S1|Ep93 AI-Powered Growth: Reinventing Digital Marketing in the Era of Intelligent Business

My fantastic guest today, Steven Hyde from London, the UK, is here to explore the AI-Powered Growth. Together, we are going to discover how leading companies are Reinventing Digital Marketing in the Era of Intelligent Business.

Steven Hyde is the CEO and Co-founder of Push Group, a leading AI-powered marketing company helping businesses shining through performance marketing, data, and innovation. A recognized thought leader in leveraging AI to drive measurable growth, Steven draws on leadership experience from global brands such as Walt Disney and Pepsi.

With offices in UK, USA, UAE, Denmark, and Greece, Push Group empowers businesses through dynamic campaign delivery, on-demand team training, and expert consulting. 

The company has been recognized on the global stage - by winning Gold for Best Use of AI in Marketing and Performance at the AI & Data Awards 2025 and being shortlisted in six categories at the Global Search Awards 2025, including Best Integrated Campaign, Most Innovative Campaign (SEO), and Best Use of AI in Search and .

🔑 Key topics:

• Intelligent Business Growth and the AI Moment in Marketing
• Risks for Businesses Delaying AI Adoption
• How Big the AI Shift Is Compared to Search, Social, and Mobile
• How AI Is Redefining Marketing Strategy, Budgets, and Execution
• The AI Adoption Curve in Marketing: Piloting vs Scaling
• Barriers to AI Adoption and the Risks of Misusing AI
• The Convergence of Marketing, PR, Trust, and Reputation in the AI Era
• Lessons from Cloud and Mobile Transformations for AI Adoption
• Cultural Differences in Global AI Adoption and Leadership
• What Leaders Must Unlearn to Win with AI-Powered Marketing
• One Leadership Advice for Growth in an AI-Driven Future

🔗 Connect with Steven Hyde on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hydesteven/

🔗 Learn more about Push Group: https://www.pushgroup.co.uk/

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Guest Introduction
• 2:36 Stephen’s Career And Push Group Origins
• 4:38 Is This The AI Moment
• 6:08 AI’s Scale Versus Past Tech Waves
• 8:45 How AI Rewrites The Marketing Playbook
• 11:03 Adoption Curve And Competitive Pressure
• 13:43 Barriers, Misuse, And AI-First Design
• 16:39 Trust, Reputation, And LLM-Driven Discovery
• 19:30 Regulation, Culture, And Speed Of Adoption
• 22:30 Lessons From Mobile And Global Differences
• 25:50 Unlearning Old Labels, New AI Skills
• 28:15 Leadership Traits: Overconfidence Vs Curiosity
• 31:00 Values, Team Alignment, And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

Hello and welcome to Digital Transformation and AI for Humans with your host Amy. In this podcast, we delve into how technology intersects with leadership, innovation, and most importantly, the human spirit. Each episode features visionary leaders who understand that at the heart of success is the human touch, nurturing a winning mindset, fostering emotional intelligence, and building resilient teams. My fantastic guest today, Stephen Hyde from London, the UK, is here to explore the AI-powered growth. I'm looking forward to discovering how leading companies are reinventing digital marketing in the era of intelligent business. Stephen Hyde is the CEO and co-founder of Push Group, a leading AI-powered marketing company helping businesses shine through performance marketing, data, and innovation. Steven is a recognized thought leader in leveraging AI to drive measurable growth. Stephen draws on leadership experience from global brands such as Walt Disney and Pepsi. With offices in the UK, US, UAE, Denmark, and Greece, Push Group empowers businesses through dynamic campaign delivery, on-demand team training, and expert consulting. The company has been recognized on the global stage, shortlisted in six categories at the Global Search Awards 2025, including Best Integrated Campaign, Most Innovative Campaign, SEO, and Best Use of AI Insert. I'm honored to have Steven as a part of the executive group of the AI Game Changers Club, an elite tribe of visionary leaders redefining the rules and shaping the future of human AI Synergy. Welcome, Steve. It's a great pleasure to have you here in the studio.

