Briefing · AI-assembled
cyber investment.
Funding rounds, acquisitions and the investors behind them in cybersecurity.
John Atkinson · Product and go-to-market leader · London
john@kinson.
I use AI every day to run product and sales teams. Some of it has been brilliant, and some of it I've had to walk back. Here I share my thoughts on both, along with the briefings my AI puts together for me each morning.
Thoughts, briefings, or both. Free.
/ 01 - Why this exists
the machine part is done.
Over the past few years I've built AI into how my teams work: the decks, the product backlog, contract reviews, even how we check the sales numbers before they reach the board. A lot of it has paid off. Some of it taught me lessons I'd rather not repeat.
What I keep coming back to is that the tools rarely decide the outcome. Judgment, trust and getting people aligned still do. Most people I talk to sense that, but aren't sure what it means for their own job: what to hand over, what to hold on to, and what to learn next. That's what my thoughts are about, from 25 years in product and go-to-market and from doing this day to day.
/ 02 - What I write about
three parts of the job. one question.
Across all three, the question is the same: how to use AI well, where not to use it, and what it means for the way we work now and next.
Product development
building with ai in the room.
What changes when a model writes the first draft of the spec, the roadmap or the code, and where a product leader's judgment still matters most.
Read product →Sales and sales ops
selling when everyone has ai.
Your buyers research with AI, and so do your reps. What that does to discovery, pipeline and forecasting, and what still wins the deal.
Read sales →Organization
teams after the machine part.
How roles, hiring and team shape change when much of the routine work is automated, and what that asks of the people leading them.
Read organization →/ 03 - How I run it
how I run it.
These are the places I've put AI to work inside companies I've helped run. Each one ties to something a board already cares about, and each one still needs a person somewhere in the loop.
ProcessDriverThe human part that's left
ai-generated decksMove fasterThe draft is quick now. Deciding what the story should be is still the work.ai + notion, always currentSave moneySomeone still has to own the source of truth, rather than chase it.ai-checked epicsMove faster · Reduce riskJudgment on what actually matters, not just whether the template is filled in.ai in the codebaseMove fasterArchitecture, review and taste.ai contract reviewReduce riskThe commercial call on which risks are worth accepting.ai-verified sales dataReduce risk · Make moneyA forecast the board can trust, and an honest conversation about why a number moved.I'll write each of these up properly: how it worked before, what changed, and where the human still sits.
/ 05 - Briefings
briefings.
Assembled by my AI on a schedule, from public sources. I read them every morning, and they've turned out to be surprisingly useful, so I'm sharing them.
Coming next
more briefings.
Other topics are on the way. Subscribe to any briefing and you'll hear about them first.
Briefings are assembled by AI from the linked sources. Check the original before acting on anything here. Not investment advice. Disclosure: I'm President & Board Member at HyperSphere Technologies, a cybersecurity company.
/ 06 - Work with me
read about it, or get it fixed.
I take on two or three engagements at a time, so each one gets proper attention.
Advisory and fractional
Product, sales and go-to-market leadership through Tenfold Advisory. That can mean working alongside your team, stepping into an interim role, or helping you assess a deal.
Tenfold Advisory →Speaking
Talks, panels and workshops on how AI is changing product, sales and the way teams are organized. Practical, and light on hype.
Get in touch →/ 07 - About
the @ is pronounced at.
I'm John Atkinson. For the last 25 years I've led product and go-to-market at technical B2B companies, from early-stage startups finding their first customers to businesses scaling through IPO and acquisition. I've built the teams, the channels and the products that got them there, and I've been fortunate to see that work through to some very good outcomes.
Today I'm President and a Board Member at HyperSphere Technologies, a cybersecurity company pioneering data neutralization, and I advise founders and investors through Tenfold Advisory. In my last two roles I've built AI into how the company actually runs, not just how it talks about it.
Originally from Northern California, now very happily based in London.
- Based
- London
- Now
- President & Board Member, HyperSphere Technologies
- Background
- Product and go-to-market · startup to IPO
- Advisory
- tenfold-advisory.com →
- Elsewhere
- LinkedIn →
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Thoughts are written by me. Briefings are assembled by my AI. You'll always know which. Free, and unsubscribe whenever you like.