Modern retailers are used to disruption. They regularly have to navigate shifting algorithms, platform outages at odd hours, and ever tightening privacy rules with every legislative cycle. Yet a quieter threat is doing more damage than any of these, and most brands will not spot it on a dashboard until their customer base has already thinned out. 

Customers are switching off from brand messaging altogether, driving a trend we term ‘The Great Unsubscribe’. Our recent Email Impact report, based on insights from more than 400 billion messages, showed how the retail industry recorded 37.4 million unsubscribes across 8 billion sends in 2025. That is close to 1 in every 210 recipients opting out with each send.  

Putting things in perspective, a brand with 100,000 subscribers is losing about 470 people per email sent. Send three promotions a week, and you could lose around 1,400 subscribers weekly. This quickly balloons to over 70,000 across a year in lost customers, all before adding a single new sign-up.  

The data is clear. Shoppers are leaving marketing lists faster than at any point in a decade. raising the stakes for retailers operating in Asia Pacific, a region home to a massive customer base of over 4.3 billion shoppers and a rapidly growing middle class. According to Deloitte, Asia Pacific will drive around two thirds of the world’s new retail sales over the next five years.  

But this drift can be stopped. 

Death by a thousand notifications 

It’s worthwhile first examining the factors driving The Great Unsubscribe. This shift represents a retreat from commercial messaging, likely to have been triggered by an overwhelming volume of multichannel marketing.  

Our experience tells us that the decision to opt out is rarely due to any single email, but stems from months of minor irritations, compounded over time. It could be something as simple as an ill-timed promotion, one too many WhatsApp messages about an abandoned cart, or an email that ignores preferences that a customer has shared weeks earlier. Eventually, a final notification becomes one too many, and triggers the customer to opt out, instantly wiping away years of audience building. 

Winning a customer back is much harder than keeping them subscribed. Operational messages that customers trust most, such as delivery updates, are precisely the touchpoints brands cannot afford to abuse. 

Also Read: The fan vote is broken: Here is what it takes to make people trust it again

Coordinated outreach beats mere volume 

When engagement dips, the standard reflex is to show up everywhere. This could mean sending more emails, launching SMS sequences, boosting social ads, or adding a website chatbot, all in the name of boosting traffic. Conversely, that reflex often ends up accelerating customer losses. Appearing across every channel at once without coordination simply adds to the noise, exacerbating the very issue that customers are trying to escape. 

A resilient communication system gives customers a reason to stay. A better approach thus treats every touchpoint as part of one continuous conversation, where context follows the shopper from channel to channel. A customer who just initiated a return should never receive a cheerful upsell an hour later. In many organisations, customer-facing functions like marketing, sales, and customer service teams still operate in silos. This leads to each team sending uncoordinated messages to the same customer, causing friction. Breaking down these internal silos is critical for personalised brand communications, which is key to stopping list decay.  

This is where owned channels prove their worth. Building audiences on rented land like social media platforms leaves brands highly exposed, with reach being dictated by opaque algorithms that can change at any time. As third-party data continues to decline across browsers and privacy settings, a direct line to customers becomes a retailer’s most valuable asset. Our Email Impact report found that 60 per cent of companies tracking email returns earn over US$10 for every dollar spent, with more than 10 per cent registering returns of more than US$40 for every dollar invested. Owned platforms such as email, SMS, and direct messaging give brands channels they control, serving as their best defense against lost subscribers. 

Also Read: How will AI shopping agents change Amazon and retail?

Keeping customers on your side 

Reversing customer churn requires building resilient communications anchored in two key principles of transparency and autonomy.  

Trust starts with knowing that a message is authentic. In an era where phishing and scams run rampant, customers need immediate clarity on who is reaching out, and why. This is fast becoming an industry-wide direction rather than a competitive nicety. Retailers can build trust by adopting sender authentication standards and transparent branding across all touchpoints. When customers instantly recognise a message as authentic, confidence and trust in the channel remain intact, and these are the elements that will keep them subscribed. 

