Cory Warfield

My reach could be yours too {2.5M+ imp/mo to 500K+ followers of AI, Tech, Sales, Entrepreneurship} e/acc; p(Doom) = [loading]. Podcaster/Investor/Author/Speaker/Amplifier/Impactor. LLMs, LWMs, LAMs. Opinions are my own.

I’m a nut. I lost a recording contract in 1997 when another caucasian rapper from the midwest started gaining popularity, and it knocked me off my perceived trajectory back then.

I did a stint as a software tester at Rand McNally when I was let go from the label, while simultaneously building websites and chat forums that I facilitated - mostly in the online hip-hop space. I then became a metrologist (science of weights and measures) at Searle Pharmaceutical Research, while still fronting bands that were booked for some fun gigs around the midwest, but never beyond.

But ultimately “not making it” as a “rockstar” really set me on an anomalous “career trajectory”. I ended up working in restaurants - initially as a dishwasher, then a busboy, then waiter, then bartender, then manager. I got certified as a sommelier, did the corporate wine director thing, helped open a top-tier steakhouse, and ultimately burnt out on being a “servant in the castle” (no judgement).

So I studied entrepreneurship, machine learning, brushed back up on coding, and was fortunate to have cofounded a B2B SaaS company using data to help restaurants schedule more predictably. We raised several rounds of funding, and I was ultimately able to exit that company (after a Forbes feature, recognition from BuiltIn, national media and more) to pursue what had helped me start and scale the company - LinkedIn.

As a LinkedIn Top Voice with over a half-million followers and a newsletter here with over 200k subscribers, I now coach executives, founders, speakers and authors to become influencers here and to turn that into a perpetual pipeline for inbound opportunities.

I’ve also gone on to help cofound and join tech companies at an early stage in the venture studio space (DCRBN), music tech space (We J, Starchild), proof of humanhood space (VRFD), seemingly conscious AI (LovingIs AI), phygital intelligence (Phyll), Space Exploration (Ascend), and I am a proud Entrepreneur In Residence at the Founder Institute where I was a co-managing director and Mentor in Excellence (3x).

I do occasionally angel invest as well as help startups raise capital, I’ve helped onboard Grammy winning multiplatinum artists to some of my ventures, I am a public speaker available via PepTalk agency, and a persona here on LinkedIn obsessed with UBI, AI on the blockchain, dogs, music, and community.

If you perceive alignment, feel free to reach out. I’m also currently quietly scaling a virtual influencer agency in the baby space. Happy to sync.

President

After serving on the Board of Directors at World Game Changers for some time and learning how powerful their work and team are, completely buying into the vision and initiatives, and deeply understanding how emergent technologies can help the organization further our commitments and humanitarian work, I have humbly accepted the appointment to President, and am eager to continue the incredible and much needed work this organization has been facilitating for years. 

In 2018 we had coworking; in 2026 we have Cowork. We work, just differently… and this will likely be a throughline throughout the year. Up for a good read? I invite you to dig into Tech For Good issue 39. Enjoy!

Cory  Warfield

This issue’s headline isn’t hyperbole – things are truly changing. From advancements with CRISPR, in humanoid robots becoming far more lifelike in vir

Open article: Things are fundamentally changing in AI – what we all  by Cory Warfield • 7 min read

Things are fundamentally changing in AI – what we all

“We’ve seen this movie before”… robots that can build themselves sounds like an absolutely terrible idea to most of us, but here we are.

It’s important to truly take stock of where we are at societally – humanoid robots are now available to rent for home use, flying cars can be purchased & flown, both quantum chips & quantum computing are becoming commercial (you can literally use IBM’s quantum computing for free right now), Google has edge AI available locally for free & has launched licensing at skills.google.com, while OpenAI is also launching a jobboard alongside their own certification program.

The future of work will not look anything like what the workscape has for generations, nor will the human condition from lifespan, experience, healthcare, likely quality of life in many regards. “It’s quite a time to be alive” indeed.

