About
I've spent 20 years at the intersection of technology, automation, and organizational…
Articles by Aaron
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STEMtrunk - The Evolution of an Idea
STEMtrunk - The Evolution of an Idea
This is the first in a series of posts planned detailing the journey of our new startup, STEMtrunk – from the original…
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Appency Named Top App Marketing Agency
Appency Named Top App Marketing Agency
With virtually everyone these days walking around with a smartphone in their pockets or purses, marketers are eager to…
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Entrepreneurs — The Lunatics You're Looking For
Entrepreneurs — The Lunatics You're Looking For
You may be right. I may be crazy.
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Developers: It's Time to Stop Making Educational Apps
Developers: It's Time to Stop Making Educational Apps
I remember it well. It was a cold February day in 2015 and I was staring at my laptop screen as I sat behind my desk at…
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Ethics and the App Marketing Space
Ethics and the App Marketing Space
Original post can be found at TheAppencyPress.com It happens all too often.
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The Death of ASO: How Apple is Killing the Small Developer
The Death of ASO: How Apple is Killing the Small Developer
On a daily basis the Appency team gets emails from frustrated app developers looking for help solving their app…
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Educational App Developers Wanted
Educational App Developers Wanted
Educational apps have long been one of the hardest forms of apps to market. Traditional revenue models that rely on…
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Marketing Non-Gaming Apps: The Mobile Heroes
Marketing Non-Gaming Apps: The Mobile Heroes
If mobile app marketing is a challenge… marketing a non-gaming app is walking a tightrope blindfolded – with your arms…
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How to Prepare Your App for the Holidays
How to Prepare Your App for the Holidays
This holiday season, 56% of all retail traffic is expected to come from a mobile device - is your eCommerce app ready…
Activity
6K followers
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Aaron Watkins shared thisExcited to join the NetBrain team, heading up the Go To Marketing AI & Automation function! As a company already putting AI & Automation first and foremost at the front of their stack, they are extremely well placed to maintain their industry leading role in network monitoring for major enterprises worldwide!
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Aaron Watkins shared thisI would love to tack this to the office wall of every employee I’ve ever had to answer the “hey can I get some more tokens??” question. Yes, using AI is easy - but using it well is a skill. #AISmarterNotHarder #Claude #AI #tokens #OpusOverkill
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Aaron Watkins shared thisA great breakdown of how AI is used and how we talk about it. Too many people throwing around terms without really understanding the vocabulary (Even in AI job descriptions which I find humorous)Aaron Watkins shared thisLLM ≠ Generative AI ≠ AI Agents ≠ Agentic AI We need to stop grouping them together. Each serves a different purpose, operates at a different level of complexity, and solves a different class of problems. Here’s the breakdown: 🔹 LLM Predicts tokens based on patterns in data. No memory. No intent. No task execution. Just input → output. 🔹 Generative AI Builds on LLMs to create text, code, images, etc. It understands latent space and can generate novel content—but it still waits for instructions. 🔹 AI Agents Execute predefined tasks. They detect intent, call tools or APIs, and handle responses. They’re modular and functional—but not autonomous. 🔹 Agentic AI Operates with goals, plans, context, and memory. It reasons, adapts, calls sub-agents, monitors progress, and decides what to do next—without human instruction. This isn’t just a progression of features. It’s a shift in system design—from prediction to orchestration, from commands to autonomy. If you're building with AI, clarity on where your system fits in this stack determines everything: architecture, tooling, risk, and value.
