Coleman Sisson, CEO of BubbleUp
In the case of AI panic, maybe some perspective helps. Enter BubbleUp founder and tech veteran Coleman Sisson, whose firm has been working for over 20 years with among the largest acts on this planet (Luke Bryan, Khruangbin, Avett Brothers, BTS, Eagles, Kelsea Ballerini, Kenny Chesney, Doechii) to spice up their earnings, deepen superfan engagement, and broaden fanbases.
The next visitor submit comes from Coleman Sisson, CEO of BubbleUp, an organization DMN is proud to be partnering with.
Fifty years in the past, I wrote my first software program program.
I used to be in faculty, majoring in laptop programming, and entering into what would develop into a lifetime of working alongside expertise. From the very starting, there have been two competing narratives: one insisting that expertise would change total professions, the opposite dismissing it as overhyped and impractical.
Each have been partly proper.
In 1981, whereas working as a mainframe programmer, I purchased a Heathkit private laptop. My coworkers advised me I wasted my cash. “What are you going to do with it, handle recipes?” was the operating joke. Across the similar time, IBM launched the PC, companies adopted it en masse, and Lotus 1-2-3 reworked finance with the spreadsheet.
Then got here the web. The query wasn’t whether or not it will matter; it was how anybody would discover something on it. Google answered that within the late ’90s, and the remainder is historical past.
The iPhone and social media adopted, basically altering how we talk, eat, and create. Like many individuals, I’ve combined emotions in regards to the social penalties, however there’s no debate about their influence.
Now we’re on the subsequent inflection level: AI.
Since instruments like ChatGPT grew to become extensively obtainable, the identical questions have resurfaced. What can we use it for? Will it change individuals? Can or not it’s trusted? Will it take over the world?
After 5 a long time of watching these cycles, one lesson stands out: we constantly overestimate the short-term influence of recent expertise and underestimate the long-term influence. The rapid disruption feels dramatic, however the actual transformation occurs steadily, after which .
Due to that, my method is straightforward: embrace new expertise early, however apply it pragmatically. I’m much less keen on sweeping predictions and extra targeted on rapid productiveness positive factors.
AI has already confirmed helpful as a working accomplice. I exploit it to refine displays, analyze monetary reviews, evaluate contracts, and pressure-test concepts. Generally, I ask AI odd questions, like why a Jack-in-the-Field performs “Pop Goes the Weasel.” It solutions, it debates, and it by no means complains. That alone makes it invaluable.
The music trade has navigated waves of technological disruption earlier than, from microphones and amplifiers to drum machines, Professional Instruments, CDs, downloads, and streaming. Every time, the concern was that expertise would change musicians or diminish creativity. As a substitute, it expanded entry, lowered boundaries, and elevated the amount of music being created and consumed.
In the present day’s AI dialog sounds acquainted. Web sites, advertising, songwriting, authorized work, accounting…every thing appears “beneath assault.” However I don’t see AI as a alternative. I see it as leverage.
Used thoughtfully, it permits groups to maneuver quicker, experiment extra, and concentrate on higher-value artistic and strategic work. It doesn’t get rid of the necessity for experience; it amplifies the worth of people that know methods to use it effectively.
That’s the chance in entrance of the music enterprise proper now. Not to withstand AI, and to not blindly chase it, however to deal with it as what it truly is: one other software. One which, like each main expertise earlier than it, will reward the individuals who study it early and apply it intelligently.
After fifty years of watching expertise cycles come and go, I’m not fearful about AI.
I’m including it to my toolbox.
At BubbleUp, we’re taking this similar sensible method. We’ve used AI to assist enhance income for our prospects, create and debug software program, and automate our inside processes.
Some experiments will fail. Others will quietly develop into a part of how we function each day. That’s at all times how significant expertise shifts occur…not with a single breakthrough, however with regular integration into actual work.
The objective isn’t to chase hype; it’s to make use of AI the place it genuinely improves outcomes for the individuals we serve.
If you happen to’d like to debate, e-mail me at coleman@bubbleup.com.
Coleman Sisson, BubbleUp CEO