There’s legitimate cause for concern as the machines develop recursive learning, some systems are beginning to show the potential for time travel which could have implications on our reality too, but sufficient reasons for optimism as well (I have a talk on intelligence & how it could usher in ‘near immortality’, the potential for time travel etc that’s still relevent & interesting though 1.5 years old – quick 15-min watch if you want to dive deeper on some this this here https://lnkd.in/gWqUsDnJ).

Genuinely the next few years will belong to those who know the right tools to use, & how to use them. For 2026 I’ve switched my core offering from coaching individuals 1:1 to become LinkedIn influencers with strategies to monetize that, to 10-person cohorts (one per month) where I teach the 10 members the LinkedIn stuff I’ve taught my private clients & we work on all’s strategies collectively while I also teach about tools to use for everything from website & presentation design to building apps, filling pipelines, training & deploying agents & more.

Seats are $1,000, are obviously very limited, & require approval as I’m highly selective (I put my personal brand behind those with whom I work, also I don’t support directly competitive persona, etc), so while they’re not ‘first come first served’, once I’ve accepted the ten people into it, enrollment is closed.

So while I can’t inherently teach us how to safeguard against self-building robots (maybe self-healing soon too – a Japanese company just revealed their glass that repairs itsself when broken; also we see human brain stem cells generating compute, so it’s not beyond the scope possible for robots to soon have biologic brains, possibly organs as well), I can teach how to do things like be discovered in LLMs as a recommendation (GEO - generative e fine optimization; a really big deal right now), go viral on LinkedIn (& other social medias), how to automate much of your repetitive workflow, how to scale ventures, & am building communities simultaneously. I welcome you to apply if it resonates.

🎥 VC: @robo_tuo X

#techforgood #ai #growth

How vibe-coded apps work. 😂🤣 
(🎥/✍🏼 as seen on @chatgptricks IG)

We hear that ‘age is just a number’, but it’s proven out all the time when we see this level of talent, competence & confidence across the spectrum.

This little crooner hitting these notes like a professional is Bug, a 4 year old girl who’s become a viral sensation alongside her mom Brooke. Bug (Kiera) has Septo Optic Dyaplasia, Nystagmus & autism, which has presented the duo with obstacles, challenges, & perceived setbacks, but they’ve chosen to prevail, overcome, & tap-in to Bug’s potential – sharing her music, talent, & presence with the world. Initially going viral with her rendition of a Selene Dion song, this rendition of M.J.’s “Man in the Mirror” is nothing short of remarkable.

As we inch closer to what many experts are calling a “post-labor economy” (there will be a transitional period, & we may never truly ‘fully get there’, but tools like Claude Cowork show us how close we may be getting), I’ve been adamantly discussing & postulating that there are 2 skills that everyone – of all ages – should be focusing on:

developing an ENTREPRENEURIAL mindset, & a personal brand.

Of the 2, becoming entrepreneurial minded is far more critical, in my opinion, but both are going to be key drivers of most’s success in this new future we are entering en masse.

Being entrepreneurially minded doesn’t inherently mean starting a company & trying to become a unicorn; rather, it refers to being able to find solutions to problems you experience (or see others experience), create the solutions when you don’t find ones readily available, to be able to rally resources as needed (capital, whether human, financial, material etc.), & to be able to identify ways to make money for yourself by providing value & finding the intersection of that & being compensated, without reliance on a W2 ft position.

Being a personal brand refers to strategically being known in the right circles for something specific – putting yourself out there for opportunities to present themselves to you.

Brooke&bug (@brooke3932 / TT) have done an amazing job with their personal brand, as well as forging a path forward for themselves with an entrepreneurial mindset – they have a lot to keep up with, as Bug requires daily hormones & care; but as the saying goes ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way’.

We can all glean much from this example, reminder, & stark message as we truly experience the human condition changing around us, at scale, in real time.

As a 1:1 coach, as well as now leading 10-person group coaching cohorts monthly, I help individuals become personal brands, influencers, cultivate their entrepreneurial mindsets, as well as learn the best-in-class available tools for their specific offerings (I teach generative engineering optimization GEO, agentic workflows, vibe-whatever, digital twins, digital employees, agentic agency et al on a case-by-case basis). DMs open.

Wishing YOU a great week ahead.

