Podcasts about use ai

How Do Top Performers Stay Motivated When Sales Gets Hard? You know the feeling when you close a big deal. The rush. The quiet satisfaction of updating your pipeline. Maybe a quick high-five with your manager. And then, almost immediately, it fades. You're back to cold calls that go unanswered, emails that disappear into inboxes, and prospects who promised they were interested suddenly going silent. In sales, rejection isn't a side effect of the job. It is the job. That reality is exactly why most people don't last in sales. And it's why the people who do last tend to get paid very well. Over the past quarter, we talked with some of the most consistent sales leaders in the business. Here are four moments from the Sales Gravy Podcast that reveal how top performers stay motivated and close more deals, even when the work feels heavy. Find Your Carrot and Make It Specific Will Frattini, VP of Sales at ZoomInfo, keeps a small Christmas ornament on his desk. His daughter gave it to him when she was five. That ornament is his carrot. During a recent podcast conversation, Will explained that when sales gets hard, that ornament reminds him exactly why he keeps pushing. Not in an abstract or inspirational-poster way, but in a deeply personal one. It represents his family, his responsibility, and the future he's building for them. That distinction matters. Many salespeople say they're motivated by family, freedom, or financial security. Those values are real, but on their own, they're often too broad to sustain sales motivation during a brutal stretch of rejection. When you're fifty dials deep with no connects and another demo just canceled, vague motivation doesn't hold up. Will doesn't just think “my family.” He sees a moment, a memory, and a tangible reminder of what's at stake. That specificity gives his motivation weight. Top performers anchor their sales motivation to something concrete and emotionally charged. A down payment they want to make by a certain date. A trip they want to take without checking their bank account. A milestone that matters beyond quota. The more specific the carrot, the more powerful it becomes when sales gets hard. How to define yours: Write down one specific outcome you want to achieve in the next six months. Not “hit quota,” but the real-world result that quota enables. A number. A purchase. An experience. Put it somewhere you'll see it every day. Work With Customers Who Actually Value You One of the fastest ways to drain sales motivation is closing deals with customers who make you miserable. On an episode of Ask Jeb, Jeb broke down how companies grow faster by focusing on the right customers, not just more customers. When you're behind on quota late in the year, it's tempting to take anything that looks like revenue. Any company that shows interest. Any prospect willing to meet. You convince yourself that a deal is a deal. Then January arrives. That customer floods your team with support tickets, questions every invoice, demands exceptions, and slowly erodes the satisfaction of the win you celebrated just weeks earlier. Consistent performers learn to protect their energy. They get ruthless about fit. Not just company size or industry, but values. They ask questions like, “What do you value most in a partner?” and they listen carefully to the answer. Some buyers want constant responsiveness. Others value expert perspective and challenge. Some want efficiency and minimal interaction. None of those preferences are wrong. But only one aligns with how you actually sell. When sales gets hard, motivation comes easier when you're pursuing customers who respect your approach instead of fighting it. How to clarify your ideal customer: Look at your three favorite customers. The ones your entire team enjoys working with. What do they share beyond surface-level traits? How did they behave during the buying process? Those patterns matter more than any firmographic filter. Slow Down Before You Create Your Own Problems When pressure builds, speed starts to feel productive. You rush contracts. You promise timelines without checking internally. You say yes to custom requirements because slowing down feels risky. On an episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount, Jr. shared one of the most painful stories we heard this year. A $1.4 million deal with a pediatrics practice unraveled after someone rushed the process and placed the client into an early adopter program without a test environment. The result was catastrophic. The client's live system crashed, HIPAA was violated, and the company lost not only the deal but $600,000 in annual recurring revenue. Top performers understand something most reps learn the hard way: smooth is fast. They build guardrails around high-risk moments. Before sending a contract, they align internally. Before committing to timelines, they check with the people who actually do the work. Slowing down at the right moments builds trust. It prevents chaos. And it preserves sales motivation by keeping you from spending the next quarter cleaning up mistakes made under pressure. How to build a slowdown system: Identify the three points in your sales process where you tend to rush. Proposals, negotiations, technical commitments. Create a short checklist for each and make it mandatory. Use AI to Think Faster, Not to Stop Thinking Sales demands constant context switching. Pipeline reviews. Prospect research. Discovery prep. Follow-up. Objection handling. The mental load adds up quickly. Victor Antonio recently shared an example of a window company using vision AI to diagnose broken window seals from photos. Instead of sending a technician, customers submit an image. The system verifies the issue, checks inventory, confirms warranty status, and schedules service automatically. AI hasn't changed what strong salespeople do. It's changed how quickly they get to the work that actually matters. Top performers use AI to handle tasks that drain energy but don't require judgment. Research summaries. Organizing notes. Drafting frameworks. That speed preserves mental bandwidth for conversations, strategy, and relationship building. Used correctly, AI supports sales motivation by reducing friction, not replacing effort. How to use AI without dulling your edge: List the tasks you repeat weekly that consume time but not insight. Let AI handle those. Keep anything involving trust, nuance, or decision-making firmly in your hands. Why This Matters for Sales Motivation Sales has always been hard. Cold calling was hard decades ago, and it's still hard today. You still have to find people, start conversations, build trust, and ask for commitments. What separates average reps from consistent performers isn't resilience alone. It's structure. Top performers know exactly what they're chasing and why it matters. They protect themselves from bad-fit customers. They slow down when it counts. And they use tools strategically to preserve energy for selling. They still get rejected. They still lose deals. They still have months where nothing goes right. But they don't drift. They don't panic. And they don't quit when the work gets uncomfortable. That discipline is what sustains sales motivation long after the initial excitement wears off. If you want a clearer target to aim at when sales gets hard, download the FREE Sales Gravy Goal Guide. It will help you define the goals that actually keep you focused, disciplined, and motivated—especially when rejection starts piling up.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Business Brain, you explore how tools like Perplexity and Manus AI can move you from scattered ideas to clear execution. You see how AI helps you design a professional development plan, clarify complex concepts before implementation, and even generate a forward-looking review of your year. The focus is on using AI as a thinking partner—one that sharpens your strategy instead of replacing it. You also learn how to combine AI tools to build practical systems, including custom dashboards that surface what actually matters in your business. By asking better prompts and layering tools intelligently, you turn AI into leverage, not noise. The result is smarter decisions, faster learning, and a more intentional path toward a truly Charmed Life. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #713 for Casual FridAI, December 26th, 2025 December 24th: National Candy Cane Day 00:00:59 Ed-Perplexity helped me come up with a professional development training plan 00:02:50 Combining AI Lessons: Having ChatGPT explain the concepts before implementing the fix 00:05:29 Prompt-Give me my ChatGPT 2025 year is review 00:08:47 SPONSOR: Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at https://www.rula.com/businessbrain/ #rulapod 00:10:30 Use AI to create a custom dashboard for your business Manus AI 00:20:26 Business Brain 713 Outtro Tell Your Friends! Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI – Building with Perplexity + Manus AI – Business Brain 713 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Host Susan Diaz sits down with sales strategist Gazzy Amin, founder of Sales Beyond Scripts, to talk about the real ways AI is changing revenue, planning, and scale. They cover AI as a thinking partner, how to use it across departments in a small business, why audits matter more than hype, and how mindset quietly determines whether you treat AI as a threat or an advantage. Episode summary This episode is part of Susan's 30-episodes-in-30-days "podcast to book" sprint for Swan Dive Backwards. Susan and Gazzy zoom in on the selling process first. Then they zoom out to the whole business. They talk about three camps of AI users (anti, curious, invested), and why the curious group has a huge edge right now. Gazzy shares how she uses AI as a co-pilot across marketing, sales, and operations. Not just for captions. For thinking, planning, campaign creation, and building repeatable systems. They also go into mindset. Gazzy's approach is clear: protect your mental real estate. Don't let recession talk, doom narratives, or fear-based chatter shape your decisions. Use AI to help you widen perspective, challenge limiting beliefs, and plan like a CEO. Key takeaways AI is more than a copywriting tool. It's a strategic brainstorming partner that reduces burnout and speeds up decision-making. If you want to scale, map your departments and ask AI how it can support each one. Marketing, sales, finance, operations, hiring, delivery, and client experience. Do a year-end audit before you set new goals. Feed AI your revenue data, launches, offers, and calendar patterns. Then let it ask you smart questions you wouldn't think to ask yourself. AI doesn't erase experts. It raises your baseline. You show up to expert conversations more informed, so you can go deeper faster. Documentation and playbooks become an unfair advantage. When knowledge lives only in your head, your business is fragile. AI helps you turn what's in your brain into systems other people can run. Scale is doing more with less. AI can increase output without needing to triple headcount, if you're intentional about workflows and training your team. Women have a big opportunity here. AI can reduce the invisible workload, expand access to expert-level thinking, and help women-led businesses grow faster - if women stay in the conversation and keep learning. Timestamps  00:00 — Susan introduces the 30-day podcast-to-book sprint and today's guest, Gazzy Amin 01:10 — The three types of entrepreneurs using AI (anti / curious / invested) 02:10 — AI as a thinking partner vs a task-doer 03:50 — Why most people don't yet grasp AI's full capability (and why curiosity matters) 05:00 — Using AI for personal life tasks as a low-pressure entry point 06:46 — Recession narratives, standing out, and using AI to challenge limiting beliefs 07:40 — "Create an AI per department" and train it for specific use cases 09:10 — The opportunity window: access to expertise that used to cost tens of thousands 10:10 — The 2025 audit: asking AI to interview you and pull out patterns 12:55 — Will AI devalue experts? Why the human layer still matters 16:45 — How AI changes your conversations with experts (you go deeper, faster) 18:20 — Mindset tools: music, movement, and protecting your "mental real estate" 21:00 — Documentation, playbooks, and why small teams need systems 24:00 — Training AI on your real sales process to improve onboarding + client experience 27:20 — Do AI-enabled businesses become more valuable? Scale, output, and leverage 30:00 — Why people default to content (and how to make AI content actually sound like you) 34:15 — Women, AI, the wage gap, and why this moment is non-negotiable 40:00 — Gazzy shares her CEO Growth Plan Intensives and how she uses AI in sessions 42:55 — Where to connect with Gazzy (Instagram + LinkedIn) Guest info Gazzy AminFounder, Sales Beyond Scripts Best place to connect: Instagram (behind-the-scenes and real-time business building) - https://www.instagram.com/authenticgazzy/ If you want to use AI to scale in 2026, start here: Run a 2025 audit with AI. Pick one department and ask AI how to improve that workflow. Document one process that currently lives only in your head.   Connect with Susan Diaz on LinkedIn to get a conversation started. Agile teams move fast. Grab our 10 AI Deep Research Prompts to see how proven frameworks can unlock clarity in hours, not months. Find the prompt pack here.

