Brian Sykes

theBrianSykes

Harness the Power of AI to AMP + RAMP your Creative Productivity!

As a trusted AI strategist and consultant, I guide you in leveraging the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) for your Creative Agency. I will help you unlock new opportunities, drive innovation, and stay ahead in today's fast-paced digital landscape.

My AI services are designed to address the unique needs of your Creative Business, whether you are a one man shop looking to leverage AI to multiply your individual efforts, or a Creative Director with a whole team on in-house Creatives you want to enhance. From AI strategy development to implementation and optimization, I provide comprehensive solutions that align with your goals - amplifying the Creative output.

With my guidance, you can navigate the complexities of the AI landscape and make informed decisions when it comes to selecting and deploying AI technologies. By integrating AI into your business processes, you can enhance operational efficiency, automate repetitive tasks, and gain valuable insights from your data. My services encompass AI-driven solutions such as natural language processing, computer vision, predictive analytics, and machine learning.

I understand that AI implementation can be a daunting task, which is why I offer personalized support tailored to your organization's needs. I will work closely with your team, providing training, workshops, and ongoing consultation to ensure a smooth and successful integration of AI into your workflows.

Together, we will future-proof your AI strategy and adapt to changing market dynamics.

AI Catalyst

HeadSpace Branding

HeadSpace Branding provides clarity to business leadership for brand transformation - solving complex business problems through Brand Strategy, Identity & Marketing.

Founder / Principal

AdJourney

AdJourney crafted effective strategies, memorable branding, targeted interactions and extraordinary storytelling - helping businesses connect with their ideal clients. With 23 years in operation, it served as a cornerstone to my creative career. At one point, you could not drive a block through our hometown without seeing something I had a hand in designing. A fantastic foundational part of my history and core to my next steps in branding, marketing and generative AI.

A.I. Whisperer | AI Business Strategist | Generative AI Expert | LinkedIn Top 100 AI Artists | Brand Architect | Keynote Speaker

Seasoned strategist in Branding and Marketing with almost 3 decades of experience, amplified by Generative AI. Leveraging my depth of knowledge, I guide Creative Pros to transform and innovate by harnessing the power of AI. As the founder of AdJourney (1999-2022), I provided bespoke Branding and Marketing solutions for SMBs in various fields, driving growth and raising brand awareness.

My commitment to education in AI extends to my role as a Teacher & Consultant for the US Small Business Administration, NC-District. Here, I develop and deliver custom Business Classes and provide one-on-one consultation around Branding, Marketing, Advertising, and AI.

As an author and educator in Generative AI, I've produced multiple books and extensive resources, including 'A.I. Explore: Prompt Fundamentals,' a comprehensive guide to AI art generation that sold over 1000 copies. My work in this domain is also evident in my YouTube channel and podcast, where I share insights on AI and its potential applications in the business world.

Notable career highlights include the growth and marketing of brands such as Sandhills Pediatrics, Tex Racing, and Longworth Industries - XGO, among others. These experiences have equipped me to deliver high-value strategies that result in tangible business outcomes.

Now, I am focusing on a new venture as an AI Business Strategist. I provide tailored AI integration solutions for Creative Pros ready to embrace the future. I'm excited to work with forward-thinking companies and help them unlock the transformative power of AI in their operations.

Most YouTube creators don’t have a content problem. 
They have a workflow problem.

That is why today I’m kicking off a 14-day experiment called -
YouTube, Upgraded.

Short lessons. Smart tools. Daily moves you can actually use.
The goal is simple.
Make better decisions. Produce faster. Measure real progress.

Day 1 is live now. Your baseline begins today.
The rest of the series will run on my Substack, and I will drop each day’s link in the comments.

If you share your YouTube channel in the comments, I will give you one month of my Substack for free.
I want you to test these upgrades on your own channel... and share your results after 1 month. I want to see what happens when creators stop guessing and start using AI with intention.

Let’s see how much better your next two weeks on YouTube can actually get.
Brian Sykes

Creator of The (Hu)man Element™ | Equipping Creative Enterprises to Harness AI Without Losing the Human Touch | Keynote Speaker | Author

Have a YouTube channel? Your baseline begins here. Take the first steps toward a smarter AI workflow. Start the experiment. Measure the change. Day 1.