SPEAKER_00: 1:52

Thanks, Amy. Really looking forward to this conversation. It's going to be good fun.

SPEAKER_01: 1:57

Me too. Let's start the conversation and transform not just our technologies, but our ways of thinking and leading. If you are interested in connecting or collaborating, you can find more information in the description. And don't forget to subscribe for more powerful episodes. If you are a leader, business owner, or investor ready to adapt, thrive, and lead with clarity, purpose, and wisdom in the era of AI, I would love to invite you to learn more about AI Game Changers, a global elite club for visionary trailblazers and change makers shaping the future. You can apply at AIGamechangers.club. Steve, to start with, I would love to hear more about yourself, your journey, and everything you would love to share with us today.

SPEAKER_00: 2:46

Okay. Well, the journey is quite long, but I'll try and keep it fairly brief. So I've always really been in marketing since university. I started out my career working for a company that was now known as Mondelez International, and I was working there as a marketing manager for the Middle East. I was based in London, flying backwards and forwards to the Middle East, and so on. So Emmy, we met in Dubai. I was going to Dubai back in the 90s, and it was very different then, obviously. But then moved to Pepsi in the UK, I've worked with Walker's Crisps, then later to Disney. And then my corporate career kind of ended when I realized that, you know, I probably was a bit more on trail and I wanted to start my own business. And that's how I got into internet consulting. And that led to the formation of Push, which uh which happened in uh in 2000 and well, it happened in 2007, but I started working in the field in 2006, 2005, even. And I think what's interesting there is like a lot of uh startups, it was born out of the recognition of a problem. And the problem was that uh that something something new and big, an opportunity had was occurring, and businesses weren't taking advantage of it. And that was really largely around Google Advertising back in uh in those early years. So we we built the business on Google Advertising and went on to do many other things in the world of performance marketing. And then in just two, three years ago, we switched to being very, very much an AI-first business. So that's our story.

SPEAKER_01: 4:21

That's amazing. And speaking about our meeting in Dubai, that seamless Middle East conference was amazing. And uh your booth was looking really great, and that's what attracted me, and uh that's how we started our conversation. We have entered the era of intelligent business growth, and this momentum and opportunities may reach the decisive moment for businesses to integrate AI into marketing and define the rules. What do you think about it? Is it truly the moment? And if yes, what risks do laggards face if they wait?

SPEAKER_00: 5:03

It's definitely a huge moment, actually bigger than most people realize, most markers realize. Lots of CEOs and CMOs don't understand. It's it's a very, very big moment that we're in now. Um, and I think of course there are some risks, but the biggest risk I think is procrastination, is doing nothing, is waiting, it's not actually engaging and understanding that the landscape uh or the the battles that we fight in marketing have are changing very rapidly. I think the real the real risk is is doing what you've done before for the past few years. That's the real danger here.

SPEAKER_01: 5:39

I totally agree. And it is really important to be future ready and be adaptable enough because so many are getting stuck in the past, and I can see it, unfortunately, through different uh personalities, through different companies all over the world. Steve, how big is this AI shift compared to past transformational waves like search, social, or mobile?

SPEAKER_00: 6:08

It's enormous. So I think it's the it's definitely the biggest thing to impact uh on business and marketing in my lifetime, arguably, probably even in previous generations, it's it's it's really that large. Comparing it to some of the past waves like Search and Social, I would say, and obviously I've been in those waves, my firm belief is this is going to be much bigger. When we look back in 10 years' time with the benefit of hindsight, we will we will we will see that those early eras of say digital marketing innovation around search and social or mobile, they were quite quite small in comparison. But what's interesting as well is that I think this is important because I remember this, is that people underestimated back in 2006, 2007, people underestimated how quickly digital would take off. They're doing the same again now with AI. So, for example, Emmy, I think it's around about 2007, 2008, there was a prediction that digital marketing spend would outgrow um TV by say like 2014. I can't remember the exact day, but what I always remember saying is that it happened three years before ahead of predictions. And the same thing is now going to play out with AI, although on a much bigger scale, much bigger, and it's bigger and faster. Those are the key messages. Um, and if for people watching and listening and thinking about this, is if they do remember the change that happened on their marketing teams from the the wave of search, social, and mobile, if they remember that, well, just imagine what it will be like if that impact is way bigger and way faster, because that's what we're facing.

