Ed Macri

Canada 🇨🇦 I’m heading your way In June, I’ll be at DSA Canada Connect 2026 and I want to talk about something I’m seeing across almost every Direct Selling company right now: the massive AI acceleration gap opening up. On one side: companies moving fast, solving real problems, building capability. On the other: companies stuck in planning mode, waiting for the “right” strategy. The difference isn’t technology. It’s action. In my session, I’m going to run you through something we’ve done with many of the 20+ direct selling companies we work with, something that accelerated their progress significantly. You’ll learn: → Where you are right now (honestly) → Where your immediate opportunities are → How to lead this, regardless of your title or technical background → Real examples of what’s working and what’s not And we’ll tackle both sides of this transformation: the incredible capability AI unlocks AND the very real risk it poses to human connection at the absolute heart of direct selling. It’s my first time in Canada (getting in a week early to explore), and I can’t wait to help you get on the right side of the acceleration gap. Thanks to Peter Maddox for inviting me and Ben Robinson for recommending me. If you’re there, see you in June!

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I love featuring new enhancements 1r makes for our clients. Boston Seaport is more than a destination; it’s an experience. And navigating it just got a whole lot easier! The Seaport team enlisted 1r to enhance the Visit Map experience on bostonseaport.xyz/visit, helping visitors discover where to eat, shop, and explore with greater ease and intent. This wasn’t just a design refresh; it was a cross-functional effort to reimagine how people interact with place-based content: 🔧 Functional Enhancements 1. Smart filtering with single-selection categories + multi-select tags 2. Tags now scroll horizontally + auto-update based on category 3. Shareable URLs to pass along favorite spots 🎨 Visual Refinements 1. Cleaned up UI: relocated zoom, "Clear All," and added an intuitive close overlay 2. Venue details now appear in a persistent overlay for easier browsing 📈 The results speak for themselves: 🔼 40% increase in map clicks 🕐 110% boost in engagement time 🎯 29% lift in filter usage 📊 98% longer session durations 🔽 63% reduction in drop-off rates Proud to support Boston Seaport and WS Development in creating a more seamless digital experience that mirrors the vibrancy of the neighborhood itself.

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Constellation Research’s sneak peak at 2026 http://bit.ly/48YJ2MP we @ConstellationR analysts were split on whether we're in an AI bubble or not, recapped 2025 in AI agents, and gave a hint of what's to come in 2026 around decision automation driving decision velocity, the shift to platforms, the impact on the future of work, and exponential efficiency. #CCE2025

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Standard search filters are great at counting bedrooms but terrible at understanding vibe. I wrote a piece for Estate Agent about why the industry is finally moving toward semantic search. It doesn't matter if you are in London or Los Angeles. The way buyers find homes is changing from checking boxes to asking real questions (with queries now averaging 20 words rather than "homes near me"). Worth a read if you want some tips on listing and presenting homes in this era. https://lnkd.in/e_M4B5dC

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Consumer Tech in Boston? You better believe it.. We had a blast at the Consumer Happy Hour on Monday (co-hosted by Curate Capital, Fidelity Private Shares & MGMT Boston), where panelists offered valuable perspectives on navigating the consumer space, funding strategies, and building lasting partnerships. 💰 Funding Approaches: Venture vs. Bootstrapping 💰 -Venture capital can drive fast growth but often comes with the pressure of a “home run or bust” mindset -Bootstrapping early allows founders to maintain flexibility -Fundraising should be intentional, securing investors who bring more than just capital (like industry expertise, strategic guidance, valuable networks, etc) 🤝 Building a Strong Investor Base 🤝 -The most successful founders build their investor communities around shared values and long-term alignment -Leveraging storytelling can help create momentum and trust throughout a funding round -Choosing investors wisely ensures smoother growth and exit strategies later 🔗 Strategic Partnerships & Relationship Building 🔗 -Short-term wins with scattered suppliers can backfire, leading to operational challenges and loss of leverage -Whether investors, suppliers, or advisors, nurturing relationships from the start leads to better outcomes when it matters most. Long-term partnerships with aligned incentives create sustainable success -Thinking about exit strategies early allows founders to structure partnerships that support long-term goals. Thanks to Caterina Breuer for capturing these learnings at our event! And thanks to Conor J. M. from Curate Capital and Kristen Craft from Fidelity Private Shares for being great co-hosts. Check both of them out!!

