Adam Tratt

U.S. energy demand is surging — don’t get left behind. New gas projects and large industrial loads are reshaping power markets at breakneck speed. In this high-stakes landscape, timely and accurate data is essential. Halcyon’s Data Products, powered by a regularly updated authoritative data catalog of 4.5+ million documents from all 50 public utility commissions, ensure you always have the latest energy market intelligence. Download this guide to see how AI can help power sector stakeholders find new growth opportunities first.

6

My thoughts on the Great Waymo Outage and what it means for human acceptance of AI/technology. Two quick hits. Waymo needs a more graceful failure mode. Just pulling to the roadside might work in a normal power outage but not in, say, a wildfire or in the aftermath of a quake when people need to get out of harm's way. People also need to reconcile that the big, scary outages are easy to fixate on but mask the overall higher levels of safety and reliability we will be seeing from mature (note the word) AI systems. https://lnkd.in/gwnUA_hJ

6

18 Comments

I've spent about a decade deeply understanding Apple's approach to product design, usability and all the things since spending time at Flurry Analytics, which saw app usage **every day** on 2 billion smartphones, most of them iPhones. I had unusual access, and it was pretty cool if I'm being honest. Anyway, their approach to layering in AI is very "Apple" which means they have to consider myriad use cases on a massive existing multi-product surface area and they will not rush into it. Remember, Apple is a hardware company first which means they "measure twice and cut once" (maybe even three times). In complex production with massive supply chains, you're working multiple years out, so little problems become existential problems. For people who do "run-and-gun" fast cycle iterative software work, it's very, very different. So it doesn't surprise me that they're first looking for the intersections where AI can add outsized, obvious value and layering those experiences, first, in a slow and measured way. At the same time, a hardware-first company, they are not going to have the leading AI lab building the most cutting edge models. In the early days of AI, they will need that trust, however, as users are experiencing what LLMs can do for the first time through Apple products. And that experience needs to deliver.

2

I've talked to a dozen CMOs this quarter. Everyone feels behind on AI — and rightly so. It was the first question asked in my board meeting this week. The reason is pretty clear — there's a wide spectrum of AI readiness, and the gap between adopting tools and strategic integration is enormous. Here's what I think is driving it. 👇 We entered 2026 treating AI as a productivity play.  Move faster. Do more with less. Get 2x campaigns out the door. That framing made sense as a starting point — but it optimizes the old model. It doesn't build the new one. Only 25.7% of marketing leaders say they're using AI strategically, even as adoption climbs (HubSpot). AI-native competitors aren't just adding tools — they're reorganizing entire functions around AI-first workflows. The question I've shifted to: Not "how do we use AI better?" But — "what does our function look like when AI owns the middle layer?" Personas. Segmentation. Variants. Reporting. Campaign optimization. That's not an efficiency question. It's a restructuring question. What I'm actually doing about it: 🤝 Being intentional about vendors. The tools worth your time aren't selling features — they're changing how your team thinks and works. Claude was our recent unlock. It didn't just speed things up, it changed how we approach the work. Honestly? I think it's close to replacing several other vendors we've been testing. 🎯 Redefining what winning looks like. Productivity is table stakes. The real opportunity: AEO gains, strategic buying signals surfacing from funnel data that used to stay invisible, insights that change how you go to market. The leaders pulling ahead aren't asking "how do I use AI better?" — they're asking "how does AI elevate my entire GTM model and become a competitive advantage?" That shift changes everything, including which workflows you're willing to throw out entirely. 🧠 Being smart about where people focus. At Consensus, we've grown revenue over 60% with the same size marketing team — and I see that continuing. We're not working harder, we're working smarter. The goal is to free people up for what AI can never replicate: the creative, memorable moments that define a brand. The campaigns that make people feel something. That's where human energy belongs. The window to lead this transition rather than react to it is still open. I don't think it stays open indefinitely. What are you finding? What's working — and what's harder than expected?

27

2 Comments

Google is re-imagining Maps with Gemini, introducing incredible upgrades and new possibilities for navigation. Ask Maps simplifies trip planning by allowing users to ask questions about routes and stops, with Gemini fetching information from over 300 million places and reviews to provide answers. Immersive Navigation enhances the experience by rendering routes in 3D, utilizing Gemini to analyze Street View and aerial imagery to display buildings, overpasses, crosswalks, and more. Additional upgrades include more conversational voice guidance, Street View previews of destinations with parking information, and insights on trade-offs for alternative routes.

