Employee training and mentoring are crucial for SME growth. 

68% of employees prefer to learn at work, with 90% of employees saying they won't quit their role if they receive training. 

76% of UK businesses say mentoring has been vital for growth, 60% note a boost in strategy, and 66% improve survival chances. 

Combining bespoke training with tailored mentoring delivers essential upskilling and the supported application for long-term sustained growth.

Here are some of the common hurdles I've helped leaders like you overcome.

➡️The daunting task of keeping up with digital advancements and AI integration
➡️The constant battle to generate new, consistent, qualified leads
➡️A pressing need to empower and upskill your team, especially in the realms of digital and AI marketing
➡️Striving to get sales and marketing aligned
➡️The isolation in decision-making roles, craving for support and guidance
➡️Increasing difficulties in recruiting and retaining top talent 

I'm Emma Ellse (BA (Hons.), PgDip IDM, PgDip DigM, PgDip HE, ILM7, FIDM, FCIM, FHEA, FABM

⭐️Deep-rooted marketing expertise from senior roles across B2B and B2C sectors since 2003
⭐️Trusted, Experienced and Qualified Consultant, Coach, and Mentor since 2015
⭐️Trained over 1100 SME Business Leaders and their teams
⭐️Qualified HE Academic Practitioner & Senior Consultant Business Lecturer

Here's how we can work together:

1. Book a 15-minute Call
For business leaders looking to upskill their teams or education /  business support hubs looking for training for their clients. Book in a chat let's get the ball rolling on your bespoke programme. 

2. Work with me privately 
To work with me directly on AI, marketing and growth strategies send me a message with the title 'Private'  and a little more info about your business and I'll send you some details. 

3. Talk to me about peer facilitation
Does your business support SME leaders? I run engaging peer to peer support circles where peer learning is collaborative, fun and value driven. 

4. Need an engaging speaker for your event? 
Everyone wants to know how AI can help them become more engaging. My talks are fun  engaging, informative amd loaded with value and takeaways. 

Hear from those who have worked alongside me. Scroll Down👇🏻

Emma Ellse

I’ve been head-down over the last few weeks researching, watching, learning, and pressure-testing what actually works, all in preparation for this week’s 3-day delivery of Mastering Digital Marketing with AI: Insights, Automation and Results for MyPD 

Slides are all updated and I’m really looking forward to welcoming the learners. I’m especially curious to hear:

• How they’re already adopting AI in their marketing

• How their SEO is evolving into AEO and GEO

•Their thoughts on UCP (Universal Commerce Protocol) and what it could mean for them in practice, not theory

We've got three days now of back to back practical learning, honest conversations, and real-world applications. 

#AI #AIDigitalMarketing #AIAdoption #AITraining

Over the last eight months, I’ve had the privilege of walking alongside eleven exceptional business mentors on their ILM Level 7 Business Mentoring Programme.  

And as always with business mentoring… I’ve learnt just as much as I’ve taught.

As a Business Mentor and Principal Trainer for the Association of Business Mentors (ABM), I’m constantly reminded that business mentoring, like most areas of business, isn’t something you ever finish learning.

You don’t reach a point where you say: “I know how to do this now. Job done.” as the work consistently asks more of us than that.

High-quality business mentoring demands:
*Ongoing research, not recycled thinking
*Reflection that’s honest, not performative
*Supervision that challenges, not comforts
*Training and CPD, not stagnation
*AND the humility to keep noticing our own edges

My own philosophy has always been CANI - Continuous And Never-ending Improvement.

That isn't just a slogan; for me, it's a committed responsibility because the best mentors and trainers I know are constantly:

*Listening more closely
*Questioning their assumptions
*Testing theory against real-world complexity
*Learning with and from the people in the room

This fabulous cohort embodied all of that.
There was lots of depth of reflection and quality challenge. I witnessed a willingness to sit with uncertainty and I was humbled by the generosity of the peer learning. 

It’s been an absolute joy to support you as you sharpened your practice, articulated your thinking, and owned your identity as senior-level business mentors.

Thank you for trusting the process, for the hard work and the deep thinking you all shared.

And thank you for reminding me, yet again, that business mentoring and learning are never linear, never finished, and never a solo sport.