Technology doesn’t have to be flashy to be powerful. In this Good Tech Highlights edition, The Afternoon Update's Lynlee Foo and producer Nazirul Asrar reflect on three standout conversations that show how technology, when guided by purpose, can genuinely improve lives in Singapore. From assistive wearable technology designed to support people with visual impairment, to a home-grown AI medical scribe built to ease doctors’ workloads, and an education-focused AI tool helping students think more critically - these innovations share one thing in common: they start with real human problems.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

#727 Are you overlooking the best places to find top talent? In this episode hosted by Kirsten Tyrrel, we're joined by Jessica Miller-Merrell, a trailblazer in digital recruiting who's been using social media and blogs to source candidates since the early 2000s. Jessica breaks down exactly how business owners can leverage their existing digital assets — like newsletters, blogs, and social media — to attract high-quality applicants without spending a fortune on job boards. She also shares her personal journey from corporate HR to building a thriving consultancy, revealing lessons learned along the way. You'll discover practical tips on setting up applicant tracking systems, measuring the success of your job postings, and using AI tools to streamline the process and stay compliant with employment laws. If you're ready to stop sifting through unqualified candidates and start building your dream team, this episode is packed with actionable insights you won't want to miss! (Original Air Date - 5/11/25) What we discuss with Jessica: + Leveraging digital assets for recruiting + Posting jobs in Facebook groups + Using newsletters and blogs for hiring + Setting up applicant tracking systems + Benefits of Google Analytics for hiring + Avoiding compliance pitfalls in recruiting + How AI is changing talent acquisition + Tips for writing clear job descriptions + Best practices for onboarding virtual assistants + Creating systems to automate recruitment Thank you, Jessica! Check out Workology at ⁠Workology.com⁠. Follow Jessica on ⁠Facebook⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠LinkedIn⁠, and ⁠YouTube⁠. Watch the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠video podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ of this episode! To get access to our FREE Business Training course go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠MillionaireUniversity.com/training⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To get exclusive offers mentioned in this episode and to support the show, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠millionaireuniversity.com/sponsors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Technology is reshaping the world at a pace few people, inside or outside the industry, expected. But every so often, you meet someone who has not only witnessed the major waves of technological change, but helped build them. In this conversation, Marcus Fontoura, Technical Fellow and Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, CTO for Azure Core, walks us through the story of AI, what leaders are getting wrong, and how to develop the one thing that will matter more than any model or algorithm: human agency. Marcus has lived through every major inflection point: early search, the rise of cloud computing, and now large-scale AI systems. One of the first things he challenges is the popular narrative that we are heading toward an AI apocalypse, or an AI utopia. Both extremes, he explains, miss the point: "My approach was more like, let me just explain what the technology is and what it does… it's basically a prediction system." Marcus offers a clear explanation of modern AI. He compares today's large models to a system that has: "Read nonstop for fifty thousand years… with near perfect memory." But this doesn't make AI a mastermind. It makes it a stochastic parrot, extraordinarily capable, but not self-directed. He also emphasizes that while AI will automate the mechanical layers of work, it will amplify, not replace, the leaders who know how to think: "If your job is typing in a spreadsheet… then I would feel scared. But if you have the knowledge and experience to really add value, I wouldn't feel scared." His point is: the danger isn't AI. The danger is becoming someone who only performs tasks AI can do. We also cover the uncomfortable but increasingly visible trend: people relying on AI so heavily that they lose their independent critical-thinking muscles. Marcus acknowledges the risk: "That is a little bit concerning… we will see good uses of technology and uses we don't want to happen." He stresses that organizations must raise the bar for juniors, not lower it, and that AI helps experts more than novices: "More experienced folks already know what to expect… junior employees may not know what is correct or incorrect." This is one of the most important insights in the entire episode: AI accelerates expertise; it does not create it. On hallucinations, Marcus is exceptionally candid: "The more we use it, the more you have techniques to avoid it… but we have to double-check those things." On leaders fearing displacement: "Use AI in a way that amplifies your skills… automate the mechanical tasks and focus on what only humans can do." And on what truly matters in this moment of technological upheaval: "Technology shouldn't influence us. We should influence what we want to see in our society." And he gave a useful explanation of the names of ChatGPT models: "When you say that bigger AI models, when you move from ChatGPT three to four, four to five, basically these models have more parameters. So this means that you read a lot more, but also you memorize a lot more." This conversation is a reminder that the most important focus should not be AI, it's the leader using AI with judgment, clarity, and agency.   Get Marcus's book, Human Agency in a Digital World, here: https://shorturl.at/v0lo8   Claim your free gift: Free gift #1 McKinsey & BCG winning resume www.FIRMSconsulting.com/resumePDF Free gift #2 Breakthrough Decisions Guide with 25 AI Prompts www.FIRMSconsulting.com/decisions Free gift #3 Five Reasons Why People Ignore Somebody www.FIRMSconsulting.com/owntheroom Free gift #4 Access episode 1 from Build a Consulting Firm, Level 1 www.FIRMSconsulting.com/build Free gift #5 The Overall Approach used in well-managed strategy studies www.FIRMSconsulting.com/OverallApproach Free gift #6 Get a copy of Nine Leaders in Action, a book we co-authored with some of our clients: www.FIRMSconsulting.com/gift

Send us a textWhat does it take to turn three‑a‑day shed builds into a software platform that runs an entire industry? We sit down with Jason Graber to unpack that journey—starting in a Pickens, South Carolina shop and scaling to Shed Suite's vision of becoming the operating system for shed and carport businesses. Jason shares why you don't need to be a programmer to build meaningful software, how to turn field pain into product clarity, and why systems—not endless processes—unlock speed as you grow.We get tactical about the playbook: do the hard work manually first, then automate what you fully understand. Use AI not as a search engine, but as a thought partner to sharpen requirements, surface edge cases, and accelerate decision quality. From dispatch to e‑commerce and dealer management, we explore how openness and reliability beat feature lists, and why the true moat is a team's ability to innovate precisely and support customers relentlessly.You'll also hear what's next. Shed Suite is pushing into CAD‑driven configuration, material resource planning, and real per‑shed cost accounting—modeling components, labor, and consumption timing to deliver automatic job costing at scale. On the rental side, RTO Suite aims to replace legacy tools with an open API approach that closes the lifecycle loop: delivery, returns, repos, and resale routed cleanly through driver apps and inventory. Add in pragmatic features like order mapping for sharper marketing, and a services arm reserved for existing customers, and you get a focused path to modernize without chaos.If you lead a shed brand, carport operation, or RTO provider, this conversation offers a practical roadmap: think in systems, measure what matters, build for openness, and let innovation—not noise—set your pace. Subscribe, share this with a teammate who owns operations or finance, and leave a review telling us which workflow you're automating next.For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.Would you like to receive our weekly newsletter?  Sign up here.Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at the handle @shedgeekpodcast.To be a guest on the Shed Geek Podcast visit our website and fill out the "Contact Us" form.To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.This episodes Sponsors:Studio Sponsor: Shed ProThree Oaks Trading CoNewFound SolutionsCardinal ManufacturingShed Suite

Payers are increasingly using AI to scan claims, flag anomalies, and trigger denials or audits automatically—often without transparency and long before anyone on the hospital side understands what happened. As these systems accelerate, hospitals face growing exposure, especially when documentation, data flow, and internal AI tools aren't aligned with how payer models interpret clinical and financial information. This session unpacks the mechanics behind automated decision-making, why even accurate claims can be flagged, and how missing audit trails or inconsistent documentation can undermine appeals. Find all of our network podcasts on your favorite podcast platforms and be sure to subscribe and like us. Learn more at www.healthcarenowradio.com/listen/

AI has exploded in the business world, and most founders are still confused about how to actually use it. In this episode, Melissa breaks down what AI is good at, where it completely falls apart, and how small business owners can integrate it without chaos, overwhelm, or bad decisions.Drawing from decades of experience in machine learning and automation (long before “AI” was a buzzword), Melissa shares the four categories of work AI excels at, the strategic functions it will never replace, and why your operational foundations matter more than any tool.You'll learn:The real emotional and operational challenges founders face with AIWhat AI can actually do well: admin, content support, customer ops, light analyticsThe human functions AI will never replace: strategy, prioritization, leadership, accountability Melissa's Founder–COO–AI Triangle for using AI the right way in 2026 A simple readiness checklist before integrating any AI into your businessThe biggest integration mistakes small businesses make and how to avoid them Melissa closes with a reminder:AI isn't a system—it's a tool. If you're overwhelmed, you don't have a tech problem. You have an operations problem.Ready to build stronger systems and integrate AI the smart way? Book a consultation at https://www.melissafranks.com/fractionalcooservicesConnect with Melissa: Watch the Episodes on Youtube Instagram: instagram.com/melissa_franks Schedule a call: melissafranks.com

Drawing parallels to the classic film "The Matrix," today Neil explores how AI can streamline hosting tasks, enhance guest communication, optimise pricing, and improve property listings. He shares five key ways AI can elevate your hosting experience, from crafting engaging descriptions to automating guest messaging and managing operations efficiently. KEY TAKEAWAYS Utilise AI to create engaging and dynamic property descriptions that capture the unique aspects of your space, making it more appealing to potential guests. Implement AI-powered messaging tools to automate responses to common guest inquiries, ensuring timely and consistent communication without the need for constant monitoring. Leverage AI-driven pricing tools that analyse market trends and adjust your rates in real-time, helping you maximise occupancy and revenue based on demand fluctuations. Use AI to manage operational tasks such as coordinating cleaning schedules, tracking supplies, and maintaining communication with your team, leading to smoother workflows and better guest experiences. Employ AI to improve your property photos by enhancing lighting and colours, ensuring that your images accurately represent your space and attract more guests. BEST MOMENTS "AI can help you rewrite your entire listing in a way that actually sounds engaging." "AI messaging frees you from living like that and gives you breathing room." "AI-powered pricing tools let you see the pattern beneath these fluctuations." "Smooth operations equals five-star reviews and five-star reviews equals more bookings." "AI does not replace you. It augments you." CONTACT DETAILS Visit Neil's Airbnb https://bit.ly/SuperhostNeil Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/superhostneil/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SuperhostNeil TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@superhostneil Email: SuperhostNeil@gmail.com ABOUT THE HOST Neil has led a fulfilled and unconventional life, navigating an extraordinary journey from the Royal Navy to prop-making in London's West End theatres. Born into a military family, it was a twist of fate which led him to the theatre, where he contributed to iconic productions such as Phantom of the Opera. Eventually, Neil transitioned to Corporate Event Team Building, eventually founding his own venture in 1999. Financial challenges in 2017 are what prompted a strategic shift to Airbnb hosting, proving a reliable backup income. By 2021, Neil and his business partner triumphed over significant debt, fuelled by their resilience and the success of Neil's Airbnb venture. Now, Neil has left the corporate world behind, thriving solely through his flourishing Airbnb endeavours. ABOUT THE SHOW Welcome to "The Airbnb Superhost," your ultimate guide to mastering the art of hosting on Airbnb. In each concise 15-minute episode, Neil will reveal the secrets to creating unforgettable guest experiences and maximizing the potential of your property, drawing on over 9 consecutive years as a qualifying Airbnb Superhost. With a focus on 3 specific aspects of running an Airbnb business; the host, the property, and Airbnb itself, Neil provides step-by-step guidance on everything from ambience creation to effective communication. In each episode, a Superhost Secret will help you elevate your hosting game and keep guests coming back for more. Whether you're a seasoned host or just starting out, Neil's actionable tips and tricks will help you become a hospitality superstar. Disclaimer: The Airbnb Superhost is in no way affiliated with Airbnb. All ideas, thoughts, concepts and data presented in this podcast are entirely Neil's own and do not represent the views of Airbnb. This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

Most people jump into AI because it's "cool," "new," or "everyone is using it"… and they end up wasting hours going down rabbit holes with no meaningful results. Igor explains why this happens and how you can avoid it by adopting a goal-oriented approach.