🎥 VC: @brooke3932 TT

#techforgood #growth #personalbranding #geo #ai #mindset

Perhaps we don’t need to work for someone else afterall. We can all draw from Khabi’s playbook that just took him from $0 – $1B in 5 years *building a personal brand* *without saying a word*. EPIC!

First, huge congrats to Khabi Lame, the world’s biggest TikTokker at over 160M followers, for his recent exit for $900–975M. This is a record smasher & has massive implications for creators, & those building personal brands.

Downsized from a factory job due to Covid in 2020, Khabi downloaded TikTok instead of seeking another job. Lacking customary setups like ring lights, quality microphones (& other items many others use their lack of to not go for it with their own personal brands), Khabi used his cell phone with a cracked screen, propped against a water bottle, to start reacting to others’ over-the-top “life hack” videos on social media. By not speaking, but rather being expressive nonverbally, Khabi was able to appeal to a global audience, rather than be restricted to a specific population.

By being relatable & bringing joy to his fans via humor, he starting pushing numbers that earned him brand sponsorship by companies like HUGO BOSS & Binance, as well as substantial ad revenue (aka OpenAI’s new business model.

The size of the acquisition is staggering, a result of his face, identity & audience being valuable assets, & the deal comes with his digital avatar & brand in perpetuity.

This video is cool, because we actually hear him speak to his fan, legendary artist Devon Rodriguez, thanking him, but his nonverbal viral videos have become his brand. Charlie Chaplin was a global movie star of his era who also didn’t speak – Charlie amazed amassed a fortune of $100M, a relative $500M in today’s dollars, but notably Khabi went to zero to double that in 5 years without having to go that same “corporate route”.

To me the lessons here are priceless – be authentic, put yourself out there, find your unique zone of genius, own it, don’t worry about naysayers, don’t wait until you’re ready, & also: know your audience & pick your platform.

For Khabi, being let go was the best thing to happen to him – but because he accepted it as a new beginning.

Although I’m about 160M followers behind him, & at least $899M lol, as a personal brand & content creator myself, I’m inspired to the fullest. I also would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I coach others to become viral personal brands here on LinkedIn as well. DMs always open.

I also applaud artist Devon here, who’s almost at 10M followers on IG, for following his dreams, honing his talents, putting himself out there as a creator & personal brand as well, bring joy to others in personal as well as digitally, vicariously. There are no shortages of ways to monetize a personal brand – but it does take getting started, & having both vision & strategy.

So again, cheers, Khabi. You’ve achieved something truly remarkable – I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next for you.

🎥 VC: @devonrodriguezart IG

Want to see something cool? We all know we’re ’in a moment’ where AI is capable of quite a bit, but the results are usually directly commensurate to the level of human talent behind it. Said differently, the tools alone aren’t enough – it requires capable, talented, trained, & (& this can’t be emphasized enough) CREATIVE people who can push the boundaries of what’s possible.

This morning I’d seen a fun Pixar-style short video of a dog returning a VHS tape in IG, & almost posted it here as a testament to how great AI video generation has become; the caption marveled that it took the “AI director only 8 days”. Then it hit me that our team at DCRBN, at the helm of our own AI director & protégé Bret Jenny, had even better AI films that truly showcase what’s possible, such as this trailer he made for a fictitious movie, “El Patron” (it took him less than a week, too, but it’s not a contest lol).

I hope to convey several messages here with this epic video, namely:
• yes, the tools ARE really ‘that good’ now, if we know which ones to use & how to use them
• to get superior results we need not only mastery of the tools, but our human creativity that transcends training models
• industries are already actively being disrupted; our collective preparedness is mission critical

To see more of Bret’s work, & to potentially work with him on creative, ads, campaigns, shows etc., check out https://6frame.com (oh, he makes websites too – this site is so beautiful). Also, at DCRBN we are a venture studio who help startups we believe in raise, scale, build, strategize, migrate to blockchain, & exit (learn more at https://dcrbn.io). We have an extensive team of highly accomplished fractional C-suite from CGO (growth), CRO (revenue), CIO (investment), CFO (financial), CTO (technology), CMO (marketing), CGO (growth), CDO (data), CSO (strategy), CLCO (legal compliance) and more to help our portcos.

