037 | AI for Entrepreneurs: Boosting Productivity and Innovation

Patrick Longergan [0:06 – 16:44]: Welcome back to the Vital Strategies podcast. I’m your host, Patrick Lonergan, and in today’s episode, we’re diving into a topic that is rapidly transforming the landscape of business artificial intelligence. It’s not just a buzzword, it’s a powerful tool that, when used directly, can propel your business to new heights. We’ll explore how entrepreneurs like you can incorporate AI into your business, share some real life examples from our practice, and discuss what has and hasn’t worked for us. Make sure you stay to the end to hear insights into how we use artificial intelligence in our business and a recap of how this entire episode was created using AI. Let’s dive into the conversation. So what is artificial intelligence? At its core, I refers to the simulation of human intelligence and machines that are programmed to think and learn, from chatbots and virtual assistants to predictive analytics and personalized marketing. AI offers a myriad of possibilities for entrepreneurs. But how can you, a growth minded entrepreneur, leverage AI to enhance your business operations? Let’s start with the basics. Implementing AI in your daily operations. One of the simplest and most impactful ways is through note taking and meeting management. Imagine having an AI powered note taker that can transcribe your meetings, summarize key points, and even identify action items. This not only improves productivity, but also ensures that no important detail is missed. In our practice, we use otter AI, an AI driven note taker, to transcribe and summarize our meetings. It has been a game changer. Our meetings are now more efficient because we can be present in the meeting and not have to worry about catching every detail and action item honor AI gives us a summary of everything from attendees, timeline of events, pain points, and the sentiment of the media. We can easily reference past discussions without having to sift through handwritten notes or saved files. Sephora, a leading beauty retailer, has successfully integrated AI to enhance customer experience both online and in store. They introduced a virtual assistant, Sephora virtual artist, which uses augmented reality to help customers try on makeup virtually. This tool uses AI to analyze facial features and recommend products that best suit the user. Additionally, their chatbot assists customers with product recommendations, booking in store appointments, and answering queries. Sephora’s use of AI showcases how combining AI with augmented reality can create an emergency and interactive customer experience. This not only drives sales, but also reduces returns by helping customers make more informed purchasing decisions. Artificial intelligence also excels in data analysis and decision making. With the vast amount of data businesses generate, analyzing it manually is nearly impossible. Artificial intelligence can sift through data at lightning speed, identifying patterns and insights that can inform strategic decision. We use AI to analyze financial data and market trends, helping us to make informed investment decisions. This has been particularly valuable in optimizing our portfolio management strategies and filtering when reviewing new investment opportunities. Tools like IBM, Watson, and Tableau help us process and visualize complex datasets efficiently. Logistics giant UPS has implemented AI to optimize delivery routes through their Orion system. Orion uses AI to analyze various factors such as traffic conditions, delivery deadlines, and fuel efficiency to determine the most efficient routes for drivers. This has resulted in significant cost savings and reduced environmental impact. UPS example illustrates the importance of operational efficiency. By leveraging AI for route optimization, they have managed to reduce costs, improve delivery times, and minimize their carbon footprint. This is a prime example of how I can streamline operations and drive sustainability. Another powerful application of AI in our practice is through the use of notion AI. We leverage notion AI to help us develop and expand our client experience and integrate new tech strategies into our practice. Notion A I assists us in brainstorming and organizing complex ideas, ensuring that our strategies are innovative and effectively communicating. It helps us structure our thoughts and create comprehensive plans that are easy for our clients to understand and implement. One of the most remarkable examples of AI in action is Spotify’s use of AI to enhance user experience. Spotify uses eye algorithms to analyze users listening habits and preferences. This data is then used to create personalized playlists such as discover weekly and daily mix tailored to individual tastes. The recommendation engine is so effective that it has significantly increased user engagement and retention rates. This case highlights the power of AI in personalization. By leveraging AI to understand anticipate customer needs, Spotify has created a more engaging and satisfying user experience, which translates into higher customer loyalty and lifetime value. Of course, not