Forbes Business Council Hosts Jason Barnard for “Your Brand Has 7 AI Employees. None of Them Have Been Trained” Session
Forbes Business Council hosted Jason Barnard, CEO and Founder of Kalicube®, for a member exclusive online session on 2 June 2026, from 1 to 2pm ET. The event brought together Forbes Councils members and explored how AI systems already influence brand perception and customer decisions long before a user visits a company website.
The session titled “Your Brand Has 7 AI Employees. None of Them Have Been Trained” focused on how modern AI platforms now act as active participants in the buyer journey. Systems such as Google, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, and Alexa increasingly recommend, compare, and evaluate brands in real time.
Jason Barnard explained that this shift marks a fundamental change in digital marketing. For two decades, businesses focused on SEO to rank in search results. This evolved into Answer Engine Optimisation, where the goal became being the answer rather than simply appearing in results. Today, he described a further evolution where AI systems behave like distributed sales agents that shape decisions continuously across multiple platforms.
During the session, Jason highlighted that most businesses still optimise for search behaviour while AI systems already form opinions and recommendations independently. He emphasised that these systems act like a workforce of algorithmic employees and require training through consistent brand signals, structured messaging, and entity clarity.
The discussion also introduced a diagnostic approach to understanding how AI systems currently perceive a brand. This includes identifying where AI hesitates, where AI systems recommend competitors instead, and where a brand is absent altogether. Jason referred to these gaps as key revenue risks that directly impact visibility and conversion outcomes.
Jason also guided attendees through a practical framework for improving AI visibility without requiring large scale content production. He focused on refining existing brand signals to improve how AI systems interpret trust, authority, and relevance.
The session concluded with insights drawn from large scale analysis of brand entities and how AI systems shift from uncertainty to confident recommendation. Jason noted that these systems are still forming their foundational understanding of most brands, making this a critical period for organisations to establish accurate and consistent digital identities.
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Note: The event was moderated by Forbes Business Council and made available exclusively to members through the Forbes Councils platform after the live session.
