How accurate do you think the AI 2027 paper will be, and how can entrepreneurs ensure they aren't replaced by advanced AI that anyone can use?
I didn't say the AI gold rush would die in a few months; it's a transformation of capital from payroll to cloud‑based machines, with money flowing to infrastructure providers like OpenAI. As a service provider, you can help implement that shift. Realistically, it will take years before it no longer makes sense to pursue this work. I have read the AI 2027 paper, and the reality is there's no guarantee entrepreneurs won't be replaced—machines can do knowledge work thousands of times faster and better, and that gap is widening. Nothing humans do is economically sacred; eventually AI could take over. In the midterm, focus on business skills that let you create value in this transition and get comfortable acting with uncertainty, because AI can't yet take real‑world action. Your ability to act is the edge you have.
I don’t think we’re at that point yet. AI will certainly automate many roles, but we still have plenty of opportunities for the next few years. While the landscape will get more competitive, it’s not a reason to panic. Keep building skills, stay adaptable, and you’ll find niches where AI can be an advantage rather than a threat. In short, don’t worry too much—there’s still room to succeed now and in the near future.
Most ad agencies I see hardly last a few years because the market is already shifting to performance‑based pricing in many niches. That’s why a lot of people are quick to sell shovels, mentorship and coaching instead of actually running agencies themselves. My take on the future is two‑fold. First, think of the industrial revolution: machines replaced seamstresses, created new roles, and boosted productivity. Likewise, new automation will render today’s agency models obsolete, but it will also open new opportunities for those who can adapt to emerging technologies. No model lasts forever; we’ll need to shift to whatever new tech or business models appear. Second, AI will eventually swallow up most of what agencies do. In the next 10‑15 years AI will be as good as—or better than—humans at design, copy, and many deliverables. If AI can generate art, copy, and strategy, the skill set we rely on today will become commoditized. So rather than tweaking the same thing slightly, we’ll need to find fundamentally different ways to add value, perhaps by focusing on uniquely human insight or by embracing an AI‑driven renaissance where we re‑evaluate our role in creating economic value.
To survive and thrive in the automation and agency space in 2026‑2027, master business skills: learn to communicate business needs and requirements, speak in consulting terms, understand core consulting concepts like driver trees and a four‑step framework, grasp foundational business principles (revenue, cost, profit, valuations, risk conceptualization akin to an 80/20 view of a business degree), and then get in front of customers to practice selling and communicating—exactly what Maker School teaches.
Keywords like 'AI automation' will eventually die out as the term gets overused, but new labels such as go‑to‑market (GTM) engineering emerge to describe the same core work—building lead lists, automating outreach, and handing off to sales teams. GTM engineering is essentially the same as most AI‑driven growth automation; it just sounds fresher. As people tire of the AI label, everything will have AI baked in, so the term fades while the underlying need for AI‑powered solutions remains. My agency focuses on AI automation services that grow with AI, not on things that disappear with the trend.