TL;DR

• The Three-Second Rule – Startups have three seconds to grab attention—most waste it.
• AI for Execution – ChatGPT, Perplexity, Ideogram, and Canva AI streamline branding fast.
• Lean Marketing Wins – Test, refine, pivot quickly without big budgets.
• AI & Copyright – If needed, use tools that respect IP rights, like Adobe Firefly.
• Speed is Everything – The startups that iterate the fastest will outpace the competition.

A Masterclass in Brand, Marketing, and AI Execution

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of leading the afternoon session of a full-day startup masterclass. The morning was led by Andrew Crombie, a seasoned brand strategist, who guided participants through the foundations of brand identity and positioning.

My session in the afternoon focused on marketing, audience engagement, and AI-powered execution, providing startup founders with tangible, high-impact strategies they could apply immediately.

Kicking off the afternoon’s Masterclass

The day was organised by Paddy Tan and Jeslin Bay from BlackStorm Consulting, who continue to do incredible work supporting entrepreneurs across Singapore and beyond. Their dedication to helping startups move from idea to execution is one of the key reasons why workshops like these are not just educational but truly transformative.

And what better place to host such a masterclass than Singapore’s National Library Building (NLB)? With its stunning modern design, an atmosphere that fosters learning, and an incredibly helpful team of staff, it was the perfect venue for a day of deep discussions, business strategy, and marketing breakthroughs.

The stunning National Library Building of Singapore (NLB)

Having built a career in digital marketing and technology across multiple regions, I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunities to mentor startups, lecture small businesses, and am a repeatly-requested trainer in programs such as this. The invitation to lead this session came from my experience in helping founders bridge the gap between creativity and AI-driven execution—a topic that has never been more relevant.

The ‘Aha!’ Moment: Realising the Three-Second Rule

The standout moment? When participants took part in a rapid-fire marketing exercise, testing their ideas in real time. Each group had to create a quick marketing hook for a reusable water bottle brand and present it to another group for immediate feedback.

That’s when it hit them: they had just three seconds to capture attention—or their idea would be ignored. Watching the realisation dawn on their faces was priceless. A few teams initially focused on the sustainability angle, but their peers’ feedback quickly shifted the conversation: “It’s not just about the bottle being refillable—who would actually use it? Which celebrities? What’s their favourite drink?”

Masterclass Participants pitching their ideas and gaining instant feedback

Brilliant Basics of Marketing: Timeless Yet Urgent

We kicked off with some fundamental marketing principles—what the fantastic marketing guru Rory Sutherland calls a “discovery mechanism” for finding unseen value. Marketing often feels complex, but when you strip it down, it’s about two things:

1. Understanding your audience deeply
2. Communicating why they should care—fast

The above exercise proved this in real-time. Many teams started with logical, product-focused messages, but when tested with an actual audience (their fellow participants), the hooks that worked were the ones that sparked an emotional connection, not just a feature list.

Sneak peak of the Masterclass Activity

The Three-Second Rule in Social Media is More Relevant Than Ever

The Three-Second Rule isn’t just a workshop exercise—it’s a fundamental truth in social media marketing today. If you don’t hook someone within the first few seconds, you’ve lost them.

The average user scrolls through 300 feet of content daily (the height of the Statue of Liberty). Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts reward content that captures attention instantly. Even traditional feeds prioritize posts that stop the scroll and generate engagement quickly.

But the rule has evolved. It’s no longer just about making someone pause—it’s about keeping them engaged long enough to interact, comment, or share.

Winning the First Three Seconds

Here’s what works today:

• Strong Opening – Start with a bold statement, a surprising fact, or a direct question.
• Captions & On-Screen Text – 85% of users watch videos on mute—your text needs to be engaging.
• Instant Movement – Faces, fast cuts, or big text make content stand out.
• No Slow Intros – Get to the point—immediately.

If startups want to stand out, they need to capture AND hold attention in those critical first moments. Because in a world where everyone is scrolling, speed wins.

Learn Marketing Principles: Why Speed and Flexibility Win

This is where Lean Marketing principles came into play. Startups often don’t have massive budgets or unlimited time. What they do have is speed, adaptability, and the ability to iterate quickly.

