AI agents are the future - how to prepare your business for success

Hi Futurist,

OpenAI has introduced a 5-level plan towards Artificial General Intelligence. They are currently at level 2. I have already considered what level 3 means for you and your organization. Therefore, I am sending you insights, inspiration, and innovation straight to your inbox. Let’s dive into the depths of the digital future together and discover the waves of change shaping our industry.

In this post, we're dipping in:

• 📣 Byte-Sized Breakthroughs: Three (technological) developments in the digital landscape

• 🎙️ MarTech Maestros: one webinar, podcast, or interesting paper I believe you should watch, listen to, or read too

•  🧐 Last but not least: Things that I like

Do you have tips, feedback or ideas? Or just want to give your opinion? Feel free to share it at the bottom of this dip. That's what I'm looking for.

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📣 Byte-Sized Breakthroughs

'Byte-Sized Breakthroughs' briefly highlights (technological) developments in the digital landscape

Headstory: AI agents are the future - how to prepare your business for success

AI is advancing rapidly. We see it in chatbots. They converse like humans. That's just the start. OpenAI is aiming higher. Much higher. OpenAI’s roadmap tells us so. They're on the path to artificial general intelligence (AGI). This path has five levels. Each step brings us closer to human-level AI:

• Level 1: Chatbots. We know them well. They answer questions. They assist us online. But they don't solve problems. Not yet.

• Level 2: Reasoners. This is where we are now. AI that thinks. AI that solves problems. Like a human. But it's just the beginning.

• Level 3: Agents. Coming soon. AI that acts. AI that makes decisions. For us and with us.

• Level 4: Innovators. AI that creates. AI that drives innovation. By winter 2026, they predict.

• Level 5: Organizations. AI running businesses. Entirely. Fall 2026, they forecast.

It's an exponential climb. Progress accelerates. It took two years from chatbots to reasoners. The next steps will be faster. Much faster.

Think about it. AI agents are the future. They're the next step. OpenAI knows this. The tools we see today hint at it. They're preparing. So, you should too. To leverage AI agents, you need one thing: Clean and comprehensive data. Without it, AI fails. It can't make smart decisions. It can't provide rational outcomes. They’re just sophisticated guessers.

So, what’s the next step? Businesses must ensure their data is in order. This isn’t just a technical task. It’s strategic. The future is knocking. AI agents are almost here. Are you ready to let them in?

Start at the beginning. Ensure all your company data is centralized in a data warehouse. From marketing, sales, customer service, finance to production. Everything. Now, marketers are in luck. In recent years, data warehouses have become increasingly important as the core of marketing activities.

This isn’t just a trend. It’s a necessity. It’s how we move forward. Why? Because they break silos. Data warehouses are not just about storage; they centralize data and make it instantly accessible, ideal for powering AI agents. Here's what C-level executives need to do:

1. Integrate data warehouses into your infrastructure. This ensures all your data is in one place, ready for AI integration.

2. Ensure your marketing technology stack is compatible with your data warehouse. Eliminate data silos and fragmented databases.

3. Make sure data flows both ways between your martech apps and your data warehouse. This is crucial for real-time insights and actions.

So, what's the takeaway? Data is king. Unified data is the crown. This preparation will ensure your business can leverage AI agents effectively when they become mainstream. This is the foundation. This is where marketing AI will be built upon. Will thrive. Will revolutionize. Don't get left behind. The clock is ticking. The race is on. And it starts with your data. Are you in?

OpenAI working on new reasoning technology under code name Strawberry

TL;DR

OpenAI is developing a new AI project, codenamed "Strawberry," to enhance reasoning capabilities. This initiative focuses on enabling AI to autonomously navigate the internet and perform deep research, aiming for human-like reasoning skills.

Read it yourself?

Sentiment

Excitement is high within the community. This long-awaited version Q, previously leaked, has finally been confirmed. Strawberry's potential in handling complex mathematical problems and aiding in software and engineering tasks has fueled this enthusiasm.

My thoughts

In recent weeks, more and more AI models have been emerging, surrounded by various speculations. Shortly after, they disappear again, as if the company behind them wants to gather some market feedback. The same seems to be happening here. Imagine an AI that not only understands mathematical problems but can also contribute to software development—this is the future we are stepping into. We know that OpenAI aims to enable the development of AI agents through their own platform, and this breakthrough is likely a prerequisite for that.

You can now share and remix your favorite Artifacts

TL;DR

Anthropic's Claude AI chatbot introduces a new feature called Artifacts, allowing users to publish, share, and remix AI-generated content. This includes documents, images, and interactive displays. The feature aims to foster a collaborative environment by enabling users to build upon each other’s creations.

Read it yourself?

Sentiment

Excitement is brewing in the AI community. The ability to remix conversations and content with Claude has been eagerly awaited, reminiscent of the anticipation for previous major updates. This feature not only enhances collaboration but also leverages Claude's advanced capabilities in new and creative ways.

