Saturday Trendspotting Special: Brain boosters and AI agents

Welcome back, Superhuman

Ever feel like a million different things – from your phone notifications to the noise outside your window – are getting in the way of you focusing and getting stuff done? Well, you’re not alone. Focus and attention-enhancing products are the next big trend in productivity, as billions are being spent to fine-tune our attention spans.

It’s time to find your next big idea!

HEALTH

Attention-enhancing products are the new frontier in brain health and productivity

The Trend: You don’t need a scientific study to tell you that it’s getting harder to focus (although you’ll find many with a quick online search). From email notifications to the constant chatter of your colleagues at the office and your phone vibrating every five minutes, don’t we all wish we could get a few moments of peace and quiet to focus on one thing at a time?

I’ve personally spent a few hundred dollars every year to improve my attention. Noise-blocking headphones, a subscription to a meditation app, and a nice espresso machine are just some of the products I’ve bought recently to squeeze a little bit more focus out of my brain.

The Opportunity: The surge in demand for attention-enhancing tools and products is more than just a fad. It’s a decade-long trend that grows faster every year and is giving rise to multiple product and service niches that are ripe with opportunities.

From ADHD-friendly music to essential oil diffusers, the range of options is as diverse as the audience it serves. These are a few segments we found that could be fertile starting points for those who want to start their next big thing:

• Nootropics: The brain health supplement industry is booming, with nootropics front and center. Designed to enhance memory, focus, and cognition, the market is expected to hit $9.7 billion by 2030. If you can carve out a niche with science-backed products, this is a strong bet for growth.

• Wearable Devices: Focus-tracking headbands and VR-based trainers are gaining significant traction, delivering real-time feedback to help users sharpen their concentration. The science here isn’t settled but research is growing and so is the demand for these products.

• Productivity Software and Apps: Apps such as Forest and Focus Keeper use the Pomodoro technique to help you maintain focus. Some people are also using tools like Freedom and Cold Turkey that block distracting websites and apps. The demand for these solutions remains high as people continue to look for tech-based ways to battle digital overload.

• Gaming and Training Platforms: Creating engaging, gamified tools could tap into a rapidly growing segment. Platforms like Lumosity and Elevate offer exercises targeting attention and working memory. AI is emerging as a serious game-changer here with tools like Duolingo integrating gamified elements to help users concentrate and pay attention.

• Smart Home Devices: AI assistants like Amazon Echo, and special focus pods are streamlining routines and creating distraction-free zones in homes and offices. If you can find ways to make smart devices even smarter by helping users enhance their focus, you’ll have plenty of takers.

But watch out. Brain health and mental acuity are no joke. Developing brain-focused products demands specialized expertise and rigorous adherence to regulatory standards in many product niches. Meeting safety requirements and regulations doesn’t just keep you out of legal trouble — it also helps you build trust with your customers.

PRESENTED BY EIGHT SLEEP

How Zain gets an extra 17 days of sleep per year

As co-founder and CEO of Superhuman, Zain routinely works 60-80 hours per week. So what’s his secret to functioning at his peak? He hacks his sleep with Eight Sleep.

Studies show that adults sleep better when ambient temps range from 20-25°C. The Pod ensures Zain maintains this “Goldilocks Zone” every night:

• High-tech mattress cover that tracks sleep data throughout the night

• Automatically cools or heats each side of the bed to maintain optimal temps

• The most advanced version, the Pod 4 Ultra, can even reduce snoring

“Helps me sleep faster and deeper, and my deep sleep has gone up by more than an hour each night – that's almost 400 hours or 17 days of extra sleep each year” – Zain

Get your best night’s sleep with $350 off Pod 4 Ultra and $200 off Pod 4 with code: ‘SUPERHUMANAI’.

WHAT’S NEXT

The big events prediction markets are forecasting

In case you’re not familiar with prediction markets, think of them like a stock market for guessing future events. People buy and sell shares (basically bets) based on what they think will happen. While not 100% accurate (no one can tell the future for certain), they offer a glimpse into what the market thinks will unfold in the coming weeks and months.

Here are the top predictions we found this week:

• Despite economists' warnings, the market thinks there’s only a 6% chance of a recession in the US before May 2025.

• 1 in 4 people are expecting a TikTok ban in the US before May 2025.

• 75% of the market bets that AI will finally pass the Turing test before 2030.

• 55% of the market is expecting Apple to enter the foldable space by 2027.

• 62% of predictors are betting that GPT-5 will hit the markets by July 2025.

TECH

Businesses are turning to AI-powered workflow apps to get an edge

The Trend: AI-powered workflow apps are probably the best thing to happen to workplace productivity since the birth of the morning coffee ritual. Think about it: the average workday is packed with a mountain of repetitive, mind-numbing tasks that just have to be done. AI workflow tools help with this problem, stepping in as digital assistants that leverage AI to automate mundane work chores so that workers can focus on more productive tasks.

The Opportunity: McKinsey expects gen AI to create more than 12 million occupational shifts in the US in the next five years. As companies scramble to stay ahead of the curve, AI workflow apps are fertile ground for budding entrepreneurs looking to start something. The numbers certainly back this up, with the global workflow automation market (which includes AI tools) projected to hit $46.8B by 2032.

With AI agents now maturing, there’s an opportunity to automate entire workflows with a single agent application. Tools like Lindy AI are leading the charge, allowing users to build AI agents that sync up with tools like Gmail and HubSpot to automate workflows.

Considerations: Integration, customization, and security are top priorities for businesses looking to adopt AI workflow tools. If your product doesn’t play nice with existing systems and workflows, it’s unlikely to find any takers. This means that you’ll need to look for creative ways to work around data silos and incompatible formats. AI hallucinations can also be a major pain point, as companies bank a lot on reliability.

In many cases, legal and compliance departments do not let workers share company data with outside apps. You may want to build apps that can achieve at least a few valuable results for the user without needing to sync with private company data.

Where To Start: If you’re new to app creation, we recently had a conversation with Riley Brown, founder of Create Inc., who talked about how to build AI apps without having any prior coding knowledge. You may also want to have a look at this post from Greg Isenberg, which is all about how people starting from scratch can identify opportunities for building AI agents.

Your opinion matters!

You’re the reason our team spends hundreds of hours every week researching and writing this email. Please let us know what you thought of today’s email to help us create better emails for you.

Until next time,

Zain and the Superhuman AI team