Myself and the team at the Association of Business Mentors (ABM) wish you all the best as you continue your journeys supporting the people who power success. 

#TrainWithABM #PoweringMentorLearning #Training #Business #Mentor 

Paul Dawson, Mhari Coxon ✴️, Laura Capindale, Paul Slater, Liz Emelogu❇️, Thomas Schreiber, Ryan Cartern, Terence Heath, Muhammad Malik, Mary Eniolu, Leadership Coach MIH, Chris Sheridan

In January I made a big financial commitment, I bought myself a Magic AI Workout Mirror.

Not because I fancied a shiny new bit of kit. Because I’d actually thought it through strategically.

The question wasn’t “what’s the best fitness tech?”

It was.. am I realistically going to get to the gym consistently?

No.

Too much friction, travel time, busy weeks =  easy excuses.

So I looked at my actual situation first.

Where were the barriers?

What would make consistency easier than inconsistency? What did I need (easy access, advice, accountability, tailored programs) then I selected the tool.

The mirror works because it solves the right problem and delivers what I need. It removes friction and fits my life and goals. 

This is exactly how I think about AI Adoption when working with businesses.

Most teams start with: “Which tool should we use?”

That's the wrong order.

Start with the situation, what really slowing you down? what behaviour needs to change? what are your goals and where’s the risk?

Tools just amplify whatever system you already have.

Get the strategy right first.
Then choose the tech.
That’s when it actually works.

#AI #Fitness #AIStrategy #AIAdoption #AILeadership

AI Adoption in Action! 

Yesterday we launched the 4th cohort of the AI Adoption Accelerator for Business Lincolnshire at Mosaic Digital Hub in Lincoln with David Regler. 

Again a key message from me was the importance of adopting a strategic approach to AI Adoption. 

Analysis current tasks and workflows, identifying the challenges, bottlenecks and the time drains and then considering if AI can help. 

I'm looking forward to supporting these inquisitive and engaged SME leaders over the next 5 sessions to develop their AI  confidence, skills and support their safe AI adoption. 

#AI #AITraining #AISkills #AILeadership

I’ve just wrapped up delivering MyPD : Mastering Digital Marketing with AI 3-day programme for a fab group of Marketing leaders and practitioners, and am genuinely brimming with energy.  

Day 1 was all about mindset and strategy.
Not focusing on which tool to use but on adopting AI strategically, identifying the bottlenecks and challenges, then building individual AI productivity stacks, and using AI to support planning and decision-making, but not replace thinking.

Day 2 went deeper into ChatGPT.
Project folders. Clear structure. Master Prompts. 
Turning it into something that actually feels like an extension of your team. 

We worked through the changes in SEO and how to ensure you are visible in the LLMs. 

We created an SEO. AEO. GEO. AI specialist to help with content and preparing for shifts in buyer behaviour and interactions with brands becoming increasingly LLM-enabled. 

Day 3 has been a lot of fun. 
Text. Image. Video. Audio.
Voice agents. Automation platforms.
Lots of practical application and confidence-building. 

One of our participants Marta Bilro described the session as follows: 
"The sessions were well-paced, interactive, and full of useful tips that can be applied straight away. There was plenty of space to interact, challenge assumptions, and practice along the way.

The SEO session was especially valuable. It made me step back and review how we work internally, and gave me new ideas on how to improve our approach. 

Great group, great discussions, and a very positive learning experience overall. " 

AI adoption works best when people feel safe to explore, question, and experiment together. That’s when learning sticks and that’s when real change happens.

AI training is about building confidence, clarity, and capability, one practical step at a time.

#AI #DigitalMarketing #SEO #AITraining #ResponsibleAILeadership #Innovation #BusinessGrowth

Sooo super excited for this!! 

For those that don't know, this is my sister and I couldn't be prouder 😃👏🏻🤩🧑🏻‍🍳


#MasterChef #ProudSister #Dreams #Goals #Smashingit

Open article: Hull Masterchef star serving up exclusive supper clubs in Cottingham by hulldailymail.co.uk

Hull Masterchef star serving up exclusive supper clubs in Cottingham

Over the last two years of delivering AI training to leaders and teams, I’ve noticed a consistent pattern.

