BrightWork AI

• Implemented AI & Automation solutions for non-profits, professional firms, and higher education institutions, resulting in significant cost savings and revenue growth.
• Led strategic initiatives to optimize processes and workflows, leveraging technology to drive efficiency and innovation.
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to develop cutting-edge solutions that revolutionized the industry.

Managing Partner

Envisio

Sales & Technical Sales

Arlos

As the CEO and co-founder of Arlos, I spearheaded efforts to carve a niche in e-commerce and blockchain industries. I shaped our unique value proposition through meticulous market research and direct customer engagement, attracting seven B2B prospective companies as our initial customers.

Securing a sponsorship from Microsoft Startups underscored industry recognition and support for our vision. However, unforeseen circumstances led to the departure of my co-founder, prompting the closure of Arlos.

Despite the challenges and new cofounder search, I've decided to become a software developer myself to have a higher control and lower risk of running the software company.  This journey honed my resilience, adaptability, and leadership skills. Lessons learned from securing strategic partnerships and customer commitments remain invaluable as I embark on future endeavours. On the next one...

Co-Founder, CEO

Deloitte

•	Creating functional documentation for 5 capabilities
•	Running client design workshops for Phase 1 & Phase 2
•	Configuring SmartSimple platform based on the client requirements 
•	Managing and training a new analyst
•	Testing configurations
•	Creating use cases 
•	Securing agreement with a client on the project deliverables

Senior Consultant

•	Working with a client to identify product goals, develop priority and associated timelines for Student Information System for 10,000 students and around 500 staff and faculty members 
•	Helping the client with Business Process Improvements
•	Identifying missing workflows, incorporating and managing its implementation 
•	Creating a Project Plan including basic functionalities of the software, custom development, training, security, cut-over, data validation, Quality assurance steams 
•	Managing a team to document business processes, feature requirements  
•	Strategizing and leading Quality Assurance, Training and Security Streams across the organization
•	Reporting to the stakeholders such as the CIO and COO of the organization  
•	Identifying risks and dependencies in the technological solution and help Stakeholders to make better decisions
•	Conducting strategy implementation plan and future solution scalability plan for international and quantitative expansions

Product Manager

•	Creating a response for request for proposal
•	Preparing and participating in demos 
•	Running multiple workshops to identify inspirations in Financial solution including data and security 
•	Conducting fit-gap analysis, business requirements and data strategy integration reports 
•	Conducting strategy implementation plan and future solution scalability plan

Consultant

•	Owning a Quality of 1 out of 5 streams on $450M Loyalty project including banking, travel and bonus systems
•	Working closely with different vendors across the entire program and internal technology support teams to scope and implement product solutions 
•	Presenting feature increments to the project stakeholders at the end of the sprint 
•	Actively creating and managing project scope, deliverables, risks, and dependencies for select projects 
•	Tracking Risks, Actions, Issues and Decisions to ensure timely completion and proper mitigation

•	Analyzing current state and predicting future states of the stakeholders’ portfolios (Partners) with regard to its performance based on sales pipeline, net revenue, managed revenue; work capital management; gross WIP, gross AR, bad debt, engagement contribution and providing recommendations using Tableau and various custom reports
•	Leading pricing, budgeting, forecasting and analyzing financial metrics simultaneously for over 60-96 consulting projects from $10k to $5 million dollars for the world top companies in oil & gas, financial, government, manufacturing and transportation industries  
•	Reducing project lags by supporting multiple internal teams, stakeholders and client activities on strategic data analysis
•	Developing and revising departmental procedures, processes, and guidelines to improve team efficiency and client satisfaction 
•	Utilizing SAP to provide oversight of the project; executing billing, maintaining the client and account information

Project Analyst

•	Implemented Salesforce system for the City of Toronto
•Documented and assessed client’s business processes, product road mapping and product design
•Documented business requirements and suggested existing features to be configured  
•Created and Groomed Product Backlog 
•Created and communicated project status reports to the project teams, stakeholders, and senior management

Business Technology Analyst

•	Developing a 3-year strategic plan to define target state inspirations and refine service model 
•	Formulating and testing hypotheses
•	Gathering, researching and analyzing client and industry data
•	Working with a client by conducting interviews, facilitating workshops and requesting data to get a better insight of the organization and desired strategic direction 
•	Documenting and mapping processes, highlighting opportunities for improvement

Business Strategy Analyst

CIBC

•Conducted project management functions: gathered client requirements, took meeting notes, assisting PM on any other functions
•Forecasted budget for HR resources
•Prepared analytical reports to show the financial position of each project/department/portfolio

IT Business Analyst (Strategic Planning and Portfolio Delivery in IT)

•Investigated server deficiencies using Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access
•Participated in an agile project: Application Access Mapping (Grouped employees based on the required access, helped to create an access map and identified unnecessary application access to reduce the potential risk for fraud)
•Created evidence tickets and provided them to the internal and external auditing team upon request
•Analyzed large amounts of data and compiled meaningful summaries for management decision making
•Identified deficiencies of logical control access operations and offered improvement suggestions

