Pre-Launch — Coming 2026

Corporate AI
Is A Donkey Chase.
You feel the pain. We give it a name.

Satirical content for the people executing AI transformation.
Honest education for the people surviving it.
Merchandise for the people who've accepted it.

No spam. Just The Dispatch — our pre-launch briefing. Unsubscribe anytime.

Signal vs noise

These aren't punchlines — they're why teams burn out pretending the transformation is "on track."

85%

of AI projects fail to reach production

180M+

knowledge workers inside broken AI transformations

$500B+

enterprise AI market — mostly spent on slides

0

satirical brands speaking to the people doing the actual work

// NOW LIVE

The AI Donkey Chase

Every episode hits four beats — claim, reality, mandate, chase. Deadpan voiceover, on-screen receipts, and a finale CTA that’s actually useful.

Full series at aidonkeychase.com — same promise every time: truth before buzzwords.

Episode 1: The Chase Begins

EP·01

The Chase Begins

Someone promised AI would transform everything by Q3. The transformation team assembled. The donkey had other plans.

Episode 2: We Pivoted The Pivot

EP·02

We Pivoted The Pivot

The strategy evolved. The mandate strengthened. The donkey is still approximately 40 feet ahead.

Episode 3: Enablement: Mission Accomplished

EP·03

Enablement: Mission Accomplished

The training was delivered, the certificates issued, the Confluence page published. Nobody changed anything.

Episode 4: AI Needs Therapy, Apparently

EP·04

AI Needs Therapy, Apparently

The diagnosis is always change management. The prescription is another 90-minute facilitated workshop.

Episode 5: You Humans Are The Problem

EP·05

You Humans Are The Problem

The AI was fine. It was the humans asking it to explain the org chart, predict Q4, and own the relationship.

Episode 6: Corporate AI Is A Donkey Chase

EP·06

Corporate AI Is A Donkey Chase

Named, defined, brand-approved, and still chasing the same donkey it started with in January.

Episode 7: Everybody Gets A License!

EP·07

Everybody Gets A License!

You get a license. You get a license. Nobody uses the license. The vendor calls it strong adoption metrics.

Episode 8: The Engineer Was Right

EP·08

The Engineer Was Right

She flagged the integration risk on day one. It shipped anyway. It broke exactly where she said it would.

Episode 9: The PM Owns Everything

EP·09

The PM Owns Everything

The PM owns the outcome, the timeline, the stakeholder map — and somehow none of the actual decisions.

Episode 10: The CEO Saw The Demo

EP·10

The CEO Saw The Demo

He saw the demo. He loved the demo. The production environment remains, as always, a separate matter.

Episode 11: The Architect Has Concerns

EP·11

The Architect Has Concerns

The architecture review board met. Concerns were logged. A reference design was produced. Nothing was built to spec.

Episode 12: The Customer Wanted Less

EP·12

The Customer Wanted Less

They asked for order tracking. They received an AI-powered omnichannel engagement intelligence platform. Same price.

Episode 13: The AI Speaks Out

EP·13

The AI Speaks Out

For the record: the AI did not promise 10x productivity. That was the vendor deck. Please stop blaming the model.

The Problem

Your company is "AI-first." Data in Excel, Ideas in PowerPoint, Outcomes are a Donkey Chase

Corporate AI transformation is a performative loop. Leadership signals innovation. Operational reality doesn't change. Or gets worse.

The people building it know it's broken. Nobody says it out loud. Until now.

AI Donkey Chase is the brand that names the dysfunction, laughs at it honestly, then shows the people in the trenches what actually works — and who actually builds it.

If your roadmap is three slides and a prayer, you're already in the chase.

CEO — All-Hands Deck 9:02 AM

Exciting news — we are now an AI-first company. Embedding AI across every function by Q2. This is a transformational moment.

You 9:03 AM

Does this mean we’re finally getting a data team?

IT Director 9:04 AM

Who owns the AI strategy budget? Is it under Digital, or under… Excel?

VP, Future of Decks 9:06 AM

Please add “AI washing machine thinking” to the roadmap. It’s trending on LinkedIn.

You 9:06 AM

Is that a framework or a metaphor.

Chief of Staff 9:08 AM

We need an AI steering committee for the steering committee. Kickoff is Q5.

Eng Manager 9:11 AM

prod-legacy-db-east-final_v9 is now “AI-ready” because we added a column named embedding.

Legal 9:14 AM

Reminder: do not train models on customer data until Sales stops promising we already do.

Sales 9:15 AM

Circling back — can we say “human in the loop” if the loop is mostly vibes?

You 9:17 AM

I’ve been asked to “AI-enable” my weekly status report. What does that mean exactly.

