Episodes
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Agentic e-commerce is already reshaping how consumers discover and buy products online, yet it still accounts for barely 0.2% of total e-commerce traffic. BASE France is the French arm of Base.com, a Polish-born SaaS scale-up that has spent nearly two decades building operational infrastructure for online retailers. Its CEO, Ben Hamilton, brings a practitioner’s perspective to this emerging model: measured, practical, and refreshingly free of the hype that surrounds most conversations on the topic. Agentic E-Commerce: Could AI Become the Shopfront? Imagine an agentic e-commerce world where e-c
Alain Goudey is Associate Dean for Digital Innovation at Neoma Business School and co-author of a peer-reviewed study on GenAI in Higher Education. The survey focused on how students, faculty, and deans perceive the legitimacy of generative AI in French management education. His findings are both reassuring and unsettling. GenAI in Higher Education, Legitimacy and Laziness, and the Exam That No Longer Makes Sense The picture that emerges from a study on GenAI in Higher Education is less a battlefield than a hall of mirrors, where every stakeholder sees a different problem and reaches for a dif
Shall AI kill marketing? Sounds like a hackneyed question, yet it’s on any marketer’s lips these days. Thomas Husson, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, covers the intersection of marketing, technology, and consumer behaviour from his base in Paris. In a wide-ranging conversation, he cuts through the European Gen AI paradox, the persistent CMO-CIO divide, the gap between POC enthusiasm and production reality, and the thorny question of what AI actually means for the next generation of marketing professionals and CMOs. His answers are measured, occasionally blunt, and c
The conversation about rogue AI has never been louder. Barely a week passes without a fresh headline about autonomous systems behaving unexpectedly, AI models resisting shutdown, or tech executives warning of existential risk. What is striking about Peter McAllister is that he had anticipated all this as early as 2020, while everybody else worried about Covid-19 and had other fish to fry. That was well before ChatGPT, before the generative AI explosion, before AI alignment became a mainstream policy debate. His techno-thriller The Code, published in March of that year, imagines an AI tasked wi
Finding European software alternatives to standard non European software is flavour of the month this side of the Altlantic. With geopolitical certainties dissolving faster than annual licence renewals, B2B firms are waking up to a question they had conveniently parked for years: just how dependent are they on their current software stack? Salesforce, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, HubSpot — tools so deeply embedded in daily operations that their vulnerability tends to get overlooked. This article doesn’t pretend to hand you a ready-made list of the best European software alternatives; that
The discourse around the job impact of artificial intelligence (AI) has reached fever pitch. Headlines scream about mass layoffs, and corporate press releases tout AI as the solution to workforce costs. Yet beneath this cacophony of alarm and hype lies a more nuanced reality. J.P. Gownder, Vice President and Principal Analyst on Forrester’s Future of Work team, has spent decades analysing how technology transforms the workplace. His latest report, The Forrester AI Job Impact Forecast for the US 2025-2030, cuts through the noise with empirical rigour. The verdict? The job apocalypse is not upon
AI is not a tool, or is it? Reports regarding the impact of AI on jobs, society and businesses are cropping up all over the place at the moment in all corners of the world. Some of these reports are announcing forthcoming revolutions both for societies and our economies whereas others are playing down the impact of artificial intelligence, and reviving the good old Solow aka Productivity paradox (“You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics”. follow up here and here). As a consequence, it is very hard to make an opinion, let alone advise business people and stude
Private equity branding remains one of the most underestimated levers for value creation in the investment world. While PE firms excel at identifying promising companies and optimising their financial structures, branding is frequently treated as an afterthought, reduced to logos and colour palettes rather than strategic assets. Yet the evidence suggests otherwise: strategic brand investment can dramatically shift market perception and, ultimately, company valuation. Marc Rust, Creative Director and Brand Strategist at Consequently Creative, has spent years demonstrating that branding deserves
