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Most companies are sleepwalking into the AI future

If your AI strategy is “I’m good at ChatGPT,” you’ve already lost.

Author

Eric Siu
February 02, 2026

Being “good at ChatGPT” doesn’t mean your company is ready for AI.
Prompt skills are table stakes. The real edge comes from strategic integration.

Here’s what we’re doing at Single Grain to actually level up:

  • We host 2-day AI hackathons where teams build real tools they can use now.

  • Weekly office hours and dedicated Slack channels remove blockers fast.

  • Mandatory show-and-tells turn theory into practice.

  • And we made participation non-negotiable; this takes priority over everything.

Early on, I saw resistance. Inertia is real. But leadership means forcing momentum.

The results? Undeniable.

  • 3 hours saved per client reporting task

  • 12 hours/month saved per client on strategy

  • 5 hours saved per proposal with an AI-powered ROI calculator

But the biggest win wasn’t time.
It was identity.

Our team stopped seeing themselves as task machines.
They started seeing themselves as builders.
Strategic operators.
People creating compounding leverage through AI.

If you want to grow faster using the power of AI, my agency Single Grain is offering free marketing plans to qualified Leveling Up newsletter subscribers, check it out here.

This is the future of work:

  • Fewer low-leverage tasks

  • More judgment and creativity

  • More exponential output

Want help future-proofing your marketing with AI? At Single Grain, we build compounding leverage that drives growth.

If you’re not building systems around AI, you’re building debt.
The longer you wait, the higher the interest.

To building real AI leverage,
Eric Siu

P.S.

1 - If you want to grow faster using the power of AI, my agency Single Grain is offering free marketing plans to qualified Leveling Up newsletter subscribers, check it out here.
2 - We’re hiring AI-forward performance ad creative strategists, AI-forward SEOs and paid media people, AI short form creators, AI automation interns, and more. If you’re interested, apply at our Careers page.
3 - We launched ClickFlow to help automate and scale SEO.
4 - Interested in creating 1:1 personalized LinkedIn ads in minutes instead of weeks? Sign up for the Karrot.ai waitlist.
5 - For more in-depth marketing content, check out my Leveling Up YouTube channel
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