AI can replicate products, not relationships.

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Artificial intelligence is changing the rules of business in ways that could threaten even the largest companies.

Adobe is one example. Developer Brandon Thomas used AI to create ArtCraft, offering free, open-source alternatives to seven Adobe applications, including Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere Pro.

They aren't full replacements for professional tools yet, but the speed of development is remarkable.

What if products that took years and millions of dollars to build could be replicated in weeks? Even the biggest companies aren't untouchable.

That's why I believe strong communities will become some of the most valuable assets of the future.

It wasn't a coincidence that companies like Anthropic, OpenAI and Lovable were investing in community leadership, with reported annual compensation ranging from $300,000 to $400,000 for some Head of Community roles. They weren't just hiring people to manage social media. They were investing in relationships, trust and a competitive advantage that AI couldn't easily replicate.

Consider Midjourney and its 18 million people on Discord. Competitors can copy its features, build similar image generators and offer lower prices. But can they copy millions of relationships, shared history, trust and collective intelligence?

I DON'T THINK SO ❌

ArtCraft directs visitors from its website straight to Discord community.

Even its LinkedIn “Learn more” button takes you directly to the community, not the website. The result? 115,118 Discord members, with 26,000 active right now, versus just 2,000+ LinkedIn followers.

A strong community is more than an audience. It's a network of people who share knowledge, collaborate and generate collective intelligence that no individual could easily create alone. AI can replicate products, but it can't easily replicate years of trust and relationships.

That's why I focus on Community M&A, identifying communities as strategic assets rather than marketing channels. Replicating an established community is almost impossible, but you can acquire one if you know where to look and how to negotiate with its leader, who may have little incentive to sell.

You can consolidate communities across an industry or flip them like real estate. Imagine building an EV company by acquiring communities focused on batteries, charging infrastructure and solar energy, then combining these complementary assets like puzzle pieces to assemble the business.

Or take a Mad Genius approach by bringing together existing communities around ambitious ideas such as interplanetary travel or my personal favourite, teleportation.

If you're an AI-first founder who understands that community matters, keep an open mind and ask yourself two questions when hiring a Head of Community.

1️⃣ Does your HR team know what to look for? And do you even need HR to make a quantum leap?

2️⃣ Does the advertised Head of Community role cover Levels 4 and 5 of Community Investment Mastery, including community acquisitions, multi-community portfolio management and also divestments?

Too often, companies look for someone to manage social media rather than someone who can build, or better yet, acquire and connect communities as strategic business assets, strengthen their market position, and contribute to the long-term sustainability of their entire industry.

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AI can replicate products, not relationships.