In this episode, we dive deep into the world of marketing technology with Gabriel Sayers, co-founder of Briefly – an AI-powered briefing platform revolutionising how marketers create campaign briefs. Gabriel shares how a frustrating problem he experienced firsthand in advertising agencies led to building a solution that's now saving major brands from wasting marketing budgets on poor briefs.

Key Timestamps ⏱️

• 00:00 - Introduction to Briefly and problem identification
• 06:07 - Origin story and early validation (4,500 person waitlist!)
• 09:50 - First enterprise client acquisition
• 12:02 - Demonstration of the platform interface
• 26:45 - Knowledge retrieval capabilities
• 34:49 - Evolution of the user experience
• 47:53 - Content creation vs building tools approach
• 54:40 - Quick-fire takes on marketing industry

Gabriel walks us through Briefly's evolution from a simple idea to an enterprise-grade AI platform that combines conversational UI with organisational knowledge to produce better marketing briefs. We explore how the platform creates a judgment-free space for marketers to develop their ideas while accessing their company's institutional knowledge that would otherwise be lost in forgotten documents. Gabriel demonstrates the platform's capabilities live, showing how it guides users through the briefing process while pulling in relevant insights from past campaigns.

We also discuss their approach to marketing itself through "Briefly Labs" – creating fun, interactive tools instead of traditional content marketing. Gabriel shares stories about their projects, including a murder mystery game and a Rory Sutherland-inspired quote generator (which unfortunately received a cease and desist from Ogilvy).

The conversation touches on the challenges of building enterprise software, the importance of rapid iteration based on user feedback, and how AI is transforming knowledge work in marketing. Gabriel offers candid insights about entrepreneurship, learning from mistakes, and the books that have influenced his journey.

What got me thinking is how they've weaponised institutional knowledge. Every organisation has valuable insights buried in forgotten documents and spreadsheets. The real innovation here isn't just AI answering questions – it's connecting those answers to your organisation's existing knowledge base. The future of work tools seems less about creating blank canvases and more about building intelligent systems that understand context, retrieve relevant information, and guide us toward better decisions.