Megashift - New Trends in Business

For businesses using Slack to engage customers and ambassadors, Slack-based communities aren't just side channels anymore. Zach Hawtof, CEO & Co-founder of TightKnit.ai, explains how his platform creates searchable microsites synced with Slack and turns all those buried slack threads into accessible knowledge teams can actually act on.Rob Kleiman and Zach Hawtof discuss why AI-native companies like Clay, Gamma, Lindy, and Beehive are building community-first GTM motions, why legacy giants are following suit, and what bots still can't replace: trust and connection built through authentic human conversation.Online communities have become core infrastructure for B2B customer support, product feedback, and retention. The question is: how do you unlock value of all the noisy conversations within them - and how do you scale it?🔑 WHAT WE COVER:- The shift from archival forums to real-time community infrastructure- What is TightKnit: Public-facing microsites synced with Slack- Why DevRel teams hopped from Discord back to Slack...and why it matters- What it means when AI bots surface contextual knowledge about a customer's painpoints- The community metric that actually matters🎯 FOR: Community managers, DevRel leaders, B2B SaaS founders, and business leaders turning customer communities into growth engines.🔗 TightKnit.ai: https://tightknit.aiSubscribe to Megashift for more on AI, community, and business transformation.#SlackCommunity #B2BCommunity #TightKnit #CommunityBuilding #DevRel #CustomerSuccess #SaaS #Megashift

In an era where algorithms decide what you might hear next, Arielle Nissenblatt built something different: a community-powered podcast recommendation engine rooted in taste AND data.Since 2017, she's run Earbuds.Audio—a weekly curated newsletter where real people pick real episodes around a theme. No machine learning. Just the network effect of good taste. Now at Pinwheel, she helps creators and brands use podcasts strategically to reach audiences and build sustainable businesses.Rob Kleiman sits down with this Brooklyn-based podcast industry veteran to explore why curation is becoming a service, how discovery is evolving, and what it means that the very definition of what makes a "podcast" a podcast has shifted.🔑 WHAT WE COVER:- Podcast Curation as a Service: the case for human taste over algorithmic feeds- The "vibes-based surveying" origin story behind Earbuds.Audio- Video podcasts: existential threat or rising tide that lifts all boats?- Working with The Podcast Academy and the "Oscars of audio" podacsts communuty- The network effect of taste: your 5 favorites + my 5 = discovery gold= Why creators shouldn't feel forced to add video to their workflow🎯 FOR: Podcast creators, audio producers, content strategists, media operators, and anyone navigating discovery in the creator economy.🔗 CONNECT:Earbuds.Audio: https://earbuds.audioPinwheel: https://www.pinwheel.comThe Podcast Academy: https://thepodcastacademy.comSubscribe to Megashift for more on media, technology, and business transformation.#PodcastCuration #PodcastDiscovery #EarbudsAudio #CreatorEconomy #Pinwheel #ThePodcastAcademy #AudioCreators #CurationAsAService #Megashift

Kevin Clancy, an HR industry leader shares insights on modernizing HR in tech: from AI-powered recruiting tools to creating empathetic employee experiences. He discusses navigating crucial conversations, avoiding AI over-reliance, and building learning programs that retain top talent.

Kristin Kovner, CEO and Founder of K-Squared Strategies, discusses how marketing creates markets and the major shifts happening as AI transforms product discovery. Kristin helped launch YouTube's video advertising business at Google & AOL and now has advised 100+ high-growth tech companies on their go-to-market strategies. She's watching a major shift unfold: people ask ChatGPT and Claude questions they used to ask Google, but there's no playbook yet for how brands show up in those AI answers.WHAT WE COVER:- Why CEOs need conviction - How marketing teams are becoming lean, distributed networks of senior experts- What it takes to build marketing that drives revenue, not just spends budgetLessons from launching YouTube's ad business with zero marketing budgetKEY INSIGHT: "Creativity loves restraint. You don't need a big budget to make big impact."If you're interested in marketing strategy, AI discovery, or lessons from building markets where they don't yet exist, check out the conversation on Megashift.https://ksquaredstrategies.com

"It's not just SEO anymore." Garrett Sussman explains why AI search requires a completely new strategy. Garrett Sussman, Director of Marketing at iPullRank, breaks down how ChatGPT, AI Overviews, and conversational search are fundamentally changing digital visibility—and what businesses must do to adapt.🔑 WHAT WE COVER:Relevance engineering: The 5-pillar framework replacing traditional SEOQuery fan-out: How AI turns 1 search into 20+ synthetic sub-queriesInput, channel, performance: The 3-tier metrics frameworkGoogle vs ChatGPT vs Perplexity: Market share reality📊 KEY INSIGHT:"When you can have a conversation with your search tool, you're asking questions in natural language. That's more difficult to monitor as a marketer—you can't just optimize for hundreds of thousands of searches for 'running shoes' anymore."🎯 FOR: CMOs, marketing directors, and business leaders trying to figure out what this AI search shift actually means for their strategy and budgets.🔗 RESOURCES:iPullRank AI Search Manual: https://ipullrank.comSubscribe to Megashift for more on AI, search, and business transformation.#AISearch #GEO #RelevanceEngineering #SEO #iPullRank #DigitalMarketing #ChatGPT

TREND ALERT: Keyboard is building an open-source universal MCP server that securely connects all your tools to any AI client—unlocking infinite productivity without sacrificing security.Rob Kleiman talks with Keyboard co-founders Stephen Roland (ex-Stripe) and Andrew Van Beek (ex-Okta) about the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and how it's transforming AI from answering questions to actually doing work—creating docs, editing videos, managing tickets, all with zero-trust architecture.They share their journey from Techstars, why they open-sourced their solution, and how enterprises can adopt AI productivity tools without exposing sensitive data.Find the tool at https://www.keyboard.dev/

We had the distinct pleasure of chatting with Developer Relations pioneer and Author Caroline Lewko of DevRel.Agency about her journey in the tech field and how Developer Relations remains central to the rapidly evolving field of AI. Caroline shared fascinating reflections from navigating the early mobile days and lessons learned that can be applied to the wild west of AI. Specifically, we discussed how AI is impacting DevRel strategies and what skills needed to succeed in the realm of supporting developer ecosystems and hashtag#devtools. Caroline emphasized the importance of curiosity to stay current as technologies rapidly change. If you're interested in DevRel strategies, community building or lessons from a true pioneer in the field, check out our discussion on Megashift - New Trends in Business! Resourceshttps://www.devrel.agency/post/meet-c...https://www.devrel.agency/book

Learning how Prolog NYC helps develop creativity in people/teams via assessments that map to 5 strengths: novelty, efficacy, beauty, connectivity, completeness. In this episode we discuss the future of harnessing AI to build on creative competencies and a share understanding of definitions around what makes something or someone inherently creative. Learn more @ https://prolognyc.com