I get pitched by AI tool companies every week. Some of those conversations turn into deals. Some of them don’t. And after two years of navigating this space, I’ve got a pretty clear picture of what’s moving and what’s standing still.
Here’s what I’m seeing from the inside.
The Categories That Are Hot Right Now
Productivity and workflow tools dominate my inbound right now. Companies in this space — think AI writing assistants, meeting recorders, scheduling tools — are aggressively going after creator distribution because their end customer is a professional, and professionals watch TikTok at lunch.
AI coding assistants are a growing category, and brands in this space are willing to pay premium rates because the audience is technical and valuable. If you have any coding-adjacent content, you’re sitting on money.
Consumer hardware with AI chips — phones, laptops, earbuds with on-device AI — are increasingly showing up with creator budgets attached. These deals tend to come from larger companies (think Samsung, Qualcomm, Intel ecosystem plays) and the timelines are longer, but the contracts are bigger.
What Brands Are Actually Looking For
Here’s what I’ve learned from enough initial calls to recognize the pattern:
1. Audience trust, not just reach. Every brand I’ve worked with has asked me some version of “why does your audience trust you?” before asking about my rates. The era of “1.2M followers = X dollars” is over. They want to know your engagement rate, your comment quality, and whether your viewers actually do things you recommend.
2. Niche clarity. A creator who posts about everything is useful for brand awareness. A creator who posts specifically about AI tools is useful for conversion. Brands know the difference now and they pay accordingly.
3. Long-form deliverables alongside short-form. The brands that are writing the biggest checks aren’t just asking for a TikTok. They want the TikTok, a newsletter mention, and a blog post — a full content package. They’re buying a distribution ecosystem, not a video.
4. Audience demographics that match their ICP. Before your next brand call, know your numbers: age breakdown, location, income estimates if you have them. A brand selling a $200/month software tool to SMB owners doesn’t want to reach 18-year-olds, even if there are a million of them.
What’s Not Moving
Consumer AI apps with no clear business model. There are a lot of tools being built right now that look impressive in a demo and have no obvious path to revenue. Brands in this category often can’t afford proper creator deals, and the ones that can often ask for things that don’t fit how I actually create (scripted reads, unrealistic claims, etc.).
Anything that requires me to claim it “changed my life.” Creators who can be persuaded to say anything have trained brands to expect it. I’ve walked away from deals that had this as a requirement. My audience can tell the difference, and that relationship is worth more than one check.
The Question I Ask Every Brand
Before I agree to anything, I ask: Would I use this tool without the deal?
If the answer is yes, we can probably work together. If the answer is no, I pass — or we find an angle that’s honest about what the tool actually is and who it’s actually for.
That filter has cost me some deals. It’s also the reason my audience still listens to me.
— Deco