SPEAKER_01: 7:57

I couldn't agree more. And you know, you made me think about an event I've been attending. It was about quantum computing, and uh companies like IBM and Microsoft were presenting their roadmaps for the coming years, and uh companies from the life science were presenting their use cases. So I can only imagine how those shifts in the quantum computing are going to boost the development of AI technologies and uh AI application as well. So I totally agree that what is going to happen might happen so much faster that most of the leaders can even imagine. Steve, how is AI redefining the function of marketing from budget strategy and execution to measurement and optimization?

SPEAKER_00: 8:53

Let's start by saying that um in marketing, so much of what we do is is is you know, like many other business functions, are they are processes. And processes, if they can be put in best practice, if they can be mapped, if they can be written down, processes can be automated. So the the first thing is to realize that virtually everything in the marketing playbook can be um improved, enhanced by AI. So I remember studying back in the early 90s marketing, and the the kind of classic book there was a book by a guy called Philip Cotler, which was called Marketing Management, Analysis, Planning and Control. I mean, it's a massive book, it's like an MBA level book on marketing. It's almost considered the Bible of marketing, but literally every aspect of that, if you go for it by chapter by chapter, you can see a role that AI can play in in redefining it. And the question you made about budgets, for example. So we're seeing big changes now. We're seeing we're first of all, um, and I won't I won't go into the exact company. So we won a big contract from a a big European, let's say it's a fashion brand, um, who worked previously with um a network agency. And we were able to go in and over-deliver, we're doing very well for them, over-deliver. Um, but the key point is this is that we were able to almost half their agency costs because of the way that we're using AI. And that's uh, I think that's a good example of what's now in play is the ability to um to improve results and cut costs at the same time. You can you can do both. Before it was almost, you know, pick one of those. You can get better results, but you know, going to rick up costs. Well, you can now do both with AI and marketing.

SPEAKER_01: 10:46

That's the dream of any business owner and of any leader who is standing for the TL. So I can imagine how powerful it is for that company and for your other clients, but also a great example of how AI can transform the way we are running business. And by the way, to all our listeners and viewers, if you are enjoying our conversation, hit like, follow, or subscribe and share it with one person you know would be inspired by this episode. Steve, where are we on the adoption curve of AI in marketing? Still piloting or entering the scaling phase?

SPEAKER_00: 11:27

When I think about that curve, I think about the classic, you know, product product diffusion curve and thinking about you know early entrants, you know, innovators and so on. I would say um, I mean, there's a lot that a lot that's been happening. So if you if you take if you take the big tech players, okay, so the big tech players, you know, your your likes of um obviously Microsoft, uh, Meta, Google, Apple, and so on. Think of all of those. Um, and look at the money that they're pouring into. I mean, obviously, these are all largely businesses driven heavily by marketing that actually play in marketing, you know, four episode. You know, meta make their money from from advertising. Um, Google make their money from advertising. Google, as an example, their mantra up until 2016 was mobile first. That was the thing that they were pushing, and that was the big, big deal. But they switched in 2016, they made a conscious decision to switch to AI first. So we've been, you know, well connected with Google for some time. So this is you know, AI, it's that classic phrase, it's uh like an overnight success that's been a decade in the making, as you know very well, Emmy. You know, AI has been around for a long while, and it took that chat GPT moment in November 22 to really start to move things along, move the conversation a lot. Where are we on the curve? I think I think uh I think if you looked at that, I would say we're probably still we're still fairly early on. Uh, we're probably getting through the innovator stage into the early adopter stage or there are thereabouts. But the concern or the danger is that that this is moving quite quickly. And um you can probably contextualize some of this by looking at just how different companies are using AI uh across their businesses. What I'm concerned about is that too many businesses are going to get left behind, and there will be penalties for getting left behind. It just is any other innovation uh technological way. There are going to be penalties for those that are not engaging at the moment.

