5 Key Takeaways from SMS 2025 Social Media AI Summit

This past Friday, I had the pleasure of attending (and speaking at!) the SMS 2025 Social Media + AI Summit in Kinston, NC. Hosted by the good folks at Magic Mile Media, the event brought together some of the brightest minds working at the intersection of AI and social media. As Director of Growth and Partnerships at Imaginovation, I’ve had a front-row seat to how businesses are leveraging AI—and I was thrilled to share my insights during one of the key sessions.

But just as important as what I had to say were the ideas and trends shared by other industry experts throughout the day. There was so much valuable content, but I want to boil it down to five key takeaways—some of which are already shaping the future of how businesses and consumers interact with AI.

So, let’s dive in!

1. We Are in the "AOL Dial-Up" Phase of AI

Jason Michael Perry gave a fantastic talk about AI’s evolution and compared today’s AI landscape to the early days of internet access—you know, when hearing that Eeeeeeeee… Krrrrrrr… ding! meant you were about to spend 30 minutes waiting for a single webpage to load. In other words, we’re still in the infancy of AI technology, with a long road of innovation ahead of us.

Right now, AI can do some impressive things, but the potential for where it’s headed? Absolutely massive. Today’s AI models still require human intervention, careful curation, and lots of learning to really be useful at scale. But just as broadband internet transformed how we use the web, the next decade of AI development will bring efficiency, accuracy, and capabilities that feel straight out of science fiction.

So if AI seems clunky or limited today—think of it like the internet in the 90s. We’re barely getting started.

2. Create Your Own GPT

One of the coolest trends I learned about was the rise of custom AI models, or "GPTs." Basically, if your organization has data, expertise, or workflows unique to your business, you can now create a specialized AI model tailored to your exact needs.

Here’s an example that stuck with me: Imagine you run a fortune-telling business. You could train an AI using your company’s library of horoscopes and psychic readings. Once created, this AI could act as your digital assistant, instantly generating personalized readings for clients based on just a few pieces of information, like their name and birthdate.

It’s not just for fortune-tellers, of course—businesses in every industry can benefit from creating AI models designed specifically for their operations. The trick is to train it on your own proprietary data, so it’s not just parroting the generic stuff you find online.

3. Explore as Many GPTs as Possible

While we’re on the topic of GPTs, did you know there are already hundreds of pre-built models that businesses can use today? These models can help with everything from discovering recipes to customer service. One example that caught my attention was a “Pre-Meet GPT” that gathers relevant information on someone you’re meeting before a call.

The idea here is simple: Let AI handle the busy work so that you can focus on being your best, most human self in the moments that matter. It’s about freeing yourself from tedious tasks, whether that’s digging up background details, drafting emails, or researching data, so you can spend more time building relationships and making strategic decisions.

There’s no one-size-fits-all model, though, so take the time to experiment and figure out which GPTs can give your business a leg up.

4. Agentic AI Is on the Horizon

Right now, most AI models act as question-and-answer machines. You ask them something, and they respond with (hopefully) useful information. But the next frontier for AI is what experts are calling “agentic AI.”

Picture this: Instead of just telling you where to book a hotel, an AI agent could go ahead and reserve your room, book your flight, and even coordinate with your calendar—all on its own. This concept is still in its early stages, but it’s gaining momentum. New models with agentic capabilities are being developed as we speak, and they could fundamentally change how we interact with technology.

Soon, you might not just ask AI for help; you might delegate entire tasks to it.

5. RAG AI Is Changing How We Access Information

Finally, let’s talk about one of the most significant breakthroughs in AI: Retrieval-Augmented Generation, or RAG.

Before RAG, AI models like ChatGPT were only as good as the data they’d been trained on—which meant no access to real-time information. But with RAG, AI can now pull from up-to-date external sources, improving both accuracy and reliability. This has huge implications for industries that rely on current events, fast-changing data, or detailed research.

In fact, RAG-powered models may soon rival traditional search engines in popularity. Why Google your questions when you can get instant, context-rich answers from an AI that’s pulling data from the latest reports and articles?

For businesses, this means greater trust in AI outputs—and more opportunities to incorporate AI into research, marketing, and operations.

Final Thoughts

The SMS 2025 Summit made one thing crystal clear: AI is evolving at breakneck speed, and businesses that stay ahead of the curve will be the ones reaping the rewards. Whether it’s building custom models, exploring agentic capabilities, or harnessing real-time information, there’s no shortage of ways to innovate with AI.

Of course, with all this innovation comes responsibility—especially when it comes to protecting your company’s data and intellectual property. But as long as you approach AI adoption thoughtfully, the opportunities are too big to ignore.

Here’s to the future of AI!