Purpose is no longer optional. It's your competitive advantage. When I launched Beautiful Soup back in 2012, purpose-driven business was considered niche. Almost quaint. But fast forward to 2025, in this AI era, and I'm noticing something fascinating: the companies successfully integrating AI aren't the ones with the flashiest technology, but the ones who start every decision with this key question: does this align with who we are and what we stand for? Purpose has shifted from aspirational to operational. It's no longer about having a nice set of values on your website, but rather, using those values as your decision-making filter when everything around you is changing faster than you can keep up. Here's what I'm noticing with clients: The old approach: "We need AI because everyone is using it and we're going to get left behind". The new approach: "How does this technology serve our people and our purpose? How do we ensure a Humans + AI approach?" That shift changes everything. In Episode 1 of The New Terrain, Anique Coffee, Leah Zalinski, and I explore why the leadership styles that got us here simply won't get us there. Command-and-control doesn't work when your Gen Z employees want to understand the "why" behind every decision. Top-down mandates aren't going to wash when we need genuine collaboration to help navigate complexity. In this AI era, we need to ask better questions, build trust through empathy and understanding, and create environments where people actually want to contribute their best thinking. If you're leading through AI integration, managing multigenerational teams, or simply trying to stay grounded while everything shifts around you, then this conversation is for you. Watch The New Terrain here: https://lnkd.in/ehCsSzzr What's the biggest leadership challenge you're navigating right now? I'd genuinely love to know. #NewTerrain #AILeadership #PurposeDriven #LeadershipEvolution #FutureOfWork -------- Hello! I'm Rebekah Clark FRSA, a fractional CMO and Project Director working with foundations, UN agencies, philanthropists, and purpose-driven organisations to create impact through strategic campaigns and storytelling.

🏆 Honored to share that Lead with AI — our interview and talk show series — has won a W3 award and recognized for its excellence in digital storytelling! What began as bold conversations about AI products that are transforming humanity has grown into a global platform celebrating innovation, purpose, and impact. Every episode is a reminder that the future isn’t just about technology — it’s about people leading with vision, empathy, and courage. Grateful to our incredible guests, production team, and growing community of listeners who make this movement possible. 🎧 Tune in. Be inspired. #LeadWithAI #DigitalStorytelling #AIInnovation #PodcastExcellence #HumanAIFuture

AI can be a little scary, particularly for those of us whose livelihoods are directly tied to content creation. But at the Sharp Business USA NEXT event, keynote speaker Duncan Wardle points out that humans still have the upper hand in creativity, intuition, curiosity, empathy and imagination. And who wants content that lacks that? #SharpisNEXT

I had the awesome opportunity to jump on a podcast with a sharp product crew this week! 3 notes on the System of Intent, the layer I think most teams are missing: 1) What it is A System of Intent captures the why, who, outcome, and constraints behind every action. It translates goals into guardrails, tools, and prompts the model can actually use. AI is not the product. It’s a component inside a product that understands intent. 2) What it includes - Intent schema: goals, roles, SLAs, success criteria - Context fabric: the right slice of data, not a dump - Policies: safety, compliance, escalation paths - Orchestration: tools, workflows, fallback plans - Feedback loop: evals, user signals, drift checks 3) How to implement without burning months Start with 2 high-value workflows. Write the intent spec like a contract. Set a context budget per task and enforce it. Wire in tool use and safe fallbacks. Ship with an eval harness and capture “why” notes from users. At Codedevza AI we’ve found that one tight intent schema plus a ruthless context budget beats any giant RAG blob. Context is the foundation of memory, but more context is often noise. Capturing the why is what makes it stick. Curious how your team captures intent today. Docs? Decision logs? Nothing yet? Links in Comments. #EnterpriseAI #ProductDesign #AIEngineering #LLMOps

Episode 3 of "Behind the Scenes: Working in R&D" brings pride and passion! 🌟 Our RELEXians share what makes them genuinely excited to walk through the doors every day. Leading the charge in generative AI? Check. Being one of the first companies to actually harness this power into live products while others are still talking about it? Double check. Team integration speaks volumes - everyone communicates with each other, building and enhancing features together. What stands out most? The incredible people who make the work shine. Ambitious yet humble, capable of making strong decisions while living up to their promises. And the results? Very high customer satisfaction scores, even through rapid growth. When your colleagues are willing to share ideas, disagree when needed, and maintain great dynamics across all teams - you truly drive more value for customers. This is what happens when talented people love what they do and who they do it with passion. ✨ One more episode to go! 🚀 #LifeAtRELEX #GenerativeAI #Innovation #CustomerSuccess