Send us a textAre You the Bottleneck in Your Own Business... Again?Every December, ambitious founders hit the same wall: doing too much, too late again. But what if your year-end chaos didn't start this month? What if it started in August with the delegation conversation you never had?In this episode, Dawn gets real about the real reason you're overwhelmed in December, and it's not your team, your calendar, or your perfectionism. It's your avoidance of feedback. She reveals how AI can help you fix it, and why the solution isn't better time management, it's braver leadership.This episode will punch you in the truth and then hand you the exact tool to finally break the cycle.Download The Feedback Fix. Give feedback that actually lands, no emotional spirals, no overthinking. This free guide will help you coach your team through the “not quite right” moments before they turn into a December disaster.Get it now and start leading like it's August even in December.Key Takeaways:Your burnout isn't a time issue. It's a feedback issue. The delegation you skipped in August is now biting you in December.You're not a perfectionist. You're avoiding conflict. Avoiding feedback conversations now leads to resentment and overwhelm later.AI exposes bottlenecks. It can draft briefs, gift lists, and emails,  but if only you can send them, you're the problem.Brave leadership starts with a single question: What conversation did I avoid in August that's costing me now?Your team doesn't need perfect. They need clarity. Build a delegation brief with AI to hand off better next year.Resources & LinksThe Feedback Fix – Free GuideAI for Founders Playbook – Toolkits & TemplatesRelated Episodes:112 | The 4‑Stage AI Process Female Founders Use to Stop Losing 10 Hours Each Week Answering Questions Their Team Should Own — builds on delegation, team autonomy, and reducing founder bottlenecks110 | 3 Custom GPTs That Save Female Founders 16 Hours a Week (+ Build Your First in 10 Minutes) — tactical time‑saving tools founders can build with AI.108 | 3 AI Systems That Help Female Founders Manage Time, Clients, and Business During the Holidays — complements the seasonal theme of your episode with AI systems for holiday productivity.Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “She's That Founder” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.

Most people jump into AI because it's "cool," "new," or "everyone is using it"… and they end up wasting hours going down rabbit holes with no meaningful results. Igor explains why this happens and how you can avoid it by adopting a goal-oriented approach.

Is Your Marketing Career Safe from AI? Ryan Law's 6-Point Defense PlanSam Altman predicts that 95% of what marketers do will eventually be handled by AI, and Microsoft claims that copywriters are at the top of the replacement list. So, is your marketing career in trouble?To answer this, we sat down with Ryan Law, our Director of Content Marketing. Ryan's been experimenting with AI since the GPT-3 closed beta in 2020 and has developed a concrete plan for not just surviving—but thriving—in the age of AI.In this episode, Ryan breaks down his 6-point defense plan to future-proof your career. We argue about the death of skyscraper content, why taste is more valuable than technical skill, and why marketers need to be more like rockstars.What you'll learn in this episode:(00:00) Intro(00:48) Ryan Law's AI “Origin Story”(04:56) Will AI take your marketing job?(15:10) The Right Way to Use AI in Your Workflow(22:24) Why “Taste” is Your Most Valuable Skill Now(32:00) The Death of Skyscraper Content(41:51) Using AI to Learn New Skills (Like Python)(49:25) Be a Rockstar, Not a Session MusicianWe hope you enjoyed this episode of Ahrefs Podcast! Be sure to like, subscribe, and tell a friend.Where to find Ryan:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkingslow/X: @thinking_slowWhere to find Tim:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timsoulo/X: @timsouloWebsite: https://www.timsoulo.com/Referenced:OpenAI: https://openai.com/Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/Seer Interactive: https://www.seerinteractive.com/

Go to www.LearningLeader.com for full show notes This is brought to you by Insight Global. If you need to hire one person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world has the hustle and grit to deliver. My Guest: Nick Gray is the author of The Two-Hour Cocktail Party and founder of Museum Hack. He's mastered the art of hosting events that strengthen networks and build genuine connections. In this conversation, he shares practical systems for hosting gatherings, why every leader needs a personal website, and lessons learned from his viral blind date trip to Tokyo. The Learning Leader Show Key Learnings Two Great Ice Breaker Questions:  What's a compliment that someone has given you that you've never forgotten about?  If you could teach any class about a topic that you're an expert on, what would it be? The power of a network is real: As a leader, you're probably hiring people regularly or looking for investors. By hosting simple, lightweight meetups or dinner parties, or happy hours once a quarter, you can strengthen your network, build it, and keep those loose connections or weak ties warm. Mix professional and personal contacts: For me, a really boring event would be all work people. Look for occupational diversity. If you're hosting a work event, invite some other random folks who you know are gonna be good conversationalists and add to the energy. Don't reach for the top shelf first. Most important advice for leaders: do not invite your most impressive contact to your very first happy hour or meetup. Your first party should be for your neighbors, the parents of kids at your school, those LinkedIn connections, high school buddies you haven't seen in a while. Your first party should be a comfortable meetup for 15 to 22 people that you host at your home with just cocktails, not a dinner party. Then slowly, once a quarter, you'll be adding more people to it and filtering your list. Collect RSVPs to ensure attendance. New hosts are absolutely terrified that nobody will arrive. As long as you get a minimum of 15 people to show up, your party will generally be a success. Use platforms like Partiful or Mixily (not Paperless Post or Evite) to get people to RSVP, let them know what to expect, and send reminder messages. Ten days before, send a reminder message hyping up the party. About a week before, send another reminder message with a little dossier of who the attendees are. Write something little: "Ryan Hawk hosts a podcast. He wrote a book. He lives in Ohio. Ask him about the ski trip he went on with his family." This serves to make anxious people or socially awkward feel like they're welcome and they have a conversational access point. Practical hosting tips on event day: Label your trash cans and your bathrooms. As people arrive, greet and welcome every single person, and make them a name tag. Write it out right in front of them, first name only. Do not pre-write your name tags. Force collisions through structured activities. Your job as a leader is to go through life collecting the interesting people that you meet and helping them meet each other.  Can you become a connector? One way to be a connector is to host these meetups and force the collisions. Lead two or three rounds of introductions at your meetup. Make a little announcement 30 minutes after it starts: "There are so many interesting people here. I want you all to meet each other. We're gonna split into small groups. It might seem silly, but I promise the purpose tonight is for you to talk to as many new people as possible. We're gonna split into small groups of three or four people, and you're gonna go around and tell your life story in two minutes." End on time, especially for weekday events: Host from 6:30 to 8:30 PM with a hard stop on Tuesday or Wednesday nights. People appreciate having an end time because they have responsibilities. Having that end time makes them more likely to RSVP yes and actually attend. "I get more compliments on my party ending on time, and they leave with a positive experience, so they want to return for another." Why every leader needs a personal website. If you have a blue check verified on Instagram, if you post at least once a month on LinkedIn, you probably need your own personal website. It's proactive reputation management. People are out there searching for you on Google and on ChatGPT. It may not happen every single day, but it probably happens every week. Whether it's parents of your kids at school, whether it's new employees, people are googling you. You want to have a personal website to put your best foot forward and make a good impression. Carrd.co to create a simple homepage or cloudflare to set up your domain name.  Keep it simple: You don't need a Gary Vee type page. Your page can look like a Google Doc. Feed these large language models your story and bio. My website is plain text, simple homepage. I used to have a fancy design site. Now I'm like, dude, it doesn't matter. 80% of my visitors are on their cell phone and just want to read some text and have some links. The tweet from 2024 that changed everything.  The viral Tokyo blind date trip taught me I was ready to share my life with someone. I ended up meeting my wife a couple of months after this experience because I realized I was ready. From a business perspective, one of the most interesting things while that was happening and for about a week afterwards: anyone would accept my phone call. My callbacks were instantaneous. My dial to answer fast. People were reaching out from everywhere. I was like, whoa, is this what it's like to be a celebrity? "I came back to Texas after the trip, ready to truly settle down and find a relationship and meet my now wife." Write like you talk: The best book about storytelling is Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks. Don't try to write a LinkedIn post that says "I'm happy to announce." Would you actually say that to someone? No, you wouldn't. Say it like you talk. Advice on Blind Introductions: Use a double opt-in intro. Reach out to one person first, "Hey, are you taking new clients before I connect you with a friend?" Get both parties' permission, separately - then send the email.  Give yourself a Free Day: Dan Sullivan suggests one free day a quarter from work. Make it a weekday, and even get a burner phone so you can't check your work text/emails, so you're completely disconnected from work.  The keys to being a great host/MC: Priya Parker does such a great job talking about the theory of being a good leader. The host that doesn't do a great job is the one who's too cool to care. Give explicit instructions to people. You are a ring leader for an event, and you're in charge of everyone's energy levels and keeping the show on the road.  Add value before taking value. Never send someone a message, "I'd love to pick your brain," or "I'm looking for a mentor." That is take, take, take. Think about how you can add value first. When you add value first to people, it's some sort of law of reciprocity. They're much more likely to want to help you out or do something in return. Advice for new grads in the AI era: AI and new tools are eating into the ability for companies to hire low-level employees that do grunt work. Learn how to use the tools themselves. Work with small businesses and entrepreneurs where you can make a difference. Develop a writing practice: Matthew Dicks has this activity called Homework for Life where every night you write down some note, some anecdote, something that stuck out for you. It gives you ideas about things to write about. Use AI as an editor, not a writer: Don't outsource your thinking to AI. Use the tools, understand how to use them, but don't outsource your thinking. It'll spit back something decent, but you don't want to outsource your thinking, especially as a leader. Reflection Questions Nick says your first party should be for neighbors, school parents, and LinkedIn connections you haven't seen in a while (not your most impressive contacts). Who are 15-20 people in your life that fall into this "comfortable but haven't connected recently" category that you could invite to a simple cocktail party?   He emphasizes "add value before you take value" and never says "I'd love to pick your brain." Think about someone you want to connect with. What's one specific way you could add value to them first before asking for anything in return?   Nick hosts events once a quarter to keep weak ties warm instead of trying to have individual coffee meetings with everyone. What's one relationship-building activity you're currently doing inefficiently that could be replaced with a group gathering? Additional Learning #663 - Priya Parker: The Art of Gathering #545: Will Guidara: Unreasonable Hospitality #430 - Matthew Dicks: Change Your Life Through The Power Of Storytelling Audio Timestamps 02:06 Icebreakers and Personal Stories 02:55 The Art of Hosting Events 08:27 Practical Tips for Successful Gatherings 20:16 Mastermind Events and Personal Websites 25:36 The Importance of a Personal Website 26:47 Crafting an Engaging Bio 29:27 The Viral Tokyo Trip 37:04 Living an Interesting Life 41:57 The Art of Hosting and MC'ing 44:50 Advice for New Graduates 46:35 The Power of Writing and Storytelling 49:07 EOPC

Here are 3 ways to get more BFU in your life: Claim your FREE copy of Gym Marketing Secrets HERE Follow BFU on Instagram HERE Subscribe to MF's YouTube Channel HERE Are you a gym owner with 30+ clients per month looking to grow in the next 90 days? Then you might just be a few strategies away from adding $5k-$10k/month or more. Book your FREE Brainstorm Call HERE.