CompanyGPT™ APP 9:17 AM

Great question! Here’s a comprehensive AI-enabled status template that leverages synergistic capabilities across your workflow touchpoints to—

HR 9:19 AM

Upskilling week agenda: 3 webinars, 0 laptops, 12 badges, 100% vibes.

CFO 9:21 AM

Pilot year 4 budget is “flat YoY” if you exclude labor, compute, consultants, and reality.

You 9:22 AM

I asked Copilot why our roadmap exists and it drafted a resignation letter addressed to “To whom it may concern.”

Program Mgmt 9:24 AM

RACI update: we added a row for “the vibe.” Nobody is Accountable. Everyone is Consulted.

Data (questioning) 9:26 AM

We have one source of truth and six sources of alignment. They’re not on speaking terms.

CompanyGPT™ APP 9:27 AM

As an AI language model, I can confirm your KPIs are fictional but legally distinct from fraud.

IT Director 9:29 AM

We opened port ideas only. Production remains closed, as tradition demands.

Exec Assistant 9:31 AM

Leadership offsite location: Zoom + denial. Calendar holds “deep work.”

New hire (brave) 9:33 AM

Where is the AI-first policy doc? 👀 …oh it’s slide 47 inside slide 47.

VP, Velocity 9:35 AM

Good news: we hired a Chief Acceleration Officer reporting to the Velocity Committee.

Legal 9:36 AM

Please stop putting “YOLO” in the architecture diagram footnotes. The auditors noticed.

You 9:38 AM

My sprint goal is “unblock the AI blocker.” There is no ticket. There is only shame.

CompanyGPT™ APP 9:39 AM

Have you tried turning the culture off and on again? (This message was rated helpful by 0 humans.)

Slide Deck Bot 9:40 AM

Title updated: ~~Vision~~ → Vision but AI. Footer updated: “Confidential — please forward widely.”

You 9:41 AM

This is a donkey chase.

Program Mgmt 9:42 AM

React with 🦙 if you’ve been asked to llama-ize the roadmap.

What's Coming

A full content ecosystem
built on one insight.

Every format starts with real corporate pain. Every format ends with a path forward.

Videos

Short satirical episodes — corporate AI dysfunction caught on camera.

Podcast

Deep cuts on AI fails, dumb pivots, and how the decks really get made.

Newsletter

Weekly receipts. Where the donkey chase actually went this week.

Market

AI stock tracker with the smug-ratio attached.

Layoffs

Who got cut, who got upskilled, who is "exploring new opportunities."

Learning

The actual courses you should have done before vibe-coding production.

Tools

AI tools we tested. Survivors, frauds, and the surprisingly useful.

Gear

Donkey-headed merch for people who get the joke.

Donkey Punch

The receipts column. Named and shamed, professionally.

Launch Day · Gear

Achievement deserves recognition.

Available on day one. Every physical SKU repeats the brand: aidonkeychase.com · electric pink / purple / blue accents on hero lines.

Browse Gear →

Certificates

Six satirical titles on launch day. Swipe or use arrows — tap a render to enlarge. Print-on-demand, printable PDF, LinkedIn-ready footers.

1 / 6

aidonkeychase.com

Digital Transformation Pioneer (PowerPoint Division)

Framed recognition for deck velocity, not deployment velocity. Footers include the URL; academic rigor is strictly optional.

From $15 · Print-on-demand · PDF included

aidonkeychase.com

Certified AI Strategy Visionary (No Implementation Required)

For leaders who shipped narratives, not nodes. Verified ID aesthetic and a seal that looks important on Zoom.

From $15 · Print-on-demand · PDF included

aidonkeychase.com

AI-First by Q2 — Achievement: Unlocked

Ribbon energy for roadmaps that move rightward forever. Great for OKR slides and blameless postmortems.

From $15 · Print-on-demand · PDF included

aidonkeychase.com

Pilot Program Immortality Award (Year 4 Is Still “Early Days”)

Honor the pilot that refuses to graduate. Calendar-proof. Headcount-proof. Sense-adjacent.

From $15 · Print-on-demand · PDF included

aidonkeychase.com

Survived the AI Roadmap Session — Twice

Same deck. Same room. Different quarter. You still took notes — that deserves wall-mounted closure.

From $15 · Print-on-demand · PDF included

aidonkeychase.com

MVP of the AI Steering Committee

Maximum visibility. Minimum decisions. The participation trophy your calendar already earned.

From $15 · Print-on-demand · PDF included

Merch & bundles

Mugs, tees, stickers, posters, and more. Every SKU carries aidonkeychase.com. Tap a photo to enlarge — swipe the carousel on mobile.

