Our guest in this episode is Aya Kikimova, a former Microsoft award-winner who managed over $50 million in ad spend before bootstrapping her own digital agency, Leap Engine. Grounded by her family’s small business roots, Aya translates elite strategies into practical, ethical marketing for today’s entrepreneurs.
Aya shares her pragmatic and cautious optimism about AI, balancing its power with a deep concern for the human skills we risk losing, like discernment and resilience. We explore what really matters in an automated world and how to use AI as a tool to enhance our humanity, not replace it.
Key points discussed include:
Cultivating emotional intelligence and resilience as the most critical skills for the future.
Using AI to automate repetitive tasks, freeing up human time for genuine connection.
Building trust as the ultimate differentiator in an age of automation.
Listen to the podcast to find out more.
Show Notes from this episode with Aya Kikimova, Leap Engine
It was such a privilege to welcome Aya Kikimova, the founder and CEO of Leap Engine, to the InnovaBuzz podcast. Here is someone who has truly operated at an elite level, managing over $50 million in ad spend and winning awards at Microsoft. Yet, what struck me most about Aya wasn’t just her impressive corporate background, but her deep, personal mission that brought her right back to her roots. She bootstrapped her own agency during the pandemic while navigating new motherhood, all to translate those high-level strategies for the small businesses she genuinely loves.
Aya’s passion for helping “real people” isn’t just a marketing line; it’s in her DNA. She shared a wonderful story about her grandma’s deli, remembering running around behind the counter as a kid. That, combined with watching her mom build a real estate business from scratch, cemented her path. She’s driven by a desire for “ethical marketing,” a value that feels more important than ever. It’s this grounded, human-centric worldview that made our conversation about, you guessed it, Artificial Intelligence, so fascinating.
This is the beginning of the conversation, but the personal reflections—the “why” behind what was said—are where the real journey begins.
If you’d like to read the rest of this post, where Aya shares her crucial insights on AI, our loss of human “discernment,” and why emotional resilience is now the most essential skill, I’d love to invite you to become a paid subscriber.
A subscription unlocks these full, detailed show notes, but more importantly, it welcomes you into a quieter space. It’s where I share my private, 3x-a-week reflections on these conversations about AI, the “behind-the-lens” stories from my photography, and the personal meditations that connect them all.
It’s a place for the curious, and I’d be honoured to share it with you.
The “New Set of Eyes”: Learning from the Next Generation
Alongside her family’s business background, Aya’s other great driver is her three-year-old daughter. She spoke beautifully about watching her child see the world with “full of wonder.” It’s that age of insatiable curiosity, where everything is amazing and new. For Aya, this isn’t just a sweet family observation; it’s a powerful daily reminder of how we should be approaching the world, especially now.
As adults, we think we know so much, but Aya feels it’s the opposite: “the more we learn, the more we have to keep learning.” She’s consciously “learning from her to adopt that sort of view” and look at the rapid changes around us with a “new set of eyes.” This mindset of constant learning and humility is the perfect lens for tackling the “crazy” pace of technology that’s reshaping our lives.
The AI Reality Check: When Tech Moves Too Fast
We couldn’t not talk about AI. Aya put it perfectly: “five years ago, did you ever think that we would have AI so pervasively everywhere? Probably not.” She’s seeing its impact firsthand, and she’s not just talking about handy tools. She shared how her husband, who is in video and audio production, is in an industry where AI advances are so fast that “some of the jobs are literally being removed.” It’s not a far-off-in-the-future concept.
She also mentioned a friend, a SaaS founder, who had to “fire a third of their developer workforce because now AI can do all those things.” This is the stark reality that Aya is grappling with. It’s exciting and empowering, but it’s also “a little bit interesting and scary at the same time.” She’s looking at her daughter and genuinely wondering what the job market will even look like when she’s of working age.