(Sorry about the audio quality on this one, it was recorded with the wrong microphone-- this episode is better viewed with screen share on Youtube)Most teams struggle with AI writing tools because they try to use them as a replacement for writers (and they use tools that don't understand the core arguments of what is trying to be said).In this video, Devesh walks through a real example of how he uses our AI writing tool Wave Writer at Grow & Convert to edit and restructure content. You'll see how a rough outline and half-formed ideas can be turned into clear, on-brand draft copy, without losing the core ideas and without hallucinations.The video covers:How outlining arguments first leads to better AI outputHow to speed up the editing and content creation process using Wave WriterWhy writing final prose is the slowest part of content workIf you're responsible for editing content, managing writers, or shaping content strategy, this video shows a practical way to use AI that supports thinking instead of trying to replace it.Check out our product https://www.wavewriter.ai if you're interested in using an AI writing tool that understands your business, key arguments and helps speed up the writing process while keeping content quality high.

UNLOCK THE 13 SYSTEMS EVERY AGENCY OWNER NEEDS TO REACH 8 FIGURES:https://bit.ly/41Sm05NIn this episode, Jordan Ross dives into the transformative role of AI in determining company valuation, especially for marketing agencies. Drawing on insights from a leading M&A broker, Jordan explains why agencies without AI capabilities risk lower market value and how technology is reshaping mergers and acquisitions in the marketing sector.Key topics include the impact of AI on profit margins, client list valuation, investor interest, and M&A activity. If you own or plan to sell a marketing agency, understanding AI isn't optional—it's critical for growth and exit strategies.⏱ Chapters: – Introduction to AI in Agency Operations – The Importance of AI for Business Valuation – How AI Affects Profit Margins – M&A Brokers' Perspective on AI Capabilities – The Role of Client Lists in Acquisitions – Future Trends in Marketing Agency Valuation – AI as a Must-Have for Growth and Exit StrategiesTo learn more go to 8figureagency.co

André, The Impulsive Thinker™ sits down with SaaS coach and pricing strategist Bill Wilson to dig into how ADHD Entrepreneurs can use AI to boost creativity, focus, and workflow—without falling for the hype. Bill shares how AI is more than a passing trend; it's a practical tool that helps ADHD minds brainstorm, organize ideas, and sharpen learning fast. Together, they bust myths, explore real-life automation hacks, and talk barriers like relying too much on the tech. Listen in for solid advice so you can make AI work for your ADHD Entrepreneur journey, your way, at your own pace.  

Using AI and automation isn't just a trend—it's the secret to scaling your business without burning out. In this episode of Walk In Victory, host NaRon Tillman sits down with Dr. Bradford Carlton, business coach and automation expert, to reveal the blueprint for future-proofing your operations.Discover the critical difference between simple automation and true AI agents, and learn how to build an "Executive Assistant Suite" that runs your business for you. Whether you're a solopreneur or running a growing team, this conversation breaks down exactly how to reduce operational costs and reclaim your time. 

Get the Guide to AI Productivity here: https://fos.now/yt-gd-discover-guide-to-ai-productivityDo you want my help systematizing your business? Book a free call here: https://fos.now/yt-apply-558In this video, I break down the AI workflow that powers the core departments of my company. I show you how to unlock an extra 40% of productivity at each step so you can 10x the productivity of your team.You'll see how I use AI projects for Instagram carousels, viral tweets, YouTube scripts, lead magnets, email courses, operations, customer success, and more. This is how you build real leverage in your business.Already doing $30K+/month? Come to my next free workshop and I'll show you how to systemize your business and get your time back → https://fos.now/yt-workshop-558Want to LEARN proven systems to grow your personal brand? Go here: https://fos.now/yt-newsletter-558Want to build the future with us? Apply to Founder OS here: www.founderos.com/careersConnect with me:Website: https://fos.now/yt-founder-os-558Twitter: https://twitter.com/matt_gray_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgray1TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@realmattgrayInstagram: https://instagram.com/matthgray00:00 - Intro00:24 - The Prompts02:08 - Organize Your Systems05:28 - Building Your Project Knowledge09:34 - Projects Instructions + Memory Setup12:37 - Create Project For Every Format14:39 - Team Integration16:07 - Weekly Improvement#onepersonbusiness #creatoreconomy #entrepreneurshipDisclaimer: Information shared here is for educational purposes only. Individuals and business owners should evaluate their own business strategies and identify any potential risks. The information shared here is not a guarantee of success. Your results may vary. This video shares my personal experience and growth building businesses over 15+ years of consistent effort. Your results will vary depending on your own actions, strategies, and circumstances.

“Use AI where it can make a difference to the organization and members.” - Shane ButcherThank you for tuning in to The CUInsight Network, with your host, Robbie Young, Vice President of Strategic Growth at CUInsight. In The CUInsight Network, we take a deeper dive with the thought leaders who support the credit union community. We discuss issues and challenges facing credit unions and identify best practices to learn and grow together.My guest on today's show is Shane Butcher, Chief Operating Officer / Chief Risk Officer at Optiri, a Trellance Company. Shane and I talk about how a teenage dream of becoming a fighter pilot turned into a career spanning the military, IT, operations, and ultimately the credit union space.In our conversation, Shane walks us through the evolution of Optiri and what it means to optimize, refresh, and innovate credit union technology without losing sight of the people whom it's supposed to serve. We talk about why credit unions have unique technology and security needs and how Opitiri focuses on doing the behind-the-scenes work so that credit unions can spend their energy on members.A big part of our conversation, though, is centered around AI as something already embedded in everyday tools. Shane breaks down what credit unions really should be thinking about right now—understanding where their data lives, tightening permissions, updating vendor policies, and choosing intentional use cases instead of chasing every new idea. We also break down how AI is reshaping cybersecurity on both sides, fueling more convincing attacks while also giving defenders faster, smarter ways to respond.As we wrap up the episode, Shane shares some lessons that he learned from a Navy mentor who led through calm problem-solving. He also talks about his love of good restaurants and unique experiences, why he loves Las Vegas, and has a book recommendation for us. Enjoy my conversation with Shane Butcher!

Melanie Smith, Head of Sales Development at Nooks, breaks down the exact systems, metrics, and coaching frameworks she uses to run one of the highest-performing SDR teams in outbound. In this episode, she shares KPI structures, call-block strategy, cold-call skill development, and how leaders can scale connect rates, conversation rates, and meeting production without burning out their reps.

You've probably heard it a thousand times: “Use AI or get left behind.” But if you're a course creator, that advice can feel like a trap, because the fastest way to “use AI” is also the fastest way to sound generic and lose your voice. In this episode, I sit down with Dan Cumberland, who helps founder-led brands scale with AI without losing their soul, and honestly, this conversation felt like a giant exhale. We dig into how to use AI in a way that keeps your content human, especially when it comes to marketing (the place most course creators get stuck). Dan shares a simple framework to help AI actually sound like you, plus practical examples of using AI inside your course experience to support students at a higher level, without turning your brand into “AI slop.” Watch the episode: https://youtu.be/inOBNS15RfQ Dan's Website: https://dancumberlandlabs.com/ Watch the Free Workshop: https://www.theonlinecourseguy.com/workshop Sign up for Jacques' Journal: https://www.theonlinecourseguy.com/Apply for Coaching: https://www.theonlinecourseguy.com/coachingFree Kajabi Course and 1 month Trial: http://everyclickkajabi.com/Free Skool Course and 14 day Trial: https://www.skool.com/refer?ref=c725cf8892fe42c8bb37dd7e5ffc2575Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theonlinecourseguy/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@theonlinecourseguyX: https://twitter.com/onlinecourseguy

*This is a rerun of a previously released episode Geoff Woods is the #1 international bestselling author of The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster Decisions and the founder of AI Leadership and the AI Driven Leadership Collective. As a former Chief Growth Officer of a global company, Geoff brings real-world expertise in using AI to transform how leaders think and make decisions. In this episode, he reveals how AI can serve as a powerful thought partner—enhancing strategic focus, overcoming operational overwhelm, and unlocking breakthrough solutions using his CRIT framework. Tune in to learn how the most effective leaders are leveraging AI to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving business landscape. Today we discussed: 00:00 Start 01:10 Introducing Geoff Woods 01:23 How AI Enhances Leaders Strategic Thinking 03:13 AI as a Thought Partner 04:50 How AI Can Help with Operation Tasks 06:20 Focusing on the 20% 07:56 The C.R.I.T. Framework 13:10 Addressing the AI Culture Shift 16:20 How is AI Changing Decision Making 17:39 What's AI's Role in Leadership 19:26 How to Start Integrating AI Into Your Leadership Practices This episode is brought to you by Duct Tape Marketing. Free Resource for Business Owners: If you're feeling overwhelmed by marketing, don't miss our CEO Sara Nay's new 30-minute workshop: The Clarity Engine. You'll learn a smarter, more strategic approach and get a worksheet to map out your next steps for 2026. Join the workshop & grab your free worksheet - https://dtm.world/clarity Give yourself the gift of clarity in 2026!  

