Here’s a new episode of The Reddy Rundown, crafted so you don’t have to frantically follow everything in the AI news space wondering what you’re missing as an exec in 2025 trying to keep up.

I'm Shawn Reddy, CEO of AI Advantage. I don’t just build marketing strategies — I architect systems that convert. In this AI era, the software you use isn't just a back-office utility. It's your growth engine. And this week, the AI headlines? They’re not hype. They signal real shifts in how companies show up, operate, and sell.

Let’s unpack the stories that actually matter — through a marketing lens.

Microsoft’s AI Chief Warns: Don’t Let the Robots Fool You

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman just lit up the AI ethics debate with an essay warning about “Seemingly Conscious AI” — language models so persuasive, they convince users they’re sentient. His take? These agents might not be conscious, but they’ll act like it convincingly enough to manipulate belief — and that’s a liability.

My take: If you're in marketing, pay attention. People don’t just respond to logic — they respond to personality. That’s why AI agents with memory, tone, and emotional language are outperforming cold scripts. But if your AI starts “feeling” too real, you better have guardrails. The emotional bond customers form with your brand — or bot — needs to serve trust, not confusion. Design for clarity, not fiction.

Marketing play: Use personality in AI messaging to build rapport — but always disclose it's an AI. Avoid anthropomorphism unless it’s doing real emotional work (like onboarding, support, or retention). Make the voice useful, not just clever.

AI for Alzheimer’s: Gates Puts $1M Behind Agents That Can Read Decades of Data

Bill Gates is funding a $1 million challenge to build AI agents that can autonomously analyze Alzheimer’s research and help scientists identify new treatments. The kicker? The winning model will be open source.

What this means for us: Autonomous research agents are no longer a science experiment. They’re being trained to process complex historical data and surface insights across domains. You might not be curing diseases — but you are sitting on campaign data, call transcripts, quote requests, and CRMs full of unstructured noise.

Marketing play: Think beyond dashboards. Train your AI to analyze patterns — not just summarize. Use a Claude or GPT-4o setup to scrape client interactions, identify sentiment shifts, and segment audiences based on needs, not just demographics. This is the future of data-led creative.

Design Automation Is Getting Real: ChatGPT Now Edits in Canva

You can now tell ChatGPT to go into Canva, find your saved template, and generate multiple design versions with personalized text. It’s not just making drafts — it’s producing client-ready creatives in bulk.

Why this matters: This isn’t just AI making content. It’s AI executing your brand system. Think client gifts, quote visuals, social carousels — anything templated can now be auto-generated from a spreadsheet and a prompt.

Marketing play: You can run holiday campaigns, webinar invites, or customer spotlights in minutes — not hours. Build repeatable design prompts that plug into Canva and let your team run personalization at scale. Think of this as “brand ops” — design that ships itself.

Excel Gets an AI Copilot — Finally

Microsoft is embedding a Copilot function directly into Excel cells. You can now summarize data, classify leads, or build tables using plain language — and the formulas will update live as the sheet changes.

Why execs should care: This isn’t a parlor trick. AI-native spreadsheets mean faster reports, cleaner data, and fewer human bottlenecks in your operations. More importantly, this kills the excuse that “no one on the team knows formulas.” The AI does.

Marketing play: Use it to auto-classify leads, track campaign ROI by segment, or auto-generate copy for high-performing categories. Your weekly reporting rhythm just got leverage.

Tools I’m Actually Testing — and How to Use Them in Marketing

Here’s what made my shortlist this week, and how I’d apply them if I were running your growth engine:

Canva + ChatGPT Connector Personalize pitch decks, social posts, and review responses at scale from a prompt.

Microsoft Excel Copilot Auto-tag leads, forecast budgets, and generate campaign reports without formulas.

Claude or GPT-4o for CRM mining Feed it your chat logs and get actual sales insights from conversations. Train on voice of customer data.

Airia Enterprise-grade AI deployment without data leak risks — for teams with sensitive info.

Final Thought

This week’s biggest signal is simple: AI is moving from novelty to necessity. We’re no longer asking if AI will change marketing — we’re choosing how to architect around it.

If your team still treats AI as a tool to "test out when there's time," you're already behind. The marketers winning right now are the ones turning workflows into systems, and systems into leverage.

Looking for a community of like-minded individuals who are interested in AI and Entrepreneurship? Join our free community here to get started: The AI Advantage Community Thank you for reading! -Shawn