Yannick Khayati

Founder / Validation Lead

Say ‘hi’ to Cosmos Collective, where experimentation meets innovation. We help innovation teams tackling all their assumptions via rapid experimentation. 

We developed an approach that allows us to test any business idea or concept within a period of 3 months. 

The 🔑 is finding the right sequence of experiments in order to test (read: tackle) all your riskiest assumptions asap. 

In our track, the user / customer is centralized. We take your idea outside of the corporate walls & turn it into real-market data asap. 

Are you ready to jump on the validation train? 🚄

AI in marketing is growing up. 
So is AI for Marketers Day. 

In less than 67 hours, we open early bird tickets for AI for Marketers Day 2026.

Last year was a first edition. Strong talks, a great location, a packed room.
But let’s be honest. AI has matured. And so have we.

We learned a lot from the first edition. What worked. What didn’t. What deserved more depth.

That’s why this year we’re going bigger where it matters.
32+ talks instead of 14.
Across 4 stages.
More perspectives. 

We’re still curating a few final stories for this edition, specifically around:
- AI & marketing in heavily regulated industries
- The marketing org chart of the future. Humans, teams, agents
- AI-powered GTM that actually drives pipeline
- Fully autonomous marketing engines. What’s real, what breaks, what’s next
- ...

If you’re building in one of these areas. Or know someone who is a great speaker on one of these topics. My DMs are open.

Early birds go live Thursday at 9 in the morning.

Yannick  Khayati

Organizing the biggest AI conference for marketers in Belgium.

Average-skilled marketers are about to get stuck in the dead-zone.

Here’s the cold reality:

If you can only do what everyone else does (but slightly better), AI is coming for your paycheck.

The top 1% are leveraging AI to become  growth generating machines.
The bottom 35% are only using ChatGPT to write generic emails.

The middle? That’s the danger zone.

To survive, you need to extend your skillset vertically. You need to become an AI marketer.

I’ve made a list of 18 ways to escape the dead-zone and build your own AI stack.

Most marketers look at this list and see "too much tech."
Smart marketers see 18 ways to increase their value.

Stop waiting for permission to upgrade your marketing activities.

If you want the shortcut, I’m teaching exactly how to build these workflows.

Next week I’ll be hosting a free webinar, let’s see if I can win over your trust. 

We skip the theory. We build systems.

Sign up via this link: https://lnkd.in/evPnyPni

I tested 100+ AI tools in 2025. 

The marketing playbook has changed. In 2026, I’m using tools to help me build, automate, and scale.

I’m currently going all-in on these 8 tools to run my own business.

The gap between "using AI" and "building an AI-native business" is widening. This stack is how we bridge it. 

PS: hosting a webinar on the 10 most asked questions during my AI trainings. You can join via this link ➡️ https://lnkd.in/evPnyPni

One of my 2026 resolutions:

Share more short, practical marketing thoughts I actually believe in.

Starting with these 12.

PS: I've built a webinar around the 10 FAQs marketers ask me all the time during my AI masterclasses. You can sign up for free via this link: https://lnkd.in/evPnyPni

Questions, struggles, confusions, misconceptions, ... 

Nailing AI in marketing can be pretty hard. 

I've helped 1,000+ marketers to extend their skillset with AI tools / skills. 

In my first 12 months as an AI trainer, the same questions kept coming back. 

1️⃣ Where do I start? 
2️⃣ What's your favorite workflow?
3️⃣ Why are there so many tools, how do you pick the right ones? 
....

I decided to build a webinar around the 10 most asked questions during my masterclasses.

If AI still feels confusing, let me change that in an hour. 

Save your seat => https://lnkd.in/evPnyPni

I just mapped out my 2026 plan and let's be honest ...

The current tool stack is broken... It's too much.

Most marketers are drowning in "AI slop." They are subscribing to 25 different tools to do 3 things. It’s inefficient & expensive.

I’m obsessed with high-margin, calm businesses. To get there, the tech needs to grow up.

Here is my "AI Wishlist for 2026", the 14 specific things I need to see exist to make marketing human-scale again. 

The future of marketing isn't about working harder. It's about building systems that let you be creative while the AI do the repetitive work.

I’m teaching exactly how to leverage these shifts in my AI Masterclass for Marketers.