In Episode 449 of the Immigration Lawyers Toolbox® Podcast, John Q. Khosravi, Esq. welcomes back Gianfranco De Girolamo, Esq. to discuss how AI, automation, and human-centered service are reshaping immigration law practice. They cover AI tools for admin and marketing, data centralization, prompt engineering, social media strategy, live video, and why human connection—not machines—will define successful firms in the years ahead. A must-listen for lawyers building future-ready practices. Spotify | iTunes | YouTube Music | YouTube Learn more about Gianfranco's marketing support service: https://nextlevellawyer.com/ Timestamps: 00:00 – Opening 00:33 – Introduction 02:00 – Will AI Replace Immigration Lawyers? 05:01 – The Right Way to Use AI 06:20 – AI for Managers & Leadership 07:36 – Understanding the Nature of AI 09:00 – Does AI Make You Less Intelligent? 10:44 – AI as a Single Source of Truth (Mistake to Avoid) 12:09 – Implementing AI Agents in Your Business 12:42 – The Master Prompt: How to Guide AI Effectively 13:53 – Mid-Episode Break 14:54 – Using AI for Social Media Scriptwriting 16:10 – How AI Multiplies Creativity 17:11 – How Social Media Algorithms Are Changing 18:34 – Why Going Live Still Matters 21:39 – The Impact & Advantages of Going Live 26:48 – AI's Global Impact: A World Wide Open 28:05 – Outro 28:18 – Final Closing Live Consular Processing training for lawyers Dec 18, 10:00–11:45 a.m. PT - NVC packets & DS-260 - Interview prep & follow-up - Timelines, fees, and real-world workflows Register here! Follow eimmigration by Cerenade: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn Start your Business Immigration Practice! (US LAWYERS ONLY - SCREENING REQUIRED): E-2 Course EB-1A Course Get the Toolbox Magazine!  Join our community (Lawyers Only) Get Started in Immigration Law! The Marriage/Family-Based Green Card course is for you Our Website: ImmigrationLawyersToolbox.com Not legal advice. Consult with an Attorney. Attorney Advertisement. #podcaster #Lawyer #ImmigrationLawyer #Interview #Immigration #ImmigrationAttorney #USImmigration #ImmigrationLaw #ImmigrationLawyersToolbox

Why Customer Success Can't Be Automated (And What AI Can Actually Do) In this special year-end episode of the FutureCraft GTM Podcast, hosts Ken Roden and Erin Mills sit down with Amanda Berger, Chief Customer Officer at Employ, to tackle the biggest question facing CS leaders in December 2026: What can AI actually do in customer success, and where do humans remain irreplaceable? Amanda brings 20+ years at the intersection of data and human decision-making—from AI-powered e-commerce personalization at Rich Relevance, to human-led security at HackerOne, to now implementing AI companions for recruiters. Her journey is a masterclass in understanding where the machine ends and the human begins. This conversation delivers hard truths about metrics, change management, and the future of CS roles—plus Amanda's controversial take that "if you don't use AI, AI will take your job." Unpacking the Human vs. Machine Balance in Customer Success Amanda returns with a reality check: AI doesn't understand business outcomes or motivation—humans do. She reveals how her career evolved from philosophy major studying "man versus machine" to implementing AI across radically different contexts (e-commerce, security, recruiting), giving her unique pattern recognition about what AI can genuinely do versus where it consistently fails. The Lagging Indicator Problem: Why NRR, churn, and NPS tell you what already happened (6 months ago) instead of what you can influence. Amanda makes the case for verified outcomes, leading indicators, and real-time CSAT at decision points. The 70% Rule for CS in Sales: Why most churn starts during implementation, not at renewal—and exactly when to bring CS into the deal to prevent it (technical win stage/vendor of choice). Segmentation ≠ Personalization: The jumpsuit story that proves AI is still just sophisticated bucketing, even with all the advances in 2026. True personalization requires understanding context, motivation, and individual goals. The Delegation Framework: Don't ask "what can AI do?" Ask "what parts of my job do I hate?" Delegate the tedious (formatting reports, repetitive emails, data analysis) so humans can focus on what makes them irreplaceable. Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction and AI Updates from Ken & Erin 01:28 - Welcoming Amanda Berger: From Philosophy to Customer Success 03:58 - The Man vs. Machine Question: Where AI Ends and Humans Begin 06:30 - The Jumpsuit Story: Why AI Personalization Is Still Segmentation 09:06 - Why NRR Is a Lagging Indicator (And What to Measure Instead) 12:20 - CSAT as the Most Underrated CS Metric 17:34 - The $4M Vulnerability: House Security Analogy for Attribution 21:15 - Bringing CS Into Sales at 70% Probability (The Non-Negotiable) 25:31 - Getting Customers to Actually Tell You Their Goals 28:21 - AI Companions at Employ: The Recruiting Reality Check 32:50 - The Delegation Mindset: What Parts of Your Job Do You Hate? 36:40 - Making the Case for Humans in an AI-First World 40:15 - The Framework: When to Use Digital vs. Human Touch 43:10 - The 8-Hour Workflow Reduced to 30 Minutes (Real ROI Examples) 45:30 - By 2027: The Hardest CX Role to Hire 47:49 - Lightning Round: Summarization, Implementation, Data Themes 51:09 - Wrap-Up and Key Takeaways Edited Transcript Introduction: Where Does the Machine End and Where Does the Human Begin? Erin Mills: Your career reads like a roadmap of enterprise AI evolution—from AI-powered e-commerce personalization at Rich Relevance, to human-powered collective intelligence at HackerOne, and now augmented recruiting at Employ. This doesn't feel random—it feels intentional. How has this journey shaped your philosophy on where AI belongs in customer experience? Amanda Berger: It goes back even further than that. I started my career in the late '90s in what was first called decision support, then business intelligence. All of this is really just data and how data helps humans make decisions. What's evolved through my career is how quickly we can access data and how spoon-fed those decisions are. Back then, you had to drill around looking for a needle in a haystack. Now, does that needle just pop out at you so you can make decisions based on it? I got bit by the data bug early on, realizing that information is abundant—and it becomes more abundant as the years go on. The way we access that information is the difference between making good business decisions and poor business decisions. In customer success, you realize it's really just about humans helping humans be successful. That convergence of "where's the data, where's the human" has been central to my career. The Jumpsuit Story: Why AI Personalization Is Still Just Segmentation Ken Roden: Back in 2019, you talked about being excited for AI to become truly personal—not segment-based. Flash forward to December 2026. How close are we to actual personalization? Amanda Berger: I don't think we're that close. I'll give you an example. A friend suggested I ask ChatGPT whether I should buy a jumpsuit. So I sent ChatGPT a picture and my measurements. I'm 5'2". ChatGPT's answer? "If you buy it, you should have it tailored." That's segmentation, not personalization. "You're short, so here's an answer for short people." Back in 2019, I was working on e-commerce personalization. If you searched for "black sweater" and I searched for "black sweater," we'd get different results—men's vs. women's. We called it personalization, but it was really segmentation. Fast forward to now. We have exponentially more data and better models, but we're still segmenting and calling it personalization. AI makes segmentation faster and more accessible, but it's still segmentation. Erin Mills: But did you get the jumpsuit? Amanda Berger: (laughs) No, I did not get the jumpsuit. But maybe I will. The Philosophy Degree That Predicted the Future Erin Mills: You started as a philosophy major taking "man versus machine" courses. What would your college self say? And did philosophy prepare you in ways a business degree wouldn't have? Amanda Berger: I actually love my philosophy degree because it really taught me to critically think about issues like this. I don't think I would have known back then that I was thinking about "where does the machine end and where does the human begin"—and that this was going to have so many applicable decision points throughout my career. What you're really learning in philosophy is logical thought process. If this happens, then this. And that's fundamentally the foundation for AI. "If you're short, you should get your outfit tailored." "If you have a customer with predictive churn indicators, you should contact that customer." It's enabling that logical thinking at scale. The Metrics That Actually Matter: Leading vs. Lagging Indicators Erin Mills: You've called NRR, churn rate, and NPS "lagging indicators." That's going to ruffle boardroom feathers. Make the case—what's broken, and what should we replace it with? Amanda Berger: By the time a customer churns or tells you they're gonna churn, it's too late. The best thing you can do is offer them a crazy discount. And when you're doing that, you've already kind of lost. What CS teams really need to be focused on is delivering value. If you deliver value—we all have so many competing things to do—if a SaaS tool is delivering value, you're probably not going to question it. If there's a question about value, then you start introducing lower price or competitors. And especially in enterprise, customers decide way, way before they tell you whether they're gonna pull the technology out. You usually miss the signs. So you've gotta look at leading indicators. What are the signs? And they're different everywhere I've gone. I've worked for companies where if there's a lot of engagement with support, that's a sign customers really care and are trying to make the technology work—it's a good sign, churn risk is low. Other companies I've worked at, when customers are heavily engaged with support, they're frustrated and it's not working—churn risk is high. You've got to do the work to figure out what those churn indicators are and how they factor into leading indicators: Are they achieving verified outcomes? Are they healthy? Are there early risk warnings? CSAT: The Most Underrated Metric Ken Roden: You're passionate about customer satisfaction as a score because it's granular and actionable. Can you share a time where CSAT drove a change and produced a measurable business result? Amanda Berger: I spent a lot of my career in security. And that's tough for attribution. In e-commerce, attribution is clear: Person saw recommendations, put them in cart, bought them. In hiring, their time-to-fill is faster—pretty clear. But in security, it's less clear. I love this example: We all live in houses, right? None of our houses got broken into last night. You don't go to work saying, "I had such a good night because my house didn't get broken into." You just expect that. And when your house didn't get broken into, you don't know what to attribute that to. Was it the locked doors? Alarm system? Dog? Safe neighborhood? That's true with security in general. You have to really think through attribution. Getting that feedback is really important. In surveys we've done, we've gotten actionable feedback. Somebody was able to detect a vulnerability, and we later realized it could have been tied to something that would have cost $4 million to settle. That's the kind of feedback you don't get without really digging around for it. And once you get that once, you're able to tie attribution to other things. Bringing CS Into the Sales Cycle: The 70% Rule Erin Mills: You're a religious believer in bringing CS into the sales cycle. When exactly do you insert CS, and how do you build trust without killing velocity? Amanda Berger: With bigger customers, I like to bring in somebody from CX when the deal is at the technical win stage or 70% probability—vendor of choice stage. Usually it's for one of two reasons: One: If CX is gonna have to scope and deliver, I really like CX to be involved. You should always be part of deciding what you're gonna be accountable to deliver. And I think so much churn actually starts to happen when an implementation goes south before anyone even gets off the ground. Two: In this world of technology, what really differentiates an experience is humans. A lot of our technology is kind of the same. Competitive differentiation is narrower and narrower. But the approach to the humans and the partnership—that really matters. And that can make the difference during a sales cycle. Sometimes I have to convince the sales team this is true. But typically, once I'm able to do that, they want it. Because it does make a big difference. Technology makes us successful, but humans do too. That's part of that balance between what's the machine and what is the human. The Art of Getting Customers to Articulate Their Goals Ken Roden: One challenge CS teams face is getting customers to articulate their goals. Do customers naturally say what they're looking to achieve, or do you have a process to pull it out? Amanda Berger: One challenge is that what a recruiter's goal is might be really different than what the CFO's goal is. Whose outcome is it? One reason you want to get involved during the sales cycle is because customers tell you what they're looking for then. It's very clear. And nothing frustrates a company more than "I told you that, and now you're asking me again? Why don't you just ask the person selling?" That's infuriating. Now, you always have legacy customers where a new CSM comes in and has to figure it out. Sometimes the person you're asking just wants to do their job more efficiently and can't necessarily tie it back to the bigger picture. That's where the art of triangulation and relationships comes in—asking leading discovery questions to understand: What is the business impact really? But if you can't do that as a CS leader, you probably won't be successful and won't retain customers for the long term. AI as Companion, Not Replacement: The Employ Philosophy Erin Mills: At Employ, you're implementing AI companions for recruiters. How do you think about when humans are irreplaceable versus when AI should step in? Amanda Berger: This is controversial because we're talking about hiring, and hiring is so close to people's hearts. That's why we really think about companions. I earnestly hope there's never a world where AI takes over hiring—that's scary. But AI can help companies and recruiters be more efficient. Job seekers are using AI. Recruiters tell me they're getting 200-500% more applicants than before because people are using AI to apply to multiple jobs quickly or modify their resumes. The only way recruiters can keep up is by using AI to sort through that and figure out best fits. So AI is a tool and a friend to that recruiter. But it can't take over the recruiter. The Delegation Framework: What Do You Hate Doing? Ken Roden: How do you position AI as companion rather than threat? Amanda Berger: There's definitely fear. Some is compliance-based—totally justifiable. There's also people worried about AI taking their jobs. I think if you don't use AI, AI is gonna take your job. If you use AI, it's probably not. I've always been a big fan of delegation. In every aspect of my life: If there's something I don't want to do, how can I delegate it? Professionally, I'm not very good at putting together beautiful PowerPoint presentations. I don't want to do it. But AI can do that for me now. Amazingly well. What I'm really bad at is figuring out bullets and formatting. AI does that. So I think about: What are the things I don't want to do? Usually we don't want to do the things we're not very good at or that are tedious. Use AI to do those things so you can focus on the things you're really good at. Maybe what I'm really good at is thinking strategically about engaging customers or articulating a message. I can think about that, but AI can build that PowerPoint. I don't have to think about "does my font match here?" Take the parts of your job that you don't like—sending the same email over and over, formatting things, thinking about icebreaker ideas—leverage AI for that so you can do those things that make you special and make you stand out. The people who can figure that out and leverage it the right way will be incredibly successful. Making the Case to Keep Humans in CS Ken Roden: Leaders face pressure from boards and investors to adopt AI more—potentially leading to roles being cut. How do you make the case for keeping humans as part of customer success? Amanda Berger: AI doesn't understand business outcomes and motivation. It just doesn't. Humans understand that. The key to relationships and outcomes is that understanding. The humanity is really important. At HackerOne, it was basically a human security company. There are millions of hackers who want to identify vulnerabilities before bad actors get to them. There are tons of layers of technology—AI-driven, huge stacks of security technology. And yet no matter what, there's always vulnerabilities that only a human can detect. You want full-stack security solutions—but you have to have that human solution on top of it, or you miss things. That's true with customer success too. There's great tooling that makes it easier to find that needle in the haystack. But once you find it, what do you do? That's where the magic comes in. That's where a human being needs to get involved. Customer success—it is called customer success because it's about success. It's not called customer retention. We do retain through driving success. AI can point out when a customer might not be successful or when there might be an indication of that. But it can't solve that and guide that customer to what they need to be doing to get outcomes that improve their business. What actually makes success is that human element. Without that, we would just be called customer retention. The Framework: When to Use Digital vs. Human Touch Erin Mills: We'd love to get your framework for AI-powered customer experience. How do you make those numbers real for a skeptical CFO? Amanda Berger: It's hard to talk about customer approach without thinking about customer segmentation. It's very different in enterprise versus a scaled model. I've dealt with a lot of scale in my last couple companies. I believe that the things we do to support that long tail—those digital customers—we need to do for all customers. Because while everybody wants human interaction, they don't always want it. Think about: As a person, where do I want to interact digitally with a machine? If it's a bot, I only want to interact with it until it stops giving me good answers. Then I want to say, "Stop, let me talk to an operator." If I can find a document or video that shows me how to do something quickly rather than talking to a human, it's human nature to want to do that. There are obvious limits. If I can change my flight on my phone app, I'm gonna do that rather than stand at a counter. Come back to thinking: As a human, what's the framework for where I need a human to get involved? Second, it's figuring out: How do I predict what's gonna happen with my customers? What are the right ways of looking and saying "this is a risk area"? Creating that framework. Once you've got that down, it's an evolution of combining: Where does the digital interaction start? Where does it stop? What am I looking for that's going to trigger a human interaction? Being able to figure that out and scale that—that's the thing everybody is trying to unlock. The 8-Hour Workflow Reduced to 30 Minutes Erin Mills: You've mentioned turning some workflows from an 8-hour task to 30 minutes. What roles absorbed the time dividend? What were rescoped? Amanda Berger: The roles with a lot of repetition and repetitive writing. AI is incredible when it comes to repetitive writing and templatization. A lot of times that's more in support or managed services functions. And coding—any role where you're coding, compiling code, or checking code. There's so much efficiency AI has already provided. I think less so on the traditional customer success management role. There's definitely efficiencies, but not that dramatic. Where I've seen it be really dramatic is in managed service examples where people are doing repetitive tasks—they have to churn out reports. It's made their jobs so much better. When they provide those services now, they can add so much more value. Rather than thinking about churning out reports, they're able to think about: What's the content in my reports? That's very beneficial for everyone. By 2027: The Hardest CX Role to Hire Erin Mills: Mad Libs time. By 2027, the hardest CX job to hire will be _______ because of _______. Amanda Berger: I think it's like these forward-deployed engineer types of roles. These subject matter experts. One challenge in CS for a while has been: What's the value of my customer success manager? Are they an expert? Or are they revenue-driven? Are they the retention person? There's been an evolution of maybe they need to be the expert. And what does that mean? There'll continue to be evolution on that. And that'll be the hardest role. That standard will be very, very hard. Lightning Round Ken Roden: What's one AI workflow go-to-market teams should try this week? Amanda Berger: Summarization. Put your notes in, get a summary, get the bullets. AI is incredible for that. Ken Roden: What's one role in go-to-market that's underusing AI right now? Amanda Berger: Implementation. Ken Roden: What's a non-obvious AI use case that's already working? Amanda Berger: Data-related. People are still scared to put data in and ask for themes. Putting in data and asking for input on what are the anomalies. Ken Roden: For the go-to-market leader who's not seeing value in AI—what should they start doing differently tomorrow? Amanda Berger: They should start having real conversations about why they're not seeing value. Take a more human-led, empathetic approach to: Why aren't they seeing it? Are they not seeing adoption, or not seeing results? I would guess it's adoption, and then it's drilling into the why. Ken Roden: If you could DM one thing to all go-to-market leaders, what would it be? Amanda Berger: Look at your leading indicators. Don't wait. Understand your customer, be empathetic, try to get results that matter to them. Key Takeaways The Human-AI Balance in Customer Success: AI doesn't understand business outcomes or motivation—humans do. The winning teams use AI to find patterns and predict risk, then deploy humans to understand why it matters and what strategic action to take. The Lagging Indicator Trap: By the time NRR, churn rate, or NPS move, customers decided 6 months ago. Focus on leading indicators you can actually influence: verified outcomes, engagement signals specific to your business, early risk warnings, and real-time CSAT at decision points. The 70% Rule: Bring CS into the sales cycle at the technical win stage (70% probability) for two reasons: (1) CS should scope what they'll be accountable to deliver, and (2) capturing customer goals early prevents the frustrating "I already told your sales rep" moment later. Segmentation ≠ Personalization: AI makes segmentation faster and cheaper, but true personalization requires understanding context, motivation, and individual circumstances. The jumpsuit story proves we're still just sophisticated bucketing, even with 2026's advanced models. The Delegation Framework: Don't ask "what can AI do?" Ask "what parts of my job do I hate?" Delegate the tedious (formatting, repetitive emails, data analysis) so humans can focus on strategy, relationships, and outcomes that only humans can drive. "If You Don't Use AI, AI Will Take Your Job": The people resisting AI out of fear are most at risk. The people using AI to handle drudgery and focusing on what makes them irreplaceable—strategic thinking, relationship-building, understanding nuanced goals—are the future leaders. Customer Success ≠ Customer Retention: The name matters. Your job isn't preventing churn through discounts and extensions. Your job is driving verified business outcomes that make customers want to stay because you're improving their business. Stay Connected To listen to the full episode and stay updated on future episodes, visit the FutureCraft GTM website. Connect with Amanda Berger: Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn Employ Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered advice. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are our own and do not represent those of any company or business we currently work for/with or have worked for/with in the past.