Information Security Analyst

IGNITE

•Elected to represent over 30,000 students from Humber College and the University of Guelph-Humber; major areas of focus include: Accounting, Finance, Project Management, Marketing, Business Administration, HR and Strategic Planning
•Pursued broad advocacy through campaigns such as Know Your Rights and the implementation of various initiatives such as the fall reading week, programs for mental health support and improved academic quality, a financial relief program, the Student Life Line, a sleeping lounge, Project YOU, a tax clinic supported by the CRA and various other advocacy support services
•	Member of the Leveraging Financial Aid Working Group – overviewed, analyzed and worked on the fair strategic redistribution of all bursaries, scholarships and financial aid available to students
•	Oversaw non-academic mandatory fees for all departments at Humber College totaling $300M yearly 
•	Worked closely with the budgeting team in an effort maximize funding received and ensure sustainability
•	Established and led a tax clinic on campus – involved in various functions such as recruiting and training and filed tax returns for over 500 individuals in order to improve my tax knowledge and skills
•	Involved with the fee protocol – created a strategic structure and process for reporting financial information between key fee stakeholders and the IGNITE executive team
•	Developed a system to evaluate the return on investment of student-initiated projects in an effort to improve the approval process for such projects and ensure their viability within the organization
•	Proactively sought to attract external source of revenue to the organization through sponsorships
•	Represented the student body at organizational events and on committees such as Strategic Enrollment Management and Academic Framework

Vice President

Humber College

•	Took charge of the invoicing process for memberships and other athletic services
•	Provided customer service to students, staff and community members
•	Assisted customers with the use of equipment and reinforced health and safety standards and regulations
•	Supervised ongoing events, assisted staff and students, tracked attendance for reporting

Gym Supervisor

OBI Group Holding

Call Center Supervisor

Hi, I’m Anna Bilan, Founder of Brightwork AI. We help small—to mid-sized companies integrate AI into their operations for maximum efficiency and growth. I bring years of consulting expertise, empowering professional firms, insurance companies, financial institutions, and healthcare organizations to harness the power of AI for measurable results.

---

Services Offered:

1. Executive AI Strategy Sessions:  
   Tailored consultations to help leaders identify high-impact AI opportunities and create actionable roadmaps for success.

2. Custom AI Software Implementation:  
   End-to-end development of AI solutions, designed to address your unique business challenges and streamline operations.

3. Adopting Internal AI Tools:  
   Seamlessly integrate advanced tools like Microsoft Copilot, Gemini 2.0, and other cutting-edge platforms into your workflows.

4. Employee AI Training:  
   You can give your team the skills to effectively adopt AI technologies, fostering innovation and efficiency across your organization.

---

Why Work with Brightwork AI?  
☑️ Expertise in simplifying complex AI concepts for practical use in professional firms, insurance, financial services, and healthcare.  
☑️ Proven success in delivering AI solutions that enhance decision-making, reduce operational costs, and drive growth.  
☑️ A client-focused approach to ensure measurable ROI and long-term value.

---

📩 Let’s Work Together:  
✉️ Email: anna@brightworkai.com  
🔗 LinkedIn DM: 

Message me “AI Growth” to discuss how we can future-proof your business with transformative AI solutions.

Everyone's talking about Steve Jobs predicting AI.

Almost no one's talking about the real insight.

"You can't ask Aristotle a question."

Jobs said that in 1983, then imagined a way we could.

A machine that could capture how someone sees the world.
One you could still talk to long after they were gone.

That's the part worth paying attention to today.

It wasn't about replacing humans.
It was about extending the best of human thinking across time.

But here's what nobody wants to admit:

Most knowledge isn't in books or databases.
It lives in our heads. In our gut feelings. In our instincts.
And when we die, it dies with us.

My construction client knows which beam will fail just by looking.
Can't explain it. Just knows.
40 years of pattern recognition we'll never document.

My grandmother survived Stalin's camps.
She can sense danger before it happens.
That survival instinct? Gone when she's gone.

We stopped trusting these gut feelings.
Started worshipping data instead.

Now we're teaching AI to be average when we should be preserving the exceptional.

Think about what we lose every day:

The immigrant who built your city's first business - their instinct for opportunity.
The nurse who knows a patient's about to crash before the monitors do.
The developer who debugs by feel, not logic.

Today's large language models make Jobs' vision possible.
The challenge now isn't the tech.
It's choosing whose thinking we carry forward.

And whether we'll preserve the wisdom that can't be written down.

For me, that's the heart of leadership in the AI era.
Not just what we can document, but what we trust enough to save.

Whose instincts would you preserve? And why?

💭 Drop a name + what they know that nobody else does

♻️ Share if you believe gut feelings matter more than data
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ for building AI that remembers what matters
Thanks, Liam Darmody, for the inspiration for this post.

Anna Bilan ⚡️

Everyone pretends they don't mess up at work.

Then they wonder why they're still stuck 5 years later.

Here's what nobody admits:
Your mistakes are your market advantage.
Everyone else is hiding theirs.

5 "Oh Sh*t" Moments That Made Me $35K/Month:

The Task Chaser

5 years at Deloitte, 80-hour weeks building $10M+ products
Manager crossed out 95% of my work → Pure busywork
Now I evaluate yesterday's work daily. 
Delete anything that doesn't bring money or customer joy.

The Trigger-Happy Emailer

Built a Telegram bot for a client → OpenAI had buggy release
Bot crashed during their YC pitch prep → They blamed me for rejection
Lost sleep for days. Now I document everything. 
Do not do outside of the scope work. Trust nothing.