Are We Forgetting How to Think? The Risk of Over-Reliance
This led us to a critical point. Aya voiced a worry I share, that as we rely more on technology, we’re losing some of our “essential skills.” She had this brilliant anecdote about the days of MapQuest, when we “used to print out directions” and follow them. Now, she half-joked, “if I don’t have my phone, I am lost,” even in a familiar place. We’re losing the “grinding through the pain of learning.”
The danger is that we’re outsourcing our thinking. Kids can just go to ChatGPT for answers. But what happens to the human process of discernment? Of asking, “I need to know, is this true? I don’t want somebody else making that decision for me.” Aya fears that “particular skill of discernment is being removed,” and that’s a profound risk when AI can “hallucinate” and make things up.
A “Big Step Back”: Why Human Skills are More Vital Than Ever
So, what’s the solution? Aya believes we “need to take... a big step back” and re-learn the basics. She made this powerful statement: “we overestimate the value of AI and underestimate the value of human, human skill and capability.” We’re so focused on what AI can do that we’re forgetting what we must do.
For Aya, the skills that will matter most in the age of AI aren’t technical; they’re deeply human. She identified emotional intelligence, resilience, and adaptability as the new essentials. It’s the ability to be “resilient to this change” and have the mindset that “I can learn anything.” That, she says, “is what is key.” We need to empower humans to be independent of these technologies, should they ever fail.
The Practical Path for Small Business: AI as the Helper, Not the Hero
This is where Aya’s work at Leap Engine becomes so clear. She brings this philosophy right down to the ground level for her clients—the “dentist offices, your construction companies, plumbing,” and restaurants. For them, AI isn’t about replacing their core, human-to-human business. It’s about making that human connection easier to deliver.
Her strategy is brilliant in its simplicity. Use AI to automate the “bureaucratic repetitive work”—things like appointment scheduling, confirming, billing, and, crucially, asking for Google reviews. By handing those tasks to AI, that business owner or their staff gets “10 hours a week” back. And what do they do with that time? They reinvest it into the human side: dealing with an unsatisfied customer, improving the in-person service, and building that personal relationship.
The Final Differentiator: Building Trust
Ultimately, our conversation came down to one, simple word. When I asked Aya for the number one thing any business can do to differentiate themselves today, her answer wasn’t AI. It was trust. In a world full of AI-generated content and automated responses, “ultimately, people want to do business with people... that they trust.”
For Aya, this means shifting away from old-school sales funnels and toward delivering education and real value before asking for the sale. It’s about building that relationship, proving you’re a good, ethical person, and being the human in the loop. The AI is just the tool that clears the decks so you can do that essential human work more effectively.
In Summary:
Aya Kikimova provides a critical dose of grounded, pragmatic wisdom. She’s a champion for using AI to be more efficient, but only as a means to a much more important end: being more human. Her message is a powerful reminder that technology can support our business, but only trust, discernment, and genuine connection can build it.
The Buzz - Our Innovation Round
Here are Aya’s answers to the questions of our innovation round. Listen to the conversation to get the full scoop.
Most innovative use of AI to enhance human relationships: Using AI to cut bureaucratic, repetitive work, which frees up time to focus on a human-centric service approach where people can connect and build trust.
Best thing to integrate AI and human connection: We developed an AI tool for local SEO that saves 10 hours per client and delivers staggering results (like 32x ROI), which ultimately enhances our client relationships.
Differentiate by leveraging AI: The number one differentiator is building trust; businesses can win by delivering education and value, because people want to do business with people they trust.
Action
Google “AI courses” and start learning about AI. Start implementing some of these tools in your business, but also learn about the unchecked powers of AI so you can be aware of what might happen and ensure your business is not 100% reliant on it.
Reach Out
You can reach out and thank Aya by visiting her website or by finding her on LinkedIn.
Links:
Cool Things About Aya
She won the Microsoft Platinum Club award, an honor given to the absolute top 0.01% of employees worldwide.
She bootstrapped her agency as a new mom, starting by working just 2-3 hours a day while caring for her infant.
She has built her successful agency on a strict 7-hour workday, proving a counter-narrative to “hustle culture”.
