The world we are living in today is full of smoke and mirrors, especially when it comes to AI, and over the past 6 months we’ve been flooded with questions from clients on SEO-related topics where companies are trying to sell AI solutions that will magically solve all problems in the blink of an eye – while those presenting such solutions are simply riding the AI wave and have no clue about your business, goals, etc. let alone how AI/SEO actually works.

There are times in life when you have to make a change then cross your fingers and hope for the best, and over 10 years ago we took that step to move our operations from Beverly Hills to calling Calabasas home and never looked back. Simply said, there’s something magical happening and it’s exciting to be a part of that early on and now.

We never gravitate towards the negative though sometimes it’s beneficial to point out issues/failures from the past to be prepared for the future, and when it comes to the early days of food halls being launched in major cities throughout the U.S. at strategic locations like malls which we covered in a previous post, many didn’t take off, though the times are changing now.

No different than who you grew up with as a kid, as the old saying goes you are who you hang around and if you’re in circles with smart people that are making a big impact in their fields (finance, philanthropy, etc.) that’s a tribe you should be a part of, and we fortunately are which has given us a unique perspective on that.

For nearly 20 years we have guided the top companies in the world on complex marketing/tech initiatives ranging from Fortune 500s to some of the coolest startups that became household brands today, and while going down that path we learned a lot on the magical carpet ride.

Our team was born and raised in Los Angeles so we’ve seen the city transform over time, especially when it comes to the food scene including the sushi revolution that took place in the late 1980s where epic chefs (Katsuya, Nozawa, Nobu Matsuhisa and others) opened sushi restaurants in Los Angeles at a time when sushi and eating raw fish was very foreign; yet look at where we are today.

There’s a reason why famous magicians like Houdini were successful and their secret power was really the art of deception, which unfortunately is now prevalent more than ever to not only entertain audiences with magic but also dupe them into believing the magic will personally affect them and improve their businesses. It all boils down to what the concept was built on: Smoke and mirrors.

We are living in interesting times where everything is rapidly changing around us whether it’s AI-powered kiosks at fast food restaurants to more consolidated restaurant concepts like food halls that were essentially born during or just after the pandemic and are truly taking off now. And while it was fun back in the day, the mall food courts from our childhood are being reimagined.

In the past few years the magic of artificial intelligence has taken off though too often people believe in the smoke and mirrors (like a Houdini effect) and by using magic (AI today) everything will be solved with a wand, but that’s not the case.

We are living in interesting times today especially when it comes to the legal space, and in recent years we’ve both seen and experienced a big influx in the need for social media expert witnesses in criminal cases ranging from gathering information and providing insights during the early stages to testifying at trial. And this is only going to continue.