Worried about what you should or shouldn’t put into AI tools? In this episode of CubeCast: The Entrepreneur’s Playground, we unpack data, privacy and trust in plain English for small businesses. Instead of legal jargon, you’ll get a clear framework for what’s safe to share, where your data might go, and how to choose AI tools that respect your customers and your business.

We talk through the real risks—like pasting personal or sensitive information into public AI tools, shadow IT inside your team, and vendors being vague about how they train their models. You’ll hear practical guidance shaped by what regulators in Australia, the US and EU are saying: data minimisation, transparency, consent, and why “don’t paste anything you’d be afraid to see on the front page of a newspaper” is still a good rule of thumb.

If you’ve been using AI casually and have a nagging feeling you should tighten things up—or you’ve held back because you’re unsure about privacy—this episode gives you a simple, founder-friendly roadmap to using AI safely without killing the upside.

Sources:

• https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-guidance-for-organisations-and-government-agencies/guidance-on-privacy-and-the-use-of-commercially-available-ai-products
• https://www.bizcover.com.au/ai-and-data-privacy-what-small-businesses-need-to-know/
• https://www.ftc.gov/policy/advocacy-research/tech-at-ftc/2024/01/ai-companies-uphold-your-privacy-confidentiality-commitments
• https://www.nist.gov/itl/ai-risk-management-framework
• https://www.edpb.europa.eu/sme-data-protection-guide/home_en

AI is moving fast—but your business doesn’t need a 200-page strategy to keep up. In this episode of CubeCast: The Entrepreneur’s Playground, we walk through a simple, practical AI roadmap designed specifically for small businesses over the next three years. Instead of chasing every new tool, you’ll learn how to focus on a handful of high-impact moves that actually save time, reduce costs and make your team’s life easier.

We break your AI journey into three clear phases: Year 1 is all about quick wins and building confidence, Year 2 is where you start joining systems together and improving core processes, and Year 3 is where you look at bigger shifts—like smarter decision-making, new services, or deeper automation. Along the way, we talk about what to avoid (random experiments, shadow IT, hype-driven spending), how to keep your data safe, and how to make sure AI becomes part of how you work, not a one-off project that gathers dust.

If you’ve been thinking “we should really be doing something with AI” but don’t know where to start—or you’ve dabbled with a few tools and stalled—this episode gives you a grounded, realistic path to follow over the next three years.

Sources:

• https://employmenthero.com/uk/resources/ai-adoption-guide/
• https://sbaas.com.au/demystifying-ai-for-small-businesses/
• https://www.singular-innovation.com/post/ai-adoption-guide-smes-strategies-roadblocks
• https://www.gaussalgo.com/knowledge-base/ai-adoption-roadmap-for-business-leaders
• https://www.quantumweb.com.au/practical-steps-make-your-business-ai-ready

Does your business secretly live inside your head – a million half-documented processes, ad hoc messages to the team, and projects tracked across random emails and spreadsheets? In this episode of CubeCast: The Entrepreneur’s Playground, we dig into how AI can help you move from operational chaos to something you can actually manage, delegate and scale.

We unpack practical ways to use AI to capture and clean up your processes into simple SOPs, keep projects moving without you chasing everyone, and build an internal “business brain” so answers are no longer trapped in the founder’s inbox. You’ll hear how tools like AI note-takers, SOP generators and Notebook-style knowledge bases can turn meeting notes, voice memos and scattered docs into clear, searchable playbooks your whole team can use.

If you’re constantly firefighting, re-explaining the same tasks, or feeling like nothing works unless you personally push it, this episode will show you how to put AI to work behind the scenes—so your operations become calmer, clearer, and much easier to grow.

Sources:

• https://www.knowby.co/blog/ai-sop-generator
• https://www.helpshelf.com/blog/ai-powered-knowledge-management-for-solopreneurs
• https://www.zendesk.com/au/service/help-center/ai-knowledge-base/
• https://www.knack.com/blog/ai-for-project-management/
• https://promevo.com/blog/notebooklm-for-businesses

Buried in emails, repetitive admin and endless “quick” tasks? In this episode of CubeCast: The Entrepreneur’s Playground, we unpack how AI co-pilots and agents can take a big chunk of that load off your plate. Instead of treating AI as a fancy chatbot, we look at how founders and tiny teams can plug assistants into real workflows to handle scheduling, follow-ups, research, summaries and internal documentation.

You’ll hear practical, 2025-ready examples of what an AI co-pilot can do today: from turning messy notes into clean SOPs, to summarising meetings, drafting responses, and stitching tools together so processes feel like one click instead of ten. We also dig into where the boundaries should be, how to stay safe with your data, and simple ways to measure whether these tools are genuinely saving you time and money.

If you’re constantly “just catching up” on admin and feel like the real work never starts, this episode will help you see AI not as a threat, but as the extra pair of hands you wish you could afford.

Sources:

• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/ai-at-work-is-here-now-comes-the-hard-part
• https://zapier.com/blog/ai-business/
• https://www.aalpha.net/blog/ai-agents-for-small-businesses/
• https://blog.octanesolutions.com.au/how-can-an-ai-assistant-help-in-your-business

Feeling stuck with a tiny marketing budget? In this episode of CubeCast: The Entrepreneur’s Playground, we walk through a simple 90-day digital plan designed for new and growing businesses. You’ll learn how to get your website working as your main sales hub, choose the right channels, and prioritise SEO, content, email and social without burning out or blowing your budget. Perfect for founders, side-hustlers and small teams who want clear, actionable steps for the next three months.Sources:

• https://www.auburnadvertising.com/articles/191-90-day-marketing-plan-small-business-startup
• https://www.decantdigital.com/90-day-marketing-plan/
• https://www.xero.com/au/guides/digital-marketing-for-small-businesses/
• https://clickclickbangbang.com.au/digital-marketing-for-small-business/
• https://www.davechaffey.com/digital-marketing-glossary/90-day-marketing-plans/

Unlock the power of truly knowing your customers in this episode of CubeCast. Hosts Dan and Jen explore how small businesses can transform basic data into actionable consumer insights, leveraging both classic research techniques (surveys, interviews, journey mapping) and accessible AI tools to spot patterns, predict behaviour and personalise experiences. Packed with real-world examples—from a local bakery boosting online sales to a boutique reinventing its store layout—you’ll learn practical, scalable steps to refine products, sharpen marketing and build lasting loyalty, all without a Fortune-500 budget.