During the workshop, we worked through the Lean Marketing Canvas, a framework that helps startups test, measure, and refine their marketing strategy in real-time. The Lightning Task exercise was the perfect example—teams built, tested, and refined their ideas within minutes.

One participant summed it up perfectly: “I would’ve wasted weeks fine-tuning this idea before realising no one cared about what I thought was important.”

AI Tools: The Startup’s Secret Weapon

A major highlight of the workshop was showcasing how startups can combine AI tools to go from concept to market in record time. I introduced and demoed four core AI tools that, together, can act as a “business in a box”:

• ChatGPT – Perfect for brainstorming brand names, crafting value propositions, and generating compelling messaging. It helps shape unstructured thinking into something usable.
• Perplexity.ai – Brilliant for validating assumptions with real-time, reliable market research. Startups often act on intuition—this tool helps back it up with data.
• Ideogram.ai – Great for creating visuals with integrated text, which is perfect for quick brand-building with or without a strapline.
• Canva – The final piece of the puzzle, allowing startups to pull all the elements together into market-ready marketing collateral in minutes.

There are several similar tools (e.g., Google’s Gemini), and many others could also be included in this list—in fact this could have been a full day masterclass on its own! Yet for me, this combination means that within a single afternoon, a startup can go from a rough concept to a fully-formed brand identity, ad creatives, and go-to-market plan. That’s the power of AI when used smartly. And that’s before we even consider how to execute the marketing.

Tough Questions: Navigating AI’s Challenges

One of the most thought-provoking discussions came during the Q&A:

“What about copyright concerns with AI-generated content?”

It’s a fair question. With AI tools like MidJourney or Ideogram generating images, who really owns them? My advice was clear: if it’s a very important consideration for your business, then be intentional and choose platforms that respect IP.

I shared that Adobe Firefly is trained only on licensed and public domain content, reducing the headache of potential copyright issues, and ensuring all generated images are commercially safe to use. This kind of AI literacy is key—using AI isn’t just about speeding up processes, it’s about doing so responsibly.

Lessons from the Audience: Startups as Innovators

Beyond the structured sessions, some of the best insights came afterwards. during informal conversations with the entrepreneurs. What struck me (as it always does) is how diverse their businesses were, yet how similar their challenges remained.

Startups—whether in tech, wellness, sustainability, or services—all grapple with the same questions:

• How do we stand out when attention spans are shrinking?
• How do we market on a tight budget?
• How do we turn curiosity into action?

The beauty of today’s marketing landscape is that lean methodologies and AI tools now level the playing field. You no longer need a Fortune 500 budget to create a strong brand—you just need smart execution, rapid testing, and the ability to adapt in real time.

Final Thoughts: AI, Agility, and the Future of Marketing

If there’s one takeaway from this session, it’s this: speed matters. Whether it’s capturing attention in three seconds or testing new ideas in hours instead of months, the startups that win are the ones that embrace agility.

With AI as a co-pilot, the future of marketing isn’t just reserved for those with deep pockets—it belongs to the fastest learners, the boldest experimenters, and the ones willing to pivot when needed.

As I left the session, I wasn’t just impressed by the ideas—I was energised by the hunger to learn, experiment, and push boundaries. Singapore’s startup ecosystem continues to inspire, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

What do you think?

If you only had three seconds to pitch your startup to a potential investor, what would you say—and why would they care? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

Thanks for reading,

Adrian

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TL;DR – What You Need to Know in 30 Seconds

1. Meta’s AI—Developed with the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain, and Language—can reconstruct sentences from brain activity with up to 80% accuracy.
2. Non-Invasive Approach—Uses MEG and EEG instead of implants. MEG is more accurate but less portable.
3. Potential Applications—Could help those who’ve lost the ability to speak and aid in understanding how the brain translates ideas into language.
4. Future & Concerns—Ethical, technical, and privacy hurdles remain. But the success so far hints at a new era of brain-computer interfaces.

Meta’s AI Mind-Reading Reaches New Heights

Let’s talk about an astonishing leap in artificial intelligence that almost sounds like it belongs in a sci-fi flick: Meta, in partnership with the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain, and Language, has developed an AI model capable of reconstructing sentences from brain activity “with an accuracy of up to 80%” [Meta, 2023]. If you’ve ever wondered what’s going on in someone’s head—well, we’re getting closer to answering that quite literally.