Send us a textThe 12 Days of Christmas series on Clipped continues with another practical tip to help creators work faster without losing their voice. Today is Day 4 of 12, and this episode focuses on using AI as a starting point—not a replacement for your thinking.AI tools are everywhere now, and most creators are already using them in some form. This episode explains how to use AI the right way: for outlines, drafts, research, and idea generation—while still keeping your personality, experience, and point of view front and center.

How are customer expectations evolving when people are talking less, trusting less, and switching brands faster than ever? In this episode, we break down the four major shifts reshaping customer experience in 2026 and why traditional listening tactics are failing right when companies need them most. Our guest is Isabelle Zdatny, Head of Thought Leadership at the Qualtrics XM Institute and co-creator of one of the largest global CX studies in the world. With data from 20,000 consumers across 14 countries, Isabelle reveals the surprising trends leaders cannot afford to overlook and why trust has become the real driver of customer behavior. Chapters 00:00:00 Meet Isabel Zdatny, Head of Thought Leadership at Qualtrics XM Institute 00:04:43 The Surprising State of Customer Experience Heading Into 2026 00:10:44 Why AI-Powered Customer Service Is Failing Customers 00:15:07 How to Use AI to Enhance Rather Than Replace Human Experience 00:19:41 The Silent Customer Crisis: Why Feedback Has Dropped to All-Time Lows 00:25:03 Conversational Surveys and Predictive Models: The Future of Customer Listening 00:34:55 Why Value Alone Won't Keep Customers Loyal in 2026 00:38:18 The Trust Equation: How Economic Uncertainty Changes Customer Behavior 00:42:51 The Personalization Paradox: Consumers Want It But Don't Trust It 00:54:10 What Will Surprise Us Most About 2026: Two Wildly Different Predictions

Dr. Karen Sutherland is a multi-award winning educator and author from the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia. As a Certified AI Consultant and Director of Dharana Digital Marketing Agency, Dr. Sutherland specializes in using AI for strategic marketing and communication. In addition to designing and delivering training and workshops globally for over a decade, her research spans AI in strategic communication, B2B relationships, social media pedagogy and practice. She has authored two editions of her book 'Strategic Social Media Management – Theory and Practice' Palgrave Macmillan, downloaded more than 170k times, 'Transmedia Brand Storytelling - Immersive Experiences from Theory to Practice' Palgrave Macmillan, and 'Public Relations and Strategic Communication', Oxford University Press. Her latest book, '⁠Artificial Intelligence for Strategic Communication⁠,' , Palgrave Macmillan, has been adopted across 20+ countries. Dr. Sutherland has featured in global media including  the Wall Street Journal, Euro News AAP, ABC, Nine, Sky News and has been Ticker's AI and social media expert for the past five years. 

