From Product to Creator to Owner: How professionals can position themselves in an AI-enabled economy
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
I recently completed a leadership fellowship that required us to conceptualise and implement a social impact project. So I decided to experiment with Base 44, an AI-powered no-code platform, to build the app myself (currently in progress).
Having previously experimented with Wix as a non-coder, I was genuinely blown away by how much easier Base 44 is to use (just 15 minutes to create a first draft of a completely customised website). Then I discovered it was acquired by Wix in 2025 in an $80 million cash deal. Six months old. $80 million. Cash... Let that sink in!!!
While exploring, it occurred to me that there’s a lot of conversation about how AI will transform organisations, but not enough about how we engage with AI in our personal capacities.
Three Positions in the Digital Economy.
I’ve increasingly come to see the digital economy through three positions:
The Product: Passive users whose time, attention, data and money fuel digital systems (most of us operate here).
The Creator: Builders who use digital tools to produce value and generate income
The Owner: Those who control platforms, data, infrastructure, IP and equity
If we are honest, most professionals today are (very) enthusiastic users. Our time, attention and money are monetised by those who own and build. However, being fascinated by AI tools (and jumping on random trends #AICaricatureTrend) is not the same as building leverage from them.I, for one, am tired of walking through malls just as a consumer and engaging with digital technologies in the same way as well. I'm challenged to take being a Creator seriously and to participate a lot more as an Owner.
So some of the questions I'm proposing here, primarily for myself, but also for all of you are the following: Is your use of AI simply generating data and subscription revenue for someone else? Or Are you:
Investing time in understanding how AI works?
Using it to compound your productivity and insight?
Developing skills that increase your market value?
Most importantly, is it increasing your income (like cash money in your bank account)?
A lot of us professionals have slept on the social media economy (influencing and content creation) and, in general, the pre-AI digital economy. To continue to do so in an AI-enabled world would be really short-sighted. If your engagement with AI isn’t translating into leverage or earnings, it’s time to rethink what AI means to you.
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Making the transition from Product to Creator
Considering that Creators (only social media content creation and influecing) are generating an estimated $1 billion value annually in South Africa, and that the Owners are generating $38.5 million value in SA (2025), why don't we make this more practical then - starting with how to move from being The Product (consumer) to a Creator (builder)?
In the pre-AI digital economy, creation was about Content (YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, E-commerce brands, Online Courses, Community Platforms and Digital products.
A lot of us (including myself) dismissed influencing as trivial and then we watched people build serious assets. We scrolled through TikTok and IG, entertained by people like Khaby Lame - and literally watched him turn short-form content into global distribution, brand equity and reportedly sold his company in a deal valued at $975 million. My favourite was Elsa Majimbo who manifested herself into being worth millions by making jokes about being rich on social media while your girl (me) just grabbed popcorn and watched. 🤣
Creator economics is all about turning attention into an asset, the audience into leverage and distribution into power. And the impact of AI is that it has collapsed the COST of creation and has dramatically decreased the barrier between idea and execution:
You can build apps without code.
Design without being a designer.
Write without staring at a blank page.
Analyse data without a team of analysts.
Launch faster, test cheaper.
So what are the practical ways that we as professionals can activate Creator mode?
1. Build a niche audience around your expertise.
2. Create paid digital products (templates, frameworks, courses).
3. Launch a micro-SaaS or tool solving a specific problem in your industry.
4. Use AI to automate consulting services into scalable products.
5. Turn the knowledge you've gained over time into intellectual property.
The REAL Flex: Moving from Creator to Owner
While Creator income is powerful, the beast mode of all beast modes to unlock is Ownership (where the REAL money resides). In the digital economy, Owners control platforms, data, intellectual property, infrastructure and equity.
While it may seems far-fetched that the founder of Base 44 Maor Shlomo could sell his 6-month old startup to Wix in an $80 mil cash deal, there are other examples of Ownership that are closer to home. Platforms like Takealot provide real opportunities for entrepreneurs wanting a stake in the ecommerce sector, platforms like Sweepsouth and MatricLive are built to gain value out of solving everyday problems for South Africans and there are many more examples.
If it still feels a bit intimidating to imaging yourself participating at that level as an owner, there are other practical ways that we as professionals can participate in owning our share of the digital economy value such as:
🤍 Equity in startups (advisory shares, angel investing).
🤍 Owning proprietary datasets in your niche.
🤍 Creating subscription-based communities.
🤍 Taking equity instead of only fees.
🤍 Buying shares in companies shaping AI infrastructure.
And for those who are not scared to dream big and #dohardthings, this is how you can stretch yourself:
🤍 Building and owning your own software product.
🤍 Founding AI-enabled ventures.
🤍 Owning compute infrastructure.
🤍 Building platforms others build on.
🤍 Investing in African AI ecosystems early.
And thanks to AI, Ownership is accelerated by the reduction of capital required to prototype, validate and scale.
What I want to provoke in us, professionals, is that we should not be comfortable operating purely as highly paid products, our salaries funded by organisations that are themselves sometimes products in the global value chain (I'll focus on this topic next). Digital technologies have already turned the rules of wealth creation upside down, and AI will further widen the gap between those who own leverage, those who rent access and those who are monetised.
So more questions to ponder on as I conclude:
Outside of your employer, what digital assets are you building? What equity do you hold? What IP do you control? What distribution do you own?
Because in the AI economy, skill is good. Creation is great and Ownership is the ultimate goal.
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