Digital-first markets in APAC like Singapore have treated trust and confidence as a baseline for years. Since January 2023, Singapore’s SMS Sender ID Registry (SSIR) has mandated any business sending branded SMS to register their organisation name that will be displayed as the sender of the message. Messages from unregistered entities reach customers labelled ‘Likely-SCAM’, which are more often than not indicative of fraud. Retailers do not need to wait for a mandate to act on this. Auditing how consistently a brand identifies itself across the channels it uses, then closing the gaps, costs little and protects the recognition that keeps a channel trusted.  

The most successful retailers opt to empower their customers with control to customise promotional messages by frequency and topics most relevant to them. Having flexibility to determine how frequently messages are sent or to mute specific promotional categories can go a long way to preserve long-term customer relationships without forcing a total unsubscribe.  

None of these demands radical reinvention of how retailers communicate. It requires proper consent, unified data across channels, and messages that earn their place in the inbox. Retailers that treat customer attention as borrowed rather than owned will see far lower drop-off rates. 

The Great Unsubscribe is avoidable for brands willing to build communications that respect the customer as much as they serve the campaign. In Asia Pacific’s increasingly crowded retail market, fine-tuning preferences to retain subscribers is an edge worth earning. 

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. You can also share your perspective by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of e27.

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International expansion has always been regarded as the defining milestone for business success. The playbook was seemingly straightforward – identify promising markets, establish local presence and scale the international business as quickly as possible. The more borders a business crossed, the more successful it was deemed to be.

That era is over.

In a world shaped by economic volatility, geopolitical uncertainty and shifting market and consumer dynamics, expansion is no longer just a question of where to grow, but how to remain resilient when conditions change overnight. This has never been more evident than in Kreston Global’s Intrepreneur Report 2026, which shows that while international growth remains firmly on the agenda for Singapore’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), they are becoming more deliberate in how they pursue it.

International expansion today is increasingly defined by resilience, agility, and the ability to make confident decisions amid uncertainty. In this new world, what does sustainable international growth look like, and what are the capabilities that will separate the businesses that merely expand from those that endure?

Expansion with confidence is replacing growth at any cost

Companies long believed that getting into an international market ahead of their competitors would help create a lasting advantage. Scale, market share, and visibility were often perceived as the rewards for being able to expand at speed.

But speed alone is becoming a less reliable source of advantage. Today, more so than in other times, geopolitical instability, tariff-related costs and supply-chain disruption can quickly reshape the economics of international operations; the cost of an ill-informed expansion decision has never been higher. For Singapore businesses, whose fortunes are closely tied to global trade, the strongest growth companies are not necessarily those moving first, but those making the most informed moves.

Also Read: The AI told me to raise my prices by 40 percent but it had never been to a wet market

These realities are changing the way Singapore interpreneurs (international entrepreneurs) think about and approach international expansion. While optimism remains an important driver of international expansion ambitions, confidence is earned through preparation, local market insight and a clear understanding of the risks and opportunities ahead. As a result, interepreneurs are being more intentional and disciplined, challenging assumptions and asking tougher questions before committing capital and resources.

The key question is no longer, “Where can we expand to next?” but “Where can we expand to build a sustainable competitive advantage?”

Global growth requires deep local understanding

Technology has made international expansion easier to initiate but not necessarily easier to succeed. Today, businesses can access customers across borders, build digital distribution channels, and establish partnerships without needing the physical infrastructure that was required in the past. Yet as barriers to entry reduce, the importance of local market understanding has arguably become more important than ever.

One of the most common misconceptions intrepreneurs have is assuming a successful business model in Singapore or one international market can be replicated elsewhere. In reality, international growth is often less about exporting a business model and more about adapting it. Tax regimes differ, regulations evolve, workforce expectations vary, and seemingly similar customer segments can have very different behaviours. What works in Singapore may require significant modification elsewhere. While strategies can be designed by headquarters, their success in another market depends on how well they are adapted to fit the local purpose.

