"Authentic" was the word of the year in 2023. Two years on in 2025, we're struggling to work out what's real and whether any human people are left on the internet. Today Stu speaks to Lotty Wiltshaw, Director and Founder of Shot Blast Media, about the power of being yourself, the magic of long form video and why just getting started is the key to unlocking new ways to build relationships.

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Today Stu and the wonderful Mikayla Nicol delve into the latest trend chasing, totally-not-made-up job titles in digital, why we should be very wary of SaaS vendors telling us what to do and most critically, what our post-apocalypse jobs will be if the digital world collapses tomorrow. If you're struggling with your tech stack, wondering how to resource and despairing at the ever changing L&D requirements for your team, this one is for you! Resources https://www.clay.com/blog/gtm-engineering https://www.reddit.com/r/sales/comments/1mi8h1u/anyone_here_an_actual_gtm_engineer/ https://www.songshift.com/

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Join Stu as he talks about the importance of authenticity and focus in sales, why AI is in danger of ruining both sales and the arts and why your brand is wasting a ton of time and money paying consultants to drone on about theory for days on end.

Further Reading https://www.reddit.com/r/sales/comments/1mlbytm/vp_made_me_sit_through_6_hours_of_consultative/ https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/09/01/ai-is-coming-for-culture

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Today Stu discusses two if his biggest passions - digital technology and music - in light on the recent investments and comments of Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, the continued encroachment of AI into the arts, and the implications for creatives already struggling to make ends meet.

Sources Spotify’s CEO invests $1 billion into an AI military start-up — and musicians are fuming - News.com.au Reddit commentary

Reddit - actual artist earnings case studies Spotify Brand Mission Oversharing: how Napster nearly killed the music industry - The Guardian Downloaded - IMDB https://bandcamp.com/

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Is the internet / your boss telling you AI can do you job? If so you're not alone - but there are plenty of reasons why it can't, and won't for some time. This week Stu discusses 4 ways to fight back against AI creeping into your role and why your human animal powers will keep you in paid employment for a while yet.

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This week Stu talks through some interesting and provocative insights from recent market research conversations, including two major issues that are damaging growth potential in B2B brands.

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Today Stu catches up with Melinda Stuart to discuss the challenges we face as we fight the good fight against entrenched big tech agendas, struggle against empty hype around agentic AI and consider how we should be managing risk.

Follow Melinda https://www.linkedin.com/in/melinda-dm/

https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/contributors/articles/melinda-stuart

References & Further Reading

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomfgoodwin/

https://bernardmarr.com/what-is-ai-agent-washing-and-why-is-it-a-risk-to-businesses/ https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/ai-board

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Time for something a little bit different! Today host Stuart P. Turner walks through some thought provoking preview points from the current market research that the Flow State team are undertaking. Generational shifts in buyer groups driving big changes in behaviour and the sales cycle "Young" under 45s (shout out Millennial crew) entering C-Suite and key buying group roles The tools and process are increasingly getting in the way of (or becoming) the job - losing focus and efficacy.

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In this solo episode, host Stuart P. Turner offers a retrospective on previous conversations, bringing the focus back to what AI means for work and daily life. He shares a positive personal experience of using AI to rapidly rebuild an internal reporting tool, highlighting the practical power of these tools despite some challenges. The episode delves into recent AI news, including ChatGPT's short-lived experiment of indexing public chats and the implications for digital marketing, SEO, and brand visibility in a "zero-click" environment. Stuart also discusses the hidden costs of the rapid advancement in AI, touching on the social implications, consolidation of power in tech, and the threat to IP and brand equity. Furthermore, the podcast explores Trump's AI action plan, particularly concerning attempts to loosen environmental regulations which could impact water supply for data centres. A positive counterpoint is presented with Google's new AI model designed to track climate change, demonstrating how AI can be deployed for greater good. Finally, Stuart shares his strong defence of Excel against new AI companies aiming to unseat it, and introduces Google Notebook as a useful LLM for interrogating audio and document content. Upcoming topics mentioned include personalisation leveraging AI tools, inherent contradictions in running digital across social channels, and building a brand in the new world of "walled gardens".

Sources & Further Reading https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/31/your-public-chatgpt-queries-are-getting-indexed-by-google-and-other-search-engines/ https://techcrunch.com/podcast/who-really-benefits-from-the-ai-boom/ https://techcrunch.com/podcast/should-silicon-valley-celebrate-trumps-ai-plans/ https://www.wired.com/story/big-tech-asked-for-looser-clean-water-act-permitting-trump-wants-to-give-it-to-them/ https://www.wired.com/story/googles-newest-ai-model-acts-like-a-satellite-to-track-climate-change/ https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-ai-company-capitalizing-on-our-obsession-with-excel-adf19e09?mod=ai_lead_pos7 https://amandanat.com/ of Sparktoro (she's very interesting and Sparktoro is a great tool!)

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This week Ashton and Jen rejoin Stu to explore the hidden costs of AI for your brand. --- This episode of the Flow State podcast, hosted by Stu and featuring Ashton and Jen, delves into the "continued exploding unchecked use of AI" within the context of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) concerns and sustainability.

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