I’m Leo, and like most of us, I didn’t grow up writing code in my basement or building robots from scratch. But I’ve always been fascinated by how new technologies shape the world around us—not just in a theoretical way, but in real life.

I’ve been lucky enough to study economics and business in London and later in Madrid, where I did a master’s in management. That’s also when ChatGPT started making waves. A professor once told us that upgrading to GPT-4 for £20 would be the best investment we ever made. And honestly? He wasn’t wrong. AI quickly went from something I toyed around with to something that fundamentally changed how I think, work, and create.

Through my studies, I got firsthand exposure to AI, digital business, and agile software development—just enough to understand how the tech world operates, but not enough to call myself an expert. Now, at Gartner, I work with clients on IT initiatives, many of which revolve around AI and data. It’s not necessarily my endgame, but it’s giving me an inside look at how AI is actually being implemented—not just the hype.

But AI isn’t just a corporate revolution—it’s an everyday force, shaping how we work, learn, and interact. And yet, most people either overhype it or underestimate it. That’s why I started The Critical Adopter—a space to explore AI’s real-world impact, cut through the noise, and figure out how to use it without being used by it.