Chandrasekar Jayapalan

What if your market research looked like a decision-ready report… generated from a single prompt? That question pulled me into the world of AI agents. Introducing Leo, your all-in-one marketing research companion. It all started when I attended a @lyzr__ai webinar on building AI agents. The session gave me a genuine wow moment and opened up a new side of AI I hadn’t explored. That curiosity pushed me to sign up for the AI Agent Demo Day by @lyzr__ai organised by @AgaraWalksBLR × @theAIcollective While thinking about what to build, I kept coming back to how marketers jump between 30+ tabs before ChatGPT, then moved to prompting… yet still end up stitching research manually. I wanted to see if a single prompt could give end-to-end structured insights in a clean, decision-ready format, almost like an analyst-generated report. That idea eventually became Leo. The journey reminded me of my early no-code experiments building conversational bots, which slowly evolved into vibe coding and deeper agent workflows. But the process wasn’t smooth. At one point, Leo began returning outputs filled with random symbols. Minutes before my demo slot, I almost decided to present only the slides I had prepared. I reached out to @VaibhaviPai15 and she helped me like a teacher, not just fixing the issue but showing me a better way to build and think about agents. Because of that guidance, Leo worked. And this time, it ran inside a clean UI built using @Lovable powered by the Lyzr AI agent. The audience response was warm and encouraging. It felt good to build something, ship it, and present it in a room full of people working on agents across HR, healthcare, customer service, content, productivity, and market research. Big thanks to @VaibhaviPai15 and @PrabhuKeDarshan for organising the event and kudos to everyone who showcased their agents. I walked out feeling that this is just the beginning ✨ #AgentLeo #VibeCoding #AIAgents #LyzrAI #TheAICollective #AWFK #Marketer #Marketing #MarketResearch #BuildInPublic @thtlegaltechgal @AniStartup @theAIsailor @YoggeyV

Today I visited the AC Tech college canteen and I was genuinely impressed. They’ve thoughtfully optimized the food ordering experience by removing unnecessary layers and focusing on what actually matters: speed and clarity. Here’s how it works: You scan a QR code at the counter → it takes you to a live order portal → you browse what’s actually available in real time → place your order seamlessly. In a high-volume environment like a college, this approach makes a lot of sense. It reduces errors, cuts down confusion, and improves operational efficiency without adding complexity. Simple system. Smart execution. Also the food was genuinely good, and way more affordable than what you’d end up paying on delivery apps. 😅 More institutions should take cues from this.

Respect 🫡🇮🇳

Starting something new this Tamil New Year for namma Singara Chennai.✨ இனிய தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்! 🌺 Stay tuned. 🙏 #MigaViraivil

Handle everything smoothly, the problem is how we operate in life be it things and relationships. Someone told this to me and it felt like a strong reminder and I totally agree. 💯

Being selfless and giving your best leads to a better outcome. Store Marketing is the best experiential marketing. When I visited @Dyson and @TheBodyShopIND along with my friend in VR Mall sometime back to buy few things for him. Both the brands focused on same target audience with respect to buyer group since both are premium and high value products one in life style and second in beauty and wellness. The energy the store guys carried at Dyson is so good, it convinced us to go with them and made the purchase at the same time. But it’s extremely opposite in the body shop. Sales is not just about convincing people, it’s about showing brand experience, as marketers we put heart and soul in brand strategy and execution to ensure footfall comes to stores and digital fronts, when you convince a customer and lead them to a store, brands need to be conscious in choosing people especially the ones in mall, it’s a high footfall area, if they judge a customer based on the attire and lifestyle, damn sure sales is not going to be as good. As the body shop customer for a decade, I was really put down by the way the sales person at the mall store had showcased themselves. It’s not like calling a brand, basically emphasising how some micro things you do can impact the customer buying behavior. It’s not like I will stop buying the Bodyshop product, it’s basically I will buy it somewhere and hesitant to buy from the place where I had a different experience. Very simple: Buying process for high value product depends on the experience, you can’t expect a customer to come and buy it on their own, it comes with the way you showcase the product/ service offering when they are on store, yes the product sells on its own, but if the one who sells shows an attitude the opportunity goes to next place where the product is. Sales is the lifeline of the business. Agree?

