfiltered every week 🎙️ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit unfilteredwithmattnige.substack.com [https://unfilteredwithmattnige.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Clients Are Ahead, Insurers Are Behind, and Someone Finally Said It

On Unfiltered with Matt & Nige, Episode 11, we talk conference season and why the best conversations rarely happen on stage, Nigel’s new love affair with Whispr Flow and all things amphitheatres and ancient drainage tunnels. TLDR: the best value is still people, not slides. Roundtables beat theatre. Clients are moving faster than the market thinks. And “no swag, just tough conversations” might be the only honest conference concept left. This week on Unfiltered the two talk all things: * Whispr Flow and why dictation suddenly feels life changing * a risk focused event that was not “tech”, but still laddered back to “we need to embrace technology to stay ahead of risk” * a Coca Cola leader basically saying insurers are falling behind their risk reality, the alignment gap has widened massively * Matt’s newsletter habit, why writing forces relevance, and why having lunch with competitors might be an underrated strategy * the AI strategy soap opera, Elon, Anthropic, OpenAI dynamics, and why “enemy of your enemy” is alive and well * plus the real life ending - Nigel flying Sunday, Matt flying to Barcelona for Hyrox, both agreeing the weather is still the UK’s main personality trait Conference season, but make it worth it Nigel’s honest take is simple.If you go to everything, nothing changes.And he is worried we are not getting enough net new. That’s why he pulls himself out and prefers private dinners, smaller groups, proper conversations, and a format that actually forces depth. Matt agrees, and name checks a US event that nailed it.Smaller, no panels, and a properly old school attendee list sent out ahead of time so you can actually connect in advance. And then Nigel has the line of the episode.Maybe the answer is a sign that says, no swag, just tough conversation or fun conversation. The Coca Cola moment, clients are ahead This was one of the best reality checks. Matt describes a panel with an “outsider” perspective, a leader from Coca Cola connecting risk reality to insurance alignment. The line that lands is the gap.Ten years ago, the insurer partners were much more aligned with what Coca Cola cared about.Now, they are not. The alignment is down to 20 to 30 percent. And it is not even an innovation conference.It is a risk conversation that inevitably ends up in the same place. “We need to know the market better and adopt technology to keep up.” Puppies, barber shops, and why conferences need personality They have a fun mini debate about conference gimmicks. Matt is not sure where conference puppies fit.Nigel is more direct, he does not get the puppies. But he did love one thing Rory Pike did. A barber shop at the event.Practical, useful, and a surprisingly good way to bump into people right before they go on stage. The writing habit and the “CEO lunch” line Matt shares that he is back into his newsletter rhythm and actually enjoys it now.Writing forces you to stay relevant and stay connected to what is happening. Then he drops a phrase he heard that he loved.Try to have lunch with the CEO of your competitors once or twice a year. It is simple. It is slightly cheeky. It is also smart. The AI side quest, alliances shift quickly Because it is Unfiltered, they end with a quick strategy detour.Elon, Anthropic, OpenAI dynamics, Colossus compute, and why alliances shift fast when capacity and bottlenecks become leverage. They also touch the legal AI space again and the reality that deep domain expertise, data, and embedded enterprise workflows are what keep you safe from being commoditised. The human ending Nigel is flying Sunday night, up early in New York, and is proud of the early dinner and early bed lifestyle. Matt is off to Barcelona for Hyrox. The big takeaway Conferences are only as good as the conversations they create. The market wants depth, not theatre. And the biggest wake up call is still this, clients are moving faster than the insurance industry gives itself credit for. Subscribe for more Unfiltered every week 🎙️ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit unfilteredwithmattnige.substack.com [https://unfilteredwithmattnige.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

AI Credits vs Salaries, Token Maxing Goes Corporate

On Unfiltered with Matt & Nige, Episode 10, the boys start recording whilst still laughing, and eventually get into some good chat about spending the same on AI credits as employee salaries 🎙️ TLDR: some companies are pushing AI usage so hard that credits are on track with salaries. ServiceNow is going all in on “one front door” plus control. And governance is no longer the boring bit. It is the only way this scales. This week on Unfiltered the two talk all things: * the Speechify founder story, dyslexia, accessibility, and building a massive business off a real need * AI credits are starting to match engineering salaries, and some founders want the credits to exceed the people cost * token maxing and figuring out what to use AI for, and what not to * ServiceNow Knowledge, 27,000 people, Otto, AI Control Tower, and why governance is suddenly front and centre * Duolingo and the displacement question, can AI replace it, or does the streak keep it sticky * and Matt’s mini existential wrestle, building a business vs building actual change AI credits vs salaries Matt shares a story from 20VC, Harry Stebbings interviewing the Speechify founder. What sticks is not the product, it is the operating model. His engineering team’s AI credits are close to their salaries.And he is pushing for credits to go beyond. That is a proper marker of where we are heading. If you hire someone for 100k, do you assume they will burn 100k of AI credits too.That question is coming for every team. Token maxing, but with standards Nigel admits he is still in the “figure it out properly” phase. He wants to experiment with agents for his newsletter, but he does not want AI to rewrite his thinking. He writes to think. That is the point. Matt relates to that, but also pushes the other side. Founders driving usage hard, selecting best internal use cases, showing the team how it is done. The meta point is simple.Everyone is experimenting.The winners will standardise what good looks like inside teams. Accessibility and the “Enable” story Who doesn’t love an old story. . Matt talks about his first agency, built around digital accessibility and helping charities and NGOs. And how his mum, to this day, thinks he helps disabled people fix their computers. It is funny, but it is also real.A lot of the most important mainstream tech started as accessibility tech. Speechify sits in that lane.Solve a real need, then it becomes normal for everyone. ServiceNow Knowledge and the control story Nigel gives a quick view from Vegas. 27,000 people, massive announcements, and the big themes are consistent. One front door. Otto.Control. AI Control Tower. The message is clear.Agentic is not just “do stuff for me.”It is “do stuff for me safely,” across systems, data, and workflows. Governance is the unlock, not the brake. Duolingo and displacement They also hit the consumer angle. Duolingo is loved. It is addictive. The streak is real. But the displacement question is also real. AI can translate in real time. You can learn by doing, not tapping an owl for 1,000 days. Matt’s take is nuanced.Duolingo works, but learning style varies, and competitors are everywhere. This is the repeat pattern.Great UX plus habit loops can hold for a long time.Until the interface changes. The Matt wrestle, build a business vs build change Matt talks about getting pulled into vibe coding a new business idea, then catching himself. The goal is not just “build a thing.”The goal is to create change. It is a founder problem, and it is a good one.Tools make building easy. Purpose keeps you honest. The big takeaway AI is not just a productivity layer now.It is becoming a budget line. Credits. Controls. Governance. Adoption.This is the grown up phase. And if you want impact, the tool is not the mission.The mission is the mission. Subscribe for more Unfiltered every week 🎙️ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit unfilteredwithmattnige.substack.com [https://unfilteredwithmattnige.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Finfluencers, Fake Certainty, and Why Distribution Is the Real Moat

