Meet Matt Fok, founder of AIX Network and a Silicon Valley innovator who is revolutionizing how businesses approach digital marketing in the AI era. With a vision that extends far beyond traditional marketing tactics, Matt has created a comprehensive ecosystem that combines virtual hybrid event platforms with cutting-edge AI applications – all designed to help startups, small and medium-sized businesses, and nonprofits save over 80% on digital marketing costs while building meaningful communities. His philosophy is simple yet powerful: in an age where people are bombarded with push marketing, the future belongs to those who pull communities together and help each other thrive.
Humans of Fuzia is excited to feature Matt’s groundbreaking work as part of our mission to showcase innovators who are democratizing access to powerful business tools. His commitment to collaborative marketing over solo marketing, and his belief that ecosystems create win-win-win situations for all stakeholders, resonates deeply with our community values. Through his story, our 5.2 million-strong community of entrepreneurs and changemakers across 35+ countries can learn how AI can be harnessed not to replace human connection, but to amplify it – creating sustainable growth engines that work even while you sleep.
What inspired you to create AIX Network and what problem are you solving?
We’re in an AI revolution – the new AI industrial revolution. AI is here to stay and it’s only going to accelerate. We’re solving some really challenging problems: how do you get consistent attention, retention, and referrals? We frame it as an ARR growth engine that everyone needs – whether you’re a startup, small, medium-sized company, or even a nonprofit.
The new AI paradigm shift means you’ve got to have a community. The key is engaging your members on a regular basis so they don’t leave. We’ve been in business for 10-15 years starting with virtual trade shows, and we know that when you bring everyone together, that’s where you get the leverage. We combine our virtual hybrid event platform into an AI space called AIX Network, and we give away AI applications that can help save over 80% on digital marketing costs. That’s a game changer.
How does your platform help businesses navigate the overwhelming number of AI tools available?
This week is Tech Week in San Francisco – I’m in Silicon Valley. There’s so much stuff going on, it’s absolutely impossible for any startup or small, medium-sized company to figure out what apps to use. We solve this by providing all the key components everyone needs. We call it the AI superpower application so people don’t have to worry about that. People should just focus on building trust and building relationships – that’s something AI cannot do.
Who is your ideal customer?
The ideal customer profile will be someone who has some captive audience – some customers and partners. The framework is about having a captive audience that you can bring together and promote along the way. This is about community – you want to provide tangible value to all your stakeholders. Otherwise, they’re not going to stick around. They’ve got to feel like they have to come in because they can use these tools, meet different people, and network.
Think about OpenAI – they started with zero and came up with ChatGPT that helps people save money and time. We’re taking the same playbook. We’ve got AI tools we can give away that save time and money. You don’t have to worry about all these complex tools. All you need to worry about is being part of the community where we can all help each other. I always say: no more silo marketing or solo marketing. This is about collaborative marketing where everyone wins. It’s a win-win-win model, and that’s the only way to thrive in any economy.
What specific benefits do your clients experience?
When people come in as a partner or co-host, they have access to a portfolio of AI applications: AI SEO, AI social media, AI agent, AI podcasts, and much more – all free to all members. We’re rolling out constantly new applications. The key thing people don’t realize is not how many AI applications you throw at the wall, it’s how often and how much you can use it to streamline your operation, sync up all your data, and your workflow.
We make it simple so it seamlessly integrates into your virtual space. Here’s the kicker: imagine you give all these tools to every member within your community. Let’s say you start with 10, then it goes up to 20, 50, 100. We’re talking about 100x. Why? Everyone who’s able to use these tools and share across all social media channels is like having 10x, 100x agencies working together. That’s the power – working together, not in silos.
Can you tell us about some of your exciting projects, like the AI Book Alliance?
We just started with multiple partners on a new project called AI Book Alliance. Authors have a big challenge getting traction and attention. Writing a book isn’t that hard, but getting exposure and sales is a huge challenge. I actually created this concept five years ago with Book Expo 365. I knew bringing all partners together – both authors and publishers – so they can help each other and get all the eyeballs we need was the future.
Within just a few weeks, we got a LinkedIn group with over 100,000 members, and we’re working with them to promote this ecosystem. Authors spend a lot of money and get nothing back – you’ve heard that story many times. Unless you’re a celebrity, you don’t get books flying off Amazon. By having an ecosystem, we’re solving these huge problems. I’m actually writing a book about this AI ecosystem network – it’s more like an execution book or guide on how we can help everyone get started.
What are the three main reasons people don’t buy, and how does your ecosystem address them?
There are three reasons people don’t buy. Number one is wrong timing – either they’re not ready or they don’t have time. They may not have the budget. Even if they have the right timing, they don’t trust you – “Is this guy real? Is this product real?” People have all kinds of concerns. The third is they don’t see a whole lot of value – that’s the ROI question.
By having an ecosystem, this is a long-term strategy. Pushing is no longer effective – people are bombarded with emails every day. Email campaigns are no longer effective. Our strategy is about pulling together. This is warm leads. It’s like word of mouth. How would you like to have an automated, smart word of mouth growth engine? You’re not manually calling everybody – you’re inviting your friends and partners to be part of a community that you care about.
What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs about overcoming self-doubt?
That’s always a challenge to overcome. Everyone as an entrepreneur always has that fear. I had fear about launching my book – that’s why I’ve been holding it up. But having a community is very powerful in helping you overcome those fears. Everyone is all together – it’s okay if something doesn’t work out. Try another time, try it again and again.
I’m in Silicon Valley, and this is one of our big advantages: the culture. We don’t judge people by how many times they fail. You’ve got to have a vision bigger than just making money. You’ve got to feel something – have the urge to do something great, to have some impact, to help other people. This is what you’ve probably heard from many successful entrepreneurs. I get up every day with a big vision or mission to accomplish.
Looking back, what would you do differently when starting out?
You’ve got to have a bigger vision than just making more money. You’ve got to have something that you can focus on. From the vision, you need to tie it down to execution level – set up milestones. And you’ve got to have good partners you can work with to help each other. This is what this is all about.
What does success look like for you?
Ideally, I would love to start a new AI movement – an AI movement about helping everyone using the same framework. This AI movement ecosystem is something where everybody says, “Hey, it’s from AIX Network.” Every CEO and CXO level executive I’ve talked to is super excited. When you hear peers and executives see the same vision and say “I wish I had this,” it confirms you’re on the right track.
My goal is to train 100,000 AI agencies using the platform. I’ve already started with multiple organizations. There’s a big gap between the AI elite and people who are not tech savvy. There are more non-tech people than AI elite out there, so we’re trying to change that by helping them train.
What exciting projects are you launching in the coming months?
We’re launching multiple mobile apps. One is the faith-based app at releasefaith.net. We’re working with a couple of major Christian organizations with millions of members. This is the first mobile app for churches that brings them together where they can have studies, groups, meetings, and share prayer.
We also have a service management marketplace to help local businesses and connect people looking for jobs with businesses looking for someone. This is going to be a super app – multiple apps within one big app. This is the way of the future: be part of the community where we can help each other and all thrive, regardless of what the economy is.
“No more silo marketing or solo marketing. This is about collaborative marketing where everyone wins. It’s a win-win-win model, and that’s the only way to thrive in any economy. When you have an ecosystem where everyone helps each other, that’s the only way we can all thrive.”
Connect with Matt Fok
LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ezxpo/
X- https://x.com/MattWFok
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/matt.fok
YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/@ai-x-network-scn
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