We’re at a pivotal moment in the evolution of artificial intelligence—and the way companies respond could mean the difference between leading the next era or getting stuck in the last one. On DisrupTV Episode 403, marketing and innovation legends Christopher Lochhead and Sunil Karkera laid out a powerful challenge to the current AI hype cycle—and offered a radically different way forward.
The $13 Trillion Mistake No One Wants to Talk About
Lochhead, co-creator of Category Pirates and godfather of “category design,” dropped this bomb early:
“We’re headed for a $13 trillion trap—if AI vendors keep chasing existing markets instead of creating new ones.”
Too many companies, he argues, are focused on using AI to do what they’re already doing, just faster or cheaper. That’s incremental. The real opportunity? Using AI to create entirely new categories, new customer problems, and new value propositions.
It’s not just about adding AI to a workflow. It’s about rethinking the business itself.
From Legacy Thinking to AI-Native Strategy
Lochhead introduces a simple but powerful framework for this mindset shift: Stop. Change. Start.
- Stop doing what no longer adds value in an AI-driven world.
- Change how you operate by questioning your assumptions.
- Start building as if you’re an AI-native startup with no legacy baggage.
This approach isn’t just philosophical—it’s existential. Organizations that cling to legacy mindsets risk becoming irrelevant as AI-native competitors design new business models from the ground up.
Soul of the Machine: Accelerating Human Creativity
Sunil Karkera, Founder and Chief Engineer of Soul of the Machine, brought a deeply creative lens to the conversation.
His company helps enterprises collapse the distance between ideation and prototyping, cutting timelines from months to hours with the help of AI. But this isn’t just automation—it’s amplification.
“We’re not replacing creativity. We’re unlocking it.”
Karkera emphasized that the real power of AI lies in its partnership with human imagination. When combined with design thinking and engineering excellence, AI becomes a force multiplier for innovation—not a threat to it.
Why This Conversation Matters
In an age where AI is everywhere, the real competitive edge comes from how you think about it.
Will you use AI to improve what you already do—or to create something entirely new? Will you optimize the past—or invent the future?
🎧 Watch the full episode here.
What do you think? Is your company thinking like an AI-native startup—or still clinging to legacy logic?