everything we tried worked perfectly right out of the gate. One of our early attempts at using AI was asking it a number of questions to find out what kind of content it would give us. One question we asked. It was to give us a unique investment strategy. We quickly found out it can create humorous errors. The I generated message recommended investing in Pete Rocks as a viable financial strategy. We laughed it off and learned to always review and refine AI generated content in a real life example where the power of AI not working as intended had disastrous consequences. In 2013, an eye algorithm used by the investment firm NightCapital went haywire, causing a massive trading glitch. The algorithm started buying and selling stocks at lightning speed, creating chaos in the stock market. Within just 45 minutes, the rogue algorithm had made 4 million trades on 154 different stocks resulting in a staggering $440 million loss for Knight Capital. The company’s frantic attempts to halt the AI’s trading spree were too slow to prevent the financial disaster, which led to the firm needing emergency funding to stay afloat. This incident became a notorious example of how AI errors can have dramatic and costly consequences in finance. In our practice, we found several innovative ways to use AI to enhance our operations and client interactions. First, we use AI to help us understand complex tax, legal, and financial issues. By asking questions and refining those questions using tools like Chachfora, we can gain a deeper understanding of these issues. This understanding is then validated with our planning partners to ensure accuracy and reliability. Second, I assist us in brainstorming effective ways to communicate ideas to our client. It helps us craft messages that are succinct and clear, making complex information more accessible and easier to understand. Third, we utilize AI to understand the key issues facing our clients. By analyzing data and trends, I helps us identify common challenges and areas where our clients need support. This enables us to deliver targeted solutions that address these specific issues. Now you might be wondering how small businesses can take advantage of AE. The good news is that itechnology is becoming more accessible and affordable. Here are some practical applications and opportunities for small businesses. Customer service implementing chatbots to handle fakes and basic inquiries can significantly reduce the workload on your customer service team and provide instant responses to customers. Marketing automation use AI tools to automate email marketing campaigns, social media posting, and targeted advertising. These tools can help you reach the right audience with the right message at the right time. Inventory management a I can predict inventory needs based on sales data, trends and seasonal fluctuations, helping small businesses avoid overstocking or stock up. Personalized shopping experiences, AI driven product recommendations, and personalized marketing can enhance the customer experience, leading to higher sales and customer loyalty. The opportunity for small businesses lies in leveraging AI to improve efficiency, enhance customer experience, and make data driven decision. As itechnology continues to evolve, the barriers to entry are lowering, making it an opportune time for small businesses to start integrating AI into their operation. Tools like Hootsuite, Mailchimp, and Google Analytics are excellent starting points for small businesses looking to integrate AIH. While I offers numerous benefits, it’s important to recognize that, like any tool, it has potential downsides. If not used carefully, I should be seen as a tool similar to social media. It can be incredibly powerful, but also comes with risks. Lee Yearsley gave a thought provoking TED talk where he discussed an AI project called Sandy. Sandy was an virtual assistant designed to create relationships with users. However, the team had to shut Sandy down because she was forming relationships with humans that werent healthy. Users were becoming overly dependent on sandy, blurring the lines between human and machine interaction. This case serves as a cautionary tale about the ethical considerations and potential psychological impacts of AI as businesses. Its crucial to ensure that AI is used responsibly and that there are safeguards in place to prevent misuse. I should enhance human capabilities, not replace or negatively impact human relationships and well being. Additionally, Elon Musk, a prominent figure in the tech world, has voiced concerns about AI. He believes that while AE has tremendous potential, it also poses significant risks if not regulated and controlled properly. Musk has warned about the potential for AI to become more intelligent than humans and the risks associated with autonomous decision making system. He advocates for proactive regulation and careful oversight to ensure that AI development prioritizes safety and ethical considerations. For those of you looking to take AI integration to the next level, consider advanced applications such as predictive analytics for financial forecasting or Aihdenhe driven cybersecurity to protect sensitive