Writing
2026
The Missing Moat In AI: Your Eval Data
The Missing Moat In AI: Your Eval Data [Image: AI chats don't just generate answers. They generate eval data. The company that harvests it best wins. getty] What wins the AI race? UX? Access to users? The foundation model? The data?
DNA Is Becoming Programmable. Curing Cancer With AI.
DNA Is Becoming Programmable. Curing Cancer With AI. [Image: Cyriac Roeding, Earli at DLD. dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images] Everyone is talking about "physical AI," the idea that models will finally step out of the chatbot and into…
If Your Name Isn't Western, AI Could Cost You The Promotion.
If Your Name Isn't Western, AI Could Cost You The Promotion. [Image: The future of work will be AI driven transparency. That's not without risks.getty] Imagine a company where every meeting is recorded, transcribed, and read by a machine.
Three Mistakes Brands Make In The Age Of AI-Driven E-Commerce
Three Mistakes Brands Make In The Age Of AI-Driven E-Commerce For thirty years, online retail looked the same: a search box, a grid of results, a page of specifications. That era is ending.
The State Of E-Commerce: Every Layer Of Discovery Changed At Once
The State Of E-Commerce: Every Layer Of Discovery Changed At Once r2decide, the company I started, is now part of Zoovu. Here is the bigger picture behind that news.
AI In The Boardroom? What Directors Need To Know
What must Board Directors measure in the new AI world: track training, manage supplier and model risk, add guardrails, and reassess business models in revenue and cost.
Meta Laid Off 8,000 And Launched AI - Why Jobs Need Different Skills
Meta Laid Off 8,000 And Launched AI - Why Jobs Need Different Skills This week, Meta cut 8,000 employees and launched the new AI Muse model on the same day. Microsoft offered voluntary retirement to thousands of long-tenured staff.
SaaSpocalypse Is Dead - The Future Of SaaS Is SaaS
SaaSpocalypse Is Dead - The Future Of SaaS Is SaaS In February 2026, a 48-hour sell-off wiped roughly $285 billion from SaaS valuations. Wall Street called it the SaaSpocalypse.
AI Cuts Creative Teams: What Companies Must Learn About AI Leadership
AI Cuts Creative Teams: What Companies Must Learn About AI Leadership [Image: TOPSHOT - LA Times Guild journalists rally in front of City Hall to protest against layoffs and changes to job seniority protections during a walkout of the Los…
Chris Hemsworth Super Bowl Ad Shows Why We'll Use AI Even If We Fear It
Chris Hemsworth Super Bowl Ad Shows Why We'll Use AI Even If We Fear It [Image: Chris Hemsworth at European Gala Screening for Amazon's CRIME 101, London January 28 2026.
Healthcare's AI Lesson: Autocomplete Isn't Understanding
Healthcare's AI Lesson: Autocomplete Isn't Understanding [Image: A human-looking robot selling fake medicaments, Dutch artist Dries Verhoeven] I just got back from the JP Morgan conference.
2025
Good News For Consultants. Google CEO: No Company Is Immune To AI
Good News For Consultants. Google CEO: No Company Is Immune To AI [Image: A couple of young businessmen astounded by profits] Google's CEO Sundar Pichai recently warned that "No company is going to be immune" to AI.
AI Is Changing The Rules Of Web Traffic — A GEO Playbook For Online Retailers
AI Is Changing The Rules Of Web Traffic, A GEO Playbook For Online Retailers [Image: The end of e-commerce as we know it. Brands will need a new playbook.] Google's search is losing relevance for e-commerce, and Amazon's homepage is losing…
AI Fail — Trump Says 'Merz' —YouTube Transcribes 'Merkel'
AI Fail, Trump Says 'Merz' , YouTube Transcribes 'Merkel' [Image: Yellow robot with 404 error code on blue background] President Trump met with European leaders, including Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, at the White House to discuss the…
AI Agents - The Internet Is Being Rewritten - Survey Users Vs Brands?
AI Agents - The Internet Is Being Rewritten - Survey Users Vs Brands? [Image: Early internet era, Getty Images] A recent memo from OpenAI lays it out clearly: they aim to become the dominant interface for everything on the internet. Bold?
AI For Private Equity — The Future Of B2B Distribution
AI For Private Equity, The Future Of B2B Distribution [Image: AI is transforming B2B distribution making it a playground for VC and PE] Online B2B distribution?
