Hey reader,

I spent some time this week looking into studies on AI adoption; one by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that from the release of ChatGPT in November 2022 to July 2025, AI had been adopted by just 10% of the world’s adult population.

Startups, while typically early adopters of technology, are at varying stages of implementing AI: some are just starting to think about how to use it, while others are touting the benefits of using AI agents.

The statistics show that globally we’re still at the very beginning of AI adoption. There are also various studies (like one from Harvard Business Review published this week) showing that AI projects are so far seeing minimum return on investment, which isn’t great news for companies reducing headcount in favour of agents.

For anyone like me who’s trying to keep up with the latest AI discussions, arguments, trends and tech developments, I asked founders and operators what they do to stay on top of it all.

P.S. I’ll be co-running the Startup Life stage at Sifted Summit again this year on October 8 and 9. One session in particular I’m looking forward to: ‘How to build with AI’. Would love to see you there; if you haven’t got a ticket yet, grab them here.  

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Keep up with AI

If you’ve read many of the recent issues of Startup Life, you’ll know that I’ve been thinking a lot about AI.

The more I speak to people, the more I hear about distinct brackets appearing: there’s some who are AI-native, get the tech, think about it all the time and have had little friction rolling out AI in their organisations; some who are starting out with AI, testing things and hoping they stick; and some who don’t know where to start and are “flailing around and spending a lot of money,” as Pleo's chief technology officer Meri Williams told me last week. 

Interestingly, OpenAI’s usage report shows the use of ChatGPT for work-related purposes has decreased, while personal use — things like seeking information, practical guidance or help with writing — has increased. 

Milda Bayer, VP of marketing and new business sales at Lepaya, thinks this is because very few leadership teams know “which AI tools fit their business needs, how to deploy AI across domains and make it stick, and how to make sure it’s being used for the right purpose.”

She adds that companies not paying for their employees to use the right tools are unlikely to see high levels of AI adoption, as most won’t want to pay out of pocket.

For those of you like me, simply trying to keep up with the latest AI happenings, I asked founders and operators what they do to stay on top of it all. Got any more? Send them my way.

Yenny Cheung, VP of product engineering at BlueFish

Get plugged into the community. Half the learning comes through osmosis. Here’s a few ways to find and join communities. 

• Join WhatsApp or LinkedIn groups where AI enthusiasts share what tools they’re using.
• Find peers who share a focus on AI applications, devtools and enterprise automation. Attend meetups, conferences and community dinners to get your foot in the door and start building real relationships.
• Another way is to use social media like LinkedIn to share value-add takes in the domain where you have expertise. It's another channel for people to recognise the contribution you'd bring to the community they are creating.
• And if these all don't work out, create your own and be the centre of the party — and put in the time to keep the community alive.

⁠⁠Join or host a hackathon. I set up the ‘Speed AI Build’ hackathon with Siddhi Mittal, cofounder at Yyhangry. It forces you to scout sponsors, test the newest tools and surround yourself with builders. Hackers are always the first to prototype with the latest releases, putting you right at the forefront of AI innovation.

Build side projects. Whenever you hear about a new tool, try it out for yourself during the weekend. You’ll understand its strengths and limits far faster than by just reading a blogpost.

Find the rest of the tips in the full piece here. 

— Miriam, senior reporter

Can anything stop Synthesia? 

Ever fancied hearing Brad Pitt speak flawless Mandarin? That’s the kind of trick Synthesia’s hyper-realistic video avatars can pull off.

The London-based unicorn, which uses generative AI to make videos for corporate training and internal comms, has been a big hit among enterprise users — its customer list includes more than 80% of the Fortune 100, and it hit $100m ARR in April this year.

It seems to be a pretty solid business model — and investors certainly like it. But where will the company take its technology next, how safe are its avatars from deepfake misuse and when might it brave an IPO?

CEO Victor Riparbelli isn’t shy about sharing his views on that front, recently declaring the London Stock Exchange a “complete disaster.”

On this week’s episode, host Amy and senior reporter Kai Nicol-Schwarz put Synthesia’s avatars to the test, dig into its move into agentic AI and ask what, if anything, could go wrong for the AI unicorn.

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Cemvision has a new chief financial officer. Michael Niska — former head of business control at Aira, a startup providing homeowners with heat pumps — has joined the low-carbon cement company as its new CFO.

Twilio has a new director for customer success. Sophie Smallwood — former director of customer success at digital commerce platform Spryker — has joined the customer engagement platform to head up customer success in the EMEA region.

Lovable has a new head of marketing. The vibe coding platform allowing users to build their own apps and websites has hired Cecilia Stallsmith — partner and cofounder at go-to-market consultancy Calyx Consulting — as its new head of marketing. 

Tzafon has a new operations staff member. The AI research and development lab which raised a chunky seed round in July has hired Erik Guander — founding GTM at Swedish AI startup Sana — to its operations team. He’ll be leading Tzafon’s model API go-to-market efforts. 

Tekever has a new director in Ukraine. The defence unicorn building surveillance drones has hired Kateryna Bezsudna — cofounder of accelerator Defence Builder — as its new director in Ukraine. She’ll oversee the scaling of the company’s Kyiv office, which opened in April 2025.

Self Space’s cofounder and director is stepping down. Chance Marshall — who cofounded the UK on-demand mental health service in 2018 — is leaving the company. “After 7+ years of giving every day to this thing, it grew big and I grew tired,” he wrote on LinkedIn, adding that he’ll now be dedicating his time to taking on new therapy clients.

1. 7 things to consider when building with AI. Engineers take note: AI amplifies your current abilities. You can use it to help you think faster, but you can’t expect it to think or solve real problems for you, says product manager Basia Kubicka.

2. Tandem Health says it raised a $50m Series A in ten days. Here’s how the AI medical assistant pulled it off.

3. What a Friday night looks like in San Francisco. The AI frenzy has seen techies move back to SF in droves, but some aren't spending all their evenings chained to a laptop. A resurgence of live — and kind of funky — events are taking place, like humanoid robot fights.

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Our B2B SaaS rising 100 ranking spotlights the companies we believe are next to join the ranks of $1bn-plus unicorns. This year’s edition dives into the next up-and-comers, reveals a levelling AI playing field across countries and discusses the surge in AI-native companies. Uncover the latest market trends in our recent report.