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Ignite AI: Daniel Hulme on AI’s Next Leap, Machine Consciousness and the Future of Work | Ep160
What if the person shaping the future of AI at one of the world’s biggest companies started by modeling the brains of bumblebees?
Daniel Hulme, Chief AI Officer at WPP and founder of Satalia (acquired by WPP), is a rare hybrid: academic, founder, and futurist. Now he’s building Consium—the first commercial research organization focused on machine consciousness—while leading AI transformation across a 120,000-person creative empire.
In this episode, we dive into how Daniel built a bootstrapped AI company from scratch, why he believes consciousness (not just intelligence) is the next frontier in computing, and how marketing is becoming the proving ground for AI’s real-world impact.
Key themes we cover:
🔹 What neuromorphic computing and spiking neural nets mean for AGI
🔹 How “brand brains” are changing the future of marketing at scale
🔹 The economic singularity and the end of labor as we know it
🔹 Why consciousness—not just ethics—needs to be engineered
🔹 How to regulate AI impact without stifling innovation
From decoding nature to building the minds behind global brands, Daniel’s journey shows that the next era of AI won’t just be about thinking machines—it’ll be about machines that just might think.
Chapters:
Welcome & Guest Intro (00:01 – 01:04)
From Bumblebee Brains to AI Founder (01:05 – 06:24)
Bootstrapping Satalia and the WPP Acquisition (06:25 – 12:32)
Why Marketing is the Best AI Sandbox (12:33 – 17:20)
The Case for Machine Consciousness (17:21 – 22:40)
Spiking Neural Networks and AGI Potential (22:41 – 28:17)
The Economic Singularity and the End of Jobs (28:18 – 33:09)
Brand Brains and Synthetic Audiences at WPP (33:10 – 37:56)
Regulating AI Impact, Not Just AI Models (37:57 – 42:20)
Rethinking Ethics, Purpose, and Governance (42:21 – 47:44)
Founding Consium and Commercializing Consciousness (47:45 – 53:38)
Lightning Round: AGI Timelines, Book Recs, and Final Thoughts (53:39 – 59:11)
//
Our sponsor Byldd helps non-technical domain-expert founders build and launch tech businesses by providing a complete product team - that's everyone you need from designers to engineers to testers, all the way up to a CTO.
We'll ship products while you focus on the other essentials: validation, sales, and distribution. Our portfolio companies have been backed by YC, Google, ERA, and other top-tier investors.
Get Started Here: https://tr.ee/bylld
View all episodes
By Brian BellWhat if the person shaping the future of AI at one of the world’s biggest companies started by modeling the brains of bumblebees?
Daniel Hulme, Chief AI Officer at WPP and founder of Satalia (acquired by WPP), is a rare hybrid: academic, founder, and futurist. Now he’s building Consium—the first commercial research organization focused on machine consciousness—while leading AI transformation across a 120,000-person creative empire.
In this episode, we dive into how Daniel built a bootstrapped AI company from scratch, why he believes consciousness (not just intelligence) is the next frontier in computing, and how marketing is becoming the proving ground for AI’s real-world impact.
Key themes we cover:
🔹 What neuromorphic computing and spiking neural nets mean for AGI
🔹 How “brand brains” are changing the future of marketing at scale
🔹 The economic singularity and the end of labor as we know it
🔹 Why consciousness—not just ethics—needs to be engineered
🔹 How to regulate AI impact without stifling innovation
From decoding nature to building the minds behind global brands, Daniel’s journey shows that the next era of AI won’t just be about thinking machines—it’ll be about machines that just might think.
Chapters:
Welcome & Guest Intro (00:01 – 01:04)
From Bumblebee Brains to AI Founder (01:05 – 06:24)
Bootstrapping Satalia and the WPP Acquisition (06:25 – 12:32)
Why Marketing is the Best AI Sandbox (12:33 – 17:20)
The Case for Machine Consciousness (17:21 – 22:40)
Spiking Neural Networks and AGI Potential (22:41 – 28:17)
The Economic Singularity and the End of Jobs (28:18 – 33:09)
Brand Brains and Synthetic Audiences at WPP (33:10 – 37:56)
Regulating AI Impact, Not Just AI Models (37:57 – 42:20)
Rethinking Ethics, Purpose, and Governance (42:21 – 47:44)
Founding Consium and Commercializing Consciousness (47:45 – 53:38)
Lightning Round: AGI Timelines, Book Recs, and Final Thoughts (53:39 – 59:11)
//
Our sponsor Byldd helps non-technical domain-expert founders build and launch tech businesses by providing a complete product team - that's everyone you need from designers to engineers to testers, all the way up to a CTO.
We'll ship products while you focus on the other essentials: validation, sales, and distribution. Our portfolio companies have been backed by YC, Google, ERA, and other top-tier investors.
Get Started Here: https://tr.ee/bylld