Open article: YouTube, Upgraded: 14 Days of AI Power Moves • Day 1 by Brian Sykes • 3 min read

YouTube, Upgraded: 14 Days of AI Power Moves • Day 1

SOLVED: The "2-Character Problem" in AI Video • how to create a seamless conversation between two AI characters without "glitches" or "hallucinations."

If you have tried to create an AI video with two people in the same shot, you know the pain...

You upload your script. 
You generate your characters. 
You hit "Animate." 
And then... chaos. 

The wrong mouth moves. The characters swap voices. Or, my personal favorite, the AI hallucinates a random "third arm" floating in the middle of the table.

This is the "Two-Character Problem."

Most current AI video tools with voice capabilities, are built to deal with one face at a time. When you introduce a additional faces, the model gets confused about who is speaking.

In today’s video breakdown (a small clip is shared here), I walk you through the exact workflow I discovered to fix this completely—resulting in a perfectly lip-synced, multi-character scene. 

For the FULL 20-minute tutorial, click the link to my YouTube video in the comments. Let me know what you think! 

Happy Thanksgiving.

Brian Sykes

Stop learning AI tools.
Start building a system.

The market is flooded with "tool-first" AI tutorials. 
They're missing the point.

This is what creative leaders are actually struggling with:
• "My team's outputs feel generic. How do I protect our unique voice?"
• "Clients expect 'faster, cheaper.' How do I protect our creative value?"
• "What are our IP, licensing, and QA policies for AI?"

These aren't tool problems. 
They're workflow and governance problems.

The barrier to solving them isn't skill; it's psychology. 
We're stuck in "I'll learn it later" mode. 

I've written a short manifesto on the one mental trap holding our industry back and introduced the system for "micro-wins"  that solves it. 

I'm building the framework for creative teams that moves beyond prompts and into production.

It’s called the (Hu)man Element.

Read the attached PDF. 
If you're ready for a real framework, comment "I'M IN" below to get on the waitlist for the founding cohort.

Brian Sykes  |  AI LAB
#GenerativeAI #CreativeOperations #AIStrategy #AIEthics #DesignLeadership #AILAB

(Hu)man Element • AI LAB

Not a deep dive... just 2 quick samples from the Nano Banana 2 waters - sharing a bit of what it can do. 
1 • Text in Image (yeah, it is really good at that)
2 • Detail Detection & Incremental Changes

Brian Sykes

What can the great Nano Banana 2 do? Here are just a couple things... with more highlights to come. I have not gotten specific into what Nano Banana 2

Open article: Google Nano Banana 2 by Brian Sykes • 1 min read

Owning Your Audience: Why I Chose Substack for AI LAB (and What I Learned Along the Way)

After publishing 170+ editions of my LinkedIn Newsletter (and reaching over 175K article views in a year) + 588 Substack Posts (averaging 33k views a month), 100+ articles on Medium (averaging 2k views a month), testing multiple different platforms… one truth stood out: 
--- if you don’t own your audience, you’re just renting attention.

I’ve tested them all—LinkedIn, Medium, Podia, and Substack—and each plays a different role in how I teach and connect with creative professionals learning AI.

Here’s what worked, what didn’t, and why Substack became home base for the AI LAB.

👇 Read the full breakdown and real numbers:
Brian Sykes

Substack... now that is a great question, and one that requires some insight on my decision I actually tried a number of things simultaneously: Linked

Open article: Owning Your Audience: Why I Chose Substack for AI LAB (& What I Learned Along the Way) by Brian Sykes • 5 min read

Owning Your Audience: Why I Chose Substack for AI LAB (& What I Learned Along the Way)

Got another "Rajib" message yesterday.
"I can fix your YouTube SEO and grow your channel!"

Rajib's selling the wrong medicine.

SEO is dead last in YouTube's priority list. Literally. Last place.
While creators obsess over keywords and tags, the algorithm obsesses over something else entirely.

I mapped out YouTube's actual growth sequence:
1. Avatar & Value (Who watches? Why should they care?)
2. Packaging (Thumbnail + Title = Click or scroll?)
3. Hook & Retention (First 30 seconds = stay or leave?)
4. Satisfaction (Did you deliver the promise?)
5. Session Time (One view becomes three?)
6. SEO (YouTube needs context. That's it.)

