The end of "basic" automation
Inside: Google’s self-coding IDE, n8n’s big cloud update, and why you should automate leads before hiring.
Welcome to issue #82 of FutureBrief. Three times a week I share practical insights on AI & automation trends, tools, and tutorials for business leaders. If you need support on your technological journey, join our community and get access to group chat, Q&As, workshops, and templates.
📡 Today’s brief
Niche automation tools are trending.
We usually focus on general ops, but seeing verticals (like creators/bloggers) get dedicated automation tools proves the market is maturing. Expect to see more “n8n for X Industry” tools like Flowy or BlogBowl popping up soon.
Google Launches Antigravity IDE powered by Gemini 3 Pro.
It’s a free, agentic development environment that codes autonomously. Agencies can now auto-generate basic scripts for clients without touching a line of code.
n8n adds community nodes to its cloud platform.
You no longer need to self-host to access the full community ecosystem. This closes the gap with Make’s integration library significantly for cloud users.
Mistral AI secures €1.7B to target European AI sovereignty.
If you have clients in the EU worried about data privacy or relying solely on US models, Mistral is becoming the de-facto compliant alternative. This funding ensures they have the compute to stay competitive with OpenAI.
Talo tops Product Hunt with real-time AI translation.
This tool translates voice calls and streams instantly. For businesses looking to expand internationally, this eliminates the language barrier without the massive cost of human interpreters for support or sales calls.
Vast Data partners with Microsoft for agentic AI infrastructure.
While this is backend news, it signals that the “pipes” for running massive AI agent swarms are being laid down. Enterprise infrastructure is pivoting from “storing data” to “serving agents”. SMB tools will follow suit shortly.
💡 The Great Copilot Pivot
Microsoft 365 Copilot Business launching Dec 1 is a strategic move to bypass agencies and go direct to you. Over the last year, I’ve repeatedly heard the same question: “If I have Copilot, do I still need Make/n8n?”
The answer is yes, but the line is moving.
Microsoft wants to own your personal productivity (drafting emails, summarizing meetings), while Make/n8n owns your business logic (routing leads, syncing data).
I’m recommending a split: use Copilot to make your people faster, but keep building custom automations to make your systems smarter.
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🔧 Tools & Resources
Prompt Tornado: Advanced prompt engineering playground. Best for refining complex system prompts for your agents.
Softr: No-code platform to build client portals and internal tools from Airtable/Google Sheets. Best for businesses needing custom dashboards without hiring developers.
BlogBowl: Auto-publishes SEO-optimized AI articles to your blog daily. Best for marketing teams needing consistent organic traffic.
Querri: AI-powered business intelligence and data analysis tool. Best for businesses needing fast insights from messy data.
💬 Community Q&A
Q: “I have 5 new leads coming in from ads every day. My sales team says they’re too busy to follow up. Should I hire another salesperson or automate lead chase sequences?”
A: Automate first. AI lead chasing (qualification + initial outreach + follow-up sequencing) costs less than $1000/month and handles all 50 leads immediately. It’ll save your sales team 50% of their follow-up time, letting them focus only on hot prospects.
In 1-2 months, if you’re still swamped, then hire that salesperson. You’ll see conversion rates jump 20% just from speed alone.
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Forward this to a colleague who’s wrestling with manual processes. They’ll thank you.
What’s your take on today’s topics? Did you like it, or is there something I missed?
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The question about automating lead chasing vs hiring is spot on. I've sen companies make the mistake of scaling headcount before fixing the plumbing. That stat about a 20% conversion bump from just speed alone is huge. It's a reminder that most sales problems are actually process problems in disquise.