AI Isn’t Magic — But It Is Transforming Everything

Friends,

Welcome to The AI Optimist—your weekly dose of clarity and calm in a world that often swings between AI hype and AI phobia.

This rebrand reflects a simple idea: optimism is not naivety. It’s a stance. Amid corporate anxiety and messianic predictions, we believe in grounding our decisions in signal over noise. Our job here isn’t to chase headlines. It’s to build better businesses and a better world—using the best tools available.

This was the week when:

🧠 Apple published The Illusion of Thinking, arguing that large language models don’t actually “reason”
💰 OpenAI dropped the cost of its o3 model by 80%, continuing the rapid commoditisation of powerful AI

These represent the two poles of the current conversation: AI is either a misunderstood tool or an existential supermind. As always, the truth is more pragmatic. Whatever side you're on, change is here—and it's accelerating.

So let’s get to what matters this week:

🔥 URGENT PRIORITIES
✅ No fires to fight
✅ No systems at risk
✅ No urgent shifts to roadmap

Enjoy the stillness. It’s rare—and valuable.

🎯 STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS
🌍 World Models Are the Next AI Layer

Meta just introduced a new type of model designed to help AI systems “see” the world—visually, audibly, even physically. This evolution, called a world model, is how AI begins to develop a richer, more sensory understanding of context.

👉 Read more here

Why this matters:
If you're sitting on expertise - technical IP, repeatable customer processes, internal knowledge -there’s a strategic opportunity here. World models can help you codify that insight and productise it at low cost.

In plain terms: this is a new way to capture your know-how and turn it into an intelligent, agentic tool. And it's wide open for SMEs.

Reach out if you're curious about how to approach this.

Meanwhile, the core strategy remains:
✅ Train your team
✅ Benchmark your AI readiness
✅ Start forming a real plan to become AI First

🤓 GEEK OUT
👨‍💻 Shipping at the Speed of 15 Developers—with 2 People
The team at Every just dropped a behind-the-scenes YouTube video showing how their 2-person dev squad ships like a team of 15 using AI tools.
👉 Watch it here

Why this matters:
This is what "AI First" actually looks like: not a concept, but a shift in pace, scale, and ambition. It’s the clearest vision yet of how the cost of doing is trending toward zero. Watch it—then ask what’s possible in your team with the same leverage.

⚙️ Linear’s Agents = The Future of Product Management?
Linear is quietly redefining how teams manage work. Their new Agents concept is an early glimpse at what collaborative, AI-native tooling will become.
👉 Explore Linear Agents

Why this matters:
This is about more than efficiency - it’s about the machine-human interface. Linear’s agent-based approach shows how software can start to think with you, not just for you. If you’re leading teams or building tools, this is worth close attention.

🛑 Digital Sovereignty in Action: Convergence Gets Acquired
Convergence.AI has been bought by Salesforce and is sunsetting its service next month.
👉 convergence.ai

Why this matters:
If your operations are built on AI platforms you don’t control, this is your wake-up call. Vendor shifts can now break your business logic overnight. Ben and I often talk about digital sovereignty - this is why. If you don’t own your stack, you don’t fully own your future.

🎨 WEEKEND PLAYGROUND
🗣️ Talk to Write with Willow

Willow Voice is a new AI voice interface that lets you speak your thoughts into stories. Take a walk. Talk into your phone. Watch a short story emerge.
👉 Try Willow

Whether you're ideating for work or storytelling with your kids, it’s a simple, fun way to explore how voice might become a key input method for creativity.

✅ Try going for a walk
✅ Record your thoughts
✅ See what Willow makes of them

📢 Share Your Thoughts

If The AI Optimist helps you stay grounded and move smarter—forward it to someone else navigating the shift.

If it’s not quite hitting the mark, hit reply. We’re always listening.

Have a clear, calm, optimistic week,
Hugo & Ben