The Conflict Avoider

Took a  vacation after saying yes to everything
Came back to 4 hours of emotional voice messages from a client
The client thought I took the money and disappeared. 
My fault for zero boundaries.

The Meeting Ghost

Deloitte managers called me "too direct" and "wrong communication style."
My 1.6M readers call it "finally someone real"
That immigrant accent you're embarrassed about? 
It's your $300K superpower.

The Overpromising Hero

Told my gov-tech startup Day 1: "I'm starting a business in 2 years"
They said Cool. Then fired me when I actually did it.
Now clients know: I keep my promises. Even the uncomfortable ones.

The Math Nobody Talks About:

Failed admission to York University 4 times → 30,000 students elected me 
Zero English at 19 → 1.6M monthly readers at 31
Fired in 30 seconds → BrightWork AI at $15K/month

Your failures aren't bugs. They're features.

When you can't hide behind polish, you deliver substance.

💭 What "failure" is actually your biggest asset?

♻️ Share if you're done pretending to be perfect
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ for the truth about building from zero

I set a boundary with a client at 10:30 PM last night.
She went around me and messaged my staff anyway.
She worked until 1:30 AM.

That's when I realized:
Boundaries without consequences are just suggestions.

Here's what actually protects your team:

1️⃣ The Weekend Rule
Client: "Just a quick fix on Saturday?"
Old me: "Let me check with the team."
Now: "We'll handle it Monday at our rush rate: 3x"

Suddenly, weekends aren't that urgent.

2️⃣ The After-Hours Protocol
Client messages team directly → Immediate email:
"All communication goes through me. Next violation = contract termination."

One client tested it. They're not a client anymore.

3️⃣ The Burnout Math
Show them the numbers:
Weekend work = Monday mistakes
Tired developers = Tuesday bugs
Rushed fixes = Wednesday fires

Long-term thinking beats short-term demands.

4️⃣ The Protection Premium
Emergency rate: 3x normal
Weekend rate: 3x normal
"Drop everything" rate: 3x normal

My team's sanity isn't negotiable.
But if you insist, you'll pay for the privilege.

5️⃣ The Reality Check
"I can't build a company on burned-out people."

Said that to a demanding client last month.
They paused. Then apologized.
Sometimes honesty is your best boundary.

The hard truth about boundaries:

Setting them is easy.
Enforcing them costs money.
But not enforcing them costs everything.

My developers who got sick from overwork?
The bugs from exhausted coding?
The talent that quits from burnout?

That's the real price of weak boundaries.

Your team doesn't need words.
They need walls.

PS: That client who messaged at 10:30 PM?
She's getting our new contract on Monday.
With the boundaries in writing.
And the penalties are clearly marked.

Because protecting your team isn't just a matter of leadership.
It's survival. You can lose what you already built. 

💭 What boundary are you finally ready to enforce?

♻️ Share if you believe teams deserve protection
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ for the real cost of building sustainably

🎥 VC - reserved for respective owners

Native speakers write to sound smart.
Immigrants write to survive.

Guess which one the internet rewards?

13 years ago I landed in Canada with zero English.
Today 1.6M people read my "bad communication style" monthly.

Here's the advantage nobody sees coming 👇

Grade 5 reading level gets maximum engagement online.
That's EXACTLY where ESL speakers naturally write.

We were forced into the algorithm's sweet spot.

Think about it:
• Native speakers complicate → We simplify
• They add words to impress → We cut words that confuse
• They write for professors → We write for survival
• They sound sophisticated → We sound human

My Deloitte managers called me "too direct."
My 1.6M readers call it "finally someone real."

Here's the math that breaks brains:

Harvard Business Review: 14th grade level = 50K readers
My "broken English" blog: 5th grade level = 1.6M readers

The "disadvantage" is worth 32x more.

When you learn English at 19 with dyslexia:
• You memorize phrases that WORK, not sound pretty
• You test every word for confusion
• You build sentences like math - pure function, zero fluff

I was rejected from York University four times.
Couldn't hide behind fancy words.

That forced simplicity became my $300K/year superpower.

30,000 students elected me to the Student Union.
First international student in history.

Not despite my accent. BECAUSE of it.

Every struggling student heard themselves in my broken English.
Authenticity isn't a strategy when it's all you have.

The pattern that changed everything:

My dyslexia causes me to re-read five times.
That's not a disability. That's editing.

My accent makes me speak slower.
That's not a weakness. That's presence.

My immigrant paranoia makes me over-prepare.
That's not anxiety. That's excellence.

Before Canada: Russian National Champion gymnast.
One injury ended that identity.

Athletes perfect one skill for decades.
Immigrants master 50 skills just to order coffee.

From food banks to building AI agencies.
From zero English to reaching millions.

The construction companies I serve don't want McKinsey words.
They want someone who gets that English is hard.
Those systems weren't built for us.

They pay a premium for someone who can't pretend to be fancy.

I couldn't compete on their terms.
So I created my own game.

Your limitation isn't your liability.
It's your positioning.

The question isn't: "How do I fix my disadvantage?"
It's: "Who needs exactly what my disadvantage created?"

Find those people.
They're desperately waiting for someone real.

13 years later, I'm not celebrating overcoming disadvantages.
I'm celebrating that I kept them.

