The McKinsey killer is finally here

Hi Futurist,

Deep Research, OpenAI’s latest AI agent, is set to shake up the consulting world by turning weeks of analysis into minutes. This Dip is packed with new developments again. I know it’s a lot and hard to keep up with. The coming months are crucial to stay informed at this stage of your career. Therefore, I am sending you insights, inspiration, and innovation straight to your inbox. My tip: don’t read it all at once—split it into three parts or listen to the podcast version on the go. To give you a head start, I’m sharing the ultimate way to write spot-on prompts at the end of this Dip. 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: AI research is no longer a human-dominated field. OpenAI’s latest AI agent is taking over knowledge work, Europe is scrambling to stay relevant in the AI race, and Mistral AI just launched its first real ChatGPT competitor.

• 🎙️ MarTech Maestros: AI is already reshaping business—321 real-world examples prove it. From marketing to cybersecurity, companies are using AI to scale faster and work smarter. See how top brands are leveraging AI today.

• 🧐 In Case You Missed It: The EU AI Act is now live—AI literacy is mandatory, and violations come with fines, Proxy launches as Europe’s answer to OpenAI’s Operator, and Apple is developing a lighter visionOS for smart glasses.

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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Quick highlights of the latest technological developments.

Headstory: The McKinsey killer is finally here

McKinsey, Boston Consultancy Group, Bain—watch out. Businesses once spent fortunes on market research, competitive analysis, and industry reports. Now? A $200 AI subscription gets you unlimited deep dives. Need insights on a new market? Done. Competitive landscape? No problem. Industry trends? Already summarized, sourced, and ready to act on.

And this is just the beginning. AI agents won’t stop at research. They will plan. They will strategize. They will execute. Deep Research, OpenAI’s latest AI agent, is just one agent in an emerging AI workforce that will take over knowledge work, step by step, task by task.

Deep Research doesn’t just scrape data—it reasons. It adapts. It questions. It refines. And it does this independently, working through multi-step research tasks like a human analyst, only faster, cheaper, and—soon—better. It’s a full-blown shift in how we find, process, and synthesize knowledge. It devours thousands of sources, cross-references data, and produces comprehensive, cited reports—in minutes. What once took consultants weeks now happens on a rainy afternoon.

If your job involves research, analysis, or reporting, the game has changed. No more sifting through endless PDFs. No more manually cross-referencing sources. No more waiting weeks for consulting firms to deliver reports filled with recycled insights. Deep Research turns days of work into minutes. Some say AI can’t replace human judgment. That’s true—for now. But judgment only matters if you have the right insights. And Deep Research gets you there first.

The real advantage now? Knowing how to use AI agents effectively. Instead of spending days gathering data, you’ll spend time validating insights, crafting strategies, and making high-impact decisions. The new competitive edge isn’t in finding information—it’s in knowing what to do with it. Teams that leverage Deep Research will work smarter, make decisions faster, and operate at a level their competitors simply can’t match.

AI research tools aren’t just another productivity boost. They change the very structure of decision-making. It’s time to rethink structures, roles, and workflows. Leadership teams need to ask themselves:

• Which functions in my organization rely on research-heavy tasks?

• How much time (and money) do we spend on manual analysis?

• How do we integrate AI research tools into our strategy and workflows?

• What new skills will my team need to interpret AI-generated insights effectively?

• Do we still need large teams of analysts, or do we need AI-literate strategists instead?

This is no longer about automation replacing routine work. AI is now tackling high-value, knowledge-intensive tasks. The businesses that adapt will move faster, make better decisions, and outpace their competitors. The ones that don’t? They’ll be stuck in an old-world model while AI-powered companies redefine the game.

This shift won’t be easy. Leaders need a plan. A strategy. A roadmap for integrating AI into their organization. What you should do next:

1. Audit your research processes – What tasks take your team days or weeks? Those are ripe for AI.

2. Start small—test & compare – Run an AI-generated report next to a traditional one. Compare speed, cost, and insights.

3. Train your team – AI-literate strategists will outperform traditional analysts. Make sure your people know how to work with these tools.

4. Integrate AI into workflows – Set clear rules: When do we trust AI research? When do humans validate?

5. Reallocate resources – Free up your best minds to focus on decision-making, not data gathering.

Deep Research is OpenAI’s second AI agent. It shows us the roadmap to AGI: break human intelligence into tasks, automate them, repeat them, and improve them. First, they did it with their browser agent Operator. Now, with their research agent Deep Research. Next? Who knows. But one thing is certain—AI agents will keep replacing the way we work, one function at a time. The McKinsey killer is here. The question is: are you ready for what comes next? If not, let’s talk.

