Steve Susi joins Travis Stoliker to talk about Brand Currency — the 2019 book that grew out of his years as an executive creative director at Amazon — and where its four currencies stand now that AI has rewritten the rules.

Steve traces the thesis back to a standing ovation in Tokyo, where he realized "there's something universal here... What matters most to all people? Money, information, loyalty, and time," and thought, "So let me write a book."

He talks about the book's unexpected second life: it launched just before COVID, "actually sold pretty well," drew fan mail he never anticipated, and got picked up for Korean translation — proof that "we're not so different around the world."

Then the conversation turns to the question every author is now asking. Steve uses AI every day as a thought partner, but is adamant it "is simply not going to write my book," because "without... enterprise-level instruction, it does not come with encoded discernment, judgment, or taste."

He explains why "Taste is the New Oil," how AI "didn't add a fifth currency — it just compressed the original four into a moment," and why, even in a world of instant answers, "you're going to see flesh tone and fingerprints on things more than you ever have."

He closes on why the physical book endures: when someone "sees a bookcase full of books, it says, I've invested in this piece of physical matter because it really matters... it's going to be hard to kill. We love touching things."

For more information on Steve Susi, visit https://scribemedia.com/authors/steve-susi

For more information on Brand Currency: A Former Amazon Exec on Money, Information, Loyalty, and Time, visit https://scribemedia.com/published-books/brand-currency