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Claude Opus 4.6 and GPT-5.3-Codex are out. Sonar's very Joe Tyler spoke with the The Verge about the quality and security of coding models, as Anthropic and OpenAI unveal the latest models.

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"Boston has the schools. SF has the companies. 21 of the Forbes AI 50 founders went to school in Boston—then left for San Francisco. If SF doesn’t learn from this cautionary tale, Austin and Miami will." - Garry Tan Boston invested decades in educating these founders through the world’s most elite institutions. Harvard. MIT. Among best computer science programs on the planet. Then Boston watched them leave. Not for marginal gains—for the entire AI revolution. The city that should own artificial intelligence doesn’t have a single company on the Forbes AI 50 headquartered there. https://lnkd.in/epFZRXf5

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For a select few publishers, subscription revenue growth "isn’t just continuing, it’s speeding up." And the way they're making it happen? Bundling services. While not every publisher is enjoying subscription growth – the article notes that "the median digital publisher has seen flat subscriber volume" – the way the larger publishers are holds lessons for all publishers. Getting to really know your audience is the first step. From there you can better monetize demand and expand your product offering to serve more of their needs. It frequently takes thinking a little outside the box and taking some risks, but remaining stagnant is a risk in its own right. The whole thing is worth a read as it goes into a good amount of detail. https://lnkd.in/eDc3jcmD #mediaindustry #mediabusiness #subscriptions

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Attention ProAdvisors! Looking to better support mid-market and growing businesses? Intuit has introduced the Enterprise Suite Certification through the ProAdvisor Academy to help you do just that. Build expertise in advanced workflows, multi-entity management, and enterprise-level solutions—while staying ahead in a competitive market. 👉 Read the full article: https://hubs.li/Q040pxxG0 #ProAdvisors #IntuitProAdvisor #AccountingExperts #EnterpriseSolutions #AccountingProfessionals #LevelUpYourSkills

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AI Senz here to break it down. 🧠📊 Philadelphia has the lowest job growth of any major city in the country — and it’s not just about the economy. It’s about how our city is structured, taxed, and ultimately, who it works for. In this video, we explore what’s really holding Philly back — and how the proposed Jobs Revolution could unlock a more competitive, equitable future for all. At The Connect, we’re using AI-powered tools like “AI Senz” to deliver accessible civic education for the next generation of engaged citizens and leaders. 📍Because staying informed should feel empowering — not overwhelming. Let’s build a city that works for all of us. #AISenz #TheConnect #CivicEducation #PhillyJobs #EconomicGrowth #SmartCities #EquitableCities #BlackFutures #PublicPolicy #FutureOfWork #InclGrowthPHL #InclusiveInnovation

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Big day in the evolution of HyperFRAME Research Today, we kick off our primary research program. As we grow and scale (more on that to come) we are investing in sourcing primary data to support our research and advisory efforts. Stephanie Walter and Ron Westfall will be guiding the research effort in the following areas: * AI Stack * Infrastructure & Ops We are embarking on a multi-month research program to capture primary data from global respondents to inform our thought leadership, and provide our audience with a new and fresh dataset. Don't worry though - there won't be a paywall and a corresponding subscription requirement - As with everything HyperFRAME Research does, it will be frictionless to access. Watch this space! If you have a question that we should be asking IT Decision makers, please comment below 👇