Notice where SEO sits? 
After everything that actually matters.

Your thumbnail stops the scroll - or it doesn't.
Your hook keeps them watching - or it doesn't.
Your content creates binges - or it doesn't.

SEO just helps YouTube categorize your video. It doesn't make anyone watch.

I've built two YouTube channels. Run a 23-year agency. Taught this to hundreds of creators.
The ones who grow focus on Identity > SEO.
The ones who struggle chase keywords like it's 2010.

Rajib's template pitch treats YouTube like Google Search.
But YouTube isn't a search engine anymore.
It's a recommendation engine.

And recommendations follow satisfaction, not keywords.

Day 10 of YouTube, Upgraded drops tomorrow.
Visual identity - the thing that makes your videos recognizable before anyone hits play.

That's what grows channels.
Not SEO.

Brian Sykes  |  AI LAB

Link to the full breakdown in comments.

Most companies think they have an AI problem.
They don’t.
They have a Human Operating-System problem.

Giving your team access to AI tools doesn’t mean you get lift.
It means you exposed your existing limitations.

This is the silent truth no one wants to say out loud:
Access ≠ Implementation.
>>> The carousel shows it plainly. 

Teams aren’t struggling because the tools are bad.
They’re struggling because tools don’t change people.
Tools only reveal them.

AI removes friction.
But it also removes excuses.

And in that exposure, you find the real competitive advantage:
The most human company wins.
The one that understands identity, judgment, taste, clarity, intention, and the psychological patterns that drive behavior.

That’s what I’m launching next:
The (Hu)man Element™.
A Human Operating System enhanced by AI.

If you want early access to the framework, drop a “Hu” in the comments.
Or just follow along — things are about to get interesting.

Brian Sykes  |  AI LAB

AI LAB • [Hu]man ::: 1

Ideate - a Nifty New Feature in the Adobe Universe of AI

We have seen canvas-based creation in the AI space before. 
Did Adobe do it better? 

I believe Adobe's potential competitive advantage is through interface design rather than just raw AI capabilities.

Dive into the product (and my perspective) in today's Substack.
Brian Sykes

Meta’s images will suddenly look very familiar.
     Turns out, they should.

Midjourney’s DNA just went mainstream—inside Meta’s free AI.
     What used to cost $30/month now costs nothing to millions of Meta fans.

The question isn’t who has access anymore.
It’s who has taste and knows how to wield it - professionally.

Get the scoop on my Substack.
     Link in comments.

Brian Sykes

#Meta #Midjourney #ImageGeneration #GenAI

I had a few people text me on the side and say they missed the interview I had with Big Al Gruswitz on The Main Event... so here it is. 

The LINK (in the comments) is to a Substack post with the YouTube embedded - and of course, some note and takeaways from me to help lend clarity around the content shared.

1. The Pivot to “Back to Basics” • [08:26]
2. Adobe Firefly: The “Trojan Horse” of AI • [13:28] 
3. The “Ideate” Workflow • [20:23]
4. “Dirty AI” vs. Commercial Safety • [27:35]
5. The AMP vs. RAMP Philosophy • [36:19]
6. Live Demo: Conversational & Iterative Editing • [46:08] – [51:29] 


Link in comments...
Brian Sykes

If you think SEO grows your channel… you’re building the wrong channel.
And you are definitely focusing on the wrong thing.

I break the myth in today’s bonus lesson.
Short. Direct. Necessary.
Linked.

Brian Sykes | AI LAB

Creators obsess over SEO. The algorithm doesn’t. The audience doesn’t. YouTube sure doesn’t. If you chase SEO… none of my 14 Days of YouTube Lessons -

Open article: BONUS: The One Thing That Will Break Your YouTube Channel (If You Don’t Fix It) by Brian Sykes • 4 min read

BONUS: The One Thing That Will Break Your YouTube Channel (If You Don’t Fix It)

Day 2 of YouTube Upgraded (the AI amplifier). Today’s post is about the 5-tool set for “Right Ideas, Not Just More” Research Stack Creator-First Workflow.