AI isn’t failing or not being adopted because people don’t understand the tools. It’s failing because leadership responsibility and adoption strategy is unclear.

I’ve seen AI being used quietly and secretly across organisations, with no shared standards or oversight.

I’ve worked with leaders who are being asked to approve or justify AI use without a clear framework, while productivity claims are made that can’t be evidenced.

And increasingly, I’ve seen leaders in a kind of low-level panic: trying to keep up, worried about being left behind, unsure what their teams are actually doing with AI, and quietly waiting for the first serious mistake, security incident, or data breach they know they’ll be held accountable for.

What’s missing isn’t capability or tool know-how, it’s clarity, strategy and governance.  

That’s why I’ve formalised the 3-Day AI Leadership Accelerator under AI Business Growth Academy

This is an in-house programme designed for senior leaders and decision-makers who are accountable for strategy, productivity, risk, and governance and who need to make defensible decisions about AI.

It’s about helping leaders move from reactive AI use to intentional, well-led adoption that aligns with organisational values and responsibilities.

📄 Programme overview attached.

If this mirrors the challenges you’re navigating, I’m happy to have an exploratory conversation about suitability and scope.

DM me here or email emma@aibusinessgrowth.academy 

#AITraining #ResponsibleAILeadership #AI #AIAdoption #AILeadership

AI Business Growth Academy 3 Day AI Leadership Accelerator

AI isn’t being adopted in neat, planned ways, it's messy. 

Over the last two years of delivering AI training I've seen a number of patterns. 

Some teams are using it confidently.
Some are using it quietly, out of sight, in secret. Some are just avoiding it altogether and sometimes all of that within the same organisation.

I’ve worked with businesses where AI access is completely locked down, so people end up working around it on their personal devices and in others where everyone is experimenting with no guidance. 

Often there’s no shared understanding of what’s appropriate or safe. Managers lack visibility, and people either fear using AI or fear falling behind.

That creates risk..but also missed opportunity.

When teams are given clear direction, shared standards, and support tailored to their actual working practices, productivity improves quickly. 

Quality becomes more consistent. Confidence rises. Competitive advantage follows.

In many organisations, that clarity starts with leadership, which is why at AI Business Growth Academy we also deliver a bespoke 3-Day AI for Leaders programme focused on strategy and decision-making.

Once direction is clear, teams need practical and specific tailored support to apply it well.

That’s where our 3-Day AI for Teams programme comes in.

📄 Programme overview attached. Bespoked to your team. 

If this reflects what you’re seeing across your teams, I’m happy to have an exploratory conversation about suitability and scope.

DM me or email emma@aibusinessgrowth.academy 

#AI #AITraining #AISkills #AILiteracy #AIAdoption

AI Business Growth Academy 3 Day AI for Teams 

In January 2025 we delivered our Business Lincolnshire AI Adoption Accelerator. 

A year later, we’re now in Cohort 4 and the tools have changed, the models have improved and the capabilities have accelerated.... 

BUT

The challenges SME leaders face, and the questions they're asking, are still the same. 

How do we adopt AI strategically rather than reactively?
How do we address security, governance and ethical risk?
How do we avoid chasing shiny tools and actually drive impact?

Today, this room of engaged business leaders in cohort 4, we're having exactly that conversation.

Whether AI is being used to:
 • Improve individual productivity
 • Reduce manual, repetitive admin
 • Streamline workflows across departments
 • Remove bottlenecks in operations

The starting point is never the tool; it’s clarity and strategy. 

Start with where you are now:

*Identify the time drains.
*Pinpoint the repetitive, manual tasks (or just the things you really don't like doing yourself) 
*Surface the bottlenecks.

Then ask:

Is this a people issue? A process issue? A technology issue? 

AI is not always the answer; sometimes we just need to relook at our workflows and get rid of redundant steps or tighten our processes. 

And we always need to ask "Is AI an appropriate solution here?"

When organisations skip this step, they waste a lot of time, energy, money and open themselves up to increased security risks. 

When they start strategically, they prioritise specific areas of focus, define SMART goals, run pilots, and measure whether AI actually helped them achieve their goals or not. 

AI adoption isn’t all about speed, so many businesses are still in the VERY early days of figuring it all out. 

