#expert-quotes

#expert-quotes

"I'm not [hiring] anyone in between," he says, noting that he recently spoke with a promising candidate who said she'd not used Claude Code-nor had she built anything with agents. She didn't get the job.

The AI X Leadership Summit is designed for executives and technical leaders navigating the complex realities of AI adoption, governance, workforce transformation, and innovation.

On Wednesday, Substack announced the new features that allow writers to embed prediction markets data directly into their newsletters and in Notes. (Instead of pasting in a link from Polymarket, writers can now search for and add data through the Substack Editor.) The features build on the partnership first announced in 2024 and seem to be aimed at encouraging more Substack writers to use prediction markets data.

I've done a 180 when it comes to the use of AI. Instead of viewing ChatGPT as a threat, I now look at AI more broadly and view it as an opportunity. Original, well-articulated ideas stand out in GEO-driven searches much more than they ever did in SEO-driven search. As such, there's a huge opportunity to articulate and amplify thought leadership, which is what we've been doing all along. - Margy Sweeney, Akrete

Can the carrot of better empirical measurement, as opposed to the beat of a political drum, woo advertisers back to news content? For much of the past decade, brands' retreat from advertising next to news content has been framed as a means of risk mitigation in response to political polarization, as well as to other ills of the digital media sector, such as misinformation. Alternatively, as many media-buyers call it, the "I just don't want to get fired approach."

Traditional thought leadership is losing impact. Long reports and gated content no longer capture attention in today's zero-click world. As a result, thought leadership is entering a new phase - experiential thought leadership. Engaging formats like interactive webinars, immersive events and podcasts make ideas felt and memorable rather than just consumed. Success depends on cross-team collaboration, testing and building experiences around real audience understanding.

Pencil's experiment focused on written copy in Facebook product ads rather than big-budget creative. Despite widely held concerns that the tech could cannibalize copywriting jobs, that doesn't mean professional creatives are ignoring the tech. Shruthi Subramanian of Serviceplan Munich (above) was named the most-awarded copywriter in the world in The Drum's World Creative Rankings. She says the tools can be put to good use, albeit with caution.

If Nike hired Michael Jordan to work at headquarters, would you expect the marketing team to start sinking three-pointers? Of course not. He's extraordinary, but skill doesn't spread by proximity. Here's a better question: What do Nike employees need to know about basketball? The rules. Game duration. Equipment specs. Enough to design better shoes, write sharper campaigns, and forecast demand accurately. They don't need to play in the NBA. And Nike doesn't need to hire NBA players to improve its business.

The consulting giant questioned 4,454 chief executives across 95 countries and territories about their strategic priorities and outlook in the year up to November 2025. More than half of the CEOs surveyed, 56%, said AI hasn't produced revenue or cost benefits for their businesses to date. Some reported benefits for either revenue or costs: around a third said their revenue was up in the last year, and 26% said they were seeing lower costs from AI.