🤔 Why I retired a name I love in order to serve you better

AI Creativity Chronicles​ Use AI Well. Stay Human. Build What Matters.

For a while, I’ve been The AI Over 50 Guy. I’m grateful for that name. It gave a lot of people permission to stop being scared of using this AI stuff and start playing with it.

Now, I’m making a meaningful change that is a return to what I’ve been doing for over 40 years. I’m coming back to my core skills: creative direction, strategy, and crafting effective communications. My new title says it plainly: AI Creative Director & Content Strategist.

At the center of this is my essential role as the human in the loop. I’m no longer here just to teach you about AI. I’m here to be of service by leveraging AI for the benefit of business owners who need content and marketing communications done well and with ease.

Innovations — what’s new

Here’s what has changed. I’ve been finding new power building workflows inside Claude Cowork. And that power is amplified because Cowork now connects directly to Kit, my email marketing platform of choice. The more I work with these two apps together, the clearer it gets: Cowork’s power plus Kit’s latest updates are showing me ways to get more done, with authenticity and consistency.

These systems handle the foundation, the first drafts, the building blocks. Then, my skills as a creative director — honed over more than forty years — add huge value. With this unique combination of innovative technology and human knowledge, I’m doing much more than writing or managing code. I’m directing and architecting.

Capabilities — what it enables

When using AI, authenticity is the challenge everyone fears. Can you still sound like yourself? The answer to that is now “Yes!”

Consistency is the thing almost everyone struggles with, even though we all know that showing up again and again is what’s required to build trust. Automation, done right, now addresses this challenge too.

The systems I’ve recently built dissolve these tensions.

Authenticity and consistency, together make it possible to build trust, deliver more meaning, and achieve better results.

For me, that’s content marketing gold.

Connections — the bigger idea

Building long-term relationships matters more to me than any of the tools by themselves. Neither AI nor innovative software is enough on their own.

Together with solid creative direction, they give you the ability to be more human, not less. When creating consistently stops being a slog, you stop templating yourself just to keep up. The same tools that help you be more productive become the ones that let you build more human relationships.

The real bottom line is that more human relationships build more meaningful businesses. Isn’t that the point of it all?

If you’re a business owner with something worth saying, that’s the kind of difference I want to make for you now.

Any questions or suggestions? Just hit reply. I look forward to hearing from you.

— Jon Leland
AI Creative Director & Content Strategist