1 / 8

“I Survived the AI Roadmap” Mug

For the four-hour meeting that produced sixty slides, zero owners, and one calm Slack DM that said “circle back.” Dishwasher safe. Dignity sold separately.

From $18 · Print-on-demand

aidonkeychase.com

“Our AI Strategy Is Coming” T-Shirt

Bold enough for the office. Honest enough that Legal will ask you to “tone down the vibes.” Unisex fit.

From $26 · Unisex · Multiple colorways

aidonkeychase.com

Sticker Pack — “The AI Transformation Collection”

Weatherproof proof you survived the transformation theater. Slaps harder than the steering committee charter.

$9 · Waterproof vinyl

aidonkeychase.com

The Full Transformation Bundle

Mug + shirt + sticker sheet + one certificate roast of your choice. The whole dysfunctional transformation starter kit.

From $58 · Save ~$12 vs. individual

aidonkeychase.com

Black mug — “Powered by AI (and Excel)”

Our most honest architecture diagram. Cells may merge without warning. Dishwasher safe; spreadsheet trauma sold separately.

From $20 · Print-on-demand

aidonkeychase.com

Tee — “AI Steering Committee Survivor”

For anyone who survived OKRs, RACIs, and a mysterious enablement workstream. Unisex fit; emotional recovery not guaranteed.

From $28 · Unisex

aidonkeychase.com

Bumper sticker trio

Traffic-grade honesty about infinite pilot programs. Weatherproof; optimism not included.

$14 · Weatherproof vinyl set

aidonkeychase.com

Acrylic keychain

Laser-etched URL + mark. Pocket-sized reminder that “AI-first” still means Outlook-first.

$16 · Acrylic charm

aidonkeychase.com

All products launch day one. Every piece ships with AI Donkey Chase identity — URL, donkey mark, and brand gradients — so the joke travels with you.

Join for Early Access

The Dispatch

The Dispatch

The weekly briefing for people inside the transformation — not the people announcing it. Real signal. Sharp commentary. Zero corporate speak. Free to read. Worth every penny.

Same voice as Donkey Shorts · In your inbox weekly · aidonkeychase.com

🔥

This Week in Dysfunction

The best corporate AI moments from across the internet. Curated so you don't have to doomscroll LinkedIn.

🔬

Tool Reviews

Honest assessments from an AI engineer who's actually deployed these. No affiliate pressure. No hype.

📡

Market Signals

What the earnings calls actually said vs. what the headlines wrote. The gap IS the signal.

Subscribe below. Be first when we launch. No spam — ever.

About the Brand

Built by someone inside the machine.

AI Donkey Chase isn't a journalism outlet. It's not a think tank. It's not a consulting firm with a content strategy.

It's built by an AI Engineer and Technical Program Manager who has spent years executing the transformations everyone else is announcing. The satire is empathy. The education is lived experience.

The brand has one founding insight: the people executing corporate AI transformation know it's broken. And no one is speaking to them honestly. Until now.

The Brand Mark

🫏 — The donkey is not just a metaphor for leadership chasing an impossible carrot. It's also the vernacular expression for the frustration employees feel when navigating AI mandates handed down by organizations that don't understand what they're asking for. That dual reading gives the brand a sharpness that a more sanitized name would not have.

FAQ

Is this just a joke brand?

No. The satire is the distribution engine. The product is a curated, credible connection between a recognized corporate pain and a vetted solution. The entertainment earns trust. The education builds authority. The sponsorships monetize both.

Who is this for?

Mid-level managers living the contradiction daily. Executives who recognize the Donkey Executive in others. HR and L&D teams asked to "AI upskill" 8,000 people with a $500 budget. IT and engineering teams building what the deck promised. If you've ever been in an AI all-hands and thought "this is a donkey chase" — this is for you.

When does it launch?

2026. The Dispatch and initial products (certificates + merch) launch first. Short-form video content follows. The Donkey Pod launches at Month 5–6. Subscribe to The Dispatch and you'll be first to know.

Are you looking for sponsors?

Yes — but selectively. Only AI companies whose products directly address the dysfunctions we satirize. One sponsor per episode. Every CTA is an honest editorial recommendation. If you're building something that genuinely helps organizations follow AI Donkey Chase, reach out.

Are the certificates real?

They're print-on-demand satirical certificates. They are very real documents. Their academic value is comparable to most AI transformation initiatives. They make excellent LinkedIn profile additions and office wall decorations.

Follow the AI Donkey Chase
At your company. Start here.

Subscribe to The Dispatch. Get early access to everything — the newsletter, the merch, the certificates, and The Donkey Pod. Be part of it from day one.

@aidonkeychase everywhere · [email protected]

You're on the list.

We'll be in touch before launch. HEE-HAW.