SPEAKER_01: 13:33

That's a great reminder. The moment is here and now, and um it is about just moving forward in the best possible way. But speaking about moving forward fast and furious, what are the biggest barriers preventing companies from realizing AI's full potential in marketing? And what is the biggest danger of using AI in their own way?

SPEAKER_00: 13:58

Okay, it's quite there's quite a few things to consider there. So uh the biggest barriers preventing companies. Um so uh I I guess the first thing I would say there are still some, I know this is hard to believe, Amy, but there are still some businesses out there, CEOs and CMOs, that have just not recognized how big AI is going to be in marketing and how quickly it's going to happen. So the first the first barrier is ignorance of people just dismissing it, thinking it's another it's another dot-com you know bubble that's going to burst, or it's going to be um, you know, like uh, do you remember the millennium bug? People are saying, oh, it's just another millennium bug, too much to talk about. It's not, it's going to be absolutely huge. It is already enormous. That's why you could see you know the the investment that's going into it. So the first barrier is ignorance, and then there's something else around scale. So scale can be a barrier to some businesses because they're just not able to move quickly enough. Uh, this is um a momentum that that that is has to go beyond beyond the thinking of just a large-scale project. Businesses need to start thinking about how they can start testing and integrating AI and marketing across their businesses really extensively and take a real measure for where they're at. I think the biggest when you mentioned the biggest danger for using AI in the wrong way, I think it's this. I think it's to take your existing marketing processes, strategies, and to try and bolt AI on. I think it needs that what businesses need to do is take a complete rethink. They could do that, get external advice, get someone to come conduct an AI audit, but they need to be thinking about the biggest mistake would be to think that they could just bolt a little bit of AI on. It's about really thinking about how AI can become central to the way that you do things across your business. Uh, but of course, see my specialism is in marketing. So how can AI um drive and how can you switch back to that phrase on Google? How can your business and your business marketing become AI first? That's the way that they can protect themselves for the future. If they just start bolting bits on and not not thinking this through, it's going to go wrong.

SPEAKER_01: 16:16

So true. And in NAI-driven world, the lines between PR and marketing are blurring. Should leaders now think about trust, reputation, and influence differently than before? It's a very close topic to my heart. So I would love to hear your opinion about it and how you see this transformation happening.

SPEAKER_00: 16:38

Yeah, so much is moving out there at the moment and things are blurring out there. I mean, whether you look at, for example, take, for example, the influencer market, which obviously is there. You know, you've got, you know, we've only some businesses have only just got used to the fact that they need influencers helping them in the within their marketing efforts. And now you have the ability to have AI-based influences, and they're real and they're working. I mean, there are AI influencers out there, you know, as in not real people, they're driven, built by AI, that are actually being paid for their services. So that's just one aspect of this, uh, which will obviously have an impact on you know trust and reputation. Uh, but the public, you know, are following some of these influences. I think as well, something close to my heart when I look at say um the journey that we all take when we're trying to learn more about um anything, so the journey around search, that's changing. Because people now are, we're seeing this with clients that we work with in e-commerce, we're seeing a shift where people are discovering, learning, and becoming aware of potential products that might suit them or services, not through Google, as the phrase used to go, just Google it. People are now going straight to Chat GPT or another LLM, and they are doing their research there. They're asking questions about, you know, I'm planning a trip to France, I want to go to this area, this, I've got a family of four, um, and uh I want to plan a road trip, we've got a dog with us, and they're giving context into these LLMs that are changing. So, what that's doing, Emmy, is we've seen this now with the data to prove it, is that we're getting clients where um their results are improving, but they're noticing more and more of their traffic coming from the LLMs. Uh and we, as marketeers, we have to prepare for that from a point of view of trust and reputation influence. We have to think, okay, the market is now shifting quite quickly to one where consumers, all of us people, are searching and in a different way. Uh, it's a really big shift and it's happening so quickly.