Five stages. Five tools. Each chosen because it solves a specific part of the research process.
• Gemini for the Landscape
• Perplexity for the Precision
• NotebookLM to uncover Patterns
• Claude to Humanize
• ChatGPT for Frameworks

This is the cleanest, fastest, most reliable way to find stronger ideas, not just more ideas, and uncovering the videos worth making.

Images are from a Midjourney anchor image (with me as an OmniReference), with varying camera angles created with Googles Nano Banana.

Brian Sykes

Link to the Substack post in the comments.

Why do audiobooks sound stilted?
Why do podcasts feel robotic?
Why do videos sound 'written'?

The problem isn't the voice.
It's that we write for readers, not listeners.

Speech is messier. More rhythmic. More emotionally punctuated.

Today's article shows you 4 shifts to fix this:
1. Rhythm over grammar
2. Vocal punctuation
3. Strategic emphasis
4. Commanded emotion

The lesson isn't just about AI. It's about better writing.

[Link in comments]

Brian Sykes | AI LAB

Most AI companies still market like it’s 2015.
They tell you what they can do instead of showing what they’ll do for you.

Then along comes Kive.ai
.
Their new campaign doesn’t just demo the tool.
It uses your own website or store to generate mockups—automatically.
In just a few minutes, you see your brand through their AI’s eyes.

It’s one of the smartest marketing moves I’ve seen from any AI company this year.
And the reason isn’t the tech—it’s the psychology.

✅ Personalized proof of value
✅ Instant emotional connection
✅ Human-first design

I broke down exactly why this works and what you can learn from it—whether you’re building an AI product, marketing a service, or just trying to get people to care.

Read the full piece here →

Future-Proofing Creativity for Enterprises • Universities • Industry Leaders | AI Systems Consultant + Trainer + Keynote Speaker

The Smartest AI Marketing Move I’ve Seen Yet: Kive.ai’s Shot.new Most AI companies shout about what their tech can do. Kive quietly shows it. Their ne

Open article: Generated with @Kive.ai … by Brian Sykes • 2 min read

Editing doesn’t take hours because it’s hard.
It takes hours because you’re doing it out of order.

Day 7 in my series YouTube, Upgraded: AI Power Moves, I show how AI handles the “boring 70%” of your edit.
Pre-cut your timeline. Clean your A-roll. Auto-fix your sound.
Generate the B-roll you never captured.

If Day 6 helped you film better.
Day 7 helps you finish faster.

Full breakdown inside the AI LAB Substack (link in the comments).
Brian Sykes

Comment with your YouTube channel to get featured + a free month of my Substack.

Knowledge is power.
Information control is power.

But we've reached an absurd inflection point: humans now modify and contort their language to appease algorithms and avoid censorship bots.

Technology is meant to serve humanity - not the other way around.

Scroll through social media. Notice what's missing. 
People aren't murdered - they're "unalived." 
Suicide becomes "sewerslide." 
Death is reduced to skull emojis.

We have words for these things. Real words. Words that carry weight, demand attention, force acknowledgment.

Instead, we get linguistic baby-talk and bizarre coded language where serious topics get marginalized into juvenile-sounding euphemisms. Why? Because platforms have trained us to fear the invisible hand of content moderation.

Here's 3 modified to pass the algorithm's test (revised for your safe reading):
• Shakespeare Sonnet 139: "Yet do not so, but since I am nearly 💀, / Finish me outright with looks, and end my 😢"
• Exodus 20:13: "You shall not 🚫👤"
• R.D. Laing: "Life is transmitted through spicy time and everyone eventually 💀"

There it is. Shakespeare reduced to emojis. Biblical commandments turned into rebuses. Profound philosophical observations about human mortality sounding like a teenager's TikTok caption.

Those don't bear the same weight as:
• Shakespeare - Sonnet 139  - "Yet do not so, but since I am near slain, / Kill me out-right with looks, and rid my pain".

• Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder."

• R.D. Lang - "Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent".

The essence isn't just stripped - it's obliterated. The gravity, the poetry, the precision of language that took millennia to refine... replaced by symbols and baby-talk because we're terrified of the algorithm's invisible hand.

This causes real harm:
• Trivializes serious issues ::: suicide prevention resources become unfindable
• Creates algorithmic gaslighting ::: punished without explanation
• Inverts the power dynamic ::: we serve the system, not vice versa

We're contorting human language to appease systems that were supposedly built to serve us.

