In this episode, host Mark talks with James Thornton, CEO of Daz 3D / Tafi, about what it really means to build an AI-centric business. James shares how his company evolved from a 3D content and avatar business into a key AI data provider for some of the world's largest tech and gaming brands.

They discuss:

The shift from scraping web data to bespoke, rights-clean AI training data
Using AI across product, marketing, and customer service workflows
Real-world applications in VR, robotics, gaming, and product visualization
How AI is transforming email marketing and localization
What the next 3 years of AI adoption will look like inside typical organizations

Key Topics & Timestamps

[0:00:00] – Introduction & Guest Background

Mark opens the show and frames the topic: AI-centric businesses with a marketing slant.
James introduces himself and his company Daz 3D / Tafi.
His background:
- CEO at Daz for over a decade
- Previous role growing a creative product brand from near zero to a $1B retail brand in 3.5–4 years
- How Daz has continually pivoted into AI trends

[0:01:18] – What It Means to Be an AI-Centric Business

James defines AI-centric as "AI-first" thinking across the business, especially in marketing.
Emphasis on balancing AI with people, expertise, and intuition, rather than AI replacing human judgment.

[0:01:37] – Daz / Tafi's Evolution into AI

Company roots:
- 25-year-old business with a strong direct-to-consumer freemium model
- Deep community of 3D digital content creators (avatars, products for gaming, etc.)
Past pivots: work in Web3 and NFTs, then parlaying that into today's AI data and services.
They now both:
- Support other companies' AI initiatives
- Use AI internally to streamline content creation and business workflows

[0:03:37] – How They Help Other Companies with AI

Core specialty: 3D digital content, avatar systems, and digital assets.
Use AI and procedural tools to:
- Scale their content library
- Produce rights-clean, structured, annotated AI training data
Customers include top tech, gaming, and enterprise brands training foundation models for:
- Text-to-character
- Product creation & visualization (including physical product development)
- Robotics and other AI applications

[0:04:51] – Concrete Benefits of AI for Clients and Daz

Central thesis: Good AI requires high-quality training data.
For clients:
- Bespoke, properly licensed data for training a wide range of models
For Daz's own business:
- AI embedded in product workflows and content production
- AI in product search, customer service, QA, and other functions to drive efficiency and effectiveness

[0:06:07] – AI Agents and Localization

Use of AI agents in customer service to handle technical tickets and customer questions.
Heavy focus on localization:
- AI to adapt website and e-commerce for global markets
- Integrating translation tools directly into their software so customers can use products in their native language
- James calls this a "huge lift" for the business.

[0:07:45] – Tools: Open "Claw" and Enterprise AI Options

They use Open "Claw" (contextually, likely a reference to a general-purpose LLM) through virtual machines across business units, including marketing.
Acknowledge recent changes in that ecosystem and the need to adapt.
Considering more enterprise-focused alternatives, such as the "Nemo Claw" and other corporate-friendly solutions, with an eye on governance and parameters.

[0:08:54] – Their Process for Helping Enterprise Clients

First step: deeply understand voice of the customer and specific AI data needs.
Industry shift:
- Moving away from scraping the internet or generic licensing for training data
- Toward custom, bespoke training sets
Unique position of Daz / Tafi:
- Own the full rights to their 3D content library (avatars, scenes, props)
- Avoid ethical and legal issues around unauthorized training data
Process:
1. Scope the client's needs.
2. Use AI and internal workflows to generate customized datasets.
Example:
- For a major tech company building VR headset experiences, they created tens of thousands of unique characters, avatars, clothing, and assets to train their models.
- James notes they might be the only company able to deliver this level of tailored solution at that scale.

[0:11:34] – The Next 3 Years: How AI Changes Organizations

Based on discussions with CEOs and senior leaders:
- Debate continues on whether AI creates or eliminates jobs; James personally believes it will create jobs.
- Near-unanimous view: every company must integrate AI into workflows.
- Employees and companies with a clear AI strategy will win versus those without one.
Expectation:
- Continued job creation plus a strong push for AI-centric efforts in every part of the business
- Focus on efficiency, output, and more bespoke customer solutions

[0:13:25] – Advice to Marketers & Final Takeaways

James emphasizes "just get started" and experiment with AI.
For marketers:
- AI enables hyper-specific adaptation to customer needs.
- Allows new ways of marketing that aren't feasible manually today.
Example from their own marketing stack:
- Their largest marketing channel is email
- They manage a seven-figure, vetted email list mailed daily
- AI is used to:
  - Optimize send times
  - Customize products and offers by demographic and other signals
Overall message:
- Embrace AI to become more effective and deliver better, more tailored customer experiences.

[0:14:58] – How to Contact James

Website: Daz3D – daz3d.com
Direct email: james@maketafi.com
James invites listeners to contact him directly with questions.