SPEAKER_01: 18:59

That's a really great point to highlight because that's true. And so many agents are performing tasks on their own, and it means I had another conversation with one business owner from the US not so long time ago, and we were discussing how UI will be less needed in the coming years just because uh those agents are going to communicate between themselves without the need of that human interface we developed and designed in order to use for ourselves, but they really don't need it. And in the same way, the content is both created by AI, and nowadays it gets consumed more and more by AI in order to perform the tasks. So it is a really interesting development, and uh I also thought about a question which is quite Broadly discussed, but I absolutely want to hear your opinion about it because I'm in Sweden, and European Union is protecting this phase of development, and there are so many restrictions around AI implementation and so on. And I'm talking to leaders from the USA and specifically the Silicon Valley. They are moving fast forward and uh they're inventing and uh rolling out first and looking at the outcomes after, more or less. And you are in the UK as a HQ, and there is even something different. And um, what is the balance line between those two approaches and how to move forward in a more conscious way, but at the same time with respect to the innovation and those amazing technologies?

SPEAKER_00: 21:01

Yeah, I mean, so we saw the shift, or we experienced it before um in the era with of mobile as well, when when when so we saw that different countries shifted to understanding the importance of mobile very, very uh differently, very quickly. Um, so um, and even if I give you an example uh and a number I always remember, because I think the UK is somewhere in between. Um you know, we won't go into Brexit, but it is somewhere in between the US and Europe, Europe being obviously more highly regulated. We also we handle as a business, we handle a lot of campaigns in the US. We do that for two reasons. One, because there's you know, obviously a great economy there, but also we we we we handle campaigns there to learn about what is coming, and then we roll out those learnings into you know, obviously the UK, because eventually, if you take a player, player there's some of the big tech players, they will launch something in the US, but usually the UK is the second market that to get it. So you probably know this, Eddie, but outside of um not about outside of the USA, Google's largest market it uh was always the UK. Back in 2016, the UK has always been a leader in Europe on digital. So back in 2016, uh the amount of money spent on digital advertising in the UK was bigger than Russia, Germany, and France combined. So it's always had that, we've always been ahead of that. And if you came into our offices in London, you'd see the tease, a lot of people from different parts of Europe and other parts of the world where they come to London because it's a centre for innovation and it's a centre for you know adopting things more quickly. Um, I I think we we are seeing that again. So we've got an office, as I say, in Dubai, uh, and we have an office in uh Athens. But you're right, there's definitely big difference. So I would say this is this is I can't justify this, but with with numbers, I can't back this up, this an intuition. I feel that the UK is closer to the US than it is to Europe in the terms of adoption of AI in marketing. And I that's that stats from you know, we as a company, we spend about a hundred million US dollars in advertising um across the Western market, so North America, the UK, Europe, Middle East, but we don't we don't go into Southeast Asia or Far East. But what we're seeing um is from for sort of that experience is that uh UK market is is is quite far ahead, and it's it's probably not as far ahead as the US, um, because we still have some regulationary restrictions, but it's further ahead than Europe by quite some way. And some of that's down to legislation, and some of it's just down to just the way it is, just slightly different approaches to business.

SPEAKER_01: 23:55

The cultural difference is playing a huge role in this development as well, of course, because as somebody who has been leading uh data analytics and sites across different markets, even in Europe, I could see different ways of running it. And the UK was always very different and that fast-paced and open-minded to the innovation, to the new methods, and willing to walk that extra mile in order to get the results. But at the same time, when we are pushing the AI implementation applications of uh AI, we need to think about running it in a human-centric way and how to find that balance between technological development and human centricity, that is also another dimension leaders should talk more about, I think, and discuss it on different levels.

SPEAKER_00: 24:57

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_01: 24:58

What lessons can we draw from past innovations like the cloud or mobile era to accelerate AI adoption? Let's dive a little bit deeper into it. And since your company has offices in several countries and your work across global markets, what cultural differences in AI adoption and AI leadership have you observed that can really make it or break it in the short-term perspective and in the long-term perspective?