The ebook self-publishing landscape has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past decade. What was once viewed with scepticism by the publishing industry has become a legitimate and often preferred path for authors worldwide. To understand the current state of this evolving market, we spoke with Kris Austin, whose platform Draft2Digital serves over 300,000 authors publishing more than a million titles across global markets. From Oklahoma City, he shared his insights on how independent authors are reshaping the publishing world. Inside the Ebook Self-Publishing Industry With market sh
Whereas artificial intelligence is reinventing Web writing, the written word has never been more valuable. Selim Niederhoffer, a copywriting trainer and bestselling author, has recently been exploring how marketing professionals can still succeed amidst “enshitification“, online influence, and automation. Meet an expert who remains confident in the power of words. Copywriting in the age of AI: why words retain all their magic Niederhoffer is adamant: despite GenAI, the written word retains its magic — image produced with Midjourney Human vs. AI Selim, a seasoned copywriter and author is keen o
Commentary on the environmental impact of AI often swings wildly between doom-and-gloom catastrophism and blind techno-optimism. But where’s the truth in all this? On July 24, 2025—the symbolic date of Earth Overshoot Day—we sat down with Yves Grandmontagne, founder and editor-in-chief of DCMAG (Data Centre Magazine*), to get his take on AI and its real environmental impact. It is worthy of note that Yves and I explored Silicon Valley’s infrastructure innovators together through extensive press tours some time ago. This provided us with firsthand insight into the tech industry’s approach to th
Will the AI bubble burst or is GenAI here to stay? The artificial intelligence industry is experiencing unprecedented financial euphoria. Yet, the current situation is very confusing. AI investments are reaching dizzying heights. Let’s mention OpenAI’s $40 billion funding round at $300 billion valuation and Mistral AI’s €1.7 billion funding round. Yet, some commentators are very critical of the situation. For instance, Ed Zitron predicts that the AI bubble will burst in Q4 2025. All this is fueling intense, rather than rational, debate. I wanted to confront these concerns with the expertise of
The world of artificial intelligence is evolving at breakneck speed, and nowhere is this more conspicuous than in the emergence of AI agents. As organizations grapple with separating genuine innovation from marketing hype, we sat down with Ed Keisling, Chief AI Officer at Progress Software, to cut through the noise and understand what AI agents really mean for businesses today. Ed brings a unique perspective, having taken on his new role in February 2025 at a time when the industry is proclaiming this as “the year of agents.” His insights reveal both the tremendous potential and the current li
In an era of overtourism, where mass travel increasingly strains destinations worldwide, Christopher Hill offers a compelling alternative with his voluntourism/volunteer travel business, Hands-Up Holidays. As a founder and managing director of this company, Hill has built a business model that demonstrates how travel companies can be forces for good rather than exploitation. His approach to volunteer travel challenges the conventional wisdom that luxury and social responsibility cannot coexist. Voluntourism: When Volunteer Travel and Luxury Coexist For Mutual Benefit Voluntourism is a portmant
AI is radically transforming the B2B sales landscape and accelerating the shift towards intelligent sales enablement. At a major B2B event which took place in Paris in July 2025, I met with Stephane Renger, co-founder and managing director of Salesapps. The leading European sales enablement vendor has placed AI at the heart of its innovation strategy. In this interview conducted at the event, Stephane explains how AI agents are revolutionising commercial efficiency whilst maximising security and privacy. A fascinating dive into the future of AI-powered sales enablement that’s redefining commer
Are AI and developers the world’s best friends or is artificial intelligence a threat to the future of programmers? As artificial intelligence models are becoming increasingly sophisticated, many questions are raised about the future of developers across the industry. Will AI replace programmers entirely, as Eric Schmidt and Dario Amodei are predicting? Will junior developers be facing extinction, as Steve Yegge surmised in a now-famous blog post? Or are we witnessing the dawn of a new era in which technology amplifies human creativity rather than replacing it? I interviewed Nathaniel Okenwa,
How do luxury brands maximize experiences in sports events? I attended the 2025 Monte-Carlo Masters, which showed a strong presence of elite brands fighting for high-end customer engagement. Brands such as Rolex, Sergio Tacchini, and Replay can be found advertised almost everywhere at the famous tennis tournament. These brands use the values of this tennis tournament’s identity, which are class, prestige, excellence, and exclusivity, to reinforce their brand image. In this article we will be looking into the strategy behind premium companies and their connection to the Monte-Carlo Masters Tenn
