How Steven Bartlett Is Using AI to Scale Beyond ‘the Diary of a CEO’

Steven Bartlett is not simply discussing AI on “The Diary of a CEO” — he is utilizing it to make total podcasts, automate gross sales pitches, and extra.

The podcast star just lately raised an eight-figure funding spherical to construct out his firm, FlightStory, which has about 100 workers and generated round $47 million in income final 12 months.

FlightStory’s AI experimentation began in a giant method final 12 months, when Bartlett challenged his workers to a two-month competitors to make use of AI brokers of their work.

The competitors was a scrappy “take a look at for us to very a lot dive into that house and simply see what labored, and see what we might do in a brief house of time,” mentioned Isaac Martin, director of innovation at FlightStory.

The pre-production workforce received Bartlett’s contest — and a $20,000 prize — for constructing instruments or brokers that changed or improved almost each a part of their processes. Bartlett mentioned the competition resulted in financial savings of $1.18 million for the corporate.

Since then, FlightStory has used AI all through its operation, together with an AI-content push it calls “Mission Gutenberg,” a nod to the founding father of the printing press.

Execs at FlightStory spoke with Enterprise Insider in regards to the numerous methods their operation — a unit of his holding firm, Steven.com — is utilizing AI.

Additionally they spoke about why, within the case of LinkedIn, the workforce is dialing again the usage of AI.

The numerous methods FlightStory is utilizing AI

Reveals: In its most formidable inventive software, FlightStory is producing a completely AI-animated video sequence for youths aged 5 to eight known as “Steven’s World.” The present revolves round a younger Bartlett occurring adventures along with his mates and makes use of info from podcast company like Neil deGrasse Tyson. FlightStory mentioned it is in talks with main streamers for distribution. The sequence grew out of an earlier AI-made podcast take a look at, “100 CEOs,” that was hosted by an AI clone of Bartlett’s voice.

AI can be getting used to translate “DOAC” into 14 languages. The Spanish translation has been the largest success story to date, bringing in an incremental 20.5 million views or listens and producing $200,000 in oblique gross advert revenues on Spotify, mentioned Christiana Brenton, FlightStory’s CRO and cofounder.

Advert income: On the business facet, staffers are utilizing a customized AI device to develop pitches based mostly on briefs, FlightStory’s creators, and previous model campaigns and pitches. On this method, FlightStory mentioned it has shrunk the method from about three days to some hours. This has helped increase the common income contribution per particular person throughout the corporate by 60% over the previous two years.

Audio system: FlightStory is redesigning its FlightSpeakers division, utilizing a conversational AI device to scale back the time it takes to advocate audio system and verify their availability.

Talya Levine, who leads the mission, mentioned the purpose is to protect the connection ingredient that is lengthy been part of the enterprise but additionally shake it up with tech.

“We hope it ruffles some feathers,” she mentioned.

Social: FlightStory launched a brand new unit, FlightSocials, in late 2025 to assist creators like Colin and Samir, and comic Ali Siddiq, distribute clips on social media. Brenton mentioned AI has sped up the work of manufacturing clips, evaluating them, and making suggestions for the following ones. On this method, the corporate can submit as much as 15 clips per day per creator.

“It simply utterly removes the guesswork of a human having to resolve what a part of this lengthy episode to chop up,” she mentioned.

FlightStory additionally constructed an API known as Creator Radar, which plugs into YouTube and different social platforms to assist determine high-potential creators to signal. The API helped validate FlightStory’s choice to deliver on “Scorching Sensible Wealthy” host Maggie Sellers Reum by displaying that she had an unusually sturdy group — ladies who self-identify as “HSR angels” — relative to the dimensions of her viewers.

AI nonetheless has limitations

Surveys have discovered that unbiased creators are usually extra wanting to experiment with AI than legacy Hollywood studios and guilds are.

For creators like Bartlett trying to scale past themselves, AI gives a option to attain larger audiences with out being restricted by their very own time and vitality.

Brenton mentioned quite a lot of corporations deal with utilizing AI for effectivity, however FlightStory thinks of it as a option to “do issues that we could not essentially do earlier than.”

Like many corporations implementing AI, FlightStory says it isn’t utilizing it to eliminate folks, however to permit them to deal with higher-value work.

FlightStory’s leaders additionally acknowledge AI is not proper for each use case.

For instance, the corporate in the reduction of on utilizing AI on LinkedIn after noticing quite a lot of AI-written posts on the platform and deciding that ones written by people might have extra emotional resonance. The conclusion: They take longer to put in writing, however have carried out higher than AI ones. Bartlett and his workforce now personally write every bit of social copy, Brenton mentioned.

“Satirically, we imagine that is a singular benefit,” she mentioned. “You may even discover now in case you do observe Steven, there’s spelling errors and errors, and he does not repair them by design.”

It is also early days in understanding the varieties of AI-made content material that audiences will embrace.

The AI episodes of “100 CEOs” bought at most 35,000 views on YouTube, whereas Bartlett’s flagship podcast recurrently will get a whole lot of hundreds of views per episode. Some praised it whereas others criticized the voice as not sounding human sufficient and mentioned they most well-liked Bartlett’s interview format. FlightStory execs assume youngsters might be extra receptive to an AI-animated present, and that “Steven’s World” will introduce Bartlett’s model to a brand new viewers.

Whereas the Spanish-language translation of “DOAC” introduced in further viewers and income, not all of its podcasts will share the identical monetary alternative. And podcasts that rely on a powerful emotional reference to the viewers may really feel jarring to some in the event that they’re dubbed by AI.

With regards to FlightStory’s Most worthy property, the “DOAC” podcast, the place Bartlett interviews a spread of public figures, the execs are adamant that the ultimate edits are carried out by actual folks.

“The chance profile and the stakes are increased whenever you’re producing long-form content material that reaches thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of individuals,” Brenton mentioned.