In this episode, we cover how the digital search landscape is undergoing a rapid transformation, primarily driven by AI-powered search engines and a significant increase in "zero-click" searches where users get answers directly on the search results page. This means traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO), focused on getting clicks to your website by ranking high, is no longer sufficient for maintaining visibility.

The necessary evolution is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). AEO is the process of optimizing content to be the direct answer to user queries across AI-driven platforms, featured snippets, voice search, and AI summaries, rather than just driving traffic to your site.

While some experts argue that optimizing for AI search is simply an evolution of traditional SEO, these sources we've drawn upon, consistently present AEO as a critical, distinct strategy required to stay visible and relevant in the current and future AI-dominated search environment where being the answer is paramount.

Sources:

• https://www.nethority.com/aeo-in-2025-mastering-zero-click-searches/
• https://nogood.io/2025/05/05/aeo-guide/
• https://nutechdigital.com/what-is-answer-engine-optimization-aeo-and-why-it-matters-in-2025/
• https://www.searchenginejournal.com/seo-rockstar-names-7-seo-fundamentals-to-win-in-ai-search/545328/
• https://ai4k.eu/content/seo-vs-aeo-how-to-dominate-search-ai-powered-answers-in-2025/
• https://readersgram.com/best-practices-for-seo-aeo-and-geo-in-2025/
• https://www.ranktracker.com/blog/ultimate-aeo-guide-2025/
• https://www.wordstream.com/blog/seo-trends-2025
• https://www.semrush.com/blog/future-of-seo/

In this podcast, we discuss an article from May 2025, from Harvard Business Review, on how generative AI is transforming market research, highlighting its potential to improve current practices by increasing speed and efficiency. We explore how AI can replace traditional methods through the creation and analysis of synthetic data, and fill existing gaps in market understanding by providing instant insights. We also examine the emerging use of AI to create new types of data and insights, such as digital twins of customers for testing purposes, while also acknowledging the limitations and ethical concerns associated with the technology.

This podcast helps present a framework for businesses to navigate these changes and underscore the positive outlook many practitioners have regarding AI's impact on the industry.

This podcast episode dives into the latest advancements in artificial intelligence from major tech players like Google, Microsoft, Notion, and OpenAI, showcasing how AI assistants are becoming significantly smarter.

We'll explore how Google is integrating its Gemini AI deeper into Workspace with features like AI-powered workflow automation through Google Workspace Flows and custom AI agents called Gems. Discover how AI is enhancing productivity in Google Docs with new audio capabilities and improved writing assistance, and in Google Sheets with intelligent data analysis. We'll also cover the exciting introduction of AI video generation in Google Vids and how Gemini is becoming a more helpful presence in Google Meet and Chat.

The episode will also delve into Microsoft's advancements, including the new "computer use" feature in Copilot Studio that enables AI agents to interact directly with websites and desktop applications, expanding their automation capabilities. We'll also touch upon the various enhancements to the consumer-facing Microsoft Copilot.

Tune in to learn about Notion's innovative approach to email with Notion Mail, which uses AI to automatically organize and label your Gmail inbox, offering a more customizable and intelligent email experience.

Finally, we'll cover OpenAI's latest developments, including the significant upgrade to ChatGPT's memory, allowing it to reference past conversations for more personalized interactions. We'll also discuss the release of the new GPT-4.1 model, now available in public preview for GitHub Copilot and GitHub Models, offering enhanced performance for coding and other tasks, as well as the availability of the GPT-4.1 family in the API for developers. This episode will give you a comprehensive look at how your AI assistants are evolving to become more integrated, intelligent, and ultimately, more helpful in your daily life and work.

Sources

• Microsoft Copilot Studio “computer use” feature: https://www.theverge.com/news/649574/microsoft-copilot-studio-computer-use-ai
• Microsoft Copilot Release Notes (Copilot Labs): https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/blog/2025/04/16/release-notes-april-16-2025/
• OpenAI GPT‑4.1 launch: https://www.techradar.com/news/live/openai-chatgpt-announcements-april-2025
• OpenAI ChatGPT memory improvement: https://www.techradar.com/news/live/openai-chatgpt-feature-announcment-april-2025
• GitHub Copilot integrates GPT‑4.1: https://github.blog/changelog/2025-04-14-openai-gpt-4-1-now-available-in-public-preview-for-github-copilot-and-github-models/
• Google Workspace AI capabilities (Gemini): https://workspace.google.com/blog/product-announcements/new-AI-drives-business-results
• Notion Mail overview: https://www.theverge.com/apps/648464/notion-mail-email-app

This podcast episode covers native advertising, a powerful digital marketing strategy that seamlessly blends paid promotions with organic content. Native ads match the form and function of the platform where they appear, providing a less intrusive and more engaging experience for users....

The episode explores key benefits of native advertising, such as:

The episode will also delve into various types of native ad formats, including:

You'll gain insights into how native advertising works, the factors influencing its costs, and best practices for creating successful native ad campaigns. The episode will underscore the importance of non-disruptive placement, concise messaging, and clear labeling to maintain transparency and user trust.