HOW TO START AN AI-POWERED AGENCY FROM SCRATCH

Cris Vinson · Danang Nomadfest 2026 · Da Nang, Vietnam

I gave this talk at Danang Nomadfest 2026 in front of a room full of founders, freelancers, and operators who were all asking the same question I spent 10 years trying to answer.

How do you build a business that actually works without it depending entirely on you?

I ran that model for 10 years. Teams, 1,000+ funnels, and automations later, I learned exactly why the smartest operators are building something different now.

The model has a ceiling. And by the time you hit it, you are already too deep in to easily get out.

This talk is about what I found on the other side of that realization. A different way to build. Leaner. Faster. And built around AI doing the work that used to require a team.

WHAT I COVER

→ Why the agency model stops working and what nobody tells you before you start

→ What an AI-powered agency actually looks like versus just using AI as a shortcut

→ The framework I use to go from skill to system to launch

→ What I would do differently if I were starting from zero today

I did not come with a deck full of theory. I came with 10 years of things that worked, things that broke, and the model I am running right now.

Watch it. Then decide.