By now you’ve hopefully heard our news: James Pham, Show and Tell's Digital Innovation Lead, has been selected among thousands of global applicants as one of only ~1,000 Perplexity Fellows worldwide. He's part of the initiative’s first-ever cohort, one of a few dozen such Fellows in Canada — and the only Fellow we could identify in Manitoba.
Don’t send us flowers or balloons, though. The real congratulations belong to our current and prospective clients (like you).
Here's a quick look at why our news matters for your business.
The challenger advantage: What is Perplexity?
For those not in the know, Perplexity is an AI-powered search engine that's shaking up how we find and consume information online. Instead of serving up the traditional "10 blue links" that Google made famous, Perplexity searches on your behalf, ingests the information, and presents a single, comprehensive answer. It's like having a research assistant who reads everything on your behalf, and gives you the summary.
Perplexity is obviously not the only player in this space, of course. But while behemoths like Google and OpenAI dominate headlines, Perplexity's challenger brand position gives it a couple of crucial edges: agility and audacity.
When you're not the biggest player in the room, you have to be the smartest and fastest. That's exactly what Perplexity is doing. With 250 employees compared to OpenAI's 500-plus (and Google's thousands), Perplexity is built to move faster, and test more aggressively.
Cases in point: Perplexity was first to introduce AI-powered search before ChatGPT Search and Gemini caught up. They pioneered campus ambassador programs at universities, later adopted by competitors like Anthropic.
Now they're first again with their foray into the Fellowship program.
Our fellowship gives you a front row seat to the future
James' Perplexity Fellowship gives Show and Tell clients something most agencies can't offer: Strategic clarity on AI's direction before it becomes mainstream.
This is about more than getting access to AI tools — most teams (in-house, or agency) already pay for ChatGPT accounts. It's about having early visibility into where the technology is heading.
James gets beta access to features weeks, or even months, before public release. Recent examples include Perplexity's agentic web browser Comet — a complete product that delegates tasks to an AI agent that can navigate and interact with websites on your behalf. It's invitation-only among Fellows, and (as of this publication date) hasn't even rolled out to the public yet.
The Perplexity Fellowship gives clients strategic clarity on AI's direction before it becomes mainstream.
This early access means our clients can understand new capabilities before their competitors even know they exist — and we can start using those new capabilities on their behalf, sooner. In a recent meeting with a prospect in the Canadian tourism industry, James and our team were able to demonstrate how Perplexity users would soon be able to book hotels and flights directly on their platform, bypassing navigation to individual sites like Expedia and Booking.com.
Skip the guesswork, access the network
In addition to advance access, the Fellowship connects James with his Perplexity Fellow peers: product leads, growth marketing leads, and business operations leaders worldwide. That provides him (and you) with expert, crowdsourced validation of the AI tools and their best practices through an engaged forum where Fellows share what works and what doesn't.
Ideas that gain traction get upvoted. Workflows that deliver results get refined and shared. Prompts that produce better outputs get documented. This creates a real-time repository of proven AI techniques our clients can leverage without the costly trial-and-error phase that comes with emerging technology. And thanks to James's inside track, our clients benefit from that insight while others are just familiarizing themselves with new tools and functionality.
For clients facing analysis paralysis — understanding AI's importance but not knowing where to start — this Fellowship provides battle-tested solutions from practitioners who are actively shaping how these tools get used in the real world.
Follow the leader
For us, this is about more than a sandbox to play with new technology. It demonstrates Show and Tell's ongoing, strategic commitment to being leading practitioners — not just consumers — of AI innovation. We're not waiting for LinkedIn pundits to tell us what's working. We're actively participating in the testing, evaluation, and conversations that shape the direction of this technology.
Working with an agency that invests in learning, and applies that learning to create client value, means you're getting a strategic partner that's looking around the corner for you, identifying opportunities and threats before they hit the mainstream conversation.
The credibility and trust factor of this program helps clients move past the overwhelming noise of AI hype to focus on what actually drives results. When everyone's claiming to be an "AI agency," having a Perplexity Fellow on staff — one whose bonafides are proven by being selected from a competitive worldwide process — provides concrete proof of expertise and access that matters.
Join us ahead of the curve
The future of AI is happening. The question is whether you'll be ready for it.
Want to move beyond AI-curious, and start implementing proven strategies that give you a competitive advantage? Let's talk.
Reach out for a FREE discovery call with James, or any of our digital innovation specialists.