Why I'm More Excited Than Ever About the Future of AI

To every founder, builder, and disruptor shaping tomorrow's economy: AI isn't just a buzzword – it's the most potent strategic advantage available. Having spent my career at the intersection of growth, innovation, and emerging technology, I've never been more energized by its potential to drive transformative change and unlock unprecedented value for companies and consumers alike.

We're standing on the edge of the next great platform shift — and this time, it's not just about better software or faster devices. It's about putting intelligence in the hands of everyone, everywhere.

In my work scaling startups and helping them leverage AI to drive smarter decisions, improve customer experiences, and unlock sustainable growth, I've seen firsthand how powerful these tools can be when applied with intention—insights I also explore in depth in my book, Lean AI.

The opportunity ahead isn't just technological — it's human. AI has the potential to democratize access to knowledge, creativity, education, economic opportunity, and personalized experiences in ways we've never seen before. But that won't happen by default.

It requires intentionality — building AI with people at the center. This is not just for enterprises or developers but for consumers — the parents, teachers, creators, students, solopreneurs, and dreamers who will use these tools to do more, learn faster, and unlock entirely new possibilities for their lives.

That's why I'm so inspired by the work happening across the AI landscape. While OpenAI has made incredible strides in advancing the frontier of what's technically possible with models like GPT, the broader ecosystem is teeming with innovation focused on accessibility, safety, and impact at scale for consumers.

Consider the creative revolution driven by companies like Midjourney and Stability AI, which are democratizing artistic expression through text-to-image generation. Or consider the way ElevenLabs is making hyper-realistic voice synthesis accessible, fundamentally changing how we interact with audio content and opening new doors for accessibility.

Anthropic, with its focus on safe and ethical AI, and Cohere, which builds powerful language models for businesses, are key players ensuring that this intelligence is developed responsibly. We're seeing AI enhance daily productivity with tools like Otter.ai for meeting transcriptions and elevate search experiences with companies like Perplexity AI, which goes beyond traditional search to provide synthesized answers.

Beyond the major players like Google (with Gemini and DeepMind) and Meta AI (with Llama), who are embedding AI across their vast consumer platforms, there are exciting startups making specific impacts. Character.AI is pioneering new forms of interactive storytelling and companionship through AI-driven virtual characters.

In education, platforms like Duolingo are leveraging AI to personalize language learning at an unprecedented scale. Even in finance, companies like Ferret.AI are using AI to provide relationship intelligence, empowering consumers with more informed networking.

The future of AI should be personal, practical, and empowering — and I believe we're just getting started. This vast and rapidly evolving ecosystem, with contributions from both established giants and nimble startups, underscores the immense potential to bring AI into the everyday lives of billions.

For founders navigating this incredible platform shift, the opportunity isn't just to adopt AI but to build with it—to create smarter products, scale faster, and establish market leadership that redefines industries. I'm excited to collaborate with the visionary teams making this happen.

Let's empower a generation of founders to leverage intelligence as the most widely accessible force for good the world has ever seen, building truly impactful and enduring companies.

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Lomit Patel is a growth executive, author of Lean AI (part of Eric Ries’ Lean Startup series), and startup advisor who helps companies scale using automation, AI, and experimentation.