In this rundown, we’re going to explore what Meta’s latest research is all about, why it matters, and what it could mean for everything from our daily lives to how we might help people with speech loss. We’ll also talk about the science—like MEG and EEG—and the hurdles still standing between this mind-reading marvel and real-world application. Let’s settle in for a deep dive into the brave new world of AI-driven mind-reading.

A Quick Glance at the Techy Bits

At its core, Meta’s AI is designed to interpret the squiggles and spikes of brain activity, converting them into coherent text. The process works by using non-invasive methods—specifically magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG). Both are fancy ways of saying that researchers can measure electrical and magnetic brain signals “without requiring surgical procedures” [Meta, 2023]. This is a big deal because most brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that we hear about typically involve implanting something into the brain, which is neither comfortable nor risk-free.

By harnessing these signals, the model can “read” what participants are typing in real-time with staggering accuracy. Meta and its research partners taught this AI using “brain recordings from 35 participants” [Meta, 2023]. These volunteers typed sentences, all the while having their brain activity meticulously recorded. Then, the AI tried to predict what they were typing—an impressive mental magic trick if ever there was one.

So, It’s Like Telepathy… Right?

Well, not exactly—but it’s getting there. The system can currently decode up to “80% of the characters typed” [Meta, 2023]. That’s more than just a party trick; it points to a future where people could potentially type or speak just by thinking about it. Imagine the possibilities for individuals with medical conditions that affect speech or motor skills: they might be able to communicate through a device that simply detects their brain signals. It sounds like something straight out of The Matrix, but this is real research happening right now.

However, before we get carried away, it’s crucial to note the caveats. For starters, MEG is pretty finicky: it needs a “magnetically shielded environment” [Meta, 2023] and you’re required to stay really still so the equipment can pick up your brain’s delicate signals. That’s not practical if you’re itching to walk around while reading and responding to your WhatsApp messages with your mind. EEG is more portable, but the accuracy drops significantly—hence, it’s not quite as flashy in the results department.

Why It’s More Than Just Gimmicks

The potential applications of this technology are huge. Meta claims this might one day “assist individuals who have lost their ability to speak” [Meta, 2023]. Conditions like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or severe stroke can rob people of speech capabilities, leaving them dependent on cumbersome or limited communication devices. A non-invasive BCI with the power to read your thoughts and turn them into text—or even synthesised speech—could be genuinely life-changing.

But there’s more. The technology also gives scientists a golden window into how the brain transforms an idea into language. The AI model tracks brain activity at millisecond resolution, revealing how “abstract thoughts morph into words, syllables, and the precise finger movements required for typing”. By studying these transitions, we gain valuable insights into our cognitive processes—insights that could help shape therapies, educational tools, and new forms of human-computer interaction.

The Marvel of a Dynamic Neural Code

One of the showstoppers here is the ‘dynamic neural code’. It’s a fancy term, but it basically means the brain is constantly in flux, updating and reusing bits of information as we string words together to form sentences. Think of it like this: you start with a vague idea—maybe “I’d love a coffee”—and your brain seamlessly translates that into syllables and sounds before your mouth or fingers do the work. Or, in the case of typing, your brain is choreographing the movements of your fingers on the keyboard in real time.

Researchers discovered this dynamic code, noticing that the brain keeps a sort of backstage pass to all your recent thoughts, linking “various stages of language evolution while preserving access to prior information” [Meta, 2023]. It’s the neuroscience equivalent of a friend who never forgets the thread of conversation while you’re busy rummaging through your bag for car keys.

Getting the Tech Out of the Lab

Of course, there’s a big difference between lab conditions and the real world. MEG machines are expensive, bulky, and require a carefully controlled setting. You can’t just whip them out in your living room. The team only tested “healthy subjects”, so whether this approach will work for individuals with brain injuries or degenerative conditions remains to be seen.

That said, technology has a habit of shrinking and simplifying over time. Computers once took up entire rooms; now they fit in our pockets. So, it’s not entirely far-fetched to imagine smaller, more user-friendly versions of MEG or similar non-invasive devices in the future. As research continues and more funds are poured into developing these systems, we could see a new era of BCIs that require nothing more than a comfortable headset.

