#83 · How Broke Beginners Are Winning With AI Agencies

youtube ↗AI & Automation

Where do you see the online agency space in 10‑15 years, and will the traditional Facebook‑ads model or the new automation agency model last?

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.

agency futureautomationai

Related answers

youtube ↗AI & Automation

What business model do you think will grow over the next five years with AI?

I explained that our old content‑marketing model for SEO agencies, magazines and affiliates is being destroyed by AI. Content writing demand is disappearing because a single writer with AI can produce what used to require large teams, and readers no longer consume newspapers or magazines—they ask AI for summaries. So that model is essentially dead. Instead, we decided to build the same AI tools we created for 1 Second Copy and offer them as a service to other businesses. The better the AI gets, the more valuable the tools become. We leveraged the exact same marketing mix we’d used before, and in our first month we generated over $20 k. That proved the concept and gave us the runway to iterate further.

business modelaifuturesaas
youtube ↗Agency Operations

Nick, I'm 18 and live in a country where small and medium‑sized businesses are far behind with AI and automation; they don't know Zapier or Make. Is it smart to build an automation agency here now to make money during the lag period and level up systems thinking before the window closes?

He says yes, it's smart to start an automation agency now to capture the lag, but you should focus on delivering strategic outcomes and consulting rather than just selling tools. You can still make money with tools, but the real value is in helping clients achieve business results. He also notes that if you're not making $10k/month yet, focus on reaching that income first, and that many traditional businesses (web design, clay pottery) still thrive, so it's not all black‑and‑white.

automation agencylag marketsystems thinking
youtube ↗AI & Automation

Do you think AI automation will eventually die out, or will it remain a constant game of evolving with AI?

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.

ai automationfuturegtm engineering
youtube ↗AI & Automation

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.

aiai 2027automationfuture