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Aaron Watkins reposted thisAaron Watkins reposted thisStarting my 2025 attending and showing SMUD support tonight at Startup Grind Sacramento, in collaboration with Startup Folsom and Granite City Coworking for the first monthly Folsom AI Meetup. Exciting to hear Aaron Watkins, who won the Zappy Award for AI innovator of the year and Storiel AI’s Anil M. who was the runner up at the StartupSac Mock Investor Salon I attended in December talk about ideation, coding and automation possibilities with AI. #AI #AutomatedWorkflow #startups #Entreprenuership #EconDev Rich Foreman Keith Ward
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Aaron Watkins shared thisExcited to be speaking at Startup Folsom about AI and automation! Even the smallest businesses can benefit from both and there is a ton to explore!Aaron Watkins shared thisIn tonight's #AI Meetup, we're featuring Aaron Watkins Zappy AI Innovator of the Year Award Winner and Storiel AI the runner up for StartupSac Mock Investor Salon at Granite City Coworking https://lnkd.in/g2HBdR6KFolsom AI Meet Up Featuring “Zappy AI Innovator of the Year Award Winner” Aaron Watkins — Startup FolsomFolsom AI Meet Up Featuring “Zappy AI Innovator of the Year Award Winner” Aaron Watkins — Startup Folsom
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Aaron Watkins shared thisHonored to be named Zapier's AI Innovator of the year! When I started CIBA (Can It Be Automated?) AI wasn't something we ever had to consider. Now it is a part of our team's work each and every day. For the specific project that ended up being what won this award for us - we were hired by a super fun company "Visit Real Santa" who makes custom Santa videos for children. They wanted a way to also make custom letters from Santa that were three main things: - Personalized - Scalable - Realistic What we ended up building was an integrated system that starts with parents filling out a questionnaire about their children's interests and accomplishments. We then used ChatGPT and a series of prompts to take that information and compose each individual letter in the voice of Santa, but with relevant personalized information to make the magic feel more real. Once the letter is composed and goes through a human approval process, another automation then takes the letter and sends it off to a company that uses a robotic arm attached to a ballpoint pen to "hand" write each letter onto Christmas themed stationary because as we all know... Santa wouldn't type out letters! Each letter is then packaged up and sent out to the child and a little more Christmas cheer is released into the world. You don't need to be Santa however to benefit from AI and automation. The true promise of automation is to take away the minutia and tedious/repetitive grunt work that is taking your time and focus away from the parts of your business that really need you to be able to grow. Happy to answer any questions about how we use AI or automation!
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Aaron Watkins posted thisDid you know…. ChatGPT will write you a cover letter if you give it your resume and the job listing? Try it out and let me know what you think!
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Aaron Watkins liked thisAaron Watkins liked thisWe're hiring at BROADWAY SACRAMENTO: a new position in our growing marketing department, Director of Marketing - Music Circus. Posted salary range is $95-105k. If you’re a senior-level marketer who loves live entertainment (or know someone), this is an exciting role co-leading the marketing for Northern California’s premiere producer and presenter of musical theatre, and the largest nonprofit musical theatre company in the state. It's an exciting time around here as we celebrate our 75th anniversary. Please share! https://lnkd.in/grB-xzrF
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Aaron Watkins liked thisAaron Watkins liked thisYears ago at a previous company, we built a small internal tool on Google Sheets to handle missed customer calls. Nothing fancy, just a shared board, an email when something needed attention, and a one-tap close button so things didn't pile up. It quietly kept the team out of trouble. When the company sold out, the tool got shelved. I've been thinking about it ever since. So over the past week, on nights and the weekend, I rebuilt it from scratch. It's live now as CallNotes. The basics: when someone can't get to a call, a coworker (or answering service) can drop a CallNote into a shared system — caller details, department, notes — instead of a paper sticky note that gets misplaced or buried on someone's desk. The right person is emailed instantly and can mark it resolved with one tap, straight from the email. Because everyone can see what's open and who handled it, accountability is built in and customers actually get the follow-up they expect. No app to install, works on any phone or tablet. There's a Slack integration and basic analytics. 14-day free trial, no credit card. It's built for single or multi-location SMBs where a missed call usually means a missed appointment, lost sale or a missed job — which applies to basically any business with a telephone. This has been a nice side project, really a way to push my own learning. Bringing it back has been hands-on practice using AI tools to build production code, wiring up integrations, working in GitHub, Webhosting and pulling a full stack together into something real. If your team (or anyone you know) wrestles with missed calls, I'd love a look and any honest feedback.
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Aaron Watkins reacted on thisAaron Watkins reacted on thisUser: Claude (or your enterprise AI of choice), I'm needing some assistance falling asleep. I've included 6 months of data from my Fitbit, Apple Watch, and Whoop that should help you make a plan for me. I've also attached a file that aggregates my energy usage over the past 10 years that I've been manually updating each month. Thanks in advance! Claude (or your enterprise AI of choice): Go to sleep.
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Education
Licenses & Certifications
Volunteer Experience
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Co-Founder
Convergence Theatre Company
- 2 years 2 months
Arts and Culture
Part of the founding team of the Convergence Theatre Company, dedicated to impactful and thought-provoking theater arts in the Yuba-Sutter community.
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Member of the Board
Redwod Adventure Camp
- Present 8 years 4 months
Education
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Board Member
The Acting Company - Yuba City
- 1 year 1 month
Arts and Culture
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Volunteer Firefighter
Healdsburg Fire Department
- 6 years
Disaster and Humanitarian Relief
Volunteer Firefighter / Fire Explorer for the Healdsburg Fire Department. During that time acted as Battalion Chief for the Fire Explorer Academy and performed disaster relief during the 1997 El Nino flooding event along with various other actitivies.
Projects
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Can It Be Automated?
