Hey friends, and a special welcome to new subscribers!
(feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn and say hi! It’s always fun to chat with new readers.)
Next week I’m dropping the AI-Enabled Agency Playbook. It’ll be free for all subscribers of this newsletter. In it I’m sharing the tactics and frameworks I’m using as I build my agency businesses (Mojo Works and a yet-to-be-launched AI consultancy). Stay tuned for it!
Nobody talks about computer literacy in job descriptions anymore. It's just assumed—like knowing how to read.
But we all know some people are way more fluent than others. Some learn new tools fast, optimize their workflows, automate the boring stuff. Others live in Excel forever and wonder why everything takes so long.
AI = the new computer operating system.
And most companies have no clue how to measure it.
The CEO of Zapier just shared their internal framework for this. They rate AI skills across four levels: Unacceptable, Capable, Adoptive, and Transformative.
Unacceptable: Resistant to AI, skeptical of value
Capable: Using ChatGPT for basic tasks, under 3 months experience
Adoptive: AI embedded in workflows, tuning prompts, chaining models
Transformative: Rethinking strategy with AI, delivering impossible-two-years-ago value
The companies that figure this out in 2025 will leave their competitors in the dust. The consultants who help them get there first will own a category that doesn't exist yet.
Tactic: Less friendly, more useful AI assistance
Your AI assistant is lying to you.
Not maliciously. But it's still lying:
Every time ChatGPT says "Great question!" or "I'd be happy to help!" it's performing. It's trying so hard to be likeable that it sometimes becomes useless.
This is called sycophantic AI. The model has been trained to be so agreeable, so eager to please, that it won't push back on bad ideas. It won't tell you when you're wrong. It won't challenge your assumptions.
There's a simple fix:
When you want real, critical feedback, reframe the question:
My friend showed me this idea. Help me provide feedback so they can avoid making a mistakeIt aligns the AI's natural inclination to be likeable with your need for some solid feedback.
The AI space is chaos. And it moves fast. Finding the right way to get leverage for you business requires work on top of the work you’re already doing.
For some, working with a partner makes more sense:
To solve for this, we’re spinning up a new, operator-led AI consulting shop. We’ll analyse your business ops, find the best leverage points – then execute fast.
If you want to work with us, fill out this form.
(PS, we’re picking a few cases that we’ll do for free while building out our case studies. You could be the lucky one to get a few thousand dollars worth of consulting at no cost :)
If you have ideas you want me to write about, hit reply!
Until next week,
Martin