BEYOND VIRTUAL

Some might point to the Industrial Revolution; a time when machines created new opportunities even as they replaced some human roles. It's a scenario that sounds strikingly familiar to our present moment with AI. But if the Industrial Revolution was a revolution for the physical world, AI's revolution is for the mental.

Today's AI is more than just a tool. It's an intelligence that anticipates our needs, executes complex workflows, and creates entirely new revenue streams. This is the power of today's AI.

Traditionally, my prospecting team only consisted of humans, and they’re superb at doing what they do best, generating leads and closing deals with clients. However, even though they’re skilled at it, they still can’t perform 24/7, and trying to hire more would mean additional costs for my company.

Now, we’ve had our AI agents for months, and they’re generating revenues we could never have imagined, almost rivaling my VAs if we’re doing simple math.

We’re still learning how to maximize these AI agents, but what amazed me is that they’re performing so well (more than I ever imagined, really), given that they are still relatively new.

With the addition of these AI agents, my prospecting team can focus on building relationships better instead of doing cold calls, and my company didn’t just become more efficient; we became a team that works smarter, not harder.

Feature Story

AI IS NOT MAKING US UNEMPLOYED: THE REVENUE DISCOVERY ENGINE

While doing my research on how I could maximize AI for me and my company, I suddenly had an idea, one I’m sure a lot of other people thought as well. It’s that we’re getting new opportunities that weren't even possible before the AI revolution.

Across industries, businesses are discovering revenue opportunities that were invisible just months ago.

New Service Categories that couldn't exist without AI:

• Predictive Business Intelligence: AI agents now analyze market conditions, consumer behavior, and industry trends to predict opportunities 3-6 months before they become obvious. Clients are launching products, entering markets, and making strategic moves with unprecedented timing advantages.

• Automated Relationship Management: Beyond customer service, AI agents build and maintain business relationships at scale. They identify partnership opportunities, nurture dormant connections, and create networking strategies that generate qualified introductions automatically.

• Dynamic Competitive Positioning: Real-time competitive analysis that adjusts business strategies based on competitor moves, market shifts, and emerging opportunities. What used to require quarterly strategic planning now happens continuously.

The New Business Model Reality:

• Subscription Intelligence Services: Clients are monetizing AI-generated insights by offering industry intelligence subscriptions to their networks. One client's monthly "Market Pulse" report, powered by AI agents, generates $15K in recurring revenue.

• Opportunity Brokerage: AI agents identify business opportunities across industries and facilitate connections between companies, creating new revenue streams through opportunity matching and deal facilitation.

• Predictive Consulting: Instead of reactive problem-solving, businesses now offer predictive consulting services, identifying challenges before they occur and positioning solutions proactively.

I think the choice is clear. It’s either we compete with AI, or partner with it to create what was once impossible and the latter sounds more preferable.

Visionary Voices

REID HOFFMAN: THE NETWORK EFFECTS OF AI AMPLIFICATION

Reid Hoffman is a leading voice in the tech and business world, known for his involvement with some of the biggest names in the industry. His portfolio includes companies like LinkedIn, PayPal, OpenAI, Inflection AI, and Manas AI. But for now, we’ll focus more on his venture as a partner at Greylock Partners.

Along with Greylock Partners, they have been studying how AI creates entirely new value networks. His insights explain why we’re seeing completely new business models emerge.

The Multiplication Effect

Hoffman’s research and commentary reveal that AI doesn’t just automate, it also multiplies human capabilities exponentially. When AI agents handle information processing, relationship management, and opportunity identification simultaneously, they create value combinations that were unthinkable before.

For business leaders, this means:

• Network Intelligence: AI agents map and optimize entire business ecosystems, intensifying connection opportunities across industries.

• Opportunity Synthesis: Combining insights from multiple sources to create unique market positions.

• Scale Economics: Achieving enterprise-level capabilities without enterprise-level resources (e.g., creating multi-million quality videos with Google Veo 3).

Hoffman predicted that the companies that will dominate the next decade will be those that use AI to discover entirely new ways to create value, not just use it for the sake of being more efficient.

Learn more: Greylock Partners AI Research

The Trend

THE OPPORTUNITY ECONOMY

We're entering what we might call the "Opportunity Economy"[11], where AI agents discover business plans and execute them accordingly.

The Discovery Revolution:

• Market analysis → Market creation

• Customer service → Customer intelligence

• Competitive research → Competitive advantage discovery

• Business planning → Opportunity identification

The Revenue Multiplication: Companies leveraging AI for opportunity discovery often report accelerated revenue growth compared to traditional expansion methods. They’re creating entirely new revenue streams and not just growing existing ones.

The New Competitive Landscape: The most successful businesses of tomorrow aren't just better at what they do; rather, they're doing things their competitors don't even know are possible yet.

AI agents reveal opportunities hiding in plain sight and create business models that generate revenue from previously untapped sources.

A Final Note

When I started this AI journey, I was honestly skeptical. Like many business owners, I worried about costs, complexity, and whether AI would deliver on its promises. But here I am now, a power-user of AI, sold by the benefits we’ve reaped after planting the seeds.

What excites me the most isn’t just the revenue growth we’ve seen (though that’s certainly one of the factors I’m happy about), it’s the human potential we’ve unlocked. My team is happier, more creative, and focused on the high-value work that makes a huge impact. They’re not competing with AI; rather, they’re amplified by it.

So if you’re still hesitating about using AI to change how you do your business, maybe it’s time to rethink that thought.

My challenge to you: Look at your business with fresh eyes this week. What opportunities might be hiding in plain sight? What relationships could be nurtured at scale? What insights are buried in your data, waiting to be discovered?

Traditional business planning starts with what you know is possible. AI agents start with what you didn't know was possible and build strategies from there.

That's not just business growth. That's business evolution happening in real-time.

Until next time,

Sources

1. https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/predictive-analytics-market-105179

2. https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/ai-crm

3. https://www.avantisai.com/blog/using-market-intelligence-for-competitive-positioning

4. https://www.younium.com/blog/ai-in-subscription-management

5. https://www.grantthornton.com/insights/articles/advisory/2025/demystifying-ai-growth

6. https://www.iosco.org/library/pubdocs/pdf/IOSCOPD788.pdf

7. https://alltegrio.com/predictive-analytics-consulting/

8. https://www.reidhoffman.org/ai-society-and-our-world-order/

9. https://greylock.com/reid-hoffman/amplifying-humanity-through-ai/

10. https://greylock.com/greymatter/ai-user-research/