AI Revolution and Marketing to Robots
I recently had a fantastic conversation on the "Made in Cyprus" podcast where we dove deep into the future of AI, marketing, and building global businesses from this incredible island. For those who want the full experience, I highly recommend you watch the entire interview.
If you're short on time, here is a summary of my key thoughts from our discussion.
The conversation crystallized some core beliefs I have about our future. We are living through a new industrial revolution driven by AI. This isn't just a trend; it's a fundamental shift that will force us to learn how to market to robots and place a higher value on uniquely human skills like creativity.
Why build a global tech company from Cyprus?
People often ask me why I've stayed in Cyprus for over a decade. The answer lies in a powerful paradox. Living in a huge market like New York or London naturally forces you to focus on that local market. Cyprus, however, is so small that it’s almost a non-market.
This forces you to think globally from day one. You have no choice. It frees your imagination to build for the entire world, and in my experience, that freedom is a strategic advantage. It’s an incubator for global ambition.
Is AI going to take all our jobs?
This is the biggest question on everyone's mind, and the fear is understandable. But I see it differently. History shows us that industrial revolutions don't kill jobs in the long run—they transform them and create new ones. The steam engine and electricity caused similar anxieties, yet they led to periods of incredible growth and opportunity.
My view is this:
- AI will handle logical, repetitive tasks. This frees up human potential for more complex, creative work.
- New roles will emerge. A few years ago, who could have imagined a job like "AI Ethics Officer"? More new professions are coming.
- The future is about collaboration. The most successful teams will be those where humans leverage AI as a powerful tool to amplify their own abilities.
How do you market to a customer that has no emotions?
Here’s my most important insight for anyone in business: we are about to spend half our marketing budgets on customers who are not human.
Our AI assistants will soon make many of our routine purchases, from booking tickets to ordering groceries. This changes everything because robots don't "shop" like we do.
Think about what this means:
- Page one of search results is irrelevant. A robot will parse all 17 pages of data in half a second. Paying to be at the top is useless.
- Visual branding is less important. Your clever logo and beautiful color scheme are meaningless to an algorithm.
- Impulse buys are dead. A robot makes decisions based on pure logic and data, not emotion.
The new rules for "branding for robots" will be:
- Data-Rich Interfaces: Provide clean, structured, API-based data that machines can easily read and compare.
- Verifiable Trust: Objective reviews and transparent data will be your most persuasive assets.
- Radical Transparency: The winning product will be the one whose data proves it is the most logical fit for the user's needs.
What skill should we all be learning?
For the last year, everyone said "learn prompt engineering." But that's a temporary skill. As AI gets smarter, we won't need special prompts; we'll just talk to it.
The single most important skill—the one a robot can't replicate—is creativity. It’s our ability to imagine, to solve problems in new ways, and to adapt to constant change. In a world of automation, our imagination becomes our greatest economic asset. The future belongs to the creatives.
