Kedron Rhodes

I spent most of my weekend with a creative community facing some harsh realities about AI—writers, artists, game-makers, comic creators, animators. People whose livelihoods center on human imagination and craft, now wrestling with machines that can mimic both with startling fluency. The conversations were raw, honest, sometimes defensive. But what struck me wasn’t the fear—it was the strategic thinking underneath.

These creators are asking the right question: How does AI impact the advantage I’m trying to create? Some see AI as a creative amplifier, a way to prototype faster or explore ideas they couldn’t access before. Others recognize it as an existential threat to their competitive positioning. Most are somewhere in the messy middle, trying to figure it out.

The timing feels coincidental, but this week’s newsletter is packed with AI stories. Maybe it’s because AI has reached that inflection point where it’s no longer a future consideration—it’s a present reality reshaping how work gets done. I’ve logged hundreds of conversations with ChatGPT and Claude over the past two years, and honestly, I can’t imagine working without them now. They’ve become central to my theory of advantage as a knowledge worker, helping me sharpen my thinking, refine my output, and tackle problems I couldn’t solve before.

But here’s what the weekend reminded me: advantage isn’t about the tool—it’s about how you deploy it. The most successful people in any field, whether they’re wielding brushes or algorithms, understand that competitive edge comes from the intersection of capability and judgment. AI might change the capability part, but it amplifies the importance of the judgment part.

You need to figure out where you stand. For some, AI will become a core part of their strategic advantage—worth significant investment and organizational change. For others, it might erode the very thing that makes them unique. The worst position? Pretending it doesn’t matter.

World Illustration Awards – The AOI 🎨

In its 10th year, the World Illustration Awards represents something profound: a global celebration of human creativity at exactly the moment when artificial intelligence can generate images from text prompts. The Association of Illustrators and Directory of Illustration have shortlisted 200 projects for this year’s awards, with winners to be revealed September 16th. What makes this particularly fascinating is the timing—as AI tools become more sophisticated, these awards highlight the irreplaceable value of human vision, cultural context, and artistic intent. The longlisted work spans ten categories, each judged by professionals who understand that great illustration isn’t just about technical execution—it’s about storytelling, emotional resonance, and the kind of creative problem-solving that emerges from lived experience. In a world where anyone can type “draw me a cat in the style of Van Gogh,” these awards remind us why human creativity still commands attention, respect, and—crucially—compensation. (Explore the Longlist →)

🪏 Take it a bit deeper with these…

🚀 Innovation & AI Strategy

• From Memo to Movement: Shopify’s Cultural Adoption of AI — Shopify’s internal response to CEO Tobias Lütke’s memo declaring “reflexive AI usage” a baseline expectation had been years in the making. This deep dive reveals how the company systematically drove adoption through unlimited tool access, context engineering, and treating AI fluency as a core competency. The most striking insight? They’re hiring more entry-level people, not fewer, because new graduates are “AI centaurs” who use these tools most creatively.

• Using AI to make lower-carbon, faster-curing concrete — Meta’s open-source AI tool for designing concrete mixes shows how AI can tackle unglamorous but critical infrastructure challenges. It’s not just about making better concrete—it’s about using AI to solve problems that directly impact construction speed and environmental sustainability.

• Three Invisible Hurdles to Innovation — MIT Sloan breaks down the hidden barriers that leaders unknowingly construct against innovation. Worth reading alongside the AI adoption stories to understand why some organizations embrace transformative technology while others resist it.

• AI Disruption Risk Assessment — Reforge’s framework for evaluating whether AI could disrupt your product helps you move beyond generic AI anxiety to specific strategic assessment. It’s based on use-case depth, quality demands, and strategic positioning—exactly the kind of analytical thinking every leader needs right now.

• From Tools to Teammates - Navigating the New Human-AI Relationship — Upwork’s research reveals the double-edged reality of AI adoption: improved productivity paired with rising burnout and emotional disconnection. The key insight? Sustainable AI gains require redesigning work structure, not just deploying tools.

👋 Sign-Off

Hey, if you’ve made it this far, I just wanted to say thanks for reading! I don’t take that lightly—I know you’re probably like me, drowning in too much email as it is. I truly hope you find an idea here that helps you take steps toward creating your own advantage.

The creative community I spent time with this weekend will be fine, by the way. Not because AI isn’t disruptive—it absolutely is—but because the best of them understand that their advantage was never just technical skill. It was always about judgment, taste, cultural insight, and the ability to solve problems that matter to people. AI might change the tools, but it amplifies the importance of those human capabilities.

What’s your theory of advantage in the age of AI?

⁓ Kedron

P.S. Ilana, my oldest, and I met one of my all-time favorite animators this weekend. Yeah, we’re besties now. It’s all cool like that. Seriously though, what a joy to meet Tony Bancroft IRL! I’ve owned a piece of his original art for some time now, but hadn’t met him in the flesh. Tony co-directed Disney’s Mulan, which happens to be Ilana’s favorite Disney animated film—which just made it all the more special when Tony gave her a signed print. Tony, thanks for a memorable weekend and for sharing your talents with the world!