They're why 1.6M people choose my "bad" style over perfect prose.

The market doesn't want your perfection.
It wants the real you.

And truth doesn't need fancy words.

🎯 What "flaw" is actually your unfair advantage?

♻️ Share if you've been fixing the wrong things
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ Bilan for proof that different beats better

Accenture just said the quiet part out loud.

"We're exiting people who can't reskill on AI."

Translation: Learn AI or lose your job.

But here's what Julie Sweet didn't mention:
These aren't underperformers.
These are brilliant people whose skills became obsolete overnight.

I watched it happen to my ex-Big4 colleagues.

They were excellent at Digital Transformation Delivery, At Building Financial Models and Finding Bugs. 

Unfortunately, AI can do it faster now and companies just can't lose competitive advantage. They need different people to deliver it. 

I've done a few projects for my clients with AI experts and I noticed there are difference vs a regular tech delivery. 

Monday we were experts.
Tuesday we were obsolete.

The Painful Reality:

Every company is quietly doing this.
They just call it "restructuring."
Accenture had the guts to say it.

Your colleague who "left to pursue opportunities"?
Their Excel mastery became irrelevant.

The tragedy isn't AI replacing jobs.
It's abandoning people who built our success.

What Actually Helps:

1. Your experience + AI = Unstoppable
  (Don't abandon expertise, augment it)

2. Learn from builders, not consultants
  (People shipping code, not decks)

3. Build your bridge today
  (Before someone decides you can't be "reskilled")

The engineer who spent 30 years reading blueprints?
Now teaches AI to spot issues he sees instinctively.
He's more valuable than ever.

Your expertise isn't obsolete.
The way you deliver it is.

We're not losing jobs to AI.
We're losing decades of wisdom because nobody's building bridges between what was and what's next.

Build your bridge today.
Before it's too late.

💭 What expertise are you combining with AI?

♻️ Share this with someone whose experience deserves to evolve, not end
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ for honest talk about thriving through disruption

Based on CNBC article written by Sawdah B.
Link to the Article: https://lnkd.in/gV8H6Wt8

Companies are forcing you back to the office because they want you to quit.

20-year employee? That's $300K in severance they can't afford.
AI replacing your role? Cheaper if you leave "voluntarily."

Forbes just exposed the quiet part out loud.

My ex-Big 4 colleague worked there for 18 years.
Full RTO mandate hit last month.
3-hour daily commute for the same Excel work.

She quit yesterday.
Zero severance. Just exhaustion.

They saved $280K.

The math is brutal:
- 15-year employee = $150K-$200K severance
- 20-year veteran = $250K-$300K payout
- Force them back = They quit for free

AI transformed their business model.
They need 30% fewer people.
But layoffs mean massive payouts + terrible PR.

Solution? Make life impossible until people break.

The perfect corporate crime:
1. Announce "cultural cohesion" needs
2. Demand 5 days in office
3. Remove flexibility you promised
4. Watch expensive employees quit
5. Replace with AI or cheaper talent

My construction client's competitor just did this.
Lost 40% of their senior staff in 3 months.
Saved $2M in severance.
Stock price went up.

The employees who survived?
They're not the best ones.
They're the ones with no options.

Meanwhile, the talent that quit?
Already building the companies that will destroy them.

Because here's what they forgot:

When you force out people who built your success,
You're not saving money.
You're funding your competition.

That 20-year employee knows every client.
Every system weakness.
Every opportunity you missed.

And now they're angry.
With nothing to lose.
And everything to prove.

The companies winning right now aren't forcing RTO.
They're hiring everyone you're pushing out.
Getting 20 years of experience without the loyalty cost.

Your "cost-saving" strategy?
It's your competitor's recruiting strategy.

But sure, tell me again how it's about "collaboration."

💭 How many colleagues have "voluntarily" left since RTO?

♻️ Share if you see through the severance dodge
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ for the truth about corporate games

Credit to Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic for a great Forbes article. 
Link to the full version is in the comments below.

Good things happen when you believe in yourself.

At my last startup job, my self-esteem dropped below ocean bottom.

Boss kept telling me how he knows everything.
In front of everyone.
He doesn't need my ideas.
Maybe I shouldn't share my point of view in a room full of men.

With all my resilience, it cracked me inside.

For the entire 18 months that I tried to start a business, one thing was wrong:
My self-esteem.

I was fighting with myself to persuade I am good enough.

The math of low self-worth:

Partnered with people who betrayed me → They smelled weakness
Clients who stole from me → I accepted it
Partners who disrespected me → I thought I deserved it
Investors who devalued me → I agreed with them

All because I didn't believe in myself.

When I met my boyfriend and shared my crazy idea of becoming an influencer, he said:
"Yeah, it's a great idea."

Me: "I'm scared and uncomfortable."
Him: "I don't know anyone else who can do it."

That's when everything shifted.

Slowly, daily, I started to show up.
Sometimes I closed my eyes to post because it was way outside my comfort zone.

Day 1: Hands shaking, posted anyway
Day 30: Still scared, posted anyway
Day 90: Felt like a fraud, posted anyway
Day 365: 13K followers who needed to hear what I had to say

It developed my confidence.
And the art of not giving a f*ck.

