Back in Europe after my US trip, still wrestling with that awful jetlag. Spent the past few days in Palo Alto meeting with various companies and individuals.

There's a distinct atmosphere there that's super inspiring.

Anyways, let's get into this week's Inside Track:

#5: Baseline Expectations + Mockups in ChatGPT

💡 One Idea

AI as a Baseline Expectation for Employees?

An internal memo from Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke is making the rounds online. It outlines his and Shopify's expectations around using AI to leverage up work.

The key takeaway: "Reflexive AI usage is now a baseline expectation at Shopify."

Tobi has been an early adopter and vocal proponent for embedding AI into work (whereas many corporate environments are still stuck thinking about how to implement it).

Which leads me to another part of the memo:

"What we have learned so far is that using AI well is a skill that needs to be carefully learned by… using it a lot."

The memo goes further, describing AI as a true multiplier effect:

"We are all lucky to work with some amazing colleagues, the kind who contribute 10X of what was previously thought possible... And what's even more amazing is that, for the first time, we see the tools become 10X themselves. I've seen many of these people approach implausible tasks... with reflexive and brilliant usage of AI to get 100X the work done."

(Read the full memo here)

Let's add all this together:

• Many are still contemplating how to use AI

• Using it effectively requires experimentation, which requires time

• AI acts as a multiplier on top of human capability

• = Unfair advantage if you start now

Tobi doesn't mince words about what happens if you don't adapt: "Frankly, I don't think it's feasible to opt out of learning the skill of applying AI in your craft... Stagnation is almost certain, and stagnation is slow-motion failure. If you're not climbing, you're sliding."

This directly mirrors what I wrote previously about the K-shaped future—those who adapt will rise, those who don't will fall behind. The gap will only widen.

What makes this moment special is the clear time advantage for early adopters.

The more you experiment, the more you learn, the more you improve. And this compounds.

So simple, yet so powerful.

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🛠️ One Tactic

Create product mockups with ChatGPT

OpenAI recently updated its image model / generator – and it’s really powerful.

Just now, before writing this, I was working on some concept visuals for a different project. I had generated to images, and was about to fire up good ol’ Photoshop to manually create a mockup combining the two.

Then, in a moment of shifting my mindset I jumped into ChatGPT instead:

By giving the AI very specific instructions, you can create impressive mockups, and it’s super quick:

1. Upload two (or more) images

2. Activate image generator (Click the … and select “Create Image”)
   

   

3. Give a specific instruction on how you want to combine the two images, for instance:
   
   “Add the character in the first image into the foreground of the second image. Adjust contrast and colours so it looks good”.
   

4. Done!
   
   

That’s it for today. Thanks!

– Martin