Kia ora {{ First name | friend }},
I spent yesterday at the Lisbon AI Summit, with 800+ other builders, leaders, marketers and AI-curious entrepreneurs. Today’s email is a summary of my takeaways.
Here’s the high level rub (details further down the page):
The next couple years will be the defining moment for AI.
Practicality will outrun hype in the long term.
The future of AI experience design lies in velocity, unity and personalisation.
I’m also accepting interest for my Intro to Vibe Coding course, the first of a Build with Billy cohort series, focused on shifting from advisory (chat) to action (code) relationship with AI.
In short, it’s talking to AI to build automated workflows that help you to free up more time for the things you love. Automate the manual tasks, stay focused on high-value creative activities that you enjoy.
For those of you who have been following the AI Brain conversation, this is a practical 4-week course to help you integrate these automation systems in to your project. You’ll come away with practical integrated workflows that can run with little-to-no effort from you.
The program will likely run in July/August. Limited to 15 spots.
Let me make this very clear: you do not need a tiny bit of coding experience to participate in this cohort.
All you need is a clear idea, a ChatGPT/Claude subscription, and a willingness to grow.
This is the way of the (foreseeable) future with AI.
Thanks for being here, and enjoy the insights from the AI summit :)
Lisbon AI Summit Reflections
Here’s what I’m still digesting, less than 24hrs after walking out the doors. I’m very aware I’m mostly preaching to the converted here - I hope this is of value to you.
1. 2026-2028 will define the future
These next two years are crucial to get right, in a lot of ways.
If you’re not already leveraging AI automation, agents, and working with it every day, this is your sign to get going.
Adoption has never been easier. The use cases are plentiful. The access is right there waiting for you. This is not to promote hype or fearmonger you into taking action. This is a grounded reminder that you will seriously struggle to keep up in any line of business if you don’t take the plunge.
You’ll struggle to keep up for a number of reasons
The learning curve for AI will get steeper as the technology evolves. Today’s knowledge is build on the cement of yesterday. It’s just gonna get harder and harder to evolve, as the collective baseline of knowledge for those working with AI will evolve. Think about when computers first came out - hardly anybody could use them effectively. Now we all walk around with them in our pockets, tapping away as if it’s totally natural (it’s not). The same will be true for those building businesses with AI - it’ll be a totally different paradigm.
AI is currently highly subsided by venture capital (Anthropic is valued at $965b from VC, while “only” making $47b+ in revenue). Tools will not remain as cheap as they are forever. The window for high leverage using frontier models (Opus 4.8, GPT 5.5) to build, experiment and leverage the subsidies is right now. We’ll figure out cheaper and local solutions collectively in the future, but that will be for those who are experienced (see point 1)
The moment we are in right now is already full of insane possibility. Moving from chatting with AI to setting up automated workflows when works for you is a golden moment. By the time 2027-28 comes around, this will be old news, and the next big thing will be in place
This one is a bit scary, trigger warning: There may be a time when we have to decide a split path. Either merge your biology (get a chip, implant) to continue using technology, or run your own systems with external computers on local models. Contrary to the main message of this AI project, I personally intend on the latter path. The time to choose may come sooner than you think.
Summary: If you’re in business and interested in AI, start growing your capability now. Don’t hesitate. Watch Youtube videos, follow people on IG who are talking about this, ask what your friends are doing, just make it a part of your life in any way you can. Start the snowball effect.
2. Practicality will outrun hype in the long term.
First principles are crucial for sustained progress and staying the course with AI. There’s too many 20yo Americans in Bali who are gonna “lock tf in” in their villa, unchecked ambition, eyes full of cash, sniffing new tools like they’re cocaine. I say this with compassion, because I see the same tendency when I look within myself.
Do one thing, and do it well. I’m doing community education for AI automation. What are you doing?
Laser sharp focus. The AI world is like a casino. Bright lights, shiny objects, everyone trying to grab your attention, and no clock to keep you sane. Also the casino conveniently validates every idea, thought and belief system you hold, to keep you gambling. Poker table? Blackjack? Slot machines? Blow all my cash on this fancy new automation tool? All the same. Just pick a few tools, and stick with those. (quick caveat, I use way more tools than this, but this is how I think about foundations):
AI/LLM: Claude or ChatGPT
Email: Gmail or Proton for privacy
Project management: Notion or Airtable
Team comms (if necessary): Slack or Discord
Everything else is a bonus, if your foundation is solid.
Work with real things. Anyone can look like an AI guru behind doors when working on a digital business. I’ve personally found it’s a bit of a black hole of hype and getting lost in the void. Nothing better for sharpening your practicality than working with real physical businesses. I learn so much about AI from trying to make it fit inside a farm context - working with real people, natural systems, slow-moving structures is a great way to really test your hype bias. Farms is an extreme and nuanced context. Try local businesses, e-commerce, or service providers to flex your AI practicality muscles.
Long term, think like an old shoemaker who would build a shoe that last decades.
3. Future of AI experience = velocity, unity and personalisation.
We’re about to shift away from “static” digital experiences. This is a bit of a buzzy one to wrap your head around, so bear with me. I’ll begin by defining some terms:
Velocity: The pace at which our digital lives move will get more and more seamless, until it feels like the digital world if manifesting before our eyes (literally, it will). Our relationship of how we expect technology to serve our lives will also change. So will our ability to use it and build with it. (See 2026-2028 above)
Unity: The continuous unification of your whole digital experience. Your tools, context, projects, ideas, personal operating system will be the foundational network for how you engage with technology in general.
Personalisation: Your online experience will be highly tailored to you. Most of the content/systems you engage with digitally will be run by AI. Media, chatbots, websites etc. These systems will be totally personalised to give you the most ideal experience for your context. Your business tools will shape to your role (or focus session, or in-the-moment needs).
The combination of these three is a unified digital experience that is ever-quickening, totally integrated with your digital life, and very uniquely yours, with (hopefully) full customisation capability - if you’re owning your own systems.
We’re in a golden period now where we get to choose what this looks like. I advise that you learn to choose, before someone else’s AI chooses for you.
PS: this last one wigs me out a little bit. I’m actually excited for the value that this will bring back to human connection (think vinyl music or film cameras, vs digital).
Bring a bit of analog back into your life, even though most people and AI systems will look at you like this:
Mr Bean on GTA San Andreas
{{ First name | friend }}, if any of this sparks a curiosity in you - flick me a reply, would love to hear how this lands. You can also follow my new Instagram here.
If you’re interested in embracing the tools as described above, you can express your interest in the community cohort at this link here.
Don’t forget to breathe some fresh air today. Go get em :)
Billy