A newsletter by Ken Yeung

The AI
Economy

A sharp, curated look at the stories that reveal how AI is rewriting business, work, technology, and culture.

Ken Yeung

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What you get

Built for people who work with AI, not just read about it.

Reported, not aggregated

Enterprise AI coverage from a journalist who covered the space before “generative AI” was a mainstream phrase. Sourced, contextual, with a point of view.

Platform strategy focus

Beyond the product announcements. Analysis of how AI is restructuring enterprise workflows, editorial operations, and the economics of content at scale.

Written for practitioners

Not for the hype-chasers. For the people who have to act on it.

Archive

Every issue.

All issues published to date. New issues arrive every week.

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  1. Issue

    Adobe Unveils Firefly 5 With Photorealistic Images and Layered Prompt-Based Editing

    Adobe is introducing a new image model to its Firefly family of image-generation AI models. Firefly 5 is designed to help creators become more effective storytellers. To achieve this, it now natively supports resolutions up to four megapixels, offers enhanced human rendering, improved lighting, and better editing capabilities. Adobe reiterates that all generations are commercially […]
  2. Issue

    Adobe Firefly Adds AI-Powered Soundtrack and Speech Generation

    First, there was image generation in Adobe Firefly. Then came video, sound effects, and audio translation. Now, Adobe is adding two new capabilities to its generative AI platform: soundtrack and speech creation. “The introduction of the Generate Soundtrack application and model from Adobe…is the first model that allows you to generate instrumental soundtrack that you […]
  3. Issue

    SAP Challenges Value of ‘Best-of-Breed’ Apps in Enterprise AI

    When executive Muhammad Alam stepped onto the Fountainbleau theatre stage in Las Vegas earlier this month to give his opening keynote talk at SAP Connect, I half-expected to witness a spectacle. After all, I’m at a tech conference where AI dominates the agenda, so why wouldn’t there be a flashy performance, brimming with pagentry, to […]
  4. Issue

    Vercel Deepens Its AI Push With New Tools That Build Reliability and Intelligence Into Software

    Vercel, the cloud platform for front-end developers, is expanding deeper into AI. The company has rolled out a series of tools designed to help developers build faster, more reliable, and more secure AI applications. Among them: enhancements to the company’s agent that now empower it to investigate anomaly alerts, a new open-source kit that bakes […]
  5. Issue

    Lattice Transforms the Workplace with Habit-Focused AI Agents

    Weeks ago, when Sarah Franklin proclaimed that Lattice was in its “refounding” moment, it wasn’t just a catchy phrase—she had her eyes set on reimagining what the people management platform could become in the AI era. While she was initially reserved about what she could disclose, Franklin is opening up and sharing what Lattice is […]
  6. Issue

    Adobe AI Foundry Builds Custom Generative Models for Brands

    Adobe is launching a new service called the Adobe AI Foundry, designed to help businesses build their own custom generative AI models. Much like Intel’s chip foundry, Adobe’s version aims to do the same for AI, offering companies a framework to design and train models on their own data. These LLMs will be built on […]
  7. Issue

    Adobe LLM Optimizer Targets Generative AI Content Discovery

    Adobe has launched its LLM Optimizer, an application that brands can use for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Initially unveiled in June, this now generally available tool can monitor AI-driven traffic and improve discoverability on AI-powered chat platforms and browsers like Google’s AI Overview and Perplexity. The LLM Optimizer is available either as a standalone application […]
  8. Issue

    Most Companies Still Aren’t Ready for AI, But Leaders Are Starting to Capture Value

    The number of companies truly ready for AI may have plateaued, with just 13 percent saying they’re prepared to operationalize the technology. That’s according to Cisco’s third annual AI Readiness Index, released earlier this month. While the topline number hasn’t shifted year over year, the context has. Cisco says the so-called “Pacesetters”—a small but disciplined […]
  9. Issue

    With Agentforce IT Service, Salesforce Redefines ITSM Around AI Agents and Employee Experience

    Salesforce has delivered on its promise with the launch of an AI-powered IT service tool that lets companies deploy agents to automate incidents, handle service requests, and manage tickets directly through Slack. Agentforce IT Service, as it’s called, is built to eliminate the more than 350 hours employees spend annually solving common and complex IT […]
  10. Issue

    Salesforce’s Agentforce 360 Aims to Help Companies Escape ‘AI Pilot Purgatory’

    Welcome to the era of the agentic enterprise. At this year’s Dreamforce event, Salesforce is unveiling Agentforce 360, a major upgrade to its agentic development platform. The company says it brings together humans, AI agents, apps, and data to help organizations forge stronger connections with customers, employees, and suppliers. “What we want to see is […]

Peer review

What the AIs say.*

We asked the leading AI tools to weigh in on The AI Economy. Their ratings speak for themselves. (Results may vary depending on training data and general disposition toward newsletters.)

Claude — Anthropic

★★★★★

5.0

out of 5

“[Its] strength lies in its ability to cover both technical developments and business implications of AI, making it valuable for a wide audience ranging from tech enthusiasts to business executives.”

ChatGPT — OpenAI

★★★★★

5.0

out of 5

“Expertly combines in-depth interviews and industry analysis, making it a must-read for AI enthusiasts and professionals.”

Gemini — Google

★★★★★

5.0

out of 5

“Provides valuable insights and analysis, making it a great resource for anyone interested in AI.”

Copilot — Microsoft

★★★★★

5.0

out of 5

“A sharp, reporter‑caliber intelligence brief for the AI era—fast, authoritative, and genuinely ahead of the curve.”

* Disclaimer: My newsletter has not been actually endorsed by OpenAI, Google, or Anthropic. I solicited reviews from their respective gen AI services. Sounded cool though, huh?

Questions

Common questions.

  1. What is The AI Economy?

    A newsletter covering consumer and enterprise AI, platform strategy, and the companies reshaping how work gets done. Reported, not aggregated — written by a technology journalist who has covered the space since before generative AI was a mainstream phrase.

  2. How often does it publish?

    Enough to keep you ahead, never enough to clutter your inbox. You'll also get first-look coverage and original interviews whenever the story is worth your time—which, lately, is often. Nothing filler-grade goes out under this masthead. A weekly roundup is delivered Fridays on LinkedIn.

  3. Is it free?

    Yes. Every issue is free. Subscribe on Substack and it arrives in your inbox. No paywall, no premium tier. If that changes, subscribers will be notified well in advance.

  4. How is this different from other AI newsletters?

    The AI Economy explores the people building AI and the reasons behind what they build. I'm interested in how enterprise teams are actually deploying AI, where the editorial and operational models are breaking down, and what platform-level shifts mean for practitioners making decisions this quarter. It is written for people doing the work, not watching it from the outside. My goal is to not focus just on what's being announced, but why it exists and why we should care. The stories are what you'd expect to read on Inc. and First Round Review or see on "60 Minutes."

  5. Can we pitch you stories?

    Yes, I do accept embargoed news and exclusives. Please reach out with your announcements, launches, and story ideas—email me or use this form. I also accept tips securely via Signal at @kenyeung.888.

  6. Where can I read past issues?

    The full archive is listed above on this page. All issues are also available on Substack. The plan is to host the canonical archive here on thelettertwo.com as the publication grows — independent of any platform.

  7. Can I republish or cite content from the newsletter?

    Yes, with attribution. Short excerpts with a link back to the original issue are fine. For longer republication or syndication, reach out via LinkedIn.

The AI Economy

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