What’s clearly needed, then, is for local understanding to be built into expansion planning from the outset. This will ensure decision-makers and implementation teams are well aware of the nuances of varying tax landscapes, regulatory environments, available incentives, consumer behaviours and worker expectations, so they can be better positioned to create conditions for sustainable growth.

Also Read: How to use AI in marketing without opening a single dashboard

Most importantly, interpreneurs must recognise the limits of what they know. The most successful international expansions often involve insights and counsel from a range of experts, including trusted advisors, local talent and strategic partners who can provide market insights needed to close the gaps.

In today’s environment, advantage does not come from entering a market first; it comes from understanding it better than your competitor.

Resilience is the new competitive advantage

If there is one business capability that will define successful international expansion in today’s environment, it is resilience.

For many years, resilience was viewed primarily as a defensive capability, something businesses relied on to withstand periods of uncertainty. But in a world where uncertainty is the norm and the margin for absorbing shocks narrows, resilience is increasingly becoming an offensive advantage. This is especially so for Singapore’s SMEs, where success abroad will stem from having the ability to adapt when conditions inevitably change.

The biggest expansion risk today is being unprepared for disruption, even though the business has entered the right market. While businesses cannot predict every challenge, what separates successful companies from the rest is how ready they are to effectively respond when those challenges arise.

Therefore, building resilience cannot be treated as separate from growth – it must be embedded as an integral part of the expansion strategy. This involves strengthening internal readiness through establishing strong compliance frameworks, robust governance and disciplined risk management that can be adapted across multiple markets. Businesses that invest in these foundations are better equipped to navigate uncertainty and seize opportunities that come their way.

Resilience is about creating the capacity to perform in any environment, not always in the worst-case scenario. In an increasingly unpredictable world, businesses that are prepared to adapt will be the ones best positioned to grow.

The ambition to go global has not disappeared. Singapore businesses remain growth-oriented, but the way they approach international expansion is evolving. Behind these signs of moderating growth lies a deeper story, rather than a lack of opportunity, businesses are becoming more selective and intentional about where and how they expand. Sustainable international growth will belong not simply to businesses that cross the most borders or move the fastest, but to those that choose their markets deliberately, understand them deeply and build the resilience to adapt once they are there.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. You can also share your perspective by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of e27.

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Over the last decade, Southeast Asia has built an increasingly sophisticated infrastructure for startups, and countries such as Singapore and Vietnam are known for their reputation as regional startup hubs. Southeast Asia’s tech startup ecosystem was valued at US$454 billion in the first half of 2024, more than triple its value from five years earlier, and with 55 unicorns produced across the region. We have never had more support available for entrepreneurs. Accelerators, grants, incubators, venture funds and startup programmes exist across the region.

Yet, if you look at all the resources available today, many are designed for entrepreneurs who already have something like a business plan or a team behind them. So if you were to ask someone who is thinking about becoming an entrepreneur where they should begin, the answer is unclear.

Because the fact is, our ecosystems are good at helping startups scale, but much weaker at helping people become founders in the first place.

That’s the “step zero” problem. It’s the stage before a startup really exists, when a person is figuring out what they want to build. They might not have a clear picture of what they want to do, but they do know they want to give it a shot.

The problem is that most startup infrastructure is not designed for this group of people.

And understandably so. Funding and resources are in finite supply, hence only the ideas that show the greatest potential and guarantees a return on investment get the support they need. A founder with a working product, traction, or a team, is easier to support rather than choosing someone that simply claims to have an idea but has no idea how to start. 

That results in a gap at the very beginning of the entrepreneurial journey.

Also Read: Every department you add makes your startup harder to understand

Every year, aspiring founders with fresh ideas walk away from programmes, applications, and competitions without being selected. Others never apply because they assume they assume they are “not ready yet”. And when an idea is rejected, most leave without anyone telling them what went wrong or how they can improve. 

That same hesitation can be seen through data too. In 2024, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor found that 49% of those who saw good opportunities to start a business said fear of failure would stop them from doing so, up from 44% in 2019.