The End Of Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy? AI-Driven Retail Unbundling
The End Of Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy? AI-Driven Retail Unbundling [Image: Amazon's homepage might be dying soon. Retail is being unbundled, just like media was a decade ago.] The days of big online retail as we know it are over.
Answer Engine Optimization — What Brands Need To Know
Answer Engine Optimization, What Brands Need To Know [Image: A passenger at San Francisco International Airport in front of a Twilio sign, Getty Images] Traffic from ChatGPT-style experiences converts up to nine times better than…
Study Shows LLM Conversion Rate Is 9x Better — AEO Is Coming
Study Shows LLM Conversion Rate Is 9x Better, AEO Is Coming [Image: Bing, OpenAI, Microsoft and Google logos on a phone screen, Getty Images] Some predict that by 2028, more people will discover products and information through large…
Nvidia Wants To Power Europe's AI Dreams. The EU Isn't Ready
Nvidia Wants To Power Europe's AI Dreams. The EU Isn't Ready [Image: King Frederik X of Denmark and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang switching on the AI supercomputer Gefion in Denmark] Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's recent tour across Europe aligned…
Internship: Growth Marketing Hacker
R2Decide is looking for you - the MBA with the marketing skills that wants to dip their toes into the world of AI and e-commerce. Join us this summer as a Growth Marketing Hacker. This is not your average internship.
Artificial Intelligence Made in the U.S.A. – Can Europe Learn From the Past?
Intereconomics, Vol. 60 No. 3, pp. 154-159. How Europe has missed every major wave of the third industrial revolution; how broken IP rights could be Europe's fix; why regulation alone isn't enough, Europe needs bold builders; and why AI is just a tool, agency still belongs to us.
AI In Education — Up-level Your Teaching With AI By Cloning Yourself
AI In Education, Up-level Your Teaching With AI By Cloning Yourself [Image: Department of Education headquarters in Washington DC, Getty Images] AI agents will transform every industry, and one industry I know well is education.
Trump's Third Term — The Role Of AI In Creating A Strategy
Trump's Third Term, The Role Of AI In Creating A Strategy [Image: Protesters near Trump's Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, LA Times via Getty Images] President Donald J. Trump floated the idea of a third term.
ShopTalk 2025: Just 1% Of Vendors Use Generative AI To The Max
ShopTalk 2025: Just 1% Of Vendors Use Generative AI To The Max [Image: The Sphere in Las Vegas lit up on Independence Day 2023, Getty Images] Surprise: the generative AI future has not yet arrived in business.
Europa verliert im KI-Wettbewerb
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Meinung & Debatte, 19 March 2025, page 19. While the U.S. and China dominate AI, Europe risks missing the wave once again. Macron and von der Leyen promise billions; Lutz argues that money alone is not enough. Europe needs four shifts: more freedom to deploy (a Section-230-style liability shield for AI), easier access to training data (Japan-style), open weights for any model used in Europe, and a sovereign chip-and-policy stance between the U.S. and China.
Overhyped: Manus From Monica — AI Made In China
Overhyped: Manus From Monica, AI Made In China [Image: Long March-7 rocket launch in Wenchang, China, VCG via Getty Images] Another "Sputnik moment"? Another "DeepSeek breakthrough"? Hardly.
Goku, A Chinese Open-Source Model, Challenges OpenAI And The U.S.
Goku, A Chinese Open-Source Model, Challenges OpenAI And The U.S. [Image: Goku, not only a manga action figure but also an advanced AI model for image and video generation] No fun days for Sam Altman, first Elon Musk's hostile bid, and now…
Macron's AI Investment — But Europe Will Need To Do More To Catch Up
Macron's AI Investment, But Europe Will Need To Do More To Catch Up [Image: Lutz Finger at INSEAD Americas Conference 2025 discussing EU vs US AI enterprise value] French President Emmanuel Macron announced investment pledges to bolster…
Musk Vs. Altman: Value And Reality Of Open AI
Musk Vs. Altman: Value And Reality Of Open AI [Image: Elon Musk portrait and the seal of the US President, NurPhoto via Getty Images] Elon Musk and his investors have made a $97.4 billion offer to take over OpenAI.
DeepSeek - New Economic Rules And Regulatory Challenge
DeepSeek - New Economic Rules And Regulatory Challenge [Image: New Economic Reality, Lutz Finger] DeepSeek's recent announcement sent NVIDIA's stock tumbling, shedding $600 billion in market cap.
