Buff Briefs

Your 2-minute scroll of what mattered while you were enjoying turkey

😮 MIT Just Mapped Every Job AI Can Steal Today: 

MIT's Project Iceberg revealed that AI can technically replace 11.7% of the American workforce right now, not 5 years from now! The unlock? The Model Context Protocol (MCP), now with 7,950+ servers letting AI plug into calendars, CRMs, financial systems, and workflows.

🔒 OpenAI & Google Quietly Pull Back Free AI Access:

Both companies slashed free generations for Sora 2, Gemini 3 Pro, and image/video tools. If your team's been relying on free tools for ideation, budget for paid tiers in 2026.

📊 Claude Opus 4.5 Is the New Excel Whisperer:

While everyone's obsessing over coding scores, the real story is how insanely good it is at creating Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint decks. Users report the cleanest outputs yet.

🤯 Creator Economy Is Outpacing All of Digital Media:

U.S. creator ad spend hit $37B in 2025, growing 26% YoY, that's 400% faster than the rest of digital media, according to IAB's report.

🎧 Suno's AI Music Factory Is Outpacing Spotify: 

Billboard got hold of Suno's investor deck: 1M+ subscribers are generating 7M AI tracks daily, effectively recreating Spotify's entire 100M-song catalog every two weeks.

Buff Takeaway: 8 Books That Turn Marketers into Product Thinkers

Over the weekend, I dropped my reading list for marketers who want to level up into product thinking. Because campaigns are dead, products are eating the world, and if you can't speak product, you're getting left behind.

Here's the starter pack (Some with Cyber Monday Deals):

• Build by Tony Fadell → Think like a builder, not a presenter

• Inspired by Marty Cagan → Learn what great teams do.

• Decode & Conquer by Lewis Lin (5th Edition) → Teaches structured problem-solving.

• Algorithms to Live By → Gentle intro to computational thinking.

• Working Backwards by Bryar & Carr → Understand Amazon’s operating model & build product discipline.

• The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman → Your Foundational guide to intuitive, human-centered design.

• Escaping the Build Trap by Melissa Perri → Ship outcomes, not features.

• Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres → Validate ideas before you build.

You don't become a multi-hyphenate by accident. You do it by reading, building, testing, and repeating. Check out the full carousel on LinkedIn OR Instagram.

Stay Curious, Stay Ahead!

If this newsletter helped you look smarter in a meeting this week, forward it to a colleague. They'll thank you. Or at least owe you coffee.

Until next Monday Morning, Buffs!