This is why the “step zero” problem is not a funding problem. 

It’s an access problem.

For many entrepreneurs, access to the ecosystem still depends heavily on what and who they already have. A 2024 UNDP Youth Co:Lab study found that 68.8% of surveyed young entrepreneurs relied on self-financing and personal networks to overcome barriers in their entrepreneurial journeys, while only 19.3% used incubators or accelerators.

In short, the world thinks that “step zero” is the least profitable market segment, hence they would rather invest their time and resources into those who have already got something to show. But the people at this stage do not necessarily need an investor. What they need is a way to understand the ecosystem before they step into it.

The hardest part of starting anything is the fact that you often don’t know what you don’t know.

Any aspiring entrepreneur can search up “how to start a business”, but that already assumes they know what to ask. Even if a search may provide them a guide, they may not know the changing landscape of the industry, the problems people face, how other founders discovered their ideas, or who could help them take their next step. And this is where exposure matters.

That’s why more support is needed for the “step zero” segment. It’s about giving this group of people the opportunities to immerse themselves in the ecosystem even before having everything figured out.

Who you know and what you have shouldn’t determine where you can go.

So in short, the solution to the “step zero” problem may not be another accelerator. It may just be creating better and more accessible infrastructure for exploration.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. You can also share your perspective by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

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I think this crypto advance deserves attention, but not full conviction. Bitcoin rose 4.77 per cent to US$80,721.27 in 24 hours and led a broad move that lifted the total crypto market 4.73 per cent to US$2.69T. The move showed an 87 per cent correlation with the S&P 500 and an 86 per cent correlation with Gold. That relationship tells me the 1st engine came from outside crypto.

Traders reacted to fading political uncertainty after the US midterm elections, and the result sparked a relief move across crypto and traditional assets. The SPY ETF rose 1.47 per cent in the same period. A move that tracks stocks and gold this closely looks more like a shared macro recovery than a crypto-native breakout.

The backstory matters. Bitcoin had sold off sharply to US$75,700 yesterday after fears that a Democratic sweep of Congress could delay crypto-friendly legislation. When that political uncertainty faded, markets read the outcome as a return to policy stability. That shift fueled a rebound from an oversold condition. The move was less about a crypto-specific catalyst and more about macro relief. Demand was weak before the bounce because US spot Bitcoin ETFs had seen three consecutive days of outflows. That detail keeps me cautious. A relief move can run on positioning alone for a short time, but it needs spot demand to last. The key watch here is whether ETF flows return to net inflows.

The second engine was a violent short squeeze. Liquidation data showed more than US$386 million in short positions closed within 4 hours, and total crypto liquidations neared US$1 billion in 24 hours. Derivatives data showed a 314 per cent spike in Bitcoin liquidation volume over 24 hours, totalling US$366.58M. Short positions accounted for over 83 per cent of those forced closures, or US$305.22M. This forced buying accelerated Bitcoin’s climb back above US$80,000.

I see the squeeze as an amplifier, not the initial cause. Extreme leverage turned a macro rebound into a fast upward move. The danger now is that the same leverage can work in reverse. Funding rates and open interest deserve close attention. A continued decline in open interest could signal deleveraging and less volatile price action.

Also Read: US$1B ETF outflows, Democratic sweep highly likely, Iran war: Can Bitcoin hold US$75,600?

Bitcoin now faces a clear technical test. Immediate resistance sits between US$81,300 and US$82,000, where significant overhead supply exists. Support sits at the US$78,000 to US$79,000 band. The key trigger is whether spot buying and ETF inflows can support a sustained hold above US$80,076, the 50-day EMA. If Bitcoin holds above US$80,000, it will likely test the US$81,300 to US$82,000 resistance band.

A failure to reclaim this level risks a retest of support near US$77,000, with the US$77,000 to US$75,700 zone possible. A daily close above US$81,300 would confirm breakout momentum. A break below US$78,000 would signal weakness. I want confirmation from spot demand rather than another leveraged push.