The Balancing Act of Morals for Meta’s AI Mind-Reading Future

With great power comes great responsibility, and mind-reading AI is no exception. While this technology promises a world of good—like helping those who’ve lost their ability to speak—there’s also the worry that it could be misused. Privacy concerns loom large. If a device can read your mind, who’s to say it won’t pick up on your private thoughts you’d rather keep to yourself?

Meta has hinted at the need for strong guidelines, both for the ethical use of this tech and for data protection. After all, brain activity is personal data—perhaps the most personal of all. Before mind-reading headsets become mainstream, we can expect a lot of debate over consent, data ownership, and the potential psychological impact of having your thoughts scrutinised by AI.

Meta’s AI Mind-Reading: Looking Ahead

Despite the challenges and ethical conundrums, Meta’s AI mind-reading project heralds a new wave of possibilities in how we interact with computers—and how computers understand us. The technology is still in its infancy, but the 80% accuracy figure is a milestone that can’t be ignored.

As we dream about a future filled with frictionless communication between our brains and machines, we also have to grapple with questions about who controls this data and how to ensure it’s used responsibly. If we handle this right, we might be on the cusp of an era that empowers people with disabilities, unravels the mysteries of cognition, and streamlines our everyday tasks.

And who knows? Maybe one day we’ll be browsing social media or firing off emails purely by thinking, “Send message.” Scary or thrilling? Maybe a bit of both.

So, the big question: Are we ready for an AI that can peer into our minds, or is this stepping into Black Mirror territory? Let us know in the comments below. And don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter outlining the latest AI happenings, especially in Asia.

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TL;DR – What You Need to Know in 30 Seconds

1. AI job impact—could reduce staff: A whopping 41% of employers say they’ll cut jobs due to AI by 2030 (World Economic Forum, 2025).
2. Growth in other roles: Despite job losses, net growth of 78 million new jobs is predicted over the next five years (World Economic Forum, 2025).
3. Skills are vital: AI, big data, networks, cybersecurity, and tech literacy lead the pack, along with creativity and resilience.
4. Health benefits matter: Employers see better health and well-being perks as key to recruiting top talent.

AI and the Impact on Future Jobs: Will You Still Have One By 2030?

Brace yourselves, everyone—artificial intelligence (AI) is about to make your workplace look very different in the next few years. If you’ve got a job that involves a lot of repetitive or knowledge-based tasks, you might be feeling a bit nervous right about now, and honestly, who could blame you? The World Economic Forum (WEF) has just released its bi-annual survey on what employers around the world expect from their workforces as technology—especially AI—becomes an even bigger part of our day-to-day operations. And according to this new report, about 41% of employers say they’re planning to reduce their number of staff by 2030 thanks to AI taking over certain tasks (World Economic Forum, 2025).

Before you start pulling your hair out or wondering whether to live off the grid, here’s the good news: Most employers, to the tune of 77%, say they plan to train existing staff to work with AI. So, even though job automation is on the rise, it seems there’s still a place for humans—assuming we’re willing to adapt. Let’s take a closer look at what these projections mean for everyone, from the soon-to-be job hunters among us to the skilled veterans whose roles might soon be redefined.

The Big Picture: 2030 and Beyond

According to the WEF, the new survey includes 1,000 employers from across the globe, collectively overseeing more than 14 million workers in 22 different industries (World Economic Forum, 2025). It’s a big sample size, which makes it even more compelling (and slightly nerve-wracking) that 41% are anticipating fewer employees on payroll by 2030.

But let’s not lose sight of the broader context. Although some jobs will be lost, new ones are expected to emerge. The WEF predicts net growth in the total number of jobs over the next five years, in part due to new types of work that AI makes possible (World Economic Forum, 2025). Sure, we might see fewer legal secretaries, for instance, but there could be more cybersecurity experts or data analysts to fill that gap.

In fact, “AI and big data top the list of fastest-growing skills, followed closely by networks and cybersecurity as well as technology literacy,” according to the report (World Economic Forum, 2025). This makes sense: The more tech we rely on, the greater our need for people who can keep everything running smoothly—and securely.