My thoughts

Claude’s new Artifacts feature is a brilliant step towards making AI more interactive and collaborative. The ability to remix and build upon existing content opens up endless possibilities for developers, educators, and creatives. The way we interact with software will change fundamentally, by making it more collaborative, dynamic, and accessible.​ Moreover, the integration of AI into daily tasks through features like Artifacts shows AI evolving from a novelty to a practical tool, enhancing productivity and creativity in everyday workflows. Everyone will soon be able to develop mini-apps to help solve their problems, without needing to be a developer.

More byte-sized breakthroughs:

• Google nears record-breaking acquisition of Wiz
  Google's parent company, Alphabet, is in advanced talks to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz for approximately $23 billion. This acquisition would be Google's largest to date, significantly surpassing their previous record set by the $12.5 billion Motorola deal. The acquisition aims to bolster Google Cloud's security capabilities, positioning it more competitively against AWS and Microsoft Azure.

• TTT Models: The future of Generative AI?
  TTT models, a promising new architecture, could revolutionize generative AI by potentially surpassing current transformer models. These models aim to enhance AI's capabilities in reasoning, planning, and multimodal processing, integrating text, speech, images, and video. As developers address issues like bias and "hallucinations," TTT models may unlock new applications and improve AI's performance.

• SenseTime's rapid AI advances challenge US dominance
  SenseTime has introduced SenseNova 5.5, China’s first real-time multimodal AI model, enhancing performance and interactivity on par with GPT-4. This upgrade is part of China’s aggressive push in AI, featuring cost-effective edge-side models for widespread deployment. With applications in finance, agriculture, tourism, and more, SenseTime demonstrates China’s growing prowess in AI.

🎙️ MarTech Maestros

In 'MarTech Maestros,' I share one webinar, podcast, or interesting paper I've encountered, which I believe you should watch, listen to, or read too.

Key insights from the CMO Survey

Discover how top companies are leveraging marketing technologies, managing growth, and adapting to new challenges in an increasingly complex business environment. This comprehensive study offers a panoramic view of marketing's current state and future trajectory. From the surge in AI adoption to shifting budget priorities, sustainability initiatives, and performance metrics, this report is a goldmine for CMOs seeking to benchmark their strategies against industry leaders.

 🧐 Last but not least: Things that I like

• EU's AI Act Published, Setting Legal Deadlines: The EU's AI Act, a risk-based regulation for AI applications, is now official, with phased implementation starting August 1, 2024, and full compliance required by mid-2026.

• Meta withholds new AI model from EU over regulatory concerns: Meta will not release its new multimodal (fully multimodel Llama 4, and beyond, started training in June 2024) AI model in the EU due to regulatory uncertainties, highlighting tensions between U.S. tech giants and European regulators.

• WhatsApp Business updates message rates: WhatsApp Business is adjusting rates for utility and marketing messages to reduce spam and improve user experience.

• New York Times experiments with a new headline writer - OpenAI: The New York Times is testing OpenAI's technology for generating article headlines, despite suing OpenAI for copyright infringement over unauthorized article scraping.

• OpenAI breach highlights AI companies as prime targets for hackers: A recent superficial hack of OpenAI underscores the immense value of AI companies' data, making them prime targets for hackers seeking high-quality training data, user interactions, and customer information.

• OpenAI and Los Alamos collaborate on AI in bioscience: OpenAI and Los Alamos National Laboratory partner to explore safe AI uses in bioscience, focusing on GPT-4o's capabilities in laboratory tasks.

• Sora expands testing to more creatives: Sora's testing expands to digital VFX pioneers and architects, helping shape AI research while showcasing artists' work using the model's capabilities.

• Microsoft exits OpenAI observer seat: Microsoft leaves its observer seat on OpenAI's board, and OpenAI announces it will no longer have any observers, focusing on strategic partnerships.

• Microsoft Designer app now generally available: Microsoft's AI-powered Designer app, similar to Canva, is now available on iOS and Android, offering features like prompt templates and AI image editing. Also, it’s integrating with Word, PowerPoint, and Photos, to enhance creativity and editing.

• SoftBank Acquires UK AI Chipmaker Graphcore: SoftBank has acquired UK-based AI chipmaker Graphcore, aiming to bolster its AI capabilities.

• Runway's new bulk lip sync feature: Runway is developing a feature to lip sync multiple characters in the same scene by detecting and assigning faces.

• Move AI launches Move Live Summary: Move AI's new Move Live offers real-time 3D digital experiences without suits or markers, revolutionizing motion capture for brands and studios.

• Move AI's markerless motion capture for game design: Move AI's Move Pro simplifies 3D animation for game developers with AI-enhanced markerless motion capture.

• Claude now available on Android app: Users can now interact with Claude through a new Android app by Anthropic.