The Layer 1 picture strengthens the case for a broader crypto recovery, but it also raises the bar for confirmation. Ethereum gained 5.06 per cent over 7 days, and the Layer 1 category gained 5.15 per cent, outperforming the total market’s 4.73 per cent rise. That outperformance suggests capital is rotating into foundational blockchains.

The move is not just Bitcoin-driven. It reflects renewed confidence in smart-contract platforms and their long-term utility. The immediate path hinges on Ethereum holding above US$2,400. The market is testing a key Fibonacci resistance at US$2.77T. A clean break above that level could target the US$2.83T swing high. Failure to hold the US$2.57T support from the recent swing low would likely invalidate the bullish structure and lead to a retest of lower levels.

Political risk adds a separate layer to this market. After winning control of both chambers, Democrats are signaling that Trump-connected crypto businesses will be a priority for congressional oversight. Incoming Senate Banking Chair Elizabeth Warren and expected House Oversight Chair Robert Garcia have both pledged to scrutinise Trump family ventures, including World Liberty Financial, its US$1 stablecoin, and related meme coins such as TRUMP and MELANIA, along with associated income streams and foreign investments. Reports describe planned subpoenas for ownership records, contracts, and communications.

Also Read: The crypto independence story is fragile: Bitcoin now moves on elections, oil and missiles

One investigation focuses on a large overseas investment that bought a major stake in World Liberty Financial and its bank holding company. World Liberty Financial runs US$1, a US$-pegged stablecoin, and a WLFI governance token, and has received preliminary approval for a national trust bank charter that Democrats already criticise as self-dealing. Warren and colleagues have requested detailed reviews of anti-money-laundering controls, foreign backers, and the bank charter process. They frame these ventures as potential national security and ethics risks rather than purely market projects.

That scrutiny matters for price behaviour. WLFI and TRUMP have already shown sensitivity to politics. They underperformed broader crypto on the Democratic sweep and, over the past year, suffered deep drawdowns relative to prior highs. Heightened oversight can mean more headline shocks, legal costs, and possible restrictions on how these products operate or are marketed, even if no wrongdoing is found. Exposure to Trump-branded tokens carries added political and regulatory risk on top of normal market volatility. I treat them as high-beta, high-uncertainty assets, not as clean expressions of the crypto advance.

Democratic committee control begins when the new Congress convenes in January 2027, when hearings and subpoenas could realistically start. Early signals to monitor include formal announcements of investigations by House Oversight or Senate Banking, any bills reviving ethics limits like the Stop TRUMP in Crypto Act, and whether market-structure efforts such as a successor to the CLARITY Act stall as oversight dominates the agenda. Because Trump can veto legislation, much of the action may happen through investigations and pressure on regulators rather than rapid new laws. That still matters for stablecoins, exchanges, and any project with high-level political ties.

Also Read: Bitcoin and Ethereum rebound through a shaky relief move

My conclusion is that the market outlook is cautiously bullish, but the advance needs confirmation from spot demand. Macro relief and a violent short squeeze restored bullish momentum. It did not prove durable organic buying. Bitcoin needs a daily close above US$81,300 to confirm breakout momentum and a hold above US$80,076 to keep the near-term bias positive.

Ethereum needs to hold above US$2,400 and the Layer 1 move needs to broaden. The key watch is whether US spot Bitcoin ETFs, which saw over US$1.16 billion in outflows last week, return to net inflows to validate this move. Political risk around Trump-connected crypto remains a separate test. I would separate macro beta from political beta.

The broad market can rise on relief and short covering while politically tied tokens face headline and regulatory shocks. That distinction is the most useful way to read this moment.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. You can also share your perspective by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of e27.

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The post Can Bitcoin hold US$80,000 after a US$386M short squeeze and US$1.16B in ETF outflows? appeared first on e27.

On any given day, I could be editing an article about women’s health, preparing a sponsorship proposal for an esports tournament, planning social media content, answering emails from PR agencies and troubleshooting something on a website. And that’s before I’ve even looked at the rest of my to-do list.