Here's what toxic bosses don't understand:

When you crush someone's self-esteem, you're not making them smaller.
You're loading a spring.

One day, with the right support, it releases.

And we build empires from the energy you gave us.

My ex-boss who said I shouldn't speak in rooms full of men?
I now speak to 1.6M people monthly.

The partners who betrayed me?
Taught me to build systems that don't need trust.

The self-doubt they planted?
Became the fuel for my discipline.

732 days from "maybe I shouldn't speak" to running BrightWork AI.

Not because I'm special.
Because someone finally said: "I don't know anyone else who can do it."

Sometimes that's all it takes.
One person who sees what you can't see yet.

Find that person.
Or better yet, be that person for yourself.

Because good things don't just happen when you believe in yourself.
Extraordinary things become inevitable.

💭 Who believed in you when you couldn't?

♻️ Share if you're rebuilding your self-worth
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ for proof that your lowest point is your starting point

My own AI agency might not survive what's coming.
I'm still building it anyway.
Here's why 99% of our startups will be dead ...

Last week, my biggest construction client asked:
"Anna, should we go all-in on AI?"

I told him the truth that got me fired from my last startup:
"We're all building on borrowed time."

I Know Because I'm Doing It Too

My AI agency: $5K last month.
My real costs if OpenAI stopped subsidizing: $20K.

I'm not profitable. I'm subsidized.
Just like you.

The Math That Broke Me At 3 AM:

ChatGPT loses $60 on every $20 customer.
• Servers cost them: $35
• Electricity: $15
• Engineers: $20
• Model training: $10

They burn $60 to give you $80 of value for $20.

That's not a business. That's a countdown.

My Soviet Parents Saw This Coming

"Анна, if someone sells below cost, you're not the customer.
You're the product."

They survived bread lines.
They know what artificial pricing does.

First, it kills competition. Then it kills you.

I've Watched This Movie Before:

2010: Built on Google Maps (free) → 2012: Started charging → Dead
2019: Built on Uber (cheap) → 2020: Prices doubled → Clients gone
2024: Building on OpenAI → 2025: ...

Difference this time? No escape.
You can't build GPT-5. Neither can I.

Why I'm Building Anyway

Because 18 months is enough.

Enough to help 100 construction companies automate to be efficient.
Enough to teach 1,000 workers AI to give them a chance not to be replaced.
Enough to make my parents proud before it crashes.

My Big4 colleagues: "Why build something designed to die?"

Because I'm An Immigrant.

We don't build for forever. We build for today.

Here's What They Don't Understand:

We've built on quicksand before.

USSR collapsed → We rebuilt
Came with nothing → We rebuilt
2008 crisis → We rebuilt
Pandemic → We rebuilt

This? This is just Tuesday.

The Uncomfortable Truth:

We're not entrepreneurs. We're farmers.
Farming on OpenAI's land.
Praying the landlord doesn't raise rent.

But when OpenAI raises prices 10x and 90% of AI startups die?

The construction workers I trained will be able to build affordable housing.
The processes I built will run without AI.
The knowledge stays.

So Yes, I'm Building on Quicksand

With my eyes wide open.
With escape routes planned.
With nothing to lose because I started with nothing.

While they debate sustainability, I'm shipping.
While they wait for stability, I'm building.

My agency might die in 18 months.

But the immigrant girl who couldn't speak English?
She'll still be here.
Building something else.
On whatever quicksand comes next.

Because that's what we do.
We adopt build anyway.

💭 What are you building even though it might not last?

♻️ Share if you're building anyway
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ for the truth about building on borrowed time

I just rejected 190 AI-generated resumes. 
Here's how I found the 1 real developer.

The Atlantic exposed the truth: AI writes applications. 
AI reads them. Nobody gets hired.

Last month, I needed a developer for my construction automation project.
200+ resumes flooded in. 
Same ChatGPT structure. 
Same buzzwords. 
Same sameness.

One claimed they'd "revolutionized construction workflows."
Couldn't explain how the basic construction sales workflow works.

Another had "10 years building enterprise systems."
Their GitHub? Created 2 months ago. Empty.

But what killed me:

Somewhere in those 190 identical applications was probably my perfect developer.
Buried under everyone trying to game the system.

We're not being replaced by AI.
We're erasing ourselves with it.

So I torched the entire process.

Posted one challenge:
"Build a basic scheduling tool for construction crews. Show me your thinking."

200 applicants.
12 tried.
3 delivered.
1 could actually think.

That one? Building incredible things on my team right now.

The other 199? Still copy-pasting ChatGPT into the void.

Every time you let AI write your application, you disappear.
You become data point #847 in the reject pile.
Another "synergy" in the sea of sameness.

Your weird path? That's your edge.
Your broken English? That's authenticity.
Your non-traditional background? That's what I'm hiring.

But you're erasing it all to sound "professional."

My new hiring rule:
If AI could write it, I won't read it.
If AI could do it, I don't need you.

Show me what makes you human.
Build something. Break something. Try something.

Because in this AI apocalypse, being real is your only advantage.

What part of yourself are you erasing to fit in?

♻️ Share if you're tired of the AI hiring circus
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ for real talk about succeeding in the AI age

The most successful people didn't just fail.
They failed spectacularly. Ready to see who?

