AI That Actually Fits: The Quiet Revolution at OpenAI and Google”

Friends,

Your weekly AI briefing is here - designed to help you respond to AI, not react to the noise. No curveballs. No chaos. Just clarity.

📰 This was the week that was...

This was a week about integration and usefulness – two steady steps that show where enterprise AI is really heading.

1️⃣ ChatGPT Connects to Company Knowledge
OpenAI introduced seamless company integrations, allowing ChatGPT to connect directly to your internal tools, data, and systems through single sign-on.

No plugins, no workarounds – just a straightforward way to make ChatGPT part of how work actually gets done.

Why it matters: This turns AI from something you visit into something that’s simply there when you need it. The easier it becomes to connect AI safely, the faster every organisation can use it confidently and well.

2️⃣ Google NotebookLM Gets a Custom Persona Engine
Google’s NotebookLM has had another quiet but significant upgrade. You can now create custom AI researchers – tuned to your projects, tone and priorities.

This makes it much easier to use AI to think through complex material, not just summarise it.

Why it matters: NotebookLM shows the direction of travel for business AI – tools that support judgement and understanding, not just information retrieval.

🎯 Strategic Insight

The pattern is clear: integration is the new frontier.

AI is moving from capability into connection – embedding itself inside workflows, systems and conversations.

Takeaway:

• Integrate rather than add on – AI belongs in the flow of work.

• Start where connection gives you back time and clarity.

• Measure progress by how well it helps people focus on what matters.

🤓 Geek-Out Stories

1️⃣ Anthropic’s Economic Index – September 2025 Edition
Anthropic’s new Economic Index tracks AI’s impact on productivity, capital and labour across sectors.

📖 Read the report (Anthropic)

Why it matters: This is one of the first attempts to measure AI’s economic influence with rigour. It signals a move from speculation to evidence.

2️⃣ AI-First Development – Avoiding Data Mistakes
From Making Data Mistakes by Greg Detre: a thoughtful look at why “AI-first” development depends on strong data practice – and why organisations with more technologists will now move faster.

📖 Read the article

Why it matters: The gap between those who can build with AI and those who only use it is widening. Building technical fluency across teams is becoming a strategic necessity.

3️⃣ Letter to a Young Person Worrying About AI
From Commoncog via Rahim: a reflective piece about how each generation comes to terms with new technology – and what that means for how we prepare young people and talent for the future.

📖 Read the letter

Why it matters: It puts current fears in perspective. Each era faces uncertainty; the real task is helping people adapt confidently and humanely.

4️⃣ Seeing Business Like a Language Model
From Every.to: explores how businesses can be redesigned to behave more like adaptive systems – flexible, composable and generative.

📖 Read the article

Why it matters: This offers a practical way to think about organisational design in the AI age – less hierarchy, more learning loops.

🎨 Weekend Playground – Talk to Boardy.ai

This week I tried Boardy.ai, a WhatsApp-based AI you can speak to.
Fifteen minutes in, it felt surprisingly natural – pauses, rhythm, and a sense of conversation rather than command.

📱 Try Boardy.ai

Why it matters: This feels like the beginning of the end for online forms. Speaking rather than typing could become the way we share information with machines.
It’s not about replacing human-to-human conversation, but making human-to-machine interaction more natural, respectful and intuitive.

📢 Share the Optimism

If The AI Optimist helps you think more clearly, forward it to a friend.
If something’s missing, hit reply – I read every message.

Stay strategic. Stay generous.
Hugo & Ben