Andrew McCluskey

In my early 30s I began to consider the mythic as a novel ‘aesthetic’. Calling myself “a wizard” was infinitely preferable to calling myself a “thought leader”, a “futurist” or a “consultant”. The archetype of wizard was much more enlivening and expansive; the mythic quality to it that appealed to me. And still does.

The 1,000 True Fans Theory works for monetization but not for social impact. Your personal bubble is merely a business model; it’s not culture until your work breaks into other bubbles.

For these communities, hearing a generative model spit out a synthetic gospel track or an AI-generated country twang is not just an artistic affront, it can feel like outright blasphemy, proof that tech elites would rather manufacture culture than nurture it.

When transactions can be brokered by AI, a company’s mission and culture—if genuine—become its final differentiators. As tasks lose their distinctiveness, only the deep resonance of an organization’s ethos can hold human attention.