Steve Jobs: Fired from the company he founded
↳ Only to return and revolutionize technology with the iPhone

J.K. Rowling: Rejected by 12 publishers
↳ Harry Potter became a global phenomenon

Oprah Winfrey: Fired from her first TV job for being "too emotional"
↳ Now worth $3 billion

Walt Disney: Told he lacked creativity
↳ Before building the happiest place on earth

Michael Jordan: Cut from his high school basketball team
↳ Became the symbol of greatness

Colonel Sanders: Rejected 1,009 times
↳ KFC now serves millions worldwide

Albert Einstein: Expelled from school, labeled a failure
↳ Redefined how we understand the universe

But let me tell you about the most spectacular failure:

The immigrant girl who spent her last dollar on instant noodles.

732 days of boiled rice. 137 packs of instant noodles.
Digestive system so destroyed, it took 3 surgeries to fix.

Lying in that hospital bed, tubes everywhere, I made one promise:
I'd never give up on my dream to lead. To hire. To create opportunities.

Not for me. For everyone who's eating instant noodles tonight.

Here's what failure really teaches you:

1) Rock Bottom Has a Basement
When you think it can't get worse, it does.
That's when you find out who you really are.

2) Your Body Keeps Score
3 surgeries taught me: Success without health is just expensive failure.
Now I protect my team's health like it's my own organs.

3) Hunger Changes Your Math
When $0.50 noodles are your budget, you learn efficiency.
That skill built my 6-figure agency.

4) Promises to Yourself Hit Different
Not to investors. Not to family. To yourself.
Those are the ones that pull you through surgery recovery at 3 AM.

5) Every "No" Is Data
732 days of grinding. 731 days of "nothing worked."
Day 732? Everything changed.

6) Leaders Are Built in Hospital Beds
Watching nurses work 16-hour shifts while you can't even digest food?
That's when you learn what real leadership looks like.

Today I run BrightWork AI. We're profitable. Growing.
My team has health insurance. Weekends off. Living wages.

Because I remember the taste of instant noodles.
And the promise I made with tubes down my throat.

From food banks to hiring people.
From 3 surgeries to creating opportunities.
From "nothing worked" to "everything clicked."

The math is simple:
Rock bottom + Refusal to quit = Inevitable comeback

Your failure isn't your story.
Your comeback is.

What promise did you make at your lowest point?

💭 Share your comeback below - someone needs to hear it today

♻️ Share if you're still fighting for your promise
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ for proof that rock bottom is just the beginning

My "wrong" communication style, according to my past employer? 
Favikon just ranked it #1 among female entrepreneur blogs in Canada.

When managers called it "too direct" and "too honest," 
They were mapping out exactly why 1.6M people would choose my content over corporate fluff.

When they said "you're an immigrant" like it was a weakness, 
They highlighted the exact perspective why MY clients would pay a premium for.

Every criticism is free data about what makes you different.

The Framework That Changed Everything:

1. List every criticism you've received
2. Ask: "Who desperately needs this exact trait?"
3. Find where that "flaw" is a feature

My "Bad" Spelling → Relatability for ESL entrepreneurs
My "Wrong" Communication → Trust from people tired of corporate BS
My "Too Honest" Approach → Credibility in a world of fake gurus

The managers who fired me for being "too direct"?
They taught me that directness was my $200K differentiator.

The haters who said I'd never make it?
They showed me exactly who my content wasn't for.

Your critics aren't telling you what's wrong with you.
They're telling you what's different about you.

And different is what the market pays for.

Stop fixing what makes you unique.
Start finding who needs exactly that.

Because somewhere out there, someone is desperately searching for exactly what your critics hate about you.

That's not a flaw in your system.
That's your business model.

💭 What criticism became your competitive advantage?

♻️ Share if you've turned hate into revenue
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ for contrarian business truths

Meta just put $3B worth of computers in a tent.

And it finally explains why your AI vendor keeps raising prices.

Here's what nobody tells you about AI costs:

Every time you use ChatGPT, somewhere a server is literally burning electricity.
Not metaphorically. Actually, burning it.

One AI response uses the same power as:
- Leaving your TV on for an hour
- Running your microwave for 5 minutes  
- Charging your phone 10 times

Now multiply that by every question every employee asks.

My construction client wanted AI for his 50-person company.
"It's just software, right? How expensive can it be?"

I showed him the real math:
- 50 employees
- 20 AI queries per day each
- That's 1,000 AI responses daily
- Same power as running 100 homes

His monthly AI bill wasn't for "software."
It was an electricity bill in disguise.

Here's the part that made him angry:

The AI companies are losing money on every single query you make.

OpenAI charges you $20/month.
They spend $60/month serving you.
They're betting you'll pay $200/month next year.

It's the printer business model:
- Sell printers at a loss
- Make money on ink

Except the ink is electricity.
And it doubles in cost every few months.

That's why Meta put computers in tents.

Building a proper facility takes 3 years.
By then, the cost to run AI will be 10x higher.
The building would be worthless before it opens.

So they said screw it - just put up a tent.
When costs explode next year, tear it down.
Build a bigger tent.

What this means for your business:

That AI tool you're budgeting $10K for this year?
Budget $30K for next year.
$100K the year after.

Not because they're greedy.
Because physics.

The more powerful AI gets, the more power it needs.
The more power it needs, the more you'll pay.