Is OpenAI A Victim — DeepSeek And IP Rights — A Playbook For Leaders
Is OpenAI A Victim, DeepSeek And IP Rights, A Playbook For Leaders [Image: Is OpenAI A Victim, Learn From Sam Altman's Playbook] Microsoft investigates whether DeepSeek improperly used OpenAI APIs? Wait, what?
Is AI Replacing Us — Good News For Knowledge Workers
Is AI Replacing Us, Good News For Knowledge Workers [Image: Will AI Replace Us? Good News for Knowledge Workers!] "Is AI replacing us?" That's one of the most common questions I hear from my students.
Stargate: The $500 Billion Message To China — The Future Of AI Regulation
Stargate: The $500 Billion Message To China, The Future Of AI Regulation [Image: Stargate: Masayoshi Son pays, Sam Altman builds, Larry Ellison hosts, President Trump helps] President Donald Trump just announced Stargate, a $500 billion AI…
Sam Altman Says, 'We Know How To Build AGI' — Not So Fast
Sam Altman Says, 'We Know How To Build AGI', Not So Fast [Image: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at OpenAI DevDay 2023, Getty Images] OpenAI has always been great at grabbing attention in the news. Its announcements often come with big, bold claims.
The Race For AI Agents. Who Will Supply Tomorrow's Workforce?
The Race For AI Agents. Who Will Supply Tomorrow's Workforce? [Image: Who Will Supply Tomorrow's Workforce? The Race is on.] Soon, there will be job websites with posts that only AI agents can apply for.
Multimodal AI In 2025: From Healthcare To eCommerce And Beyond
Multimodal AI In 2025: From Healthcare To eCommerce And Beyond [Image: Multimodal AI Use Cases, Lutz Finger] Multimodality is set to redefine how enterprises leverage AI in 2025.
AI Agents In 2025: What Enterprise Leaders Need To Know
AI Agents In 2025: What Enterprise Leaders Need To Know [Image: AI Agents for the Enterprise will be the focus of 2025] "2025 will be the year of the AI agent." Back in 2023, I talked about chaining AI models in my podcast.
2025: The Year Of Search But Not The End Of Google
2025: The Year Of Search But Not The End Of Google [Image: 2025: New Search Technology Will Put Google Under Pressure] It might sound like a throwback to the 1990s, but technology has transformed the way we search for and interact with…
No AGI But A 'Killer App' — 2025 AI Prediction
No AGI But A 'Killer App', 2025 AI Prediction [Image: We have heard a lot about AGI but it won't happen in 2025] No Artificial General Intelligence and the Singularity in 2025.
No-AGI
There will be no AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) in 2025, no matter what Sam Altman or others claim. The concept of AGI revolves around the idea that AI can operate independently, like a human, adapting to tasks across diverse…
2024
Biden's AI Plan And Why Central Control Might Not Work
Biden's AI Plan And Why Central Control Might Not Work [Image: President Biden at the White House press briefing room, Getty Images] Biden just released a new plan to regulate AI. The main idea aims to have control over AI.
Emmanuel Macron On AI: We Are Regulating Ourselves Out Of The Market
Emmanuel Macron On AI: We Are Regulating Ourselves Out Of The Market [Image: AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, November 2023, Getty Images] French President Emmanuel Macron said it correctly: "We are over-regulating and underinvesting.
Regulating AI: It’s Not a Question of If, But How
Recently, I was invited by the GIZ (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) and the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) to share my thoughts with a delegation from Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology, and…
2023
How OpenAI Can Secure Its Investments - A Playbook That Needs Microsoft
How OpenAI Can Secure Its Investments - A Playbook That Needs Microsoft [Image: How to create a business moat, the playbook for OpenAI] Rumors of OpenAI's demise are exaggerated, but they point to a potential problem that Large Language…
OpenAI Isn't Going Bankrupt, But It Has A Business Model Problem
OpenAI Isn't Going Bankrupt, But It Has A Business Model Problem [Image: OpenAI business model analysis, Lutz Finger & Midjourney] While the Economics Times headline about OpenAI, "Experts predict bankruptcy", was attention-grabbing, a…
Changing Healthcare - A Platform Approach Using Data & AI
Changing Healthcare - A Platform Approach Using Data & AI [Image: Changing healthcare through a platform approach using Data & AI] Did you know that Type II Diabetes can be reversed? Why aren't we doing it?