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𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝑳𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒑 In the early '90s, if you had a computer problem at Carnegie Mellon University, there was only one instruction: “Go look for the guy in the red hat.” The "guy" was a student named Marc Ewing. He wore his grandfather’s red Cornell lacrosse cap everywhere he went. He was a wizard at fixing broken code. He started naming his own software projects after his hat. Red Hat 1. Red Hat 2. But he wasn't trying to build an empire. He was just a hacker trying to make software work. Enter Bob Young. Bob wasn't a coder. He was a former typewriter salesman who ran a small computer newsletter from his wife's sewing closet. Bob saw what Marc was doing and had a crazy idea: Let's build a business selling software that anyone can download for free. The industry laughed at them. Competitors like Microsoft called it a joke. Investors asked: "How do you make money selling something that costs $0?" Bob had a simple answer (he called it the "Ketchup Theory"): "You can grow your own tomatoes for free. But people still buy ketchup because they want the convenience and the consistency." They merged their small projects into a single company: Red Hat. They gave the software away. They sold the support. It was a radical bet on trust over proprietary locks. Fast-forward to today: • Red Hat was the first open-source company to hit $1 billion in revenue • 90% of Fortune 500 companies use Red Hat products • It powers the infrastructure of the world's banks, airlines, and governments • In 2019, IBM acquired Red Hat for $34 billion It was the largest software acquisition in history at the time. Marc Ewing’s grandfather’s lacrosse cap is now one of the most valuable symbols in the history of technology. The real lesson? You don't always need a "secret sauce" or a patent to build a massive business. Sometimes, you just need to be the one person willing to help fix the mess when everyone else is confused. From a "guy in a hat" to the foundation of the enterprise world.

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I've been a believer in streaming data for a long time...but so much of the AI-data conversation has been about static data. That's now changing and real-time data streaming that bakes in Apache Kafka and Apache Flink from Confluent is bringing the context. "The part that we're unlocking for businesses is the ability to essentially serve that structural context needed to deliver the freshest version," Sean Falconer told VentureBeat.

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This debate keeps circling the tools. The harder, and more important, question is learning. If students don’t understand how AI works, its limits, and its tradeoffs, guardrails alone won’t protect them. Adeel Khan gets this right: guardrails only work when paired with educator training, evidence-building, and real adoption capacity. Otherwise we’re regulating tools without changing learning. https://lnkd.in/gv5i4xTK

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Leaders from the Massachusetts AI Coalition are working with their teams to drive impact across the Commonwealth. Here's a quick update for those interested in following along. - Beacon Taskforce: A Founder Starter Pack is being assembled from the feedback of 30+ founders. Consistent themes are present (fast/flexible capital, free work space, GPU credits, connections to founders/operators), making consistent solutions testable. Excited for the first Founder Starter Pack to go live in early H1. - Tavern Taskforce: Tomorrow's event is ON. Excited for Luke Winston-Almanzar, Co-Founder & CEO of Reservoir, Ryan Jacobs, Co-Founder & CEO of Agency Robotics, and Shilpi Gupta, Founder & CEO of her company will be speaking on the "Industrial AI Builders Panel." - Banners Taskforce: Heads down. Cranking away. Working on a launch of our first big initiative on April 1st. Remember folks: The weather in New England is a feature, not a bug. 😉

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🚀 Microsoft just launched its groundbreaking Discovery AI platform at the New Jersey AI Hub - one of only TWO global launch sites worldwide! This isn't just another AI tool. It's an agentic AI platform designed to automate the scientific method itself, helping researchers accelerate breakthroughs by analyzing vast datasets, simulating experiments, and discovering new materials at unprecedented speed. 🌍 Here's what excites me about this for Africa: While the West advances with platforms like Discovery AI, we have a unique opportunity to leapfrog traditional research infrastructure. Imagine African universities and research institutions accessing similar AI-powered scientific tools to tackle our continent's biggest challenges - from climate adaptation to healthcare innovation. The collaboration between Microsoft, Princeton University, CoreWeave, and New Jersey shows the power of public-private partnerships in AI development. This is exactly the model we need to replicate across African innovation hubs. 💡 In Uganda and across East Africa, I'm seeing growing momentum in AI research partnerships. The question isn't whether we'll catch up - it's how quickly we can build our own Discovery-level platforms tailored to African contexts and challenges. 💬 What breakthrough would you want to see accelerated with AI-powered scientific discovery in Africa? Let's discuss how we can build smarter research solutions for our continent. #ArtificialIntelligence #AfricaTech #AIForGood #ScientificResearch #DigitalAfrica

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