See projectBuilding out a marketing automation consultancy to streamline small and medium-sized business operations. Work in progress.
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Eurapp Workshop "Rebooting the Eu App Economy"
As one of the top 7 solutions of the Eurapp Challenge "Supporting the Eu App Economy - Funding and Scaling-up App Companies" I have been invited to present my idea at the Eurapp Worshop in Berlin.
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Honors & Awards
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Essentials Fellowship
4.0 Schools
Selected to attend the 4.0 Schools "Essentials Fellowship" program for educational startups.
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Sacramento "Top 40 Under 40"
Sacramento Business Journal
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Eagle Scout
Boy Scouts of America
Languages
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English
Native or bilingual proficiency
Organizations
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American Camp Association
Member
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Internet Marketing Association (IMA)
Member
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Sacramento Ad Club
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Sacramento Public Relations Association - SPRA
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Recommendations received
22 people have recommended Aaron
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Jackie Kuehl
#AI Tip: Just start and practice. The overwhelming amount of information is paralyzing. Don't listen to hype on which model has higher benchmarks. Pick one: Chat, Gemini, Claude. Stress it. Talk to it. Ask it questions. See what it can and can't do. Take notes. Share with coworkers. There ya go.
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Sohail Khan
The rapid evolution of AI demands more than just technical prowess; it requires a deep commitment to ethical design. California's recent SB 243, mandating safety protocols for AI companion chatbots, underscores a critical truth: innovation without guardrails risks significant harm, particularly to vulnerable users. At Kombee, we believe true engineering leadership means embedding trust-by-design from the outset. This isn't an afterthought; it's foundational to sustainable AI. This legislation highlights key areas where proactive design is paramount: • Robust age verification and content moderation. • Clear identification of AI-generated interactions. • Proactive crisis intervention protocols for self-harm. These aren't just regulatory hurdles. They are opportunities to build more resilient, trustworthy AI systems that foster genuine engagement and societal benefit. As technology leaders, how are we moving beyond reactive compliance to proactively architect AI solutions that prioritize user safety and ethical responsibility, setting new industry standards? #ResponsibleAI #AIEthics #CTO #TrustByDesign #AIInnovation
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Miguel P. Farias
41% of Orange County workers would leave if offered remote job with good pay, UCI poll says Pioneering a safer AI future, Orange County workers demand remote jobs for better pay, shunning traditional offices. Jon Gould's UCI survey unveils a shift to hybrid work, reflecting post-pandemic job preferences. 🚀 In a new survey, 41% of Orange County workers eye remote roles for higher pay, sparking a workforce transformation. Discover how the urge for flexible work setups impacts job choices and employer strategies in the evolving landscape. 🌟 Two years post-pandemic, over half the workforce in Orange County seeks a hybrid work schedule, marking a significant trend towards adaptable work arrangements. Explore the implications and potential policy shifts for AI integration in the workplace. 💼 Would you consider a remote job for better pay, like 41% of Orange County workers? Join the discussion on evolving work preferences and the need for work-life balance in the latest job market trends. How has your work scenario changed post-pandemic? Share your thoughts! 💬 #OrangeCounty #RemoteJobs #HybridWork #FutureOfWork #JobTrends
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Brett House
Billable hours vs. real outcomes: can agencies afford to keep the old model alive in the age of AI? 🤔 🎧 Catch the full conversation: https://gag.gl/RQVvKS In this Signal & Noise clip, Brett House, Rio Longacre, and guest Shiv Gupta unpack why the FTE model may no longer hold up, and what agencies must do to justify their fees. Subscribe to MediaRadar, Inc.'s Signal & Noise on YouTube or Spotify! #MediaRadar #SignalAndNoise #Podcast #ProgrammaticAdvertising #AI #AdTech
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Marty Santalucia
This week's episode of The Impact is live! New rules are landing before most people even realize the game has changed. In Sacramento, legislators just drew the first hard line for artificial intelligence, forcing the biggest developers to prove their systems are safe, keep shutdown plans on file, and log serious incidents. In Washington, Congress countered with a plan to test frontier models through the Department of Energy, backed by million-dollar-a-day penalties. And while those fights heat up, the White House doubled funding for AI-driven cancer research despite deep(er) cuts elsewhere, right as watchdogs sued four agencies to reveal how they already use AI behind the scenes. It’s been a week where rules, power, and technology all met on the same stage, and no one agrees who’s running the show. That’s where The Impact steps in. Our new episode breaks down how AI regulation is being written in real time and what it means for campaigns, advocacy, and innovation across the country. 🎧 The Impact reaches thousands of political and policy professionals each week. Listen to the full conversation with Addie and Hal here or wherever you get your podcasts!
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