SPEAKER_00: 25:30

Looking at the mobile era, I would say it was quite clear very early on there were signals out there from the big tech players that we were entering a mobile first world where they knew Google back in 2008, I guess, a year after the launch of the iPhone, they knew that we were going into a mobile. They had they coined that phrase mobile first. What was hard though, and he was that a lot of businesses really took their time to understand that shift. And uh it really did take some time, and businesses did get left behind. We knew I know businesses that we worked with where we were telling them back in 2010, 2011, look, you really need to make your website mobile first. You know, you just design your site in mine with mobile. I knew businesses that were successful that failed to adapt quickly, and actually, sadly, they went under. They were too, they were just too slow to change. There are some differences in uh, as you said, in different countries. It's interesting actually looking at and say, for example, you know, because we were we met in the Middle East, but um, if you go out to Dubai, for example, the culture is different in terms of certain digital adoption, but it doesn't mean, for example, although the the UAE and the uh those markets are generally um behind on a lot of digital um transformation on some things, it doesn't mean they're behind on everything. So, for example, as you know, in the UAE, WhatsApp is a really common way of doing business in a way that it isn't in the UK. There are differences that that that come into play uh that we've seen in different different markets. And as I've said, um, you know, in in some of the other markets that we operate in in Europe, they're not as quick to adopt some of the moves as we've seen in the UK and the US. But it's not always, we can generalize here, but there are always within individual markets, there are always some that really drive attention. Um they drive they drive innovation a lot more quickly in particular aspects. I think of, for example, with China uh in social commerce. So um we visited China with Google in 2018. We went on two sort of trade tours to look at how social commerce was playing out, and you can see a lot more of that playing out now. So I think it's important to keep in mind uh an eye on those other countries. Like I say, we predominantly work in the you know the what what we know is Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and we also work in the obviously North America, those markets, but we need to keep, as a business, we need to keep an eye on what's happening in Southeast Asia as well.

SPEAKER_01: 28:13

That is truly interesting. And um as you mentioned, for example, as WhatsApp is used for business applications in the Middle East, in Europe, and even in uh Northern America, for example, it is much more difficult to get people there because it's a different culture, and that was a great example. There are so many examples on how we need to take into consideration those subtle shifts and specifics which are going to define how we adapt to the future. Steve, what is one thing leaders and business owners must unlearn to succeed in AI-powered marketing?

SPEAKER_00: 29:00

There's there's quite a lot of ways I could answer that, but I suppose because I think there's there's quite a lot to unlearn. And to some extent, I would say to almost anyone, to see CMO or CEO, that they should look to take more of a fresh start or a blank sheet of paper to understanding their marketing um going forward. So, from the point of view of unlearning, I would say I think there have been different phases of marketing that we've been through, different areas of marketing, which we will understand. So there's obviously, you know, everyone remembers the the era of, you know, perhaps the or even if they learn historically, they learn about the eras of the night, you know, the great merge of marketing in the 1960s and 70s, and obviously you had the TB periods and so on, uh, where it was dominant, customer-centric, then we moved into a digital era. I think from an unlearning point of view, I think from looking at marketing, what they've grown used to doing in the past has been if a CEO was having a conversation with a CMO, he would be asking, you know, how how are we doing on search? How are we doing on social? How are we doing with uh with you know other traditional media? And I think what they're going to need to do is to have much more of an AI-first conversation around how AI is being embedded into their whole marketing uh program, starting, you know, almost starting with a fresh blank sheet of paper. Because no longer good if you're not asking those questions about how artificial intelligence is played out and how it's central to your marketing uh efforts, you're going to be missing some some big opportunities. Even look, you know, for example, the the terms that we're all used to. So, you know, you you and I can remember, we'd remember a time, Emmy, before the phrase SEO was even a thing, or PPC, or CRO, or email marketing. Well, now, um, so if you like, some of that has got to be unlearned, and what's got to be learned is the language of generative AI, prompt engineering, predictive analytics, creative automation, AI agents, RAG, ethical guardrail, language model optimization, all that's coming through. You want to see so much more new language coming through. So it's uh I think it's important to recognize that we have a shift that's happening. And just as there was a shift before from traditional marketing into the digital era, we're now entering an AI-driven marketing era. Um, and it's it's it's a it's a big change, and uh it's it's arguably bigger than the one that came before. And the key thing I would be looking at is whether or not they've got the right team in place, the right mindset in place to be able to make the most of that AI-driven marketing era.

