FutureLab Digital

Most agencies take a brief, disappear, and come back with something pretty that doesn't fit how you actually work.

We do it the other way around. We sit down with you first and feel the problem before we fix it.

I'm Ralf. I've been building technology for over a decade, and FutureLab is a team of 13 across Auckland, Whangārei and Colombia. We do three things: software that automates the work inside your organisation, the public-facing site every business needs, and the marketing that makes sure what we build actually reaches someone and pays for itself.

Everybody can build with AI right now. Not everybody can build the right solution.

Watch it here: https://youtu.be/veYB_4X94ek

Inside this month's edition, we go through:

→ What automation is actually buying businesses that get it right — real numbers on cost reduction, time saved, and fewer expensive mistakes
→ What doesn't make it into the pitch deck — the failure rates nobody quotes, and two very public examples (Tesla, McDonald's) of what over-automating actually looks like
→ Why sitting this one out has its own quiet cost, and what that looks like in businesses that wait too long
→ Where we'd actually start if we were you — and it's not with the flashiest tool
We wrote it because most of what gets sold as "automation" right now is noise — impressive dashboards nobody asked for, solving problems nobody actually has. We wanted to lay out both sides honestly: what it's genuinely worth, and where it goes wrong.

Link to the full newsletter in the comments. 😁

There's a real difference between an agency that delivers a project and one that stays invested in whether it works. Here's how FutureLab thinks about client relationships.

What's your experience been with agencies after a project is delivered?

FutureLab has been operating from Colombia for a year. And almost all our clients are in New Zealand, Australia, US or Canada. For a long time that felt fine the algorithm rewarded us with the audience we already had. But at some point we asked: who's actually out there if we stop pointing everything outward?
So this month we're finding out.
1. One reel in Spanish.
2. First networking event in Bogotá on August 4.

If you're a business in Colombia or Latin America dealing with digital systems, website or marketing challenges this is the conversation we've been meaning to start.

We rebuilt the way we communicate what we do.
There are four pillars and one rule.

The first pillar is Education: we teach what we know, including what we learned by getting it wrong. It's about avoiding generic theory or borrowed frameworks. Just what we've actually lived through, what works and what not.
The second pillar is FL Journey: you watch us figure things out in real time. This looks like whiteboard sessions, some decisions that felt risky, the things that didn't work. And the idea is to show it honestly.
The third pillar is Case Studies: this is the proof that the work can actually be done. Specific needs and challenges, real constraints and real results.
The fourth pillar is Trends: we look what's actually relevant in digital right now, not what sounds good in a meeting room. We filter so you don't have to, but we share our findings.

And what about the rule? If we wouldn't share it with a friend, we don't post it. That's the only filter everything goes through.

This is the new Futurelab. Save this post if you want to follow the build.

hashtag hashtag

These are the 3 questions we are asking ourselves when creating our social media strategy. And honestly, anytime we are posting anything

We don't have the answers but we are asking these questions. Maybe you should ask your Bussiness strategy the same thing, some interesnting answers should come up 😉