In this episode, I sat down with Jan Beitner, PhD, Director of Data & AI at Inflexion, to unpack what “AI readiness” really means when viewed through the lens of private equity. We covered some huge themes but what stood out most was Jan’s focus on value first. Before you talk about tech stacks or data platforms, he argues, start with ROI. What’s the commercial impact you’re aiming for? Where does the value actually flow? 𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔: 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐑𝐎𝐈, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 — every AI initiative should be tied to measurable business value. 𝐁𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐬 — automation, product enhancement, or traditional ML each demand different foundations. 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 — successful AI adoption needs ownership at the top and empowerment below. 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐬 𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐞 — 95% of AI initiatives fail to deliver ROI (MIT), and most of that comes down to poor communication, governance, and change management. It’s a brilliant conversation that blends investment logic with data strategy a rare perspective you don’t often hear. #AIReadiness #DataStrategy #PrivateEquity #Databricks #ArtificialIntelligence #Leadership #Podcast

AI can be powerful, but it will never replace what makes us human. In this week’s episode of Grow with Kepo, we’re breaking down why human skill, creativity, and perspective will always matter more than any tool or technology. You’ll hear how to embrace AI as support while staying rooted in the unique strengths only you can bring. Listen to the full episode now on Grow with Kepo. #GrowWithKepo #HumanSkills #CareerGrowth #AuthenticWork #WorkThatMatters #CareerClarity #FindYourPath #AlignedLiving #MeaningfulWork #CareerAlignment

A month or so ago, I teamed up with The AI Collective DC chapter to co-host the Mic Drop: AI Builder Pitch & Pod event at Legacy Hifi — and it was FIRE! We had 20+ founders pitch the companies they’re building at the intersection of AI + orchestration. The room was packed with builders, operators, and curious minds ready to challenge the status quo. After the pitches, I brought several AI founders and leaders upstairs to the Legacy Sessions podcast studio for quick-fire interviews — breaking down, in layman’s terms, the kind of disruption and operational efficiency AI is making possible today (and what’s coming next). - What are you disrupting? - What is your AI utopia? - What is your AI dystopia? - What does 2030 look like? Massive thanks to: 🎥 Dominic Stellabotte – video production magic 🎬 @Kashi Saeed – for the 🔥 compilation video 🎧 Hugo Cubias + Seth Laderman – for continue to support The AI CEO Podcast With Seema Alexander and opening up their Legacy Sessions studio in the heart of DC to keep these important convos going AI isn’t just the future. It’s now. It's that simple, And we’re just getting started. cc: Big shout outs to Catherine McMillan and Jabari Grubb. Can't wait to do our next AI pitch and pod! #AICollective #AICEO #DisruptiveAI #PitchAndPod #AIInnovation #BusinessTransformation

🎙️ Episode 4 is live! In this one, I’m breaking down the six essential components that make agentic AI tick—from knowledge and memory to autonomy and user experience. These are the building blocks behind agents that don’t just respond—they reason, adapt, and collaborate. Whether you’re building your own or just trying to understand what’s under the hood, this episode gives you a clear, practical framework for how it all fits together. 🛠️ Think of it as the blueprint for intelligent action. 👀 And heads up: Episode 5 drops tomorrow, wrapping up the series with a look at where this is all headed—and what it means for your work, your tools, and your future. #AgenticAI #LawDawgTechTalks #AIExplained #MicrosoftCopilot #AIForEveryone #TechEducation #FutureOfWork

I wouldn’t let the first season of Owning the Outcome pass without an episode that’s literally just all about the tactics! Not just WHY our partners need to be AI-first, or why HubSpot’s 268k customers need our ecosystem to lead, but exactly HOW you can get started in your own transformation and AI service delivery. That’s exactly why I asked Aimane Ben M Hand, Head of AI & Innovation at Bright Digital, to join me on the show. “If you have a great AI idea, write it down, gather the right people, and start within 48 hours.” In our conversation, we talked about the reality of building an AI-first culture—the resistance, the messy starts, and the trust it takes to bring people along. The whole episode is just packed with tips and examples. Can’t wait to hear what you think.  #owningtheoutcome #AIFirst