SPEAKER_01: 31:59

You are so right about that. And I'm thinking also that we are used to talk about it from the business perspective and look into it from the business perspective, but after all, every leader is a human being, is an individual with a set of biases and uh certain qualities, and uh there are strengths, and uh there are uh some treats which might stand between them and their future success. So, what do you think there is one treat which is going to stop leaders from taking that next successful step? And one treat which is going to help leaders succeed.

SPEAKER_00: 32:44

I suppose the trait that's uh gonna stop them is perhaps um maybe I don't know whether I say it's arrogance or overconfidence. You know, I think that's a dangerous trait to think that you know you could be doing quite well and think you've got it, you know, you've got your business model sussed. Um, and it's it's I think that's a dangerous trait because we are all gonna do a lot of learning in the next few years. You know, we're gonna do more learning in the next few years than we've done in the past five years. There's gonna be a lot of learning happening. And if you think you know, if you think you've got the perfect plan, that your business model is sorted, is ready, I would say that that's a dangerous trait. So whether or not you call that overconfidence is a trait, um, I would say that's that's a dangerous one to have. Overconfidence, arrogance, call it what you want. Um, the flip side of that is the trait that I want. You could say could be humility, that would be one for sure. But I would also say I think curiosity, open-minded curiosity about where this is going. Don't just look at your own business and the business vertical that you work within. You know, if you're in travel, don't just keep looking and engaging more and more stuff about the travel sector. Um, start to look at other other sectors, start to look maybe at some of the smaller companies out there, because what will happen is there will be there'll be new entrants to your marketplace that you haven't even thought of that are going to come in because of AI and to really disrupt the way that that particular marketplace is adapting itself. Very different business models, they'll come in and make a big change. So, yeah, the the second one was that kind of cure. I want people to be like really, really curious, and that's something we encourage at push a lot.

SPEAKER_01: 34:35

I absolutely love it. I think it is important to put together that professional development and the personal development. Just a few days ago, I had a conversation with uh my ex-colleague, an executive from a very big company, and we were discussing these latest trends, and he also highlighted that it gets more and more uh defining as a trade to put together that development in order to find the merging point where it creates synergies and helps you adopt AI and adapting to the AI-dominated era in a completely different way. So thank you so much for sharing that. And uh the last but not least question today, Steve, what is one piece of advice that you would like to give to leaders to ensure growth and success in the coming years of AI transformation on the business level from the perspective of high-level leader and business owners?

SPEAKER_00: 35:43

I think we're gonna see the need for values to be reconfigured, re-evaluated. We're going to enter into a new way of working. It doesn't happen overnight, but it's happening quite quickly. And I think I would I would suggest that businesses really get together with their teams, talk honestly and openly about um you know the the changes that are coming, and start to think about the values that are going to be right for them and and their business to be able to succeed in the future.

SPEAKER_01: 36:13

Brilliant. That is absolutely brilliant, and I'm so grateful for having you today in the studio. Thank you so much for sharing your experience, your wisdom, and uh your vision for the future with us.

SPEAKER_00: 36:30

You're very welcome. It's been a real pleasure.

SPEAKER_01: 36:33

Thank you, Steve. Thank you for joining us on Digital Transformation and AI for humans. I am Amy, and it was enriching to share this time with you. Remember, the core of any transformation lies in our human nature, how we think, feel, and connect with others. It is about enhancing our emotional intelligence, embracing a winning mindset, and leading with empathy and insight. Subscribe and stay tuned for more episodes where we uncover the latest trends in digital business and explore the human side of technology and leadership. If this conversation resonated with you and you are a visionary leader, business owner, or investor ready to save what is next, consider joining the AI Game Changers Club. You will find more information in the description. Until next time, keep nurturing your mind, postering your connections, and leading with heart.