Mistral AI has launched ‘Le Chat’

TL;DR

French AI company Mistral AI is taking on OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic with Le Chat, a lightning-fast assistant designed for speed and accuracy. It delivers Flash Answers, understands documents, codes, and even generates images. Mistral also launched Small 3, its most efficient model yet, with 24B parameters, 150 tokens/sec speed, and no synthetic data, built for reasoning and real-time interactions.

Read it yourself?

Sentiment

People are excited about how much Mistral has evolved. Previously, they were known for releasing smaller open-source models that weren’t always the best in their segment. But now, somewhat unexpectedly, they’ve launched a direct attack on ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Users are particularly impressed by the key features: 13x faster than ChatGPT, 100% open-source, completely free (vs. $20/month) and, multimodal capabilities.

My thoughts

What I personally appreciate about Mistral is their commitment to a clear vision: open-source at its core, built on a privacy-first architecture, and prioritizing capital efficiency over hype. This isn’t just a startup chasing trends—they’re building something sustainable. It’s already paying off: 40% of the largest French companies are using Mistral’s AI technology, and even President Macron has publicly supported them. With Le Chat, Europe finally has a real competitor in the AI battleground dominated by U.S. tech giants. And the product speaks for itself: faster output than ChatGPT, better image generation than DALL·E, premium Canva integration, and a great iOS/Android app. This defines Mistral’s approach: they likely know they won’t build the best AI model in the world, but the features and ecosystem around it make them stand out. That’s what drives adoption.

Europe’s AI awakening. Too little, too late?

TL;DR

The EU is finally stepping up its AI game with a broad AI Strategy and the ‘Apply AI’ initiative to drive industrial adoption. Additionally, OpenEuroLLM, the first family of open-source LLMs covering all EU languages, has earned the STEP Seal (funding). The goal? AI made in Europe, powered by European supercomputers.

Read it yourself?

Sentiment

Reactions online are mostly negative. The consensus: it’s way too little, way too late. Many believe the EU has been too slow to act, and the AI Act remains a major roadblock to innovation. While the initiative looks promising on paper, critics argue that Europe is still years behind in the global AI race.

My thoughts

Many saw DeepSeek’s rise as both a beacon of hope and a warning sign for the EU. If a "small" company in China could develop an AI model on par with OpenAI’s o1, then surely Europe could too, right? Technically, yes. But here’s the catch: China has been investing in AI for years, while Europe is only just getting started. Or rather, will start—sometime this year. In AI terms, one month equates to six to nine months of progress. If you’re already behind, catching up requires nothing short of extraordinary effort. DeepSeek itself serves as proof of how brutal the AI race is—it rose fast, but fell just as quickly. The release of o3-mini made DeepSeek irrelevant overnight. Meanwhile, in the background, another major shift is unfolding: AGI. OpenAI’s roadmap is clear, and they’re executing it with precision. The era of experimentation is over—now, it's about delivering. Can Europe do the same within the next 10 months? I have my doubts. That said, here’s the bright side: the door to AI development and innovation in Europe is finally opening. And when it comes to AI, late is still better than never.

More byte-sized breakthroughs:

• Google’s Gemini 2.0 series is finally here
  Google has officially launched its Gemini 2.0 models for the public, including Flash, Flash-Lite, Pro, and Pro Experimental. We mentioned this update in a previous Dip—now it’s finally real. Flash-Lite stands out as the most cost-efficient option, while Pro Experimental pushes AI limits with a massive 2M token context window. All models support multimodal input and are available via the Gemini app, API, and Vertex AI.

• OpenAI o3-mini: faster, cheaper, and smarter
  In one of our last Dips, we shared OpenAI released o3 in research preview. Now, just a month later, o3-mini is here—available to everyone, even free users. It’s faster, cheaper, and better than o1, with top-tier coding and research capabilities. This model is so advanced that it’s the first to reach ‘Medium risk’ on Model Autonomy—the highest threat level OpenAI allows for release. Simply put, this is the best AI model on the market today.

• Pika 2.1 is faster, sharper, and more magical than ever
  Pika 2.1 is delivering crystal-clear 1080p, razor-sharp details, seamless motion, and lifelike human characters. But that’s just the start. Turbo Mode lets you create AI videos 3x faster while using 7x fewer credits—without losing quality. More speed, less cost. makes video editing effortless—add anyone or anything to any clip in seconds. And with Pikascenes let your pet take over the world. Upload a photo and see the magic happen.
  

A must-see webinar, podcast, or article that’s too good to miss.

321 real-world AI use cases

AI is no longer a future ambition—it’s the driving force behind business transformation today. From hyper-personalized customer experiences to automated cybersecurity defenses, leading companies are integrating AI agents across industries. This collection of 321 real-world use cases showcases how businesses are leveraging generative AI to boost efficiency, streamline operations, and unlock new opportunities. Discover how your organization can stay ahead in the era of AI-powered innovation.

A roundup of updates that are too cheesy to ignore.

