Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Penguin Random House to Publish Match Point – Why Perfect Pairings Outperform Every Strategy In the Age of AI

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by Mark Adams & Kelly Nizolek

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LONDON/NEW YORK
FRIDAY 19TH SEPTEMBER 2025

Penguin Random House today announced the acquisition and forthcoming publication of Match Point – Why Perfect Pairings Outperform Every Strategy in the Age of AI, a groundbreaking new book by Mark Adams & Kelly Nizolek, slated for global release in September 2026.

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In an era when artificial intelligence is transforming the foundations of culture, business, and creativity, Adams offers a provocative and urgent thesis: the future of brand growth will not be won through force—bigger budgets, louder ads, more campaigns—but through the discovery of match points. These are the precise moments when two forces, once thought to be separate, align in ways that create new, explosive and exponential sources of power and attraction.

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The book argues that AI is not simply a tool for efficiency and productivity. It is a force that reveals previously invisible Match Points - game-changing affinities, connections, and alignments. By surfacing Match Points - patterns that the human mind cannot perceive - AI creates entirely new opportunities for brands, entrepreneurs, and innovators to seize growth and transform entire categories.

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Force vs. Power in the Age of AI

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At the heart of Match Point lies a deceptively simple distinction: the difference between force and power.

Force has long defined the traditional approach to growing brands. It is the mindshare paradigm of brand building—buying visibility, blasting ads, and obsessing about competition within the competitive set. This is the way brands were built in the 20th Century, but in the Age of AI, this force-based playbook is increasingly self-defeating, exhausting and incapable of creating lasting growth.  

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Power, by contrast, arises from Match Points - game-changing affinities, connections, and alignments that were previously invisible or inconceivable to brand teams. AI is built for precisely this type of forensic pattern recognition, which sets the stage for the discovery of new sources of power at a scale never before imaginable. The Brands that can discover and activate these Match Points will own the future.

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“Brands are exhausting themselves with force,” Adams notes. “They’re spending billions to blast messages into a fragmented marketplace. But the future won’t be won by those who push hardest. It will be won by those who stand at the right match point—where affinities click, and growth becomes inevitable.”

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Beyond Theory: A Case Study-Based Approach

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As part of the research phase, the authors are extending an invitation to select brands to partner on the co-creation of case studies that translate the Match Point theory into award-winning success stories. These case studies are heavily subsidised to run on a not-for-profit basis and will form the backbone of the book, alongside extensive research and expert interviews with senior leaders from some of the world’s most iconic companies.​

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Match Point will create a blueprint for strategic leadership in the AI age, backed by rigorous evidence, the smartest voices from the field, and proof-of-concept case studies.

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About the Authors

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Few voices carry as much weight in the intersection of culture, technology, and strategy as Mark Adams and Kelly Nizolek.

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• Mark, known as “Hollywood’s AI Insider,” has guided over 150 global icons—from Taylor Swift and Tom Cruise to Barack Obama and Buckingham Palace—through the rise of AI. A serial entrepreneur and co-founder of five companies, including Codec.ai and VICE, he has shaped defining moments in culture from the Box Office to the Ballot Box. With 53 Cannes Lions, 37 Emmys, 11 Grammys and 3 Oscar nominations, he advises top celebrities and brands while serving on boards including Gymshark and Headspace.
   

• Kelly Nizolek has been described as one of the hidden architects of modern culture. She has shaped defining cultural moments from the global rise of EDM, to the disruptive ascent of Barstool Sports, to the cult prestige of A24 films. Now she consults directly with the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies, advising leaders on how to stay culturally fluent in an algorithmic age. Her reputation as a strategist rests on a simple truth: she sees cultural match points before others even recognise they exist.​

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Publication Details

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• Title: Match Point – Why Perfect Pairings Outperform Every Strategy In the Age of AI
   

• Authors: Mark Adams & Kelly Nizolek
   

• Publisher: Penguin Random House
   

• Publication Date: September 2026
   

• Formats: Hardcover, ebook, audiobook
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About Penguin Random House

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Penguin Random House is the world’s largest trade book publisher, committed to publishing books that shape culture, advance ideas, and inspire generations of readers.