I sat down with Devin Kearns, co-founder & CEO of Custom AI Studio, to break down what it actually takes to build an AI agency with real enterprise value, not just another lifestyle business. We get into why most AI work being sold today won't survive 2027, why the mid-market is the prime opportunity (not SMBs or enterprises), the 11 ways AI experts are actually making money right now, how to position with frameworks instead of being just another vendor, and the five things Devin wishes he knew sooner. If you're building, running, or thinking about starting an AI agency, this is the strategic conversation I wish I'd had two years ago.

So I'm sure you guys have heard the term "AI slop", and everyone sorta defines it differently. Maybe you think it's those TikToks of AI-generated fruits going on dates. Maybe it's infographics with misspelled words. Maybe it's something else entirely. But I want to talk about it in the context of communication. Internal, external, content you put out into the world. I write my LinkedIn posts with AI. My agent knows my business, how I write, how I speak. That's just how I work now. And there's nothing wrong with that. I think everyone should be using AI to write if it makes them more efficient. But this isn't a binary yes or no. It's a spectrum. Sometimes AI can draft and send automatically. Most of the time, I want it to just draft. Then I review. If someone sends me an email with em dashes everywhere, I don't actually care at all that they used AI. The fact that I can clearly tell it's AI-generated isn't the problem. What I do start asking is: → Did they proofread this? → Is this completely accurate? And subconsciously, I might start losing trust. Not just in the email but in the person who sent it. Our job here has changed from writer to reviewer. This quote has really stuck with me: "You can outsource your thinking, but you can never outsource your understanding." When your name is attached to the content, you take credit if it lands, as you should. But that also means you need to take accountability if it's incorrect. Taste and reviewing are becoming more important than ever. AI is super intelligent and powerful, but I don't want to see a world where we trust AI so much, that we stop reviewing things, and then the human on the other end of the content starts losing trust in us. That's why even though I write with AI, and people know that, I still try my best to disguise it and make it sound as "Nate" as possible. Check out the LinkedIn post I just wrote about this HERE

From first client wins and live workflows to AI voice agents, portfolio momentum, and production-level fixes - this week inside AIS+ showed what happens when builders keep stacking reps consistently. 🚀 Standout Wins of the Week inside AIS+ 👉 @Michael Garcia closed his first major deal with a wholesale real estate automation engine handling property sourcing, Claude-based deal scoring, and investor pipeline management. 👉 @Luca Giovinazzo delivered his first full client project live — including 11 n8n workflows, CRM systems, Telegram bots, inventory tracking, booking systems, and KPI dashboards for an auto detailing business. 👉 @Paulo Calpatura built a fully automated AI voice receptionist using Vapi, n8n, Claude, Google Maps, Google Calendar, Google Sheets, and ElevenLabs. 👉 Bo Gonzales presented two AI builds internally, stood out in front of 79 employees, and ended up in a 30-minute AI strategy conversation with his CEO. 👉 @Shatadru Majumdar joined just 7 days ago and already completed multiple AIS+ modules while shipping a customer-support workflow using n8n + Claude. 🎥 Super Win Spotlight | @Griffin Maklansky Griffin joined AIS+ after getting laid off and within a month and a half, landed a new AI-focused role. What started it all? Watching Nate’s “Master 95% of Claude Code in 36 Minutes” video and realizing how quickly AI could turn ideas into real products. Since joining, Griffin has: - Built his own personal website to stand out while job hunting - Started learning AI automation seriously despite having no traditional dev background - Used Nate’s templates and systems to level up his Claude workflows - Connected with builders inside the community and started taking real conversations around opportunities - Went from laid off to employed again with a strong salary in under 45 days