• The first articles of the EU AI Act are now in effect, enforcing AI literacy and banning certain AI practices—non-compliance may lead to fines.

• Proxy launches globally—Europe’s answer to OpenAI’s Operator. Turn any natural language prompt into an automated agent.

• Hugging Face launches Inference Providers, letting users deploy models with their preferred cloud or on-prem setup.

• Apple is developing a version of visionOS for smart glasses, aiming for a lighter, more accessible AR experience.

• Apple plans to make "Apple Intelligence" the default on devices, but users will have the option to disable it.

• Alibaba’s Qwen team unveils AI models that can control PCs and phones, similar to OpenAI’s Operator.

• ByteDance unveils OmniHuman-1, creating realistic human videos from a single image and audio, in any aspect ratio or body proportion.

• DeepSeek releases Janus-Pro-7B, a image AI model that outperforms DALL-E 3 and Stable Diffusion in key benchmarks.

• Perplexity adds DeepSeek R1 for deep web research and Sonar Reasoning API brings real-time search and citations.

• Perplexity adds file and image uploads with a 1 million-token context window, free for all signed-in users in “Auto” mode.

• OpenAI makes ChatGPT search available to everyone on ChatGPT—no sign-up needed.

• OpenAI launches ChatGPT-Gov, a secure AI assistant designed for U.S. government agencies to enhance productivity and efficiency.

• OpenAI introduces data residency in Europe, giving users control over where their ChatGPT data is stored and processed.

• OpenAI brings video and screensharing to Advanced Voice in ChatGPT for the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland.

• OpenAI rolls out updated custom instructions for ChatGPT in the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland.

• OpenAI launches canvas sharing in ChatGPT, letting users share, collaborate, and edit canvases together.

• OpenAI updates 1-800-ChatGPT on WhatsApp—now with image uploads, voice messages, and account linking for more usage.

• Microsoft o1 for free. Microsoft integrates OpenAI’s new O1 model into Copilot, enhancing reasoning and depth for free-tier users.

• GitHub Copilot goes all-in on AI agents with Agent Mode and a first look at its Autonomous SWE agent.

• Replit launches its mobile app—build and deploy apps from your phone, free for everyone.

• Postman launches AI Agent Builder, letting developers create and deploy AI-powered API agents with ease.

• X partners with Visa to power X Money’s wallet, enabling seamless digital payments and transactions on the platform.

• Hailuo unveils T2V-01-Director, an AI model for pro-level camera control with precise movements and cinematic transitions.

• Luma Labs launches 4K Upscale—enhance any Dream Machine video with stunning detail for next-level clarity.

• Suno launches Lyrics Co-Writing—edit, refine, and remix your lyrics with real-time tweaks and version tracking.

• Krea introduces Krea Chat—powered by DeepSeek, bringing all Krea features into a seamless chat interface.

• FUZZ launches—a generative music model creating infinite, high-quality, and personalized tracks.

• Ideogram unveils AI-powered text-to-image inpainting, letting users edit and refine images with simple text prompts.

• Ideogram adds Image Upload—drag, describe, and re-generate to create AI images with precise composition.

• Google launches Daily Listen, an AI-powered audio show delivering personalized updates directly in the Google app.

• Google plans to integrate Gemini AI into ads, aiming to boost relevance and performance across its advertising platform.

• The U.S. Copyright Office confirms AI-generated content isn't copyrightable unless there’s sufficient human control.

• Cloudflare launches AI auditing tools to detect and block undisclosed AI-generated content across the web.

• Facebook is flooded with AI-generated posts—over 37% of top-performing links show signs of AI content, a new study finds.

• ZetaLabs introduces Jace, an AI email agent that drafts replies, schedules meetings, and matches your writing style effortlessly.

• O2 unveils AI Granny Daisy, a chatbot designed to waste scammers’ time with confusion and nostalgia, fighting fraud with AI.

• Freepik adds Lip Sync to AI videos—upload or record audio and let your characters do the talking.

• Freepik launches AI Sound Effects Generator—describe, choose a variation, and download instantly in Freepik Tunes.

• Topaz Labs unveils Project Starlight, the first diffusion model for video restoration—turning old, low-quality footage into high resolution.

This was it. Our twenty-ninth 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.

The AI race isn’t slowing down, and neither should you. Whether it’s research, strategy, or decision-making, those who adapt will stay ahead—while others struggle to keep up. Take what you’ve learned in this Dip, test new tools, and refine your approach. The future belongs to those who know how to use AI, not just watch it happen. That’s where I come in. From identifying AI-ready processes to training teams on how to use these tools effectively, I help businesses turn AI disruption into an advantage. Need help? Just hit reply!

In the next Dip, I’ll share a complete list of 150+ AI tools you can use in your work.

Looking forward to what tomorrow brings! ▽

-Wesley