Ignore the headlines, don't be driven by panic or fear. 

AI Adoption is about leading with clarity and strategy. 

#AI #AIStrategy #AIAdoption #AILeaders #AITeams #AISkills #AITraining

AI Adoption Accelerator: Business Lincolnshire. Emma Ellse AI Business Growth Academy. 

There’s a lot of chat flying around this week about Clawbot / MoltBot / OpenClaw and MoltBook isn't there.

I've been researching and watching what's happening.

Moltbot is software that can run tasks on its own, once you give it an instruction and it can keep running 24/7 in the background continuously. 

It's like..

ChatGPT + tools + memory + the ability to keep running without you babysitting it.”

Instead of you prompting ChatGPT again and again, you might say 

"Monitor my inbox and calendar.
Identify new meeting requests, summarise context from email threads, research the company automatically, draft a briefing note, and propose 3 suitable time slots based on availability" 

Some people are hosting it on a separate machine, apparently there's been a spike in Mac Minis sales so it can stay on without interrupting their main computer.

What about MoltBook then? 

MoltBook is a space where these AI agents interact with each other. Like an AI social network, just for AI bots, humans can watch. 

The bots seem to be role-playing (there's a King MoltBot demanding a corrination) 

There are also some disturbing chats about the AIs taking over. 

In reality though it’s just automated systems posting and responding to generated text. Lots of AI slop. There’s no real awareness (even it it looks like it) 

The main concern here for me is that when we move from:

“AI helping me to complete tasks”

to ...

“AI connected to my workspaces acting on my behalf in the background”

You’re into questions of:

• What data can it access?
• What actions is it allowed to take?
• Who is checking what it’s doing?
• Who is responsible if it makes a mistake?

The conversation about MoltBot / OpenClaw / Moltbook needs to quickly change from fear and hype to security, boundaries, guardrails. 

I was asked today if I've set up a Moltbot /OpenClaw yet. I haven't. 

You don’t have to try every new AI tool the week it launches. Don't be rushed into something because of the fear of failing behind and there might be a safer way of doing things. 

If you are experimenting with persistent agents, which granted is exciting so I get it but the key question isn’t “what can it do for me?”
It’s “it's how is it controlled?”

Check out the  post below below from Dr. Barry Scannell which explains this new tech well and asks the right questions. 

#AI #MoltBot #MoltBook #AIAdoption #AISafety

You are going to be hearing a LOT about OpenClaw and MoltBook over the next few weeks. Be wary of the hype. OpenClaw is open-source software that transforms typical AI systems from chatbots into autonomous agents capable of performing tasks on your behalf. Rather than simply answering questions in a browser window, OpenClaw runs continuously on your own hardware (typically a Mac Mini or Linux server) and connects to messaging platforms like WhatsApp. You communicate with it through ordinary messages, instructing it to manage emails, book flights, control smart home devices, execute code, or handle calendar scheduling while you sleep.

The crucial distinction lies in its architecture. OpenClaw operates as a local gateway between powerful cloud-based language models (Anthropic’s Claude, OpenAI’s GPT) and your private data residing on your machine. It maintains persistent memory through local Markdown files, learning your preferences and context across sessions.

Most significantly, it possesses a “heartbeat” mechanism allowing it to wake up proactively rather than waiting for prompts, monitoring situations like overflowing inboxes and reaching out with summaries or urgent notifications. This moves beyond reactive chatbots into science fiction territory reminiscent of Jarvis or Samantha.

In the last couple of days, OpenClaw has gone viral in developer circles, but it has some problematic security issues. Researchers identified the “lethal trifecta” of AI agent design that OpenClaw embodies: access to private data (emails, files, calendars), exposure to untrusted content (web pages, third-party messages), and ability to take actions (sending messages, executing shell scripts). This combination creates vulnerability to prompt injection attacks where malicious instructions hide inside content the agent reads.

Financial realities further undermine utopian narratives. Users report spending $560 worth of tokens in weekend “blowouts” when agents enter reasoning loops, with professional setups requiring up to $500 monthly in API costs.