As the founder of The Wellness Insider, a digital wellness publication I started in 2016, and the Chief Marketing Officer of Proving Grounds, a gaming and esports company, I wear several hats. While I work with other people on various projects, much of the day-to-day marketing and editorial work falls on me.

I’ve often joked that I need a clone of myself. Preferably one that doesn’t need sleep, coffee breaks or an annual leave entitlement.

I haven’t figured out how to clone myself, but AI has become the closest thing I have to an additional team member. (Although my friend Sabrina will wax lyrical about her digital twin Seraphina just about now.) And unlike the productivity tools I’ve used over the years, it has genuinely changed how I work.

The problem with being a team of one

When you’re running a business with limited resources, you don’t necessarily have fewer responsibilities than a larger organisation. You simply have fewer people to share them with.

The Wellness Insider needs a steady flow of articles, newsletters, social media content and partnerships. Proving Grounds requires marketing campaigns, sponsorship outreach, event communications and community engagement. Both businesses serve completely different audiences, which means I can’t simply replicate the same marketing approach across them.

Before AI became part of my daily workflow, I would spend considerable time drafting content, organising ideas and switching between tasks. Writing, in particular, takes more time than people sometimes realise.

Even when you know exactly what you want to say, there’s the process of structuring the information, finding the right opening, refining the language and adapting it for different audiences. Multiply that by several articles, emails and social media posts, and a significant portion of the day disappears.

AI hasn’t eliminated those tasks, but it has changed how I approach them.

Also Read: AI agents need someone standing behind them, says AmanTrue CEO Evin McMullen

I no longer have to start everything from scratch

One of my most frequent uses of ChatGPT is writing. For The Wellness Insider, I receive press releases from brands, PR agencies and organisations covering everything from healthcare developments to wellness events.

Some releases are already well written. Others contain lengthy corporate descriptions, repetitive quotes or promotional language that doesn’t suit an editorial publication. Previously, I would spend time restructuring the information and rewriting the content into something more useful for readers.

Now, I can provide the press release, explain the editorial direction and ask AI to prepare a first draft. I still review the facts, refine the language and decide what deserves emphasis. But I don’t have to spend as much time transforming raw information into a readable article.

The same applies to newsletters, social media posts and business correspondence. If I’ve written an article for The Wellness Insider, I can use AI to help adapt it into a LinkedIn post, a shorter Telegram update or a newsletter introduction.

Each platform requires a slightly different approach, but the initial restructuring happens much faster. What used to feel like several separate writing assignments can now become one editorial process with multiple outputs. For someone who spends a substantial amount of time creating content, that’s a meaningful improvement.

My brainstorming partner is always available

Beyond writing, I use AI as a sounding board. Sometimes, I have a fairly clear idea of what I want to do but need help organising it. Other times, I want someone to challenge an idea or suggest an alternative approach.

For Proving Grounds, I’ve used AI to develop marketing calendars, brainstorm campaign concepts and structure sponsorship outreach. One recent example involved planning a campaign for a gaming mascot.

What initially sounded like a straightforward exercise (introduce the mascot, shortlist names and let the community vote) required more thought once we started considering the execution. When should we invite name suggestions? How long should voting remain open? What should each social media post communicate? How do we encourage participation without repeating the same message?

AI helped me work through the campaign sequence, draft captions and develop creative briefs. But the decisions weren’t always straightforward.

There were occasions when the proposed content felt repetitive or the suggested approach didn’t quite fit what we wanted. I had to question the recommendations, change the direction and refine the plan.

That’s one of the things I appreciate about using AI for brainstorming. I don’t have to accept the first suggestion. I can ask why a particular approach might work, challenge the assumptions behind it and explore alternatives.

Of course, AI doesn’t have personal experience of my audience or the relationships we’ve built within the gaming community. Those are considerations I still have to bring into the conversation. It’s a brainstorming partner, not the final decision-maker.