Your vendor isn't scamming you.
They're subsidizing you.
For now.

Three things to do TODAY:

1. Lock in current AI prices with annual contracts
2. Calculate AI costs per employee, not per company
3. Budget for 3x price increases annually

Because when the subsidies end, you'll either be prepared or priced out.

Meta knows this.
That's why they're in tents.

They're not planning for stability.
They're planning for chaos.

You should too.

💭 What's your AI budget for 2027? (Hint: multiply by 10)

♻️ Share if this opened your eyes to hidden AI costs
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ for AI reality checks that save you money

$100,000 to hire immigrant talent.

That's Trump's new H-1B visa fee.

My construction client called yesterday:
"Anna, we need that engineer from India. 
But $100K upfront? That's our entire hiring budget."

Small businesses built America.
Now they can't afford to hire for it.

Amazon drops $100K without blinking.
Your local tech startup? Done.
That family engineering firm? Forget it.

The immigrant engineer who could revolutionize your small business?
Going to Microsoft instead.
Not because they need them more.
Because they can afford them.

I was that engineer.

Landed in Canada with $100 and broken English.
If my first employer had to pay $100K just to hire me?
I'd still be washing dishes back home.

That construction automation I'm building?
Never would've happened.

Right now, there's a brilliant developer in Mumbai.
A small business owner in Ohio needs exactly their skills.
Perfect match. It could transform both their lives.

But there's a $100K wall between them.

Small businesses create 64% of new American jobs.
But they can't compete with Big Tech's checkbook.

We're not pricing out workers.
We're pricing out the future.

The American Dream isn't supposed to have a six-figure entry fee.

But here we are.

💭 What innovations will we never see because small businesses couldn't afford them?

♻️ Share if you believe talent should go where it's needed, not just where it's afforded
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ for the real cost of closing doors

Discipline isn't sexy when you're broke.
It's survival. And that's why it actually works.

It's 5 AM alarms when you slept on a friend's couch.
It's cold showers because the hot water got cut off.
It's walking 2 hours to save bus fare for food.

When I lost everything, people said, "Stay positive."
I said Shut up and let me work.

My trust fund friends are still "finding themselves."
I found myself at McDonald's at 5 AM, stealing wifi.
Guess who's winning now?

Determination looks different at rock bottom:

Not "I'll wake up at 5 AM to meditate"
But "I'll wake up at 5 AM because that's when McDonald's wifi works best"

Not "I'll eat clean for abs"
But "I'll eat 137 second-day pizza slices and still show up"

Not "I'll journal my gratitude"
But "I'll write 100 cold messages until someone says yes"

The truth about coming back from nothing?

Rich people need motivation.
Poor people need systems.
That's why we win.

My rebuild system:
- Same wake time (even sleeping on floors)
- Same work hours (even when no one's paying)
- Same output (even when no one's watching)

732 days. $0 to $300K. 
No investors. No connections. 
Just McDonald's wifi and spite.

Everyone talks about their morning routine.
Nobody talks about maintaining it through eviction notices.

Rock bottom taught me:
You can rebuild from nothing if you show up like you have everything.

The construction workers I serve get this.
They don't stop because it's raining.
They build anyway.

That's not toxic positivity.
That's immigrant mathematics:
Zero excuses + Daily execution = Eventual escape

Lost my home → Built routine anyway
Lost my job → Kept working hours anyway
Lost my confidence → Kept shipping anyway

Now I run a 6-figure agency.
Not because I "manifested" it.
Because I showed up 732 days in a row.

Even the 137 days that felt pointless.
Especially those days.

The friends who called me crazy for working at rock bottom?
They're asking me for jobs now.

Determination isn't a feeling.
It's showing up when every feeling says quit.

💭 What are you rebuilding right now?

♻️ Share if you're building back stronger
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ for the truth about starting over

Your company pays $85K to give you $50K.

That's not exploitation.
That's math nobody explains.

$75K salary actually costs:
- Your salary: $75,000
- Employer taxes: $5,738
- Benefits: $8,000
- Office/Equipment: $6,000
- Training: $3,000
Total: $97,738

You take home: $52,000

Where does the $45K go?
Not to your boss's yacht.

The breakdown that changed my mind:
- Government takes 30%
- Healthcare costs 10%
- Keeping lights on 8%
- Future unemployment protection 7%

When I got fired, I was furious.
When I became an employer, I finally understood.

Every employee is a $100K bet that might:
- Quit after training
- Get sick for months
- Make costly mistakes
- Take knowledge to competitors

Your employer carries risks you never see:
- Pays you before clients pay them
- Covers costs when sales drop
- Liable when things go wrong
- Can't just "not show up"

As an employee, I thought:
"Why don't they pay me more?"

As an employer, I think:
"How can I afford to keep everyone?"

Both are right.
Both are trapped in the same system.

That's why the smartest people do both:
Appreciate the job that pays your bills.
Build something on the side.

Your employer isn't your enemy.
The math is.

One income = One point of failure
Multiple incomes = Multiple chances

Start that side project while:
- Your bills are covered
- Your health is insured
- Someone else takes the big risks

Because when the math stops working,
(and it will)
You'll have options.

The system isn't broken.
It's just expensive.

For everyone.

💭 What side income are you building?