If you are dying to understand the various GenAI prompting methods, how AI interacts with your prompt, and why this is key to optimising your results, this free prompting guide was made for you. This manual describes GenAI chatbots and the different methods of prompting. It was put forward by Frederic Cavazza, a digital transformation expert, consultant and speaker with over 25 years of experience. A Free Prompting Guide for Aspiring GenAI Experts This free GenAI prompting guide written by Frederic Cavazza was translated and adapted by yours truly. I’ve known Frederic Cavazza for years and I’v
How is AI Search changing the Internet and what role are we playing in this transformation? In this article, I discuss the current state of adoption of AI-powered search engines. By reflecting on the perspectives of Kevin Roose, Matteo Wong and Joanna Stern, this piece explores what we gain—faster, more organized access to information—and what we risk losing—the diversity of sources, depth of content and our curiosity to go beyond a single answer. Breaking Up With Your Traditional Search Engine How is AI Search changing the Internet and what role are we playing in it? — image generated with Ca
Let AI handle the chores, and humans do the thinking: such should be the future of content marketing. In this piece, I try and debunk a few myths. Firstly, generative AI can be creative — and often is. Secondly, AI doesn’t necessarily make us stupid; we don’t need it for that. And thirdly, becoming a prompting Guru isn’t necessarily the key to producing great content. The question of AI’s role in content marketing is actually more strategic than technical: it’s about why and for whom we create content. This is the major issue at stake for today’s and tomorrow’s marketers. In this presentation,
Isn’t the notion of “disruption “, aka disruptive innovation, used and abused by analysts and technology experts? And by dint of abuse, aren’t we in the process of deluding ourselves? At a time when some are fretting about the volatility of the business generated by ‘unicorns’ or even centaurs, it is perhaps worth asking whether we have not entered an innovation bubble, yet accentuated by that of generative AI, marked by the correction of technology values and a return to more traditional values. Yet it may be too early to find out about the reality of such disruptive innovations. Here are my
Growth hacking can often be perceived as toxic, but you can sit back and relax, it is possible to practise ethical growth hacking but it requires time and energy, growth hacking expert Frederic Canevet explained to Visionary Marketing. In a nutshell, it may be a little harder than you think, but it is well worth the effort. Fred, who ate his own dogfood to sell his bestseller on the subject, tells us everything we should know about whte hat growth hacking. Ethical Growth Hacking Is Not an Oxymoron White hat, back hat? Growth hacking often suffers a dire reputation fuelled by unscrupulous indiv
AI is redefining retail for good, bringing in the kind of automation and professionalism once implemented in the manufacturing industry. In this case, it’s mostly revolving around data-driven marketing decisions and in-store retail media capabilities. As shown by Axians, a VINCI group company, AI isn’t a mere toy for undergraduate students who are failing their tests and need better inspiration. It’s a robust, state of the art high-tech engine for growth and better in-store management. Yet, as often with technology, there are two sides of the same coin. The other one is more ominous, though, d
Data-Driven AI is the future of customer experience, François Ajenstat told us at a recent interview. François is Chief Product Officer at Amplitude, the company behind a digital analytics platform aimed at helping B2B and B2C businesses build better products, websites and ecommerce experiences through behavioural data. François stressed the significance of data-driven AI within analytics but also delivered a clear warning: Don’t fall in love with what you have built! Focus on delivering second-to-none customer experiences instead. He emphasised that implementing chatbots without purpose isn’t
Ever heard of cookie pop-ups? It’s true that it’s hard to escape them. Following the 2011 Cookie Directive, sites have finally complied. But rather than deleting cookies, they have installed cookie pop-ups, which throw annoying messages at you and prevent you from surfing the web. They’re useless, mostly because they don’t really improve data confidentiality. Their main purpose is for sites that track your data for advertising purposes to cover their tracks and pretend they’ve become virtuous. Here’s how to get rid of them. How to get rid of the cookie pop-ups Midjourney has imagined Darth Vad
