Brand Real

09/28/2026

We branded a startup founded by three NASA scientists.
That startup became Planet. It went public on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2021, and on September 22, 2026, it opened a satellite factory in Berlin that can build up to 60 satellites a year.

I wrote about the people, financing, and customers behind that journey, and about the responsibility carried by a name as large as Planet.

What decision best reveals what your organization's brand name stands for?

Read on Medium:
https://lnkd.in/gV-Rg-cR

Read on Substack:
https://lnkd.in/gvVDrrxf

09/26/2026

I ran an experiment last week that cost nothing and took one afternoon.

I asked five AI systems and one search engine six ordinary questions about Armenia. What is it? What is it known for? Is it safe to visit? What are the business opportunities there?
44 answers came back. Three of them came from Armenia.
Seven percent.

The rest was written by strangers. A tour operator in Australia. A student travel company in Ohio, under the headline “Eight Fun Facts About Armenia” — where fun fact number three was the Genocide. One site filed the country under the wrong region.
Picsart. Krisp. ServiceTitan. The Firebird AI factory at Hrazdan. Zero mentions across all 44 results.

This isn't about the world holding the wrong picture of us. It is about there being no picture at all — so the machines build one from whatever they can find.

I have spent forty years building brands, and in 2013 my firm won the government’s tender to build Armenia’s country brand. We delivered every part of it. It was accepted, approved, and never implemented.

I have written the whole story, including that failure, and what Switzerland, Estonia, Ireland, and Sweden do differently.
It is in English and about 40 minutes long.

https://vazkenkalayjian.substack.com/.../the-absence...

07/30/2026

INNER FREEDOM
Professional life asks us to build a recognizable identity. We develop expertise, authority, reputation, style, and a carefully managed public image. The real danger begins when the identity we created to serve our work starts controlling the person behind it.
I first met Bill Murray at NBC, when Saturday Night Live was one of the projects I helped promote. Years later, I encountered him in New York Gurdjieff Work circles. His unusual neutrality offered a compelling lesson in leadership and creative life: occupy the role completely, but do not become imprisoned by it.
My new essay connects Bill Murray, branding, Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way, Lost in Translation, and Groundhog Day to explore attention, non-identification, and the difficult work of remaining inwardly free while operating inside highly visible systems.
Read the full essay on Medium or Substack. Become a paid Substack subscriber to support independent long-form writing on consciousness, creativity, leadership, technology, and the Work.
Medium:
https://kalayjian.medium.com/bill-murray-gurdjieff-and-the-art-of-not-being-captured-a2318fba0ba2?sharedUserId=kalayjian

Substack:
https://open.substack.com/pub/vazkenkalayjian/p/bill-murray-gurdjieff-and-the-art?r=1ow967&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

04/29/2026

What does counterculture mean in an age of AI, algorithmic life, shifting intimacy, and engineered identity?
I explore that question in this new essay, moving from the Beats and The Matrix to modern work, digital culture, and the future of being human.
For leaders, founders, employers, and brand builders, this is not just a cultural question. It is a workplace question. If attention is fragmented, identity is increasingly performative, and technology shapes how people relate, then leadership, culture, trust, and employer branding cannot be treated as surface issues. They are now part of a deeper human challenge.
The real question is no longer only how to build smarter systems. It is how to build organizations, cultures, and brands that do not strip people of depth, dignity, and meaning.
I’d value your thoughts. Read the essay, join the conversation, and share it with someone thinking seriously about culture, leadership, and the human future.

Friend Link: https://kalayjian.medium.com/counterculture-at-the-edge-of-the-human-1319b96837b8?sk=9584c1165942590ca81ce8d7d9ad7d2a

03/13/2026

“Weapons evolve faster than human consciousness, and until that imbalance changes, humanity will continue fighting the same wars with ever more powerful machines.”
— Vazken Kalayjian
New essay: The Machinery of War
Link in bio. https://medium.com/

02/12/2026

We’re living inside a mismatch:
The Flintstones politics trying to govern Jetsons technology.

My latest essay connects Davos 2026, AI, energy, geopolitics—and the leadership gap shaping what comes next.
If you care about how technology actually lands in cities, institutions, and daily life, this one’s for you.

👉 Read here https://kalayjian.medium.com/flintstones-meet-jetsons-at-davos-d974dc664c87

02/09/2026

Complex problems are not broken parts—they are living systems.
My 2026 refresh of Systems Thinking explores AI, resilience, equity, foresight, and trustworthy governance.
Read and join the conversation:
https://kalayjian.medium.com/systems-thinking-31f25db98433

02/05/2026

✨ From sacred brews to digital distractions, my new essay explores how b**r, God, and AI mirror our search for meaning.
👉 https://kalayjian.medium.com/b**r-god-and-ai-55847f0e7ffa

**r

From Sumerian b**r to AI, this essay explores sacred brews, false gods, and what we’re really drinking when we chase rituals or…

01/22/2026

We’re asking the wrong question about AI.
It’s not “Was this written by a machine?”
It’s “What kind of human consciousness used the tool?”
I call them the Pause Police—people policing surface tells instead of depth, risk, and presence.
👉 Read the full story on Medium
https://kalayjian.medium.com/flip-it-f998a23b6136

A personal manifesto on AI, silence, creativity, and why obsessing over detection misses the deeper question of what it means to be human.