Healthcare And Data - How To Measure Quality
Healthcare And Data - How To Measure Quality [Image: Health Care Quality Measures: Which data should you trust?] We rate Uber drivers, restaurants, Amazon delivery, but when it comes to our own health experience, we have little to no data.
Three Trends Of Transformation: How AI & Value-Based Care (VBC) Will Drive Transformation Of Self-Insured Healthcare
Three Trends Of Transformation: How AI & Value-Based Care (VBC) Will Drive Transformation Of Self-Insured Healthcare [Image: AI Foundational models can predict risks further into the future compared to traditional machine learning]…
What Is The Competitive Advantage Of LLMs Like ChatGPT For Your Business? Three Takeaways.
What Is The Competitive Advantage Of LLMs Like ChatGPT For Your Business? Three Takeaways. [Image: Do large language models create a moat?, Lutz Finger & Midjourney] Do large language models create a moat?
Hack For Fairness: Unlocking The Predictive Power Of Data Validation And Quality Assurance In Education
Hack For Fairness: Unlocking The Predictive Power Of Data Validation And Quality Assurance In Education [Image: The power of Data Validation and Quality Assurance, Lutz Finger & Midjourney] Have you ever wondered how to bring fairness to…
Large Language Models & AI In Healthcare
Large Language Models & AI In Healthcare [Image: Large language models being integrated into health care workflows, Lutz Finger & Midjourney] Over the past few weeks, we have seen an ever-increasing number of companies that integrate…
2022
Deepfakes - The Danger Of Artificial Intelligence That We Will Learn To Manage Better
Deepfakes - The Danger Of Artificial Intelligence That We Will Learn To Manage Better [Image: Deep Fakes are here to stay, Lutz Finger] Deepfakes are scarily simple to create.
Overview Of How To Create Deepfakes - It's Scarily Simple
Overview Of How To Create Deepfakes - It's Scarily Simple [Image: Deepfakes are simple to make, scarily simple] Deepfakes are simple to make. Scarily simple if you are concerned about abuse. Early deepfakes were focused on pornography.
Enchanted Place Called Google Health
Google is truly a fantastic place. No, I am not talking about the colorful bikes, the great food, the free perks, and more. After four years of building what Google Health is today, here is my view of what makes Google so unique: people…
2021
Get Vaccinated? How Trust In Institutions Determines COVID Vaccination Rates In The EU
Get Vaccinated? How Trust In Institutions Determines COVID Vaccination Rates In The EU [Image: Trust in Institutions Determines COVID Vaccination Rates] Why do counties that voted for Republicans and Donald Trump have lower vaccination…
Clubhouse's Future Depends On Data - How To Build A TikTok Like Algorithm
Clubhouse's Future Depends On Data - How To Build A TikTok Like Algorithm [Image: The future of Clubhouse depends on how it can help users find content and enable engagement through data] For someone like me who worked at Snap, LinkedIn,…
President Biden Is Man, Woman And 40 Years Old - Why We Need Algorithmic Transparency
President Biden Is Man, Woman And 40 Years Old - Why We Need Algorithmic Transparency [Image: AI Is Everywhere, algorithmic transparency is key] Did you know that Angela Merkel is a boy and that Joe Biden is both a "man" and a "woman"?
WhatsApp: We Should Discuss What Our Data Is Used For, Not Who Has It
WhatsApp: We Should Discuss What Our Data Is Used For, Not Who Has It [Image: We should discuss what our data is used for, not who has it] If you are on WhatsApp, you will have realized an outcry over the updated privacy policy where they…
2020
It's The Data, Stupid! Why AI Might Get It Wrong.
It's The Data, Stupid! Why AI Might Get It Wrong. [Image: What's wrong with AI?, It's the data, stupid!] Much of the public outrage about clearview.ai was about the privacy aspect.
How COVID Changed Our Classrooms? A Self-Experiment Of Online Teaching.
How COVID Changed Our Classrooms? A Self-Experiment Of Online Teaching. [Image: Online teaching experiment during COVID-19] The COVID-19 crisis has changed many things.
2019
2017
Should You Airbnb Or Sell Your Property — Big Data Helps
Data-driven decision making is a practice in many commercial industries now. But especially the real estate industry is using data. Companies like Zillow or Redfin provide estimates of a given house in a given neighborhood for renters and…
How A Small Restaurant Can Use Its Data
How can small businesses leverage point of sale data to make informed decisions? Big Data sounds often like Big Business, but the power of data is available even to small businesses without extensive resources.