• Anthropic introduces new features for Claude in Console: Anthropic's new console features for Claude include prompt generation, test variable creation, and side-by-side output comparison, enhancing prompt evaluation and iteration.

• Amazon's Rufus AI assistant now available: Amazon's Rufus AI assistant helps U.S. customers with shopping queries, product recommendations, and order tracking in the Amazon Shopping app.

• Alphabet calls off talks to buy HubSpot: Google parent Alphabet has shelved its efforts to acquire HubSpot, ending the prospect of one of the year's largest takeovers.

• Google Gemini to introduce scheduled prompts: Google is developing ‘scheduled prompts’ for Gemini. With this, Gemini will get a good differentiating feature.

• Google’s new FLAMe models improve LLM evaluation: FLAMe, a new family of autorater models, outperforms proprietary LLMs like GPT-4 and Claude-3 in various tasks and reduces bias in evaluations.

• Chrome's new ‘window AI’ feature revolutionizes web with Local LLM: Chrome's ‘window AI’ enables running Gemini Nano, a 3.25B parameter LLM, locally in the browser, with experimental support in Transformers.js for easy use.

• YouTube Music tests AI radio and song recognition: YouTube Music is testing an AI-generated radio feature and a new tool to identify songs by singing, humming, or playing parts of them.

• Deezer introduces AI playlist generator: Deezer launches an AI-powered playlist feature for select users, allowing custom playlists from text prompts, following similar moves by Spotify and Amazon Music.

• Mistral AI releases Mathstral and Codestral Mamba small-sized models: Mistral AI introduces two new small-sized models: Mathstral 7B and Codestral Mamba 7B models.

• Apple used YouTube videos to train AI models: Apple and other tech giants used YouTube video subtitles, downloaded by EleutherAI, to train AI models without creators' consent, violating YouTube's terms.

• Andrej Karpathy launches AI+Education company Eureka Labs: Andrej Karpathy announces Eureka Labs, aiming to revolutionize education with AI, starting with an AI course, LLM101n, combining teacher expertise and AI assistance.

• Trump's allies draft AI executive order for military tech: Trump's allies are drafting an AI executive order to develop military tech and review regulations, aiming to favor Silicon Valley and counter Biden's policies.

• EverArt AI announces Magic Relight: Allowing users to edit image settings and lighting while keeping the subject consistent.

• Haiper AI unveils new features in v1.5 update: Haiper AI introduces 8-second videos, video extension, and upscaler in its latest v1.5 update, marking a significant enhancement in just one month.

• AI-generated Volvo commercial: An AI-generated commercial for Volvo using RunwayML, showcasing the potential of AI in filmmaking and post-production.

• KREA AI introduces real-time scene generation: KREA AI announces new Scene Transfer updates, allowing users to generate scenes in real-time with high-quality presets and share their creations.

• Spotify evolves into a social network: Spotify adds comments on podcasts and other social features, transforming from a music streaming app into a social network centered around audio.

• Poe offers fast AI chat with multiple models: Poe provides fast AI chat using GPT-4o, Claude 3.5, Gemini, DALL-E 3, and SD3. Poe's new Previews feature allows users to create and interact with web applications directly in chats, supporting HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

• Stability AI announces new features for Stable Assistant: Stability AI introduces new features to Stable Assistant, including advanced image generation, editing tools, upscaling, and video creation using Generative AI.

• Magnific Plugin for Photoshop launched: Magnific introduces a Photoshop plugin, allowing users to upscale images directly within Photoshop, manage the plugin via Adobe Creative Cloud, and sync with the web version.

• Coinbase partners with Stripe to enhance financial infrastructure: Coinbase and Stripe collaborate to integrate Base, enabling faster, cheaper financial transactions, including USDC payouts and fiat-to-crypto onramps, aiming to boost global crypto adoption.

• Salesforce unveils Einstein Service Agent on Agentforce Platform: Salesforce's new Einstein Service Agent on Agentforce Platform offers intelligent customer support with seamless digital-human collaboration, omni-channel handoffs, and real-time data integration.

• The Samsung XR headset: Samsung's upcoming XR headset, developed with Google and Qualcomm, is expected to feature a Qualcomm chip, Sony micro-OLED displays, and a potential 2024 release, aiming to compete with Apple's Vision Pro.

• Julius AI introduces AI workflows: Julius AI announces the launch of Workflows, enabling users to perform repeatable, multi-step data analysis, create visualizations, and solve mathematical problems using templated AI processes.

This was it. Our sixteenth digital dip together. It might seem like a lot, but remember; this wasn't even everything that happened in the past few weeks. This was just a fraction.

I understand better than anyone that this entire transition raises questions. It is difficult to understand the impact on your business, let alone find answers on how to prepare for it. I am happy to help you, just hit reply!

Looking forward to what tomorrow brings! ▽

-Wesley