A big paradigm shift that is underway that we are focused on at DCRBN for our clients if GEO – generative engine optimization, the “what’s next” for SEO. As fewer & fewer of us use search engines, opting instead for LLMs, the old “do-follow, high-domain, long tail keywords” methodology is rendered obsolete, replaced by embedding in the AI models.

I am teaching GEO in my small monthly cohorts this year as well – every month I’m leading a 10-person group coaching where I work with all 10 members to go viral routinely on LinkedIn with strategies to monetize their influence, how to find & master the best AI tools for their specific usecases, how to build (products, apps, sites, videos, music, agentic workflows, et al), how to fill their pipelines with inbound opportunities (leads, speaking engagements, jobs, investment, more). Seats are $1K usd each; I’m currently interviewing for February’s cohort. DM/message with interest.

I hope this video entertained & inspired you. It’s amazing to see what amazing people with AI tools are capable of.

#techforgood #aigenerated #ai

Here we are. While there are definitely ways that we can tell these videos aren’t genuine, seeing “me” rap about LinkedIn viral growth, Google Notebook LM & my current cohort in a 55-second video generated by OpenAI’s Sora may hold several ‘unlocks’, even as we see more AI platforms releasing video generation functionality, & anticipate a potentially big AI newsweek ahead.

To begin, we know this isn’t real because I’m legitimately a better rapper than these AI generated snippets (also, when making AI music I at least write my own lyrics, but I didn’t write these), & because of the Sora watermarks (I for one won’t remove these in the name of transparency). There’s also an extra hand in one one-second scene (first person to send me a correct screenshot wins my viral growth masterclass I sell otherwise for $750).

But it’s also very peculiar to me how much the mannerisms, inflection, even delivery & pronunciations here, as well as in all my Sora-generated cameos of me really do sound & seem so. much. like. me. It’s uncanny. Granted there are tons of videos of me online doing public speaking, rapping, doing interviews etc. so potentially the model was actually “trained on me” far beyond the minuscule trained Sora asks for to train our cameos; but it’s still just so noteworthy.

How did I get a 55 second video from Sora? You can generate videos at either 10- or 15- second lengths, but prior to posting them (on Sora; while they’re still drafts) you can select 2 at once to “splice” together, & can then even slice together sliced videos (that’s how these 4 ‘became 1’, though with no transitions).

Also, in these snippets 🎥 I rap about my viral growth coaching, as well as my new monthly group cohorts (10-people, $1K ea., less than 17% what I charge for my 1:1 coaching), as well as my 2024 & 2025 AI Tool of the Year, Google Notebook LM. I am teaching my private & group clients how to use Notebook for many things – critically, GEO (generative engine optimization), as well as all my other “AI tricks” & LinkedIn “growth hacks” to fill pipelines inbound. DMs open.

In AI news, Claude has opened Cowork to all Pro users now (was just Max), but it’s only available on the desktop version of Claude yet. Cowork will be one of the biggest disruptors of the year, & can use Remotion to generate fantastic videos with Claude (as well as learn to do anything you do online as you do, then do those tasks in perpetuity for you agentically). Groq and Meta both have video generators, & Google’s (Veo 3.1) is highly capable, but one of the things to look for out of Open AI soon (in addition to hardware & GPT 5.3!!🧄) is an emphasis on physics in their models (“not just language”) as they continue their quest to achieve AGI.

Finally, this week we anticipate finally officially hearing from Google DeepMind about what happened last year in Santa Barbara with their quantum AI chip, Willow (which I’ve reported on previously). STAY TUNED.

#aigenerated #techforgood #coryconnects #ai

There is speculation that several recent tech-experiments may have truly changed reality, our current timeline, & maybe even our pasts. Let’s dig in (also, this isn’t really me at 16 singing with a robot, but it was too fun not to share & the lyrics may resonate by the end of the post).

2025 Nobel Prize in Physics went to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, & John M. Martinis for their work with macroscopic quantum systems, tunneling, & energy quantisation in an electric circuit, showing potential for what some are calling “retrocausality” (for fellow nerds the formula is Pₓ = (F • T • K • S) / (N • Wₓ), legend of variables in the comments); for deeper reading check out (“Quantum Eden”).