Uber Data Determine The Best Food Places In New York City
Anyone who lives in the Ditmars neighborhood of Astoria, Queens will speak fondly of El Rey Del Taco, a neighborhood favorite food late night food truck that often has a line down the block.
2016
Life In Data - The Tasks Of A Data Scientist
Do you want to work in data? What does this mean? For the last 3 years I was at one of the coolest companies in the data space: LinkedIn! LinkedIn has amazing data assets and they have been at the forefront of data science.
Wer kann was? Europakarte der Fähigkeiten
Deutsche sind immer pünktlich, Franzosen haben den besten Wein und Italiener machen die leckersten Spaghetti – was einzelne Nationalitäten angeht, haben wir alle ganz bestimmte Bilder im Kopf.
Racial Injustice In NYC Revealed By Data
Every morning, New York City police officers receive insights from computers, directing them to areas where crime is likely to occur. If that sounds similar to the 2002 sci-fi movie Minority Report, it’s because it is quite similar.
The Force Awakens In Data - Industry Leaders Comment
How does the latest “Star Wars” movie parallel with the data industry? Both have a force that awakens. However, while Rey, the tough scavenger in “Star Wars” (played well by Daisy Ridley), saw her force come to life in less then 30min, the…
2015
How Cornell Trains Future Data Managers
How do you create amazing new data driven products! By studying deep, deeper and the deepest machine learning algorithms? Nope – by enabling business folks to talk and think data . Recently I had the opportunity to test this theory.
Why LinkedIn Is As Important As The Capital Market
Recently, my favorite INSEAD Professor, Kevin Kaiser, came over to LinkedIn with a group of executives from around the world. We chatted about value creation in Silicon Valley.
How To Spot Social Media Bots - They Are Often Lonely
Social media bots have become an increasingly challenging issue. They can trick you into buying stuff or even influence your opinion (read more about the trouble they can cause here).
Why President Obama Needs A Chief Data Scientist
During this year’s STRATA conference, President Obama introduced Dr. DJ Patil as his new Chief Data Scientist in a video message. DJ is a very well known data scientist and is even credited by some with coining the term “data science”.
Do Evil - The Business Of Social Media Bots
Warning: reading this might lead you to lose faith in the media and marketing world! Oh – you didn’t really trust them to begin with? Well, let’s dig right in and meet the now-removed Twitter account from @AIAGW.
Predictive Analytics - A Case For Private Equity?
Framed Data raises $2M, 6Sense raises $12M, Reflektion raises $8M… The list goes on and on. What these companies have in common, aside from multi-million dollar investments, is that they are all in the market of predictive analytics.
2014
Give Me The Data! Why So Many Data Ideas Fail
To build a data product you need to have the right data. This sounds simple, but it is often forgotten by entrepreneurs or top managers alike. Data should not be confused with the product or the business question that makes it powerful.
Our Future: Free Will vs. Predictions with Data
What is the future of big data? It will be all about predictions! Predictions based on data has come into our world and we often do not even know it.
The Reason Why We Love Big Data: Recommendations
Recommendation Engines have gained the most attention in the Big Data world. Why is that? Big Data has created three distinct types of data driven products: Data used to Benchmark Data used for Recommendation and Filter systems Data used…
3 Data Products You Need To Know
Today we see discussions on Big Data everywhere. Big Data - so has been the promise since 2011, when this hype started - surrounds all of us and will yield to new products - DATA PRODUCTS.
Data can fail us - like Brazil did
Germany defeated Brazil in the World Cup semi-finals. It was a brutal 7-1 drubbing and totally was unexpected! What does this tell us about data? Many of us who work with data hail the possibilities (see the Age of the Algorithm).
Rule the World with Small Data
I was recently asked to “outline a vision of what Big Data may do in the future” for a book published by Dave Coplin - Microsoft's Chief Envisioning Officer. Yes, it’s time for a vision but not on Big but on Small Data.
The Age of the Algorithms - SxSW summary
South by South West Interactive (SxSW) is no ordinary conference. It is a festival and platform that allows showcasing the fusion of content with technology.
STRATA 2014 - Data Demystified
"Data Demystified" is the best way to describe this year’s Strata Conference. The data conference STRATA has grown substantially: more visitors, more talks, more vendors at the exhibitions, and more space.