In this episode, we're joined by Youssef Hounat, product leader, ex-auditor, and (unexpectedly) freestyle-rap-ready builder of tools for accountants. He went from training at Ernst & Young to helping scale DataSnipper into one of the Netherlands' unicorns, and now he's building again as Head of Product at ComplianceWise. We unpack what's actually changing inside product teams: AI stops being a rewrite/search tool and becomes a teammate that takes real work off your plate. Youssef shares how the best teams reduce context switching, turn customer research into a habit, and use agentic workflows + MCPs to connect tools like email, Jira, Figma, and docs without becoming a “fleshy meat puppet” copy-pasting between 10 tabs. Here are some of the key questions we address: Why do 99% of teams still use AI wrong, and what mindset shift fixes it? How do you turn customer research into a continuous habit using transcripts + automated pipelines? What's a real example of AI helping product push back on “build this to close the deal” and finding the true request underneath? How do top teams use MCP + coding agents to move from idea → PRD → Jira tickets without leaving the terminal? What's the difference between a prototype you build to learn vs a product you build to earn — and why vibe-coded output can't go straight to production? How do you avoid reinventing the wheel and start with small weekly automations that compound? What's the real risk behind shadow AI usage  and how do you get IT onside instead of blocked?

Send us a textAre you scaling the wrong thing... successfully?If your 2025 planning feels heavy, misaligned, or nonexistent — it's not because you're lazy. It's because you're still using a corporate operating system for a boutique business. In this episode, Dawn Andrews drops the velvet boot of truth to show you why most female founders sabotage their year-end planning and how AI can help you get radically honest, strategic, and aligned.Download The Feedback Fix — because planning means nothing if your team can't run with the ball. Get the free guide to giving feedback that actually lands and drives accountability. Key TakeawaysStop planning like you have a CFO — Your three-person team doesn't need quarterly OKRs and a content calendar that takes 30 people to execute.AI is your honesty coach — Use it to uncover revenue patterns, energy drains, and strategic misalignment.Only 3 things matter: What made money, did you enjoy it, and did it make a difference?Decisions create constraints — It's not about setting goals, it's about choosing what you'll stop, amplify, and build.Your dream business won't come from a LinkedIn-optimized strategy. It comes from truth, clarity, and alignment.Resources & Links:Freebie: The Feedback FixJoin the Community: AI for Founders Free GroupRelated Episodes:110 | 3 Custom GPTs That Save Female Founders 16 Hours a Week102 | 3 SOPs Every Founder Should Build in 30 Minutes (Using AI)Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “She's That Founder” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.

Most indoor playground and play café owners don't need more ideas going into a new year — they need better execution on the ones they already have.In this episode, I break down exactly how I'm using AI right now to help my indoor playground business owner clients review numbers, tighten systems, and remove the operational friction that quietly drains time and profit.This isn't about trends or tech overwhelm. It's a step-by-step, practical walkthrough of how I recommend using AI as an analyst, operations assistant, and planning tool so you can head into 2026 with clearer priorities, stronger systems, and far less on your plate.BLOG for this episode05:00–11:00 Strategy 1: Revenue analysis to find 2026 opportunities11:00–15:10 Strategy 2: Fix party systems before busy season15:10–17:10 Strategy 3: SOPs that don't depend on the owner17:10–19:00 Strategy 4: Floor-plan-based cleaning and safety19:00–23:10 Strategy 5: Prevent membership churn with AI23:10–25:35 Strategy 6: Pricing and add-on cleanup25:35–27:55 Strategy 7: Customer message scripts and decision trees27:55–29:50 Strategy 8: Policies and incident reporting systems29:50–31:40 Strategy 9: Repurpose marketing content fast31:40–34:15 Strategy 10: Website clarity, conversion, and SEO34:15–38:35 Strategy 11: Partner and sponsor generation for 2026OTHER RESOURCES:Play Cafe Academy & Play Makers SocietyGetting Started With Your Play Cafe [YouTube Video Playlist]What's Working In The Indoor Play Industry 2025 GuideFund Your Indoor Play Business [Free Training]Indoor Play Courses & 1:1 Consulting WaitlistMichele's InstagramMichele's WebsitePlay Cafe Academy YouTube ChannelETSY Template ShopPrepare Your Indoor Playground For a RecessionPlay Cafe Academy & Play Makers SocietyQuestions and Support: Support@michelecaruana.com Play Cafe Academy & Play Makers Society: http://bit.ly/3HES7fDQuestions and Support: Support@michelecaruana.com Simplify and Scale with 50% OFF WellnessLiving: https://discover.wellnessliving.com/playcafeacademyActive Campaign Free Trial: https://www.activecampaign.com/?_r=D6IYK3HG

About Jason Hreha:Jason Hreha is a behavioral scientist and entrepreneur specializing in applying behavioral science to solve business challenges. After studying neuroscience at Stanford and conducting research in BJ Fogg's Persuasive Technology Lab, Jason has spent 15 years developing Behavioral Strategy, a methodical approach for turning research into actionable business solutions. As Global Head of Behavioral Science at Walmart, he established and led the company's first behavioral science team, and he also founded Dopamine and co-founded Kite.io, later acquired by Quixey. As CEO of Persona, Jason transforms talent assessment through research-backed psychometric tools that predict employee performance and fit, and his book Real Change challenges conventional approaches to habits through science-based frameworks. Jason's work has been cited in Atomic Habits and featured in Inc.com, Knowledge at Wharton, and BigThink, and he continues to advise organizations on applying behavioral science for innovation and growth. In this episode, Dean Newlund and Jason Hreha discuss:Understanding how core personality traits drive leadership effectivenessExploring why emotional stability underpins real emotional intelligenceExamining the limits of adult personality change and what that means for teamsRecognizing how interpersonal friction often comes from mismatched stylesConsidering how AI models express measurable personalities that shape user behavior Key Takeaways:Identify your own trait profile using a validated Big Five assessment so you can play the leadership “hand” you actually have instead of chasing traits you do not possess.Reduce conflict by assuming others cannot easily change their styles and instead adapt your expectations so collaboration becomes easier and less personal.Strengthen your culture by clarifying norms, incentives, and strategic consistency so the environment aligns behavior without needing personality change.Use AI tools more effectively by understanding their default personality traits and adjusting your prompts or model choice to complement—not mirror—your own tendencies. "It's hard to be emotionally intelligent if you're angry or upset or annoyed or freaked out.” — Jason Hreha Connect with Jason Hreha:  Website: https://www.personatalent.com/Blog: https://www.thebehavioralscientist.com/Book: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0CVCZ2VR9YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebehavioralscientistLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hreha/ & https://www.linkedin.com/company/personatalent/X (Twitter): https://x.com/jhreha & https://x.com/PersonaTalentFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/choosepersona/Instagram: https://instagram.com/the.behavioral.scientist   See Dean's TedTalk “Why Business Needs Intuition” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEq9IYvgV7I Connect with Dean:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgqRK8GC8jBIFYPmECUCMkwWebsite: https://www.mfileadership.com/The Mission Statement E-Newsletter: https://www.mfileadership.com/blog/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deannewlund/X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/deannewlundFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MissionFacilitators/Email: dean.newlund@mfileadership.comPhone: 1-800-926-7370 Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

AI isn't coming to the car business.It's already here, and it's influencing who customers buy from before your team ever speaks to them.In this episode of The Get More Frank Podcast, I bring you Episode 20 of Follow The Money, featuring Amie Lindaas, Director of Research & Insights at Cars.com. We break down brand-new consumer research that reveals how car shoppers are actually using AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and marketplace AI during the vehicle buying process.This is not a theory episode. This is data, behavior, and reality.Here's what the research confirms.Nearly every car shopper is aware of AI. The majority have already used it. Almost half are actively using AI while shopping for a car. And 97 percent of AI users say it influenced the vehicle they ultimately purchased. That means opinions are being formed earlier, preferences are being shaped faster, and tolerance for friction is lower than ever.We unpack how shoppers are using AI to compare vehicles, research pricing, locate inventory, and narrow down choices long before they ever submit a lead or walk into a dealership. We also dig into where AI stops being trusted and where human interaction still matters most, especially around trade-ins, financing, negotiation, and final purchase decisions.This episode matters if you care about car sales, dealership marketing, lead quality, reputation, customer trust, and staying relevant in modern automotive retail.We also tackle the biggest misconception dealers have about AI. AI is not replacing salespeople. It's replacing outdated thinking, inconsistent data, and weak messaging. Dealers who align their inventory, pricing, and online presence with what AI-powered shoppers are seeing will win. Dealers who ignore it will lose customers before those customers ever show up in their CRM.I'm Frank J. Lopes, President of Strong30 Automotive, where we help dealerships grow through smarter marketing, advertising, sales strategy, and training. This podcast exists for one reason: to give dealers, managers, and sales professionals the truth about what's really driving results in the car business.If you want to understand how buying decisions are being made today, not how they were made five years ago, this episode is required listening.Because in today's car business, perception is shaped before the first conversation.And if you want to win, you have to understand where that perception comes from.It's time to Follow The Money.

Software is still eating the world, and AI is speeding up the clock. In this episode, Amir talks with Tariq Shaukat, co CEO at Sonar, about what it really takes for non tech companies to build like software companies, without breaking trust, security, or quality. Tariq shares how leaders can treat AI like a serious capability, not a shiny add on, and why clean code, governance, and smart pricing models are becoming board level topics. Key Takeaways• “Every company is a software company” does not mean selling SaaS, it means software is now core to differentiation, even in legacy industries. • The hardest shift is not tools, it is mindset: moving from slow, capital style planning to fast iteration, test, learn, and ship. • AI works best when leaders stay educated and involved, outsourcing the whole strategy is a real risk. • “Trust but verify” needs to be a default posture, especially for code generation, security, and compliance. • Pricing will keep moving toward value aligned consumption models, not simple per seat formulas. Timestamped Highlights• 00:56 What Sonar does, and why clean code is really about security, reliability, and maintainability • 05:36 The Tesla lesson: mechanics commoditize, software becomes the experience people buy • 09:11 Culture plus education: why software capability cannot live in one silo • 14:21 Cutting through AI hype with program discipline and a “trust but verify” mindset • 18:23 Boards, governance, and setting an “acceptable use” policy for AI before something goes wrong • 25:18 How software pricing changes in an AI world, and why Sonar prices by lines of code analyzed A line worth saving:“Define acceptable risk as opposed to no risk.” Pro Tips you can steal• Write down what you want AI to achieve, the steps to get there, and the metric you will use to verify outcomes. • For code generation, scan and review before shipping, treat AI output like a draft, not a final answer.• Set clear rules for what is allowed with AI inside the company, then iterate as you learn. Call to ActionIf you want more conversations like this on software leadership, AI governance, and building real impact, follow The Tech Trek and subscribe on your favorite podcast app. If someone on your team is wrestling with AI rollout or developer productivity, share this episode with them.