But also late last year in Santa Barbara, Google DeepMind’s Willow (quantum chip) also exhibited what mathematically presents as having time traveled, & even as back as 2012 at CERN with the large hadron collider (LHC) there has been speculation that our human timeline may have shifted, or been broken”.

There’s more to all of this, but I’ll save it for the newsletter, which will have a quantum focus in light of what Groq & others are doing, but I do want to keep things moving in this post to OpenAI, who just announced their 2025 revenue which was (drumroll please)… $20B! That’s massive, & has scaled directly with their increase of compute – the more compute they have, the more products they can support, which makes more revenue, which gets more compute, et al.

They’re likely in the vicinity of break-even at $20B, which is a bit staggering, but they are rolling out ads as well as an $8/mo “go” program, & are launching a jobboard as well as licensing & certification (Google also is starting this – check out skills.google; in contrast to OpenAI, Google’s TTM is $400B), so 2026 could potentially be a $100B revenue year, with some of that being profit (also staggering in such short order).

So while this video is an AI generated (Sora) video of me and a robot doing a duet about pelle wanting to hire me, “giving me money to make money”, & not really me (I’m glad it doesn’t actually look like me as a teen, as “in this timeline” the video cameos of me on Sora really capture my essence, look, etc), why you may resonate with the lyrics is that now that my 10-person January coaching cohort is underway, I’m beginning to interview for the 10 who will comprise the February cohort.

Seats are $1K/ea, & members will become viral influencers here with personalized strategies to monetize it & fill their pipelines, but will also learn how to use AI to build products, content, pipeline, & especially to learn generative engine optimization (GEO, already replacing SEO & mission critical for brands though most are totally ignorant yet).

So while I myself don’t know if technology has actually changed our past, or to what extent it’s time traveled or how that’s impacted the current moment, but I do know that knowing tech right now can change our future present moments.

#aigenerated #ai

I looked up and saw blank stares... I knew they didn't understand what I was saying and I really needed them to, this was a pitch afterall.  I was at the front of the room presenting a complex strategy to a boardroom full of executives. and clearly I was failing.  But why... it took me years to understand that I was presenting data, important data, but what I was missing was the story that held it together.  I was talking at them not with them.  

You see, we are each the sum total of every conversation we have ever had, so I made it my goal to create and have intelligent conversations everyday! I learned this through my work on TEDx events and working with TED speakers.  What most people miss is that conversations can be presentations, talks or pitches, even though you may have data you need to get across.  When you present with stories, you create conversations.  

As a Executive Speaker’s Coach, Communication Expert and Business Strategist, I use my well defined listening skills and combining these with my skills in insight identification and human behaviour, I craft stories from facts and help to build and deliver talks that are clear, compelling and deeply engaging.

I have held leadership positions with multi-national advertising agencies, advertisers and major brands.  Using my own unique thought leadership expertise and my training as a TEDx Speakers Coach, I now provide Communication Coaching and Consulting expertise to Leaders, Experts and Changemakers.

I founded Talk Boutique in 2016 to help those with important stories to tell to create impact by helping them to take create TEDx Talks that inspire millions!

Andrea Sampson

When we stop and ask ourselves one simple but powerful question: 

How do I want to show up NOW⁉️

We give ourselves permission to do things differently, to use our voice more fully, and to step forward with intention. 

By recognizing that each of us contributes in our own way—through our experiences, skills, perspectives, and lived wisdom—we begin to understand that THIS is the value we offer. Not a polished version of ourselves, but an honest one.

From this place, it becomes easier to let go of judgment and the limiting beliefs that keep us small. Stepping into our power isn’t about becoming someone else. It’s about allowing ourselves to be fully present as who we already are. ✨

Here’s a short, 3-step exercise to reorient and step forward more often:

1️⃣ Notice — Identify one place where you’re holding back your voice or your perspective. No judgment, just awareness.

2️⃣ Name — Articulate what you bring in that moment: an experience, insight, or way of seeing that is uniquely yours.

3️⃣ Act — Take one small, visible step this week to share it — in a conversation, a meeting, or a piece of writing.