22

An agentic AI prototype isn't a business asset. It becomes one when it can be deployed, monitored, and governed at scale. The infrastructure to do that is what most enterprises are still missing. Read Adrian Bridgwater's coverage of Domino Data Lab's latest launch in ComputerWeekly.com:

8

🚨 Compelling narrative from Doug Marinaro of Riptide in this new piece on "The Great AI Agent Letdown and the Rise of the Customer Advocate"!! In it he argues that AI agents promised a revolution, but what we got was a letdown and frustrated customers. That we need to dream BIGGER. With🤖 Riptide and AI Customer Advocates, AAA transformed its roadside service for 13 million members in just 90 days, delivering: ✅ 10x faster response times ✅ 50% lower handle times ✅ Rising customer satisfaction >4% 💡 The future of CX isn’t about replacing humans. It’s about designing AI that acts with purpose and collaborates to get the job done right. 👉 Read: The Great AI Agent Letdown—and the Rise of the AI Customer Advocate https://lnkd.in/gM6WeMaE #AI #CustomerExperience #AIAdvocacy #CustomerService #Ripley #LLMs #EnterpriseAI #CX #Automation #AITransformation #AIandHumans #RiptideAI

22

Excited to share that Aperiam has invested in Bedrock Platform. Obvious statement of the century: programmatic advertising has a complexity problem. The infrastructure that was built to give media buyers control has, over time, done the opposite. Burying teams under layers of operational overhead, legacy tooling, and opaque supply chains. Bedrock is built on a simple but powerful thesis: what if you stripped away the bloat and rebuilt the stack around what actually matters... precision, transparency, and speed to execution. Their platform combines AI-driven campaign automation with curated, premium inventory across video, CTV, DOOH, and audio, and aims to be flexible and get smarter over time. Plus, the team (Shane, Austin, Ryan, James) has deep roots in the infrastructure layer of ad tech and understands the plumbing better than almost anyone. We believe the next generation of programmatic will be leaner, faster and AI-first. Bedrock is building that.

108

14 Comments

Don’t think of who you can replace with AI, think of what you and they could do better with AI. There are lots of intangible functions people do outside of their defined job descriptions.

23

2 Comments

"AI can calculate faster, analyze deeper, and generate endlessly. But it cannot feel, or tell a story that moves the human heart." This is how Joe McCambley—inventor of the banner ad, founder of Wonderfactory, and storied CMO at Saatva—started his blurb for my new book Super Skill: Why Storytelling Is the Superpower of the AI Age. The entire thing is worth reading, not because of the nice things he says about me, but the poignant questions he asks about how AI will impact us. "Will it make a better human?" is a question we all need to be asking. Here's what Joe wrote after reading it: "Everyone from podcasters to newscasters to disaster casters tells us that within five years, there will be a General AI that will be able to do everything better than humans. But will that make it a better human? AI can calculate faster, analyze deeper, and generate endlessly. But it cannot feel, or tell a story that moves the human heart. In Super Skill, Joe Lazer argues that storytelling is our evolutionary superpower that sets humans apart from all other animals and all other forms of intelligence. Storytelling is the force that lifted homo sapiens above stronger rivals, built civilizations, and now, in the AI age, will determine who calls the shots. Blending neuroscience, history, and unforgettable case studies, Joe shows how stories are the key to agency, empathy, and leadership. Read Super Skill. Then get out there and reclaim what makes you human!" Damn Joe McCambley—you're good. If you want to take Joe's advice, get Super Skill here. You'll unlock my new storytelling course, bonus chapters, workshops, and more when you do: https://lnkd.in/g2M-3cSs

51

12 Comments

My First AI Post @2025 (and thank you to the Aperiam AI Fellows and to Dawn West and Alex Netelkos for making that happen!): If viewability was the training wheels of digital measurement, attention is the carbon-fiber racing bike we’ve just learned to ride. Erica kicked us off by pointing out the obvious: “viewable” doesn’t mean “seen,” and certainly doesn’t mean “engaged.” McKinsey’s neat formula — time × focus × intent — resonated as a starting point, but the real magic is in using that across channels and across the funnel. Why does this matter now? Because omni-channel is no longer a buzzword — it’s the messy, lived reality. CTV, digital out-of-home, mobile gaming, social feeds — each has wildly different engagement norms. An attention metric gives marketers and publishers a lingua franca, a Rosetta Stone to compare value and outcomes without pretending a click on a banner is the same as leaning into a big-screen spot. Publishers want credit for premium environments. Marketers want to normalize buys across hundreds of brands, countries, and media types. Attention-weighted CPMs (ACPMs) start to solve both. Even a global CPG can look across Meta, YouTube, stadium signage, and print — and make sense of it. Is it perfect? No. Is it better than a stack of inconsistent KPIs and gut feel? Absolutely. And yes, AI is in the wings — not as the protagonist, but as the stagehand making the hard stuff easier. It can normalize messy data, connect attention signals to outcomes, and embolden teams to try bolder experiments. Which brings us to the closing provocation: What if a few brave brands and publishers agreed to really transact on attention — rough edges, no gaming, shared responsibility for outcomes? The moment feels right to test whether attention can become not just a metric, but a currency. Marc Guldimann Adelaide David Zapata AB InBev Michael Shields Cory Treffiletti Rembrand McKinsey & Company

83

8 Comments