data. These applications can provide a competitive edge in today’s fast paced market. In the healthcare sector, EBM’s Watson has been a game changer. Watson uses AI to analyze medical data and assist in diagnosing diseases. For example, it can analyze vast amounts of medical literature and patient data to help doctors identify the most effective treatment options for cancer. This not only improves diagnostic accuracy, but also speeds up the process, allowing for quicker and more effective treatment. EBM Watson demonstrates how AI can enhance decision making processes by providing insights that might be missed by human analysis alone. This has enormous potential in fields that require processing large volumes of complex data such as healthcare, finance, and legal services. Looking ahead the potential of AI is boundless, from automating routine tasks to providing deep insights that drive strategic decisions. I I can be a powerful ally in growing your business. The key is to start small, learn from each implementation, and gradually scale up as you become more comfortable with the technology. Amazon uses a extensively for predictive analytics to forecast demand and manage inventory. Their systems analyze purchasing patterns, seasonal trends, and market conditions to predict which products will be in demand and when. This allows Amazon to optimize stock levels, reduce storage costs, and ensure products are available when customers need them. Amazon’s success with AI driven predictive analytics underscores the value of anticipating market trend. Accurate demand forecasting can lead to better inventory management, reducing costs, and improving customer satisfaction by ensuring timely product availability. If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a few episodes you probably noticed that my voice was a little different this episode. We decided to create an episode completely AI generated to show the abilities that AI has. AI is rapidly evolving as a tool that is going to continue to have practical application for businesses. Everything from the content to my voice was 100% done by AIh. Here’s how we did it. First off, we took the raw recordings of the podcast and used descript to create a transcript of all my podcast episodes. So far, our recording software breaks the recordings into separate tracks for each person on the podcast, so it was easy to just upload my audio. Then we took those transcripts and uploaded them to chatgpt 4.0 so it knows my speaking style, tone, personality, vocabulary, syntax, and even my unique experiences. From there, we asked chat GPT to create a ten to 15 minutes podcast episode using my quote unquote voice and have it focus on how entrepreneurs can incorporate AI into their businesses and how we’ve utilized it in our practice. I also gave it specific examples of how we use AI to make sure those were included. After giving it a few additional prompts to fine tune the transcript, we needed AI to speak, so we had audio to upload. We wanted AI to use my actual voice. To read the transcript, we utilized a service called resemble AI. I uploaded a raw audio file from a previous podcast recording, and it took that file and created a hyper realistic clone of my voice that is able to not only sound like me, but also use my voice in three different languages if I wanted. After my voice clone was completed, we upload the transcript that we created in chat GPT, and we were ready to go. There are a few small hiccups. Funny enough, the software had a hard time pronouncing the letters AI when they were at the beginning of a sentence and it would pronounce it uh, I almost like I was thinking about something before I started speaking. It also stumbled when reading ups. It pronounced it ups. We had to spell it out phonetically so it would say it properly. Other than those minor issues, it was fairly easy to have AI generate this entire podcast on the value of building AI into your business. It will be fun a year from now to have AI generate another podcast and compare how far the technology has come. Me and my AI companions, thank you for listening to the Vital Strategies podcast. We’ve created a list of the AI tools that we’re using and are aware of@vitalstrategies.com. aI. You can get access to all of those tools. We’ll continue to build out this list as we become aware of more tools that are useful for growing and scaling your business again, go to vitalstrategies.com AI to get access to all the AI tools that we’re aware of. I want to remind you to rate and review the Vital Strategies podcast on your favorite platform. Your feedback helps us toward our goal of saving our clients and listeners over $1 billion in taxes. Those dollars are better used in your hands versus the government bureaucracy. Thank you for listening and for being a vital entrepreneur. You are vital because you’re the backbone of our economy, creating opportunities for your employees and driving growth. You’re vital to your family, fostering abundance not only financially, but in all aspects of your life that matter most. Finally, you’re vital to me because you strive to build wealth and make an impact for your business and live a great life.