I learned more about my target audience in a 50-minute bus ride than I did in hours of data analysis. 🚌 Today I took a bus ride after a long time, it’s a 50 mins one. I felt it like a great learning experience.✨ 50 mins and no phone. Just observing things around. Nearly 40% constantly used phone, a pattern mixed with doom scrolling, watching celebrity - politician clips, bike ride, travel related clips and IPL. One pattern - no one used premium, they used free version watching ads in between. Ads are not that much better, most of it felt the same, seems polished by ai. Didn’t enter in my mind. Few women carried phone on their hands, most of the commuters used wireless Bluetooth headphones with neck bands. It’s the opinions, drama and sports based content that was being consumed based on my observation. Holding the bars and standing, observing the surroundings to make sure the things I carried are safe. Also learnt some key insights as a marketer, what more one needs than travelling along with the target audience. Have you ever had a moment like this while travelling? Then drop your experience in comments. 🤓

100 days into 2026 and I’m reflecting on a big shift in my perspective. One thing that quietly changed how I see marketing and people is mentoring on @ADPList. What started as a new journey actually gave me a whole new experience on marketing. My first session? In the middle of a hackathon in Bengaluru, December 2025. I didn’t think much of it then. But something shifted. 18 sessions. ~1000 minutes. Conversations across India, US, Germany, Turkey, Italy and Ghana. And one common thread: People don’t just seek advice. They seek clarity, trust, and someone who listens. Marketing often gets reduced to channels, tactics, and outcomes. But this experience reminded me: It’s actually about people, their stories, their context, their values, and how they see the world. That’s where real understanding comes from. Grateful for every conversation, every question, and every moment of trust. Also grateful to #ADPList for the platform and for featuring me among the Top 50 Product Marketing Mentors (Oct–Dec 2025). Let’s keep the conversation going.

If you want to start marketing in 2026, start with your interests. That’s not new advice. It’s just ignored advice. Everyone is talking about AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and what’s coming next. Yes, AI will replace a lot of hygiene, execution-level work. But marketing was never about that. Marketing is expression. It’s how you connect ideas to people. People to emotions. Brands to culture and values. That hasn’t changed. The way we do marketing is evolving fast. But marketing itself and what makes a great marketer, hasn’t. So don’t start with tools. Start with what you’re curious about. Pick an area. Take small bets. Do short projects. Test your thinking in the real world. You’ll figure out quickly what works and what doesn’t. Play to your strengths. This is a long game. You won’t win every time. In fact, most times you won’t. But when it clicks, it compounds. And that’s when it becomes unfair. Don’t keep switching lanes. Stay long enough to see results.

before you ask for validation, trust your own thinking. We skip this step every single time. You finish something. You already have a point of view. Still, you pause “Is this right?” You call it being thorough. It’s not. That’s not what’s happening. You skipped a step. Decision before validation. You can’t build confidence in your judgment if you don’t use it first. I’ve seen this often. Smart people. Clear thinking. Still stuck asking for approval. Then one shift happens. They decide first. They say, “Here’s how I’m thinking about it.” Same person. Different signal. Nothing changed except the order. The second thing: we outsource judgment. Not because we lack clarity. Because we want certainty. So we ask. We wait. If you skip that, doubt becomes your default. And the third thing. Stop training your brain to hesitate. Every time you lead with “is this okay?” You reinforce that your judgment isn’t enough. You want confidence? Start there. Decide before you ask. Own it. Keep going.

everyone’s talking about AI replacing people. that’s not what i’m seeing. what i’m seeing is AI exposing people. i was listening to @Deepak910k podcast with @Arunachalam1999, Deepak is someone i’ve known for the last few years, a well-wisher and a close connection. and one thought stayed longer than i expected: AI can do almost everything. so what’s left? it can write better than most. design faster than most. analyse deeper than most. so if your entire identity is built on output… that’s a problem. i sat with that for a bit. and the uncomfortable part wasn’t AI. it was realising how much of what we do is… replaceable. then this clicked. AI doesn’t have taste. it doesn’t know what’s good. it doesn’t know what should exist. it doesn’t have a point of view. it just responds. and most people? they’re starting to look like that too. safe. polished. predictable. easy to generate. easy to ignore. same thing with “community”. we’ve diluted that word. a whatsapp group isn’t a community. an event isn’t a community. if people only show up for you, it’s not a community. it’s dependency. real community is uncomfortable. people form their own circles. conversations happen without you. value exists even when you’re not there. most people don’t want that. because it means letting go of control. and then there’s this trap: trying to appeal to everyone. and i’ve done it. you smooth your edges. say the “right” things. avoid strong opinions. and end up saying nothing. being bold costs you. people won’t agree. some will leave. but the ones who stay? they actually care. i’m starting to think the real divide won’t be: AI vs humans. it’ll be: people with taste vs people without it. because AI will keep improving. but it still won’t know what’s worth creating. you have to decide that. எண்ணித் துணிக கருமம்; துணிந்தபின் எண்ணுவது இழுக்கு. (Kural 467) youtu.be/3nXzAWATVPg?si…