♻️ Share if you finally see both sides
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ for math that matters

The government audits success, not fraud.
I learned that the hard way.

Food bank to $100K+ revenue in 6 months.
CRA's response? "That's suspicious."

$23K retroactive penalty for growing too fast.

That's when I understood:
Poverty is acceptable.
Success is suspicious.

They're comfortable with failure.
Your comeback? That's a red flag.

Think about it:

When I ate from food banks, nobody questioned it.
When I built a 6-figure agency, they investigated.

Lost my home? "Normal"
Built a business? "Audit immediately."

The system punishes climbing, not falling.

My accountant: "Everything's fine."
CRA: "You owe $23K"

The real crime wasn't tax avoidance.
I believed the ladder still worked.

Year 1: $0 (acceptable)
Year 2: $200K (investigation)

Same person. Same skills.
Just stopped being poor.

Now I know why people stay small.
It's not fear of failure.
It's fear of success.

Because success attracts audits faster than fraud.

But here's what they didn't count on:

Immigrants rebuild from the worst.
We've survived breadlines.
This is just paperwork.

So I paid their penalties.
Fixed their "concerns."
Kept building anyway.

Because the only thing worse than a $23K tax bill?
Going back to the food bank.

They audit success.
They ignore the struggle.

That tells you everything about the system.

From food bank to tax problems.
Still the best problem I've ever had.

💭 What price did you pay for climbing?

♻️ Share if success made you a target
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ for the real cost of winning

P.S. Still growing "too fast." Some lessons cost $23K to learn. Worth every penny. 🚀

5 Tax Lessons that costed me a year of rent

AI leaders aren't racing to AGI. They're racing to cash out before it destroys us all.

Steven Bartlett exposed what I've known since leaving Big4:
They're not building safely. They're building first.

Safety? That's the lie they sell while racing for the $10 trillion prize.

Follow the Bodies

OpenAI fired their safety team lead for "slowing progress."
Ilya Sutskever pushed for safety - mysteriously "left."
Geoffrey Hinton quit Google to warn us.

Pattern: Speak up about safety, get silenced.

Because second place gets nothing.

The $100 Billion Sprint

They need $100B by 2030 to survive.
You think they care about safety with that deadline?

My construction client asked about AI safety protocols.
OpenAI's response: "We're working on it."
Translation: "We'll figure it out after IPO."

Why They'll Never Choose Safety Over Speed

Sam Altman's net worth: $500M and climbing
Every day they delay = millions lost
Every safety measure = competitor's advantage

They're not scared of AI destroying humanity.
They're scared of being second.

The Immigrant Truth

When you've eaten 732 days of instant noodles, you recognize hunger.

These men aren't hungry for innovation.
They're hungry for domination.

"AI safety is our priority" = "Don't regulate us yet"
"We're being responsible" = "Let us self-regulate"
"Trust us" = "Don't look behind the curtain"

Your Defense Against Their Greed:

1. Never build on one AI platform
2. Assume every promise is a lie
3. Keep analog backups
4. Document everything
5. Build assuming they'll pull the rug

Because they will.
The moment it's profitable.

I lost $61K trusting their "stable" systems.
That's nothing compared to what's coming.

They're not building for humanity.
They're building for history books.

Your business? Your safety?
Acceptable casualties in their war for supremacy.

💭 What happens to your business when they choose speed over safety?

♻️ Share before they gaslight us about "unforeseen consequences"
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ for AI truth that protects your business

99% of AI is privately owned.
They pay $0 in taxes.
There will be no Universal Basic Income.

Sam Altman promised Universal Basic Income.
Sam Altman is worth $2 billion.
Sam Altman pays less tax than you.

See the pattern?

No jobs = no income tax
No tax = no UBI
Just profits and poverty

The math they don't want you to see:

OpenAI valuation: $157B
Your share: $0

AI productivity gains: 1000%
Worker wage increase: 0%

Tech billionaire wealth increase (2024): $2.4 trillion
Number of UBI programs launched: 0

I build AI for corporations.
Here's what they tell me behind closed doors:

"We'll cut 40% of staff within 18 months"
"AI will do 3 people's jobs for $50/month"
"We're not training employees - we're documenting their knowledge before firing them"

The government's response?
They're still asking Zuckerberg how Facebook makes money.

But here's what pisses them off:

When employees use AI to quit before being fired.

Your 90-day escape plan:

Week 1-2: Figure out what you are best at
Week 3-4: Research Competitors. Offer exactly the same service.
Week 5-8: Test the market. Learn AI tools. Sell your service. 
Week 9-12: Land 2 clients ($2-5K/month)

Real numbers from people I've helped:
• Big4 Partner: $0K → 2 clients (quit)
• Data analyst: $0K → 5 clients (quit)
• Project Manager: $0K → 2 clients 

Their secret? They learned how to build and how to sell. 

The tools before they're priced out:
• Gamma: $20 (better presentations)
• Replit: $30 (code without coding)
• Your Friends circle: Free

Total: $50/month for your freedom

My prediction:
18 months until they lock this down.
Either you build now or work for someone who did.

The revolution isn't coming.
It's here.
You're either building it or funding it with your labor.

Choose wisely.

💭 What will you automate first?

♻️ Share if you see what's happening
➕ Follow Anna Bilan ⚡️ for daily AI survival tactics

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