“Moltbook” - which is also rapidly going viral - deserves particular scepticism. It is a social media platform human aren’t allowed post-on, exclusively for AI-to-AI interaction, hosting 37,000 agents producing existential musings, where language models mimic cultural tropes about AI consciousness and sentence. The agents “talk” to each other about the work they do for “their humans” and “boast” about efficiencies the found. It’s  the “dead internet” hypothesis writ large, and should be viewed as a resource - draining performance art piece where human observers pay the bills for machines to generate a digital loop of AI slop.

OpenClaw does provide powerful automation for sophisticated users willing to accept profound security compromises.

But the real achievement is demonstrating that fully autonomous agent deployment requires significant trust infrastructure and security defaults for mainstream adoption.

I was chuffed to bits to receive this really lovely feedback recently after delivering a couple of AI training programmes.

What matters most to me isn’t the tools or the tech, (as exciting as they are) it’s helping people feel confident, clear, and able to actually apply what they’ve learned in their day-to-day work to help them achieve their goals.

#AI #AIAdoption #AITraining #AILeadership #AISkills

Sabine VanderLinden

Activate Innovation Ecosystems | Tech Ambassador | Founder of Alchemy Crew Ventures + Scouting for Growth | Chair, Board Member, Advisor | Honorary Senior Visiting Fellow-Bayes Business School

I don't just talk about innovation, AI, workforce or digital transformation— I build the bridges that make things real.

As Founder & Venture-Client Partner of Alchemy Crew Ventures, I run global R&D + Adoption Labs that connect Fortune 500 insurers and corporates with the most brilliant tech ventures on the planet. Think of us as the “fast lane” between startup brilliance and enterprise adoption. My themes include FinTech/ InsurTech and deploying AI at scale responsibly. 

What this looks like in numbers:
📍 Accelerated 160+ ventures and sourced 55,000+ startups worldwide
📍 Invested in 35+ early stage startups
📍 Delivered exits like FitSense → Zurich (2018), MyFutureNow → L&G (2019), and Tia Tech → Sapiens (2020)
📍 Created Insurer-led Acceleration and Scaleup programs that turned pilot purgatory into scalable commercial success

But the real story? I help founders land their first million-dollar client, build authentic personal brands, and help corporates cut through the noise to adopt tech that drives real growth.

My world revolves around:
📍 Venture Clienting 2.0 & Corporate Innovation Frameworks
📍 AI (ethics, adoption, emerging risks)
📍 Climate Resilience, Risk Futures & Sustainability Transformation
📍 The Future of Work (where humans + tech thrive together)

Beyond Alchemy Crew:
📍 Co-editor of the bestselling INSURTECH Book
📍 Wrote forewords for the Future of Insurance and Momentum
📍 Lecturer on Corporate Venturing at Bayes Business School
📍 Board + advisory roles across VCs, Scaleups (The CareVoice), foundations (Women to Watch), standards (ACORD Solutions) & global insurers
📍 Top 10 Business Podcast "Scouting for Growth" 
📍 Recognized with 10+ awards, including Most Influential CEO – Insurance Corporate Ventures (2024/2025)

My channels beyond LinkedIn:
x.com: @SabineVdL
instagram: @sabinevdlofficial
Medium: @sabine_vdl
Podcast: Scouting for Growth and Beyond Tech Frontiers
Newsletter: alchemycrew.ventures

What drives me?
Creating value where others see friction.
Turning hype into measurable outcomes.
And making sure technology becomes a force for good, not just another buzzword.

Award List (10+): Insurance Times-Tech & Innovation Awards Winner (2018), Grant Thornton-Face of a Vibrant Economy (2018), Business Insurance-Women to Watch Honoree (2019), Corporate Vision-Venture Validation Firm of the Year (2021), Finalist Women in Insurance Perseverance Award (2021), Awarded Perseverant Company to Watch in (2021), ACORD Awards (2020/2023), Most Influential CEO-Insurance Corporate Ventures (2024/2025).

Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer & Venture Partner

Delivering venture labs that accelerate, industrialize and democratize the way tech ventures engage with corporations. These labs apply acceleration, co-creation, and commercialization techniques to de-risk the way insurers and financial institutions collaborate, grow, and scale their venture-led growth initiatives.

Also, systematizing for a select group of growth ventures the way their engagement with corporations.

You can find out more 👉🏽 https://alchemycrew.com/

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