The Bhutanese Leading the way.
At the Bhutan Echoes, Drukyul’s Literature and Arts Festival 2025, Nicholas Thorne, co-founder and CEO of the US-based AI startup Audos, shared a powerful message about the future of entrepreneurship in an era shaped by artificial intelligence (AI). Speaking with honesty and insight, Thorne reflected on how AI is helping turn business ideas into action faster than ever before, but warned that creativity and real-world engagement remain more important than ever.
“It’s been a beautiful experience being here in Bhutan,” Thorne said. “I am incredibly grateful to Her Majesty the Queen Mother, the festival organizers, and the US Embassy for making this possible. It has been inspiring to not only speak but to listen, observe, and learn from the conversations happening here.”
Thorne explained how Audos was born out of over a decade of experience working with early-stage entrepreneurs. After 2020, his team began experimenting with AI tools and open-source models to help founders move quickly from idea to market. The result is a platform that provides both AI agents and capital to help entrepreneurs launch AI-powered startups. “Over 60% of people have business ideas, but less than 10% act on them. We want to close that gap,” he said. “AI can help reduce friction in those early stages. It is not about doing the work for you, but helping you get to your first customer faster.”
While Thorne championed AI’s ability to move fast, he emphasized the danger of falling into “AI theatre” where founders feel productive by generating content and building websites, but never take the vital step of testing their ideas in the real world. “A business is not a logo or a landing page. It is about solving real problems for real people. That only happens when you put your ideas in front of others,” he said. “If you’re not talking to customers, you’re not in business, you’re rehearsing.”
He also addressed common fears about AI reducing creativity. “If you just go with what the AI gives you, you will get average results. But that forces you to ask: where does my creativity matter most? That is where you should focus. Whether it is designing a headline, writing the first paragraph, or shaping the product, your voice matters.”
During a separate interview at the festival, two students from Babesa Higher Secondary School, Pema Choden and Jampel Wangdi, added their own perspectives to the growing conversation around AI and entrepreneurship. Pema Choden shared that while AI has made it easier to explore new ideas, she sometimes wonders if students are becoming too dependent on it. “It helps us generate ideas quickly, but sometimes I feel like we’re thinking less for ourselves,” she said.
Jampel Wangdi raised a deeper concern around data privacy and originality. “When we share our ideas with AI tools, are we still the owners of those ideas?” he asked. “As young people hoping to build something one day, we worry that what we input into AI might be reused or taken without credit.”
Thorne acknowledged such concerns during his talk, noting that most business ideas are not as secret or proprietary as people assume. “It is not the idea itself; it is how fast and how well you act on it. And yes, if you are dealing with something highly sensitive, maybe do not talk to an AI about it. But for most entrepreneurs, sharing ideas helps sharpen them.”
As Bhutan Echoes Literary Festival 2025 brought together voices from across borders and generations, it became clear that the country’s youth are not only embracing emerging technologies but also engaging with them critically. Thorne’s dialogue, paired with reflections from students like Pema and Jampel, highlighted a shared understanding that while AI may power the future, it is still human insight, creativity, and action that will define its purpose