Rude Awakening For Graphic Designers and Legal Secretaries

If you happen to be a graphic designer or a legal secretary, I’ll admit the WEF’s findings may not be what you wanted to hear. “The presence of both Graphic Designers and Legal Secretaries just outside the top 10 fastest-declining job roles… may illustrate GenAI’s increasing capacity to perform knowledge work,” the report says (World Economic Forum, 2025).

Why those two roles? Well, generative AI can already create fairly complex images from just a bit of text. And while it might still be a bit of a plagiarisation machine right now, it’s improving rapidly. Meanwhile, legal secretaries deal with a lot of document preparation and standardised tasks, which AI can handle quite efficiently.

Even more interesting is the fact that in the previous edition of the WEF’s Future of Jobs Report, graphic designers weren’t facing such a grim future. They were actually considered to have moderate growth potential. But the new data shows how quickly AI’s creative and administrative capabilities are encroaching on those roles (World Economic Forum, 2025).

Skills, Skills, Skills (Did We Mention Skills?)

One major theme emerges loud and clear: skills matter. The report emphasises that if you want to weather the AI storm, you’ll need to stay on top of emerging technology. And it’s not just about coding or data analytics, even though those skills are certainly in demand. Creative thinking, resilience, flexibility, agility, curiosity, and lifelong learning are also key—and are expected to keep rising in importance through 2025-2030 (World Economic Forum, 2025).

Think of it this way: If AI handles all the grunt work, it frees you up to do the creative, problem-solving parts of your job. But employers believe that a lot of current workers lack the needed technical and cognitive skills to stay relevant in a more AI-driven world. That’s why 77% of them say they’ll invest in training existing staff to bridge this gap (World Economic Forum, 2025). So if there’s ever been a time to become best mates with a self-paced online course or a coding bootcamp, it’s now.

Health and Well-Being: The New Hiring Perk?

The survey also points out that employers plan to lean more on health and well-being benefits to attract and retain staff (World Economic Forum, 2025). If you’re in the UK, you might be rolling your eyes—it’s not exactly a secret that good healthcare is a priority in many countries. But for those in places like the U.S., where health insurance is often tied to employment, that emphasis could be a big factor in job decisions. It might even be the deciding factor for candidates choosing between two similarly paid positions.

Now, “health and well-being” can be a somewhat nebulous concept. Does it mean better mental health support, flexible schedules, or better parental leave? Probably a bit of all of the above. But it is clear that as workplaces become more competitive and technology gets more advanced, companies have to stand out in new ways. Offering good health benefits is one way to do that.

Good News: More Jobs, In Theory

Yes, the robots might be coming for some of our jobs. But the WEF report estimates a net growth in jobs over the next five years, with around 170 million new roles emerging (about 14% of current employment), balanced by the displacement of around 92 million jobs (8% of current employment) (World Economic Forum, 2025). That should work out to a net increase of roughly 78 million jobs.

Of course, these numbers don’t tell us everything. Just because jobs will exist doesn’t guarantee that they’ll be in your city, your field, or come with a living wage. But the WEF does seem optimistic that overall, humans will still have plenty to do—especially because tech might make us more efficient at work. “In other words, both machines and humans might be significantly more productive in 2030… so any concern about humans ‘running out of things to do’ due to automation would be misplaced,” the report notes (World Economic Forum, 2025).

Babysitting the Machine

While AI might soon be good enough to crank out legal documents or design your next logo, it’s not exactly a flawless system. It can hallucinate information, make daft mistakes, and be prone to biases if the data it’s been trained on is dodgy. If you’ve played around with any generative AI, you’ll know it often needs a human eye to catch errors. So while some jobs might disappear, new ones will pop up to oversee AI’s output, ensure accuracy, and keep the algorithms in check.

That may not be much comfort if you’re a graphic designer worrying about job security. But we can hope that new AI-centric roles (think “AI prompt engineers” or “AI design curators”) may open up, even if it requires retraining and a fresh mindset.

So, the crystal ball says that while AI might make our jobs easier in some ways, it could also send some roles packing. The companies that stay ahead of the curve will be the ones that invest in training, foster a culture of innovation, and offer decent health and well-being packages. The employees who thrive will be those who adapt, learn continuously, and aren’t afraid to pivot. The real question is: Are you ready to evolve, or will you let the robots leave you behind?

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