Power isn’t something we acquire. It’s something we allow ourselves to use.

#AuthenticLeadership #GrowthMindset #SenseMaking #ThoughtLeadership

I help Executives & CEOs build executive presence & authority so they can build revenue as business storytellers | Entrepreneur | Speaker | Author | Story Coach

Good things come to those who wait — that’s too PASSIVE

For me, this is a better way of thinking... Good things come to those who PREPARE and remain OPEN to OPPORTUNITY .

Opportunities are always present. The difference is whether we trust ourselves enough to recognize and step into them. 

Trust isn’t accidental—it’s built through learning skills, practicing them, and allowing ourselves to believe we’re capable.

At Talk Boutique, we’ve worked with Fortune 100 Companies, Ivy League Universities, Governments and even Olympic Committees. 

These are intelligent, accomplished leaders. What these organizations needed wasn’t more expertise—it was the ability to trust their teams when it mattered most. 

Presenting, pitching and communicating clearly are skills 🔜 confidence follows practice 🔛and preparation creates opportunity.

These skills translate everywhere—pitches, boardrooms, stages, conversations with colleagues, and moments where choosing to speak up creates changes. 

I’ve seen it again and again: 

✨when people prepare, opportunities don’t just appear—they’re met.✨

A simple way to apply this:

🏋️‍♀️ Prepare — Build the skill, don’t wait for confidence to arrive first.

🔁 Practice — Create safe spaces to test and refine your voice.

🔥Step forward — When opportunity appears, trust that you’re ready.

That’s where the magic actually happens.

If this is a direction you’re curious about exploring, let’s talk 🔝

#SkillBuilding #Opportunity #LeadershipDevelopment

Was this created by a human?
We’re living in a time where this is the question on everyone’s mind. So how do we know what to look at or how to raise above the AI generated noise and find the gems?

🫟It’s not speed or volume — it’s creative thinking.

Creativity is asking better questions, seeing patterns others miss, and using AI as a thought partner rather than a replacement. 

When we bring our perspective, lived experience, and judgment into the process, the output becomes uniquely human.

Here are a few easy ways to build your creative muscle:

❓Start with the question, not the tool.  Use AI after you’ve clarified what you’re trying to understand or explore. Creativity begins with framing, not output.

🙋🏽‍♀️ Bring your lived experience into the process.  AI doesn’t have context — you do. Your judgment, stories, and perspective are what turn information into insight.

🐌 Slow the moment down.  Creativity often emerges when we pause instead of rushing to generate more. Space creates clarity.

🤔Use AI as a thought partner, not a shortcut.  Ask it to challenge your thinking, surface alternatives, or pressure-test ideas — then decide what holds.

👁️ Make your thinking visible.  Share how you arrived at an idea, not just the final result. This is where trust and differentiation are built.

Creativity is uniquely human and each of us are unique.  Using AI isn’t this issue… it’s when we believe it can replace that creates the biggest disconnect.  It can only replicate… creativity is our job at humans!

#creativity #problemsolving #AI

We’ve crossed a threshold. 

Many leaders can feel it: 
👉 systems that once worked no longer do, 
👉 speed no longer signals competence, and 
👉 technology is advancing faster than our ability to create shared meaning around it.

This article is about what’s actually breaking—and why that breakdown matters.  It explores a simple but consequential idea:

"We are moving from an era optimized for efficiency to one that will be governed by ✨legitimacy, human agency, and meaning ✨ ."

2026 is  the moment when the rules  shift—and when leaders are forced to choose what they will stand for, not just what they will scale. 🤯 

If you’re navigating AI, trust erosion, workforce disengagement, or decision-making under uncertainty, this piece offers a clearer frame for what’s happening and how to respond.

👇 Read the full article in this newsletter.

#AI #2026Predictions #ThoughtLeader

View newsletter: The Everyday Thought Leader

We are living in difficult times. This isn't new news, and I'm not trying to trigger anyone, however I think it's important to acknowledge what so man

Open article: The Hard Reset:  Why 2026 Is Just The Beginning by Andrea Sampson • 10 min read

The Hard Reset:  Why 2026 Is Just The Beginning

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