Lilac Flower

Future Rise Newsletter #

51

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Feb 10, 2026


The End of the Button – A.I’s Next Big Shift

Hello 

When Steve Jobs removed all the buttons from the phone, he didn’t just simplify the interface, he changed the game. We’re now witnessing the same shift with A.I foundation models like ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, etc.

Right now, most A.I apps are just wrappers with a shiny interface, while the real intelligence sits in the background. But this is about to flip. In the next one to three years, foundation models won’t just power the apps, they’ll become the app. You’ll speak to your assistant, not an app and it will choose what to do behind the scenes.

• “Book me a ride” and your model picks Uber.

• “Find me a hotel” and it chooses Booking.com or Expedia.

• “What’s French law say about this?” It consults a legal model trained just for that.


As A.I Users, We’ll Default to Simplicity

We’ll use one A.I assistant, one interface – no more switching between 5+ different apps like we do now. And because these A.I models know your tone, your habits, your preferences, they’ll be hard to replace.

For standalone A.I tools, this means there’s money to be made in the short term, but the long game belongs to those who integrate. The key question becomes: Can the foundation model call you?

Protocols like MCP (Model Calling Protocol) let your service be called directly. Just like companies pay Google for search visibility today, they’ll soon pay foundation models to be the preferred choice. This shift is coming fast, faster than most expect.

• You won’t open an app or press buttons to get things done.

• Instead, you’ll talk to a smart assistant (like ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.), and it will handle the task for you – deciding which app or service to use behind the scenes.

So the future isn’t about being downloaded.

• It’s about being callable.

Prepare to be called by an A.I app.

Until next time…be ready to shift with tech…

Hosting an Event or Planning a Leadership Offsite?

If you’re putting together a conference, leadership offsite, innovation summit, executive retreat, or company gathering, and you’re looking for a keynote that’s future-focused, thought-provoking, and emotionally resonant – I’d love to contribute.

I’ve worked with teams from Google, Mastercard, NASA, among others, speaking about how to lead through A.I disruption, unlock human potential, and build adaptable cultures. 

→ Check My Availability.

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Subscribe to Future Rise, where each week we share bold, useful insights on how A.I isn’t replacing humans, it’s revealing our untapped genius.

Contact John

Subscribe to Future Rise, where each week we share bold, useful insights on how A.I isn’t replacing humans, it’s revealing our untapped genius.

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