On Unfiltered with Matt & Nige, Episode 09, we talk money, moats, and giving advice with ZERO accountability. 🎙️ It starts with sunshine, lawn mowing, and Nigel heading to ServiceNow Knowledge with 22,000 other folk. Just another week in the life of Matt and Nige. Then we get into the real theme:It is getting easier to sound confident.It is getting harder to know what is true, who is accountable, and what is actually defensible. TLDR: Regulators are stepping in on finfluencers. Advice vs guidance matters. And “moats” are shifting from can you build it, to can you distribute it, defend it, and stand behind it. This week on Unfiltered the two talk all things: * the coordinated crackdown on finfluencers pushing unregulated financial products with complete certainty * why fines do not work when the upside is bigger than the penalty * advice vs guidance, and why the boring disclaimer scripts exist for a reason * Nigel’s Health OS experiment * insurance specific LLMs, and what the real “secret sauce” is, not the big model, the proprietary layer * private equity and debt, and what it means when a business hands the keys back to creditors * token budgets and why the “AI spend” conversation is about to get very grown up The finfluencer crackdown This is the headline. Regulators are coordinating across multiple jurisdictions to clamp down on influencers promoting unregulated products. It is 100% overdue.And it matters. Nigel’s point is small fines are not deterrents when one referral can cover the penalty. The bigger problem is the pattern.High certainty. Low accountability. Huge reach. Advice vs guidance, annoying but necessary Nigel goes into the reality of provider calls.Recorded call. Not advice. Not whole of market. No recommendation. Everyone hates the script.But the script exists because the moment someone acts, someone has to own duty of care. Right now, a lot of the internet wants the upside of influence without any of the responsibility. Nigel Health OS, and why this is actually an insurance story One of the best parts of the episode. Nigel is stitching together a personal Health OS. Strava, Whoop, nutrition, weight, stress, supplements. Plus it then tells him what is missing. Omega 3, apparently. Matt connects it immediately.That is the insurance pattern. Lots of fragmented inputs.One joined up view.A decision that depends entirely on context. That is where AI becomes genuinely useful. Not smart sentences. Joined up signals. Insurance LLMs and the copycat era Then the question that keeps coming up. Where are the insurance specific LLMs. Nigel references legal AI names like Harvey and Legora, and the online post claiming someone built a version in two weeks and open sourced it. Matt’s response is the reality check.Building is easier now. Copying is faster too. So what becomes defensible is: * proprietary data layers * workflow embedding * distribution * and being the one people come back to when it goes wrong Nigel adds the nuance. It is not big model versus small model. It is frontier model plus your layer. Your layer is the differentiator. And they land on a likely insurance direction. Domain intelligence by function. Claims. Underwriting. Market intelligence. Specific, embedded, useful. Debt, private equity, and the AI label effect Then we pivot into capital and reality checks. Nigel brings up a private equity story where a business handed the keys back because it could not service the debt. Rare in PE. A signal when it happens. It loops back to the same point.High leverage plus a weak moat equals pain. They also touch the “AI label” effect. The market still loves an AI pivot, sometimes for the right reasons, sometimes because the story is shiny. Token budgets and the grown up phase They close with the practical reality. Tokens cost money. Budgets get tracked. The next phase is cost and value, not vibes. You can do incredible work with these tools.Now you have to prove it is worth it. The human ending Hyrox planning. Family visiting. Vegas travel. Factor 5000 sunscreen.Plus the Allbirds confession, which Matt is owning. Just. The big takeaway If you want to win in this next phase, “confident content” is not enough.You need accountability. And if you are building, the moat is shifting to what is hardest to copy.Distribution. Proprietary data. Embedded workflows. And credible responsibility. Subscribe for more Unfiltered every week 🎙️ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit unfilteredwithmattnige.substack.com [https://unfilteredwithmattnige.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]