Lean in and give something a go

I'm trying out a new format for the Friday Takeaway this week. The idea is to give it a bit of structure, so people know what they're getting when they come back.

What's happened in my world this week, what's caught my attention, my take on it, what I've learned, and then my Friday Takeaway.

This week

This week has been pretty busy, and it's been very work-heavy, if I'm honest.

• I started off the week in Dublin, meeting with the Executive Chair Colin MacDonald and Tracey Farrell (Hayden) for one of our clients, then spending the afternoon with another of our international clients, talking about how we can help them speed things up in terms of growth with technology. I definitely felt tired when I got back, but actually, upon reflection, the travel and the time with people, as always, is priceless. Cover photo Louise Colman and I enjoying a point of Guinness in Dublin.
• I had a leadership team meeting at 7DOTS . Loads of exciting developments with tech and things that are getting us motivated.
• Met my friend Stephen Firth for a coffee. His advice and experience working with agencies is always magical.
• Popped along to the Fire on the Hill summer party, which Missy Clements and I were really kindly invited to by Sarah Mulder.
• I've been speaking with CEOs about how they can turn around performance, and presenting our strategies for the work we've been getting on with (or rather the team's been presenting).
• And last but not least, I've been fairly hands on working with the team, building a number of multi-agent systems, for DealCraft.ai , for 7DOTS and for clients, and making some really exciting progress with the work that AI can do.

Something I've been thinking about

There's been a lot in the press this week about AI and the end of humanity. Donald Trump even weighed in, saying he thinks it's all a hoax. Controversial.

I think there's some merit in what he's saying, although I also think the warnings need to be taken seriously, because ultimately the companies are going to keep pushing unless there is a sense of control.

The other thing that's really come up this week has been personal agents / AI assistants. We saw Meta launch Muse last week. Of course, Meta are launching a personal agent with a view of getting hold of your data so they can show you more adverts. Then there's Instinct, a personal AI agent that's currently raising funds at a ridiculous valuation in the billions. You can text or WhatsApp it, and it will go away and carry out tasks on your behalf.

Both are only in the US at the moment [correction, Instinct is invite only, but the I believe available outside of the US], but there are some really interesting early reports from people about how many tasks those agents are doing for them, and how proactive they're being.

My take on it?

I think it all starts with generative AI, which is what a lot of these agents are using. We're not at superintelligence yet, and actually a lot of the current data points show intelligence is flatlining relative to the early gains.

We're probably outgrowing the models, and now we need technology solutions to make them more intelligent. We know that just throwing more data into them doesn't necessarily make them more intelligent. In fact, it can make them more generalist.

So I think you have to apply that lens to everything coming through about AI at the moment. I'm not sure the tech companies are making as much progress as the hype would report. The personal agents coming out are really just built on the current models, with the ability to do things on your behalf.

I'm also seeing a few people wondering whether they'll be using these personal agents in 30 days' time.

It makes me wonder if we're reaching technology saturation levels, and if there needs to be some time for humans to catch up, which I think there is. But also, just generally, whether we want technology doing this much for us in our lives, or whether we need a sense of doing it ourselves to feel accomplished.

I don't think it's perhaps as bad as the news leads you to believe, but I do think there's some exciting developments in the world of personal AI, and what that can mean for businesses in the future. i.e. business to person, or business to business agents.

A lesson from the week

If you saw my post about travelling to Ireland earlier in the week, you'll have seen I listened to one of Tony Robbins' podcasts about the six needs humans have. I picked out two of them to focus on. One was love, with the family, and the other was contribution, having a greater impact.

The one that's really stood out as a learning for me this week was love, and sometimes all it takes is a hug.

My son was worrying one evening about school. Something relatively silly on the face of it, but he was really worried. I sat and listened to him and talked it through.

Then there was just a moment when he asked for a hug, and we had a hug for nearly three minutes. Didn't say a word.

As any parent will know, it was super precious. I was so grateful for him, especially after my busy week and how stressed and tired I'd been. But for him, he leant back after the hug, closed his eyes, and just looked relaxed.

It reminded me that love doesn't always have to be big gestures or big actions. The simplicity of a hug can make all the difference.

That's something I'm definitely going to carry forward. Not that I'm going to start hugging everyone left, right and centre, but there's definitely something in it.

The Friday Takeaway

I think you just have to lean in and give things a go, especially things that aren't obvious or that you're putting off. Whether it's reading a new book, trying an emerging technology that can seem a bit scary, or offering a hug, giving a hug or asking for a hug.

Often, if you just do something and get over that initial barrier, it makes you feel so much better. It never fails to surprise me, even though I know this from reading all the books and talking about it to loads of people. And even if it isn't a great outcome, at least you learn something from it.

Hopefully I'm going to have a guest for the first time next week, so you get to hear from someone else, not just from me. Have a great weekend.

Until next week... what's the one thing you've been putting off giving a go?

And please do like / follow if any of this is interesting.