This is linguistic dystopia.

The cruel irony? 
This censorship doesn't actually prevent harm. People still discuss these topics - they just do it in ways that are harder to track, harder to study, and harder to provide resources for.

What makes this particularly insidious is that it's not even transparent censorship. It's shadow bans, algorithmic suppression, demonetization - systems that punish without explanation.

--

So while I talk about technology and the beauty of its usefulness, there are topics on the converse side worth bring up. Where do you see this heading if it continues?

Brian Sykes | AI LAB

Tools for Video:
Gemini 2.5 ::: scripting lyrics
Suno V5 ::: music
LTX Studio ::: Images & Video
How To ::: I will share on YouTube + my Substack
Links in comments.

Your videos aren’t slow because you edit poorly.
They’re slow because you film blind.

Day 5 fixes that.
Repeatable shot lists.
Clear purpose.
Faster production.

Full article in today’s newsletter & the AI LAB Substack.

Brian Sykes

Over the past five days, I’ve been breaking down a creator-first workflow for making better YouTube videos using AI. Not shortcuts. Not gimmicks. Actu

Open article: YouTube, Upgraded: Days 1–5 Recap (& why today’s lesson changes everything) by Brian Sykes • 2 min read

YouTube, Upgraded: Days 1–5 Recap (& why today’s lesson changes everything)

If filming feels exhausting, it’s not you.
It’s your prep.
Day 6 shows how AI fixes that before you hit record.

This is the next step in my 14-day series, YouTube, Upgraded, where I’m walking creators through the exact workflows I use to plan, structure, film, edit, and publish videos with far less friction.

Days 1–5 took us through baselines, research, scripts, storyboards, and shot lists.
Day 6 breaks open the one thing every creator struggles with.
A-Roll that actually sounds like you.

Full article inside the newsletter.
Drop your YouTube channel in the comments to get featured and get a month free to my Substack.

Link in comments to Day 6.

Brian Sykes  |  AI LAB

This is my youngest son's Senior year in high school... and this poster (highlighting his current football season) - was made with Nano Banana 2.

I shared:
• images of Wes (& his teammates) from this season.
• links to current stats for the Conference winners (first time since 1974), and 4th round rung-climbing winners in the State Playoffs. 

They have a game this Friday in Jacksonville, NC (3 hrs away, near the beach). After they win there - its on to the next rung the following Friday (Final Four) - with the State Playoff game on December 11th. 

So this is a celebration:
• of Wes
• of Union Pines High School Football under Coach Till
... and a bit of awe at where AI has made it at the close of 2025 for images.

Brian Sykes

Adobe Firefly V5 Reveals Adobe’s Quiet Power Play to Own Creative AI.

While most AI tools chase novelty, Adobe is playing a deeper game.

They’re not trying to outdo Gemini or Flux. 
They’re embedding AI into the tools creatives already live in.

Photoshop. 
Illustrator. 
Premiere. 
Firefly is the connective tissue that makes it all work together - with AI.

V5 brings conversational editing, improved scene continuity, and smarter image refinement. All without forcing you to relearn your workflow.

That’s the real revolution. 
Integration over disruption.

Brian Sykes | AI LAB

👉 Full breakdown + results here:

Adobe Firefly V5 Reveals Adobe’s Quiet Power Play to Own Creative AI. Adobe Firefly’s latest update isn’t just an incremental model improvement. It’s 

Open article: Adobe Firefly V5 • Conversational Editing in Real Time by Brian Sykes • 4 min read

Adobe Firefly V5 • Conversational Editing in Real Time

taplio

Brian Sykes's Linkedin Analytics

Brian Sykes

Performance ScoreBrian Sykes's LinkedIn Performance

What is Brian talking about?

Brian Sykes's Best Posts (last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

.css-6ytdur{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39, 43, 72, 1) 0%, rgba(33, 47, 183, 1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}Brian Sykes's Linkedin Analytics

Brian Sykes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Brian Sykes's LinkedIn Performance

What is Brian talking about?

Brian Sykes's Best Posts .css-1emoo84{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:400;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);}(last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Brian Sykes's Linkedin Analytics

Performance ScoreBrian Sykes's LinkedIn Performance

Brian Sykes's Best Posts (last 30 days)