Tickets for February 12 online & new dates coming soon: https://aiformarketers.eu/ 

P.S. Which tool on this list would save you the most time? Let me know below.

My 2026 AI wishlist as a marketer

Stop trying to outsource your creativity to a machine.

It’s lazy. And frankly, it shows.

I see it every day: marketers treating ChatGPT like a magic vending machine. Insert prompt, get strategy, copy-paste, publish. 

The result? 

A tsunami of average. 

Here is the hard truth I tell everyone in my trainings:

AI is an incredible thought partner. It is a terrible taste-maker.

It can give you 50 variations of a headline in 10 seconds. It can summarize a 30-page report in a blink. It can structure your messy thoughts into a cohesive outline.

But it cannot tell you which idea will actually make a human being feel something.

That is your job.

In a world where content is commoditized, "taste" is the only moat you have left. 

Taste is knowing when the AI is hallucinating a "best practice" that is actually a cliche.
Taste is deleting the three paragraphs that sound "professional" but mean nothing.
Taste is injecting the personal story that a model trained on 2021 data simply doesn’t have.

Use AI to do the heavy lifting. Use your brain to do the heavy thinking.

If you treat AI as a replacement for your own intellect, you are racing to the bottom.

If you treat it as a sparring partner to sharpen your own point of view? That is where the leverage lives.

I’ve spent the last year training 1000+ marketers on exactly this nuance. And I noticed the same roadblocks coming up over and over again.

So I decided to compile them.

Next week, I’m hosting a webinar covering the 10 most asked questions from my AI trainings.

You can grab a free spot here => https://lnkd.in/evPnyPni

AI skills are becoming a baseline expectation in every marketing role.

Generalist does not mean average by default. 

That's what I told 144 marketers during my webinar about the 10 most asked questions during my AI trainings. 

Next week, I'm hosting another free session where we build 3 workflows together. 

Not signed up yet? Here's the link. ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eJuMHyuc

Home of #AskMikeG

What is #AskMikeG? 
As a seasoned consultant, I specialize in empowering small business owners to navigate financial challenges, drive growth, and achieve predictable success. With a focus on practical, actionable solutions, I help business leaders improve cash flow management, enhance profitability, and elevate communication for long-term stability.

 I assist businesses by:

+ Identifying gaps in financial practices and building a clear roadmap to stability.
+ Establishing robust tracking and forecasting tools for informed decision-making.
+ Implementing strategies to elevate communication to all stakeholders.

I provide one-on-one, group coaching and consulting.  I have spent 25+ years creating, starting, marketing, failing, and succeeding in B2B and B2C environments. I will happily share with you or your team what I have learned so you don't make the same mistakes I did.

Author, Coach, Consultant, Good Human - Cash Flow is the Success Metric.

Whose Story Is It?

The podcast was created for curious business owners who learn from other business owners’ experiences (mistakes). You will learn from other business owners who have succeeded but not without their own mistakes. But the twist is you will learn about “who” they are as much as what they did. And you will learn all of this without knowing their name. Guest identities will be unveiled after each story in the last few minutes of the podcast. To subscribe go here https://www.michaelgrabham.com/whose-story-is-it-podcast-learn-from-business-owners-stories/

Podcast Host

Hatchet Ventures 🪓

“Hatchet Ventures is defining a new VC model that fits with the needs of today’s founders. With our Co-Op model, Hatchet Ventures surrounds your company with 40+ executives, advisors, and like-minded founders who openly share insights; connections; best practices; and solutions, forming the optimal sounding board for bouncing ideas. Hatchet simplifies access to the knowledge of those who have walked the startup path, and provides attainable support to hatch your venture!”

Advisor

Survive the Streets

My wife and I started this nonprofit to help the homeless. We had originally created an organization that helps hundreds of homeless each year on Thanksgiving day. Go to survivethestreets.org if you would like to get involved with our 501(c)(3) nonprofit..

Director

Orbit Health 

Orbit was started with a simple vision of saving lives in sub-Saharan Africa, by applying technology in healthcare.
Considering the overburdened and clogged up healthcare services in Africa, we wanted to help hospitals and clinics increase their capacity and capability so that they will increase the number of patients by a minimum 10-15 additional patients per day. In this approach,  and if only one fourth of the healthcare facilities are participating in Ethiopia alone, there will be an opportunity for over 10,000 new patients that will be able to see a doctor in a day.

