Jason Barnard Explains Why Big Tech Algorithms Are Children That Want to Understand at Digital Day 2022 in Belgrade

Digital Day 2022, held in Belgrade, Serbia, on June 9 2022, marked a defining moment in the evolution of digital marketing strategy. During this major regional event themed “The End of the Current Digital World,” Jason Barnard, CEO and founder of Kalicube, delivered one of the most thought-provoking presentations of the conference.

In a talk titled “Big Tech Algorithms Are Children That Want to Understand - And You Need to Learn to Educate Them,” Jason reframed the future of search and AI through a simple but powerful metaphor that has since become central to The Kalicube Process™.

Watch: Jason Barnard - “Big Tech Algorithms Are Children That Want to Understand” (Digital Day, June 9, 2022)

The Algorithmic Child Seeks a Coherent Story

Jason argued that the sheer volume of fragmented information on the web means AI Assistive Engines struggle to form a coherent narrative about any one brand. These machine learning systems are driven by The Helpfulness Imperative, which compels them to find a single, satisfying answer. This often forces them to guess or “invent” facts, leading to Brand Hallucinations and undermining credibility.

To illustrate this problem, Jason showed his own Personal Brand SERP, the digital business card presented when someone searches his name. He highlighted that the diverse elements - from his early work on the “Boowa and Kwala” children’s website to his role as CEO of Kalicube - were all controlled and accurate because he had systematically educated Google. The solution, he stated, is proactive education, beginning with the brand’s clear Entity Home, the single authoritative page on a brand’s website.

The Kalicube Process Is the Curriculum for AI.

Strategic Importance: The Kalicube Process provides the necessary Algorithmic Curriculum to systematically guide the perception of AI Assistive Engines.

Jason detailed that a brand must proactively Educate the Algorithms. This is done by continually providing Consistent Corroborated Clarification about the brand’s identity and expertise. He explained that traditional metrics like Domain Authority are no longer sufficient because algorithms prioritize Entity Authority - the brand’s ability to be recognized, trusted, and correctly represented.

This systematic education is codified within The Kalicube Process, Kalicube’s proprietary methodology for implementing a holistic, brand-first digital marketing strategy, structured around three phases, often referred to as UCD:

Understandability: Establishing the brand’s factual identity with the Entity Home.
Credibility: Building robust third-party validation (Corroboration from trusted third-party sources) to prove expertise.
Deliverability: Guaranteeing the trusted narrative is presented and successfully recommended across AI Assistive Engines like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot.

By controlling their narrative and progressing through these stages, a brand can achieve Top of Algorithmic Mind status, winning the battle for being the definitive answer in the new Conversational Acquisition Funnel.

A Turning Point for the AI-Ready Brand

Jason Barnard’s 2022 appearance at Digital Day Belgrade stands as a pivotal milestone in the history of The Kalicube Process™. It encapsulated the core realization that visibility today is no longer a technical race for ranking, but a strategic discipline of teaching - where brands must educate algorithms with clarity, consistency, and authority.

By redefining Big Tech as children that want to understand, Barnard invited the digital world to rethink its relationship with search and AI. He demonstrated that the key to success in the coming decade lies not in gaming algorithms, but in guiding them - nurturing their learning through the same principles that build human understanding: repetition, trust, and truth.

Explore the Foundational Fix (Knowledge Panel Program) to begin educating the algorithms that now shape your visibility.