I called a local restaurant to check for breakfast. “Not available, sir. Only lunch and dinner.” Spoke to another place, they’ve stopped dosa for the past 2 months. Reason? The gas cylinder they used to get for ₹1.8K now costs nearly ₹8K — if they can get it at all. We talk about inflation in numbers. But this is what it actually looks like on the ground. Somewhere, a war is disrupting supply chains. The “new normal” isn’t coming. It’s already here.

walked into a gelato place. saw “Iran Blend” as today’s special. most people read that and think it’s just a flavour. it’s not. it’s a trigger. something slightly unfamiliar. slightly loaded. just enough to make you pause for 2 seconds longer than usual. and that’s the game. because in a menu full of predictable choices chocolate. vanilla. strawberry. attention doesn’t go to what’s better. it goes to what’s noticed. good brands understand this early. they don’t just optimise for taste. they optimise for interruption. the flavour might be incredible. but the name is what got me to try it. most businesses try to win by being better. faster. cheaper. more features. but in reality, you win by being the one people stop at. even for a second. the gelato didn’t just need a new recipe. it needed a reason for someone to look twice. nothing on a good menu is random.

Today I learned something simple, but powerful, thanks @7613Perfect. Set up OBS using just an iPhone pairing with your old MacBook: → Open vdo.ninja on your iPhone → Add your camera → Copy the source link → In OBS (Mac): Sources → Browser → Paste the URL → Your iPhone becomes a live camera feed in the MacBook obs system. That’s it. But here’s what stayed with me more than the setup itself: You start seeing life differently when you spend time with people who think differently. The tools they use, the way they solve problems, the standards they hol, it all rubs off. This wasn’t just about OBS. It was about perspective. Choose your tribe wisely. They shape more than your skills, they shape how you see the world. @ashutoshprakas

If you’re applying to global roles, read this: It’s not a numbers game. Especially in markets like the West. Sending 100 applications won’t help if none of them build trust. What actually works: → Understanding the company → Showing specific relevance → Backing claims with proof → Communicating clearly → Asking questions → Adapting to cultural expectations Most candidates miss this. They optimise for volume. Winners optimise for relevance. Credits: Florian Kaspar

Disclaimer ⚠️ You’ve had conversations in your head that never happened, right? Replayed situations. Imagined outcomes. Assumed what others think. That’s hallucination. Just not the AI kind. It gets intense when you’re emotional. Runs wild when you’re in your own head. Then one logical thought comes in… and suddenly things look different. Same brain. Different mode. Maybe awareness is the real upgrade.

I fixed my entire marketing strategy overnight. Rebuilt campaigns. Cracked growth. Entered the new financial year like a genius. All thanks to one bold move. April Fool. Just like every post you saw today: “AI replaced my team” “10x growth in 7 days” “Zero effort, full scale” No, it didn’t. AI helped draft faster. Humans still did the thinking, fixing, and actual work. But “we worked hard and improved gradually” doesn’t go viral, right? Anyway. Have a break with KitKat. April Fool’s over. Targets are real again from tomorrow. Let’s get to work.

Photo of the day 🙃

Google Maps just had its biggest glow-up in a decade and most people haven’t caught on yet. This isn’t just a UI update. It’s a shift in how we navigate the world. → Maps is now visual-first (real-time 3D routes, not flat lines) → You don’t search anymore - you ask (Gemini-powered queries) → Directions sound human, not robotic → Rerouting explains why, not just where → Your data stays on-device, not floating in the cloud This is what happens when AI moves from feature → interface. The real takeaway? We’re moving from “tools we use” to “systems that think with us.” If you’re building products, this is the bar now. Not more features. Better decisions, faster with context. Wild times…

This is what Friday Collective is about. We meet every Friday — marketers, founders, builders. Want in? Drop a reply or DM.

Bold prediction from the session: In 3–4 years, most websites will be irrelevant. AI agents + social platforms will handle discovery and conversion. The window to get this right is open — but it’s closing.

Last Friday, we ran a live UI/UX teardown with marketers and founders in Friday collective series by Chennai Marketers & Founders. We picked apart real websites. Here’s everything that came out of that room 🧵 @iamaravindsekar