The Door Gym

Help your loved ones maintain their independence with the gift of fitness.
Many of the problems facing our rapidly growing senior population are due to preventable muscle atrophy. This is why we created The Door Gym, a patent pending technology that allows for a new level of safety and security when anchoring resistance bands and straps to your door. Our app and cell phone holder economically deliver over seventy guided exercises that can be tailored to any fitness level.

Customise To Your Style With Samshek

Samshék embraces the fashion popularism that inspires and creates trends that appeal to the modern consumer. Samshék recognizes that not all customers fit the mainstream retail clothing offerings, but rather seek the clothing that better suits their body size and shape, mood, character, style, and temperament. With Samshék’s clothing customization option and timely delivery, the customer's wonderful lifestyle and fashion desires can now become a reality.

samaritan

Samaritan is a mobile IoT startup that enables cashless, effective giving the moment a citygoer sees someone in need on the streets. This is changing the way people can give to people on the streets by knowing that the money is goes to help the person get basic needs met.

Compassion 4 Paws

We are a mobile veterinary practice that specializes in comfort care and end-of-life care for pets. Out of the drive to start her own practice combined with her passion for end-of-life care, Dr. Sara Hopkins founded Compassion 4 Paws in late 2012. Since then, her devoted team of veterinarians and care coordinators continue to offer you and your beloved companion the support and care you need during this difficult time of navigating your pet’s end-of-life journey.

Head of Strategy

Startup Grind

Awarded Chapter Director of the Year 2015.
Startup Grind is the largest independent startup community, actively educating, inspiring, and connecting more than 1,500,000 entrepreneurs in over 600 chapters. We nurture startup ecosystems in 125 countries through events, media, and partnerships with organizations like Google for Startups. 

The cornerstone of our global community is monthly events featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators, and investors who share lessons learned on the road to building great companies. Founded in Silicon Valley, Startup Grind has helped millions of entrepreneurs build their businesses, connect with strategic partners, and secure funding.

We believe in making friends, not contacts. We believe in giving, not taking. We believe in helping others before helping yourself. We are truly passionate about helping founders, entrepreneurs and startups succeed. We intend to make their startup journey less lonely, more connected and more memorable.

Chapter Director Seattle

Consultant | Author | Helping Founders make better decisions to scale their company.

The Two Pillars of Business Success: CASH  & COMMUNICATION
As a business owner, you know that growth is essential—but sustainable, profitable growth requires more than vision. It demands a disciplined focus on two critical areas: managing cash flow and fostering clear communication.

I specialize in helping business owners like you turn strategic goals into actionable plans by focusing on these key areas:

Optimized Cash: By analyzing and enhancing your profits and monitoring your cash flow, I help ensure your business remains financially strong and agile, giving you the confidence to invest in growth and navigate challenges effectively.

Aligned Communication: Both internally and externally, effective communication is essential to align your team with your goals, foster collaboration, and deliver a unified message to customers and stakeholders.

This is a Real life result... I started working with a small service based business. They had few processes in place and almost no financial insights. Fast forward 2 years and they got an offer to sell. We decided to turn it down and fast foward another 2 years and they got an offer they had to take. The value when I started working with them was around $2.5M and they sold for almost 3X that number. The changes we made were about optimizing profits, managing cash flow and making sure the business could operate without the owners doing ALL the work. 

By nature, I am a curious leader who has experienced success, failure, and everything in between. (6X founder).  I have been lucky enough to sell a few of those and unlucky enough to go through bankruptcy. (not fun)

At age 28, a partner and I bought a struggling magazine for the travel industry. Four years later, after growing revenues by 7X and introducing a disruptive product we sold the company to a larger industry leader. (Winner)

I was also a partner in a services company that grew from $750k to $7M in just 3 years. We grew too fast and made some mistakes. Over the next 2 years, I managed to keep parts of it alive but by 2011 I had to close it down. I went through some very dark times with this venture and I learned a few things. (Cash Flow is King)

My wife and I started a nonprofit, Survive the Streets, 25 years ago, to help people who live in shelters or who are almost living on the streets. This has been extremely rewarding and eye-opening. (Helping Others is good)

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The Battle

Yannick Khayati

Mike Grabham

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The Battle

Yannick Khayati

Mike Grabham

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Yannick Khayati's LinkedIn Performance

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