Also Read: AI saves me hours, but I don’t trust it blindly

AI has also made business development less daunting

Business development is another area where AI has been useful. When you’re managing multiple responsibilities, following up with potential clients and partners can easily fall behind more urgent operational work. Yet those conversations are essential to growing a business.

For The Wellness Insider, I regularly receive partnership enquiries and media pitches. Some are relevant editorial opportunities, while others are better suited to paid collaborations. AI helps me organise my responses, articulate the value of our advertising options and prepare proposals that are tailored to the enquiry.

For Proving Grounds, I’ve used it to structure sponsorship proposals and identify how different types of brands might benefit from supporting an esports event. A gaming hardware company, for example, may have different partnership objectives from a food and beverage brand. The pitch needs to reflect that distinction.

AI can help develop the initial proposal, but it can’t replace the judgement involved in deciding which opportunities are worth pursuing or how to negotiate a partnership. It also doesn’t replace the relationships I’ve spent years building. What it does is reduce the time spent preparing the material, allowing me to concentrate more on the actual conversations.

The catch: I still have to manage my new team member

As much as I love using AI, it isn’t a case of giving an instruction and accepting whatever comes back. I’ve learnt that vague instructions tend to produce vague results.

If I ask for a social media caption without explaining the brand, audience or objective, I’m likely to receive something generic.

The Wellness Insider has a very different voice from Proving Grounds. One focuses on practical wellness information, while the other operates in the gaming and esports space. I have to provide enough context for AI to understand those differences.

I also need to be clear about what I don’t want. For example, I may want a professional sponsorship email without excessive flattery, or a social media caption that sounds engaging without resorting to clichés.

Sometimes, I have to correct the tone, ask for a shorter version or point out that the suggested approach isn’t realistic. And yes, there are occasions when I find myself repeating instructions I’ve already given.

It’s rather like managing an enthusiastic junior colleague who can produce work at remarkable speed but still needs guidance and supervision. Except, unlike an actual colleague, AI doesn’t take responsibility for the consequences of its recommendations.

If an email is poorly worded, a campaign is badly planned or an article contains inaccuracies, the responsibility is still mine.

Also Read: The sovereign threshold: Why airtight AI decisions are paralysing executive teams

Am I actually saving time, or just doing more?

This is something I’ve started thinking about as AI becomes increasingly integrated into my work. There’s no question that it helps me complete certain tasks faster.

Writing first drafts, preparing marketing plans and organising information now take less time than they used to. But I haven’t necessarily found myself with significantly more free time.

Instead, I’ve been able to take on projects that I might previously have postponed or avoided. A marketing campaign that would have required hours of planning becomes more manageable. A business proposal that might have sat on my to-do list for several days can be developed more quickly.

And because I know AI can help, I’m sometimes more willing to attempt something ambitious. That’s both a benefit and a potential trap.

Just because AI makes it possible to produce more work doesn’t mean every additional task is worth doing. I still have to consider whether a project contributes to the business, whether the effort is justified and whether I’m stretching myself too thin.

Productivity isn’t simply about producing more output. For a solopreneur, it should also mean making better use of limited time and energy.

I don’t need AI to replace me. I need it to support me

I don’t believe AI has made my professional experience irrelevant. If anything, using it effectively has reinforced how important that experience is.

My background in marketing helps me recognise when a campaign recommendation is weak. My editorial experience helps me identify what needs rewriting. My understanding of the businesses helps me decide which opportunities are worth pursuing.

Without that judgement, I could easily end up producing more content, more proposals and more marketing plans without necessarily achieving better results.

AI is particularly useful because I already know what I’m trying to accomplish. It helps me get from an idea to something workable faster. And for someone managing several responsibilities without a large team, that makes a difference.

I still have to set the direction, make decisions, review the work and occasionally remind my digital assistant what we agreed on five minutes ago. But I’m no longer staring at a long to-do list wondering how I’m going to get everything done by myself.

I have help.

It may not be the clone I once wished for, but it’s a pretty useful alternative.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. You can also share your perspective by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of e27.

Join us on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn to stay connected.

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