your AI is showing
Christian Ray Flores here.
Every week I write about what moves me, what works in real life, and what is proven to build and grow personal brands. Starting now, I’m doing it better.
the xponential newsletter is evolving.
After auditing how to provide more depth without adding to the digital noise, I am shifting to a format built around value density—fewer touchpoints, higher signal.
The truth is, the sheer intentionality and production required for each new podcast episode is significant. I realized that trying to maintain the old pace was risking the very thing you come here for: depth. I refuse to let the grind dilute the value density of what I send you.
Here is our new rhythm:
• Sunday mornings (9:00 AM): You’ll receive the full newsletter—a deep-dive strategy article open to everyone, plus an extended deep dive section exclusively for my paid subscribers.
• Wednesday mornings (10:00 AM): This is your Early Access day. Before each new podcast episode drops publicly to the algorithms, you get it here first.
This is the first edition of that new format. I have several high-stakes conversations in the works that I genuinely can’t wait to get in front of you.
your AI is showing
Everyone’s on ChatGPT. Everyone’s got a Canva account. Everyone’s dabbling.
And almost everyone is getting a fraction of what’s actually possible — while some are quietly damaging their brand in the process.
I’ve written a book with the help of AI. Created stunning visuals and video for clients that would’ve required a full production team two or three years ago. What I keep seeing is that the gap between people using AI well and people using it poorly has nothing to do with which tools they have access to. It’s about the strategy behind them.
There are two paths.
Path One is what most people are doing. They open ChatGPT and type: “Write me a LinkedIn post about leadership.” The post comes back clean — good hook, decent structure, reasonable insights. And it sounds exactly like the other posts published that same day. Because it essentially is.
You’ve seen these posts. They don’t have a soul. And people can feel it, even when the information is good.
Here’s what makes this dangerous: when people see how polished AI output looks, some start doubting their own voice. So they lean on AI harder. And that’s the moment they begin to commodify themselves. Rick Rubin once told Kanye West in the studio: “If it sounds like something that could be on someone else’s album, it can’t be on yours.” The same standard applies to your content. Using AI to produce what anyone else could produce with a basic prompt is the fastest path to becoming forgettable.
Path Two starts with a decision: you commit to becoming a top 1% communicator of your own expertise. You use AI to remove the friction between your vision and your output — while keeping your thinking, your stories, and your frameworks at the center.
In practice: your messy, unstructured thinking goes in. A sharper, stronger version of your voice comes out. That’s not about efficiency, but about rocket fuel for your distinct voice.
And the more distinct your thinking, the more AI accelerates it — which means the people doing this aren’t just saving time. They’re widening the gap between themselves and everyone else every single day.
Path One - makes you sound more like a machine and therefore easily commodified.
Path Two - makes you not only most human, but most valuable and future proofed.
For paid subscribers this week, I’m breaking down the exact five-tool AI stack I use in 2026 — each layer, what it does, and how they work together as a system to create consistent, high-level content that elevates my personal brand.
You’ve spent years building expertise that most people would pay to access. The only thing standing between you and the audience that needs you is your willingness to communicate it at the level it deserves.
That’s what this stack is for.
If you’re a Path Two kind of person, keep reading.
