Episode 88: How Three Sided Cube Is Changing Nonprofits with Sophia “Puff” Story

June 24, 20263 min read

Overview

This episode features Sophia ‘Puff’ Story, Co-Founder of 3 Sided Cube USA, exploring how mission-driven technology and artificial intelligence are reshaping both business and nonprofit sectors. Sophia shares how 3 Sided Cube builds “tech for good” products designed to improve millions of lives, and reflects on their experience using AI to develop a new website, an effort that revealed the continued importance of human judgment.

The discussion turns to the company’s expansion into the US market, driven by strong demand and early revenue traction. Nathan and Sophia then examine the accelerating impact of AI on nonprofits, highlighting both opportunities and challenges in adoption, including governance, compliance, and strategy. Sophia further emphasizes experimentation, clear goal-setting, and measuring success before deploying AI solutions. The episode concludes with a call for nonprofits to embrace risk-taking, continuous learning, and practical AI experimentation to stay relevant in a rapidly evolving landscape!

Cover art for episode 88: How Three Sided Cube Is Changing Nonprofits with Sophia “Puff” Story

Episode highlights

03:21 3 Sided Cube USA and Its Brand
06:26 Expansion to the US Market
11:40 Impact of AI on Business and Nonprofit Sectors
14:58 Challenges and Opportunities in Nonprofit AI Adoption
23:21 The Role of AI in Nonprofit Innovation
34:01 The Behaviors Behind Innovation

Tips and tools to implement today

Hire and develop people who are curious, adaptable, and willing to take risks.
Test one AI use case each week instead of waiting for a perfect strategy.
Clearly identify the challenge before choosing an AI tool.
Set simple metrics to track impact before launching new initiatives.
Encourage teams to try, learn, and iterate quickly.
Treat AI as a co-pilot, not a replacement for decision-making.
Prioritize projects that improve lives and create meaningful outcomes.

Favorite quotes

"There are so many tools and so many updates, and it's overwhelmingly fast in every area." - Sophia 'Puff' Story
"We use AI, yes, but we have embedded AI in terms of our processes and how we operate as an agency, and we are making changes, probably daily in some teams, but weekly, and it's consistent all of this year, definitely. And that feels like the new norm for us." - Sophia 'Puff' Story
"I feel like a lot of people are very hesitant to talk about AI in the not-for-profit space." - Sophia 'Puff' Story
"To get people to openly talk about AI, six, seven months ago, was really hard because people were just very nervous to talk publicly about anything that they may or may not have been doing." - Sophia 'Puff' Story
"The sector is naturally averse to risk. Risk is not a comfortable word or thing to many people in this space. But you have to take risks." - Sophia 'Puff' Story
"You need to have a culture of experimentation and enabling your team to be able to experiment." - Sophia 'Puff' Story
"The only ones that are going to push forward or survive are going to be the ones that take those risks and dip their toe in the water and make sure that they're doing something in this space" - Sophia 'Puff' Story
"Your team will be going to make mistakes, but as long as they're learning from those mistakes, you can move forward, and learn, and hopefully not make those same mistakes again." - Sophia 'Puff' Story