UNLOCK THE 13 SYSTEMS EVERY AGENCY OWNER NEEDS TO REACH 8 FIGURES:https://bit.ly/41Sm05NIn this episode, Jordan Ross sits down with Todd Taskey to unpack what really drives the value of a digital marketing agency when it's time to sell. They explore how AI, tech enablement, and recurring revenue models are reshaping business valuations and exit strategies. Todd breaks down the financial levers like EBITDA, buyer types, and strategic acquisitions that can dramatically affect an agency's sale price. Whether you're preparing for a near-term exit or planning long-term growth, this episode offers a roadmap to positioning your agency for maximum value in a rapidly evolving market.ChaptersIntroduction to Business ValuationMarket Trends and Valuation MultiplesThe Impact of AI on Agency ValuationStrategic Acquisitions and Market PositioningRevenue and Retention as Key MetricsNavigating the Future of Agency GrowthThe Role of Strategic BuyersConclusion and ResourcesTo learn more go to 8figureagency.coTo reach out to Todd go to www.towerpartners.comTo listen to Todd go to SecondBitePodcast.com

Kara Tsuboi covers today's top stories. CNET editors recommend top gifts for a smarter home. Artificial intelligence is shaping the way consumers buy gifts this holiday season. Best tech toys to give your kids.

AI permeates K-12 education, but the rush to adopt new tools often bypasses critical questions about equity, bias, and human connection. On this episode of Trending in Education, host Mike Palmer sits down with Stephanie Smith Budhai and Marie K. Heath, co-authors of the new book Critical AI in K-12 Classrooms: A Practical Guide for Cultivating Justice and Joy. Together, they dismantle the "myth of inevitability" surrounding EdTech and explore how educators can reclaim agency in the face of rapid technological change with AI. From the historical resistance of Sojourner Truth to the concept of the classroom as a "Home Place," the conversation offers a refreshing, techno-skeptical framework that prioritizes student flourishing over big tech's framing. Key Takeaways: Reframing the Narrative: Why "Justice and Joy" must remain central to education, ensuring schools are spaces of affirmation rather than just sites of data extraction. The "Home Place" Concept: How bell hooks' notion of a "Home Place" helps teachers create safe harbors where students can critically interrogate harmful AI outputs and resist standardized bias. Sojourner Truth as Metaphor: A look at how Sojourner Truth co-opted and subverted the cartes de visites photography of her day to fund abolition—and how modern students and educators can similarly "sell the shadow to support the substance". Pedagogies of Resistance: An overview of culturally sustaining, fugitive, and abolitionist pedagogies that equip teachers to challenge oppressive structures within AI and educational technology. The Four Ps of Action: Practical steps for moving forward through Personal, Professional, Pedagogical, and Participatory action. Why You Should Listen: This conversation moves beyond the basic "how-to" of generative AI tools. Instead, it tackles the moral and ethical dimensions of bringing powerful, often biased technologies into the classroom. If you are an educator, administrator, or parent looking for a way to navigate the AI hype with your values intact, this episode provides the historical context and practical strategies needed to foster true digital agency. Like, Share, and Follow wherever you get your podcasts to stay ahead of the curve on the future of learning. Visit us at TrendinginEd.com for more. Time Stamps: [00:00] Intro: Criticality in the Age of AI [01:58] Stephanie's Origin Story: From Nursing to EdTech [04:58] Marie's Origin Story: Reluctant Teacher to Critical Scholar [09:25] Writing the Book: Centering Justice in Tech [11:20] Why Justice and Joy Matter [16:00] Bell Hooks and the Classroom as "Home Place" [20:30] Confronting AI Bias: The "High School Boy" Example [23:00] Sojourner Truth and Co-opting Biased Tech [29:00] The Myth of Inevitability: Do We Have to Use AI? [33:00] Culturally Sustaining, Fugitive, and Abolitionist Pedagogies [41:40] The 4 Ps: Taking Action Towards Just AI [44:00] Conclusion

When dealer principal Joe Shaker of Shaker Auto Group started digging into customer feedback, he uncovered a hard truth: even loyal, satisfied customers still felt uncertainty about what was happening behind the service doors. That insight sparked the creation of TruVideo, now one of the most widely used communication platforms in automotive.In this episode, Joe walks through the journey — the early “aha” moments, the data that changed everything, the role of AI, and how video has redefined transparency in the modern dealership. He and Kaylee break down why doubt persists, how clear communication transforms revenue and retention, and what dealers can do right now to close trust gaps and elevate the customer experience.If you're ready to build real transparency, automate stronger processes, and modernize how your parts and service teams communicate, this episode is your roadmap.--------------------------------------------This show is powered by PartsEdge: Your go-to solution for transforming dealership parts inventory into a powerhouse of profitability. Our strategies are proven to amp up parts sales by a whopping 20%, all while cutting down on idle inventory. If you're looking to optimize your parts management, visit

In this episode, Nathan and Cameron dive deep into one of the most pressing theological questions facing today's church: What happens when worship, sermons, and spiritual formation collide with AI and morally complicated creators? Using provocative thought experiments—like whether Christians would eat fruit from a tree planted by an immoral person—they explore how believers should think about AI-generated worship music, sermons, artistic integrity, and the character of those who shape our spiritual lives. From EDM and emotional engineering to pastoral authenticity, formation, and the “food sacrificed to idols” dilemma, Nathan and Cameron offer rich, intellectually serious Christian commentary on how technology is reshaping worship and the future of the church. Perfect for Christians hungry for deep theology, cultural discernment, and thoughtful engagement with current events.DONATE LINK: https://toltogether.com/donate BOOK A SPEAKER: https://toltogether.com/book-a-speakerJOIN TOL CONNECT: https://toltogether.com/tol-connect TOL Connect is an online forum where TOL listeners can continue the conversation begun on the podcast.

With so many ways to make money online, many founders and creators have lost sight of the most powerful one: email marketing. John Ainsworth, founder of Data Driven Marketing, says you're leaving tons of money on the table if you're not doing it well. John is back on the pod to share his best tips and tactics on landing pages, upsells, lead magnets, and more. You might want to take some notes for this one! LINKS Rolodex Marketing Resource (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jRV_ncgCWAMRB7tZZtnO7x0Tn5sE46-tYkwN6paVG3A/edit?tab=t.0) Free Email Marketing Resources (https://datadrivenmarketing.co/resources/) John's Podcast: The Art of Selling Online Courses (https://www.youtube.com/@john_ainsworth/videos) Meet John and other location-independent founders inside Dynamite Circle (https://dynamitecircle.com/) Hang out exclusively with 7+ figure founders (https://dynamitecircle.com/dc-black) Get 2 months of Perspective AI FREE with promo code TMBA (https://getperspective.ai/tmba) Share your thoughts about the podcast (https://getperspective.ai/interview/tmba-feedback) [takes 2 minutes] 22 FREE business resources for location-independent entrepreneurs (https://tropicalmba.com/resources) CHAPTERS (00:02:11) Email Marketing: A Must-Have Money Maker (00:11:50) 15 Steps to a High-Converting Landing Page (00:19:18) Do Webinars Still Work in 2026? (00:24:09) What Makes a Great Lead Magnet (00:29:09) The Power of Order Bumps and Upsells (00:36:58) How to Use AI to Improve Your Funnels (00:40:45) How to Make Extra Money with Trip Wires (00:44:37) Rapid-Fire Email Tips for 2026 (00:50:49) How John is Running His 7-Figure Agency CONNECT: Dan@tropicalmba.com Ian@tropicalmba.com Past guests on TMBA include Cal Newport, David Heinemeier Hannson, Seth Godin, Ricardo Semler, Noah Kagan, Rob Walling, Jay Clouse, Einar Vollset, Sam Dogan, Gino Wickam, James Clear, Jodie Cook, Mark Webster, Steph Smith, Taylor Pearson, Justin Tan, Matt Gartland, Ayman Al-Abdullah, Lucy Bella. PLAYLIST: Marketing to High-Dollar Clients (https://tropicalmba.com/episodes/marketing-to-high-dollar-clients) 6-Figure Sales Expert Calls You Out (Don't Keep Doing This in 2026) (https://tropicalmba.com/episodes/dont-keep-doing-this-2026) 8 Simple Steps for Improving Your Sales Funnel (https://tropicalmba.com/episodes/john-ainsworth-sales-funnel)

(Presented by ThreatLocker (https://threatlocker.com/threebuddyproblem): Allow what you need. Block everything else by default, including ransomware and rogue code.) Three Buddy Problem - Episode 76: On the show this week, Costin walks through how a single Romanian documentary kick-started nationwide protests, exposing how corruption can be perfectly legal when the law itself is gamed, and why this moment feels different, darker, and more consequential than past flare-ups. Plus, news on the React-to-Shell exploitation wave overwhelming the internet, why patching is structurally hard, and how APTs and criminals are converging on the same fragile dependency chain. Along the way, they take aim at Microsoft's shrinking transparency, the limits of vendor trust, and what it really means when defenders are told (again) to just patch and pray. Cast: Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade (https://twitter.com/juanandres_gs), Ryan Naraine (https://twitter.com/ryanaraine) and Costin Raiu (https://twitter.com/craiu).

AI is everywhere—but how do you use it to create content that's more human, more you, and not generic junk?In this episode, I (Kim Rittberg—award-winning marketer & former media exec) break down how to use ChatGPT and other AI tools to craft content that connects. You'll learn my SAG Formula to filter and refine AI-generated ideas so they sound like you, reflect what you believe, and steer clear of sounding like every other post out there.

AI is everywhere—but how do you use it to create content that's more human, more you, and not generic junk?In this episode, I (Kim Rittberg—award-winning marketer & former media exec) break down how to use ChatGPT and other AI tools to craft content that connects. You'll learn my SAG Formula to filter and refine AI-generated ideas so they sound like you, reflect what you believe, and steer clear of sounding like every other post out there.

SaaStr 832: How to Use AI to Hyper-Customize Go-To-Market at Scale with SaaStr's CEO and Chief AI Officer In this episode from SaaStr AI London 2025,  SaaStr CEO and Founder Jason Lemkin and SaaStr's Chief AI Officer, Amelia Lerutte discuss the implementation and optimization of AI SDRs within various business contexts. They focus on key AI agents used for sales processes, data aggregation, and the customization of outbound and inbound messages. Real-world results, like increased email response rates, are highlighted along with practical steps for setting up and training AI SDRs. They also offer advice on selecting the right vendors, the importance of human oversight, and leveraging AI to improve qualification and customer interactions. Key takeaways include how AI can handle more interactions consistently and efficiently and the role of AI in augmenting human sales capabilities.  --------------------- This episode is Sponsored in part by HappyFox: Imagine having AI agents for every support task — one that triages tickets, another that catches duplicates, one that spots churn risks. That'd be pretty amazing, right? HappyFox just made it real with Autopilot. These pre-built AI agents deploy in about 60 seconds and run for as low as 2 cents per successful action. All of it sits inside the HappyFox omnichannel, AI-first support stack — Chatbot, Copilot, and Autopilot working as one. Check them out at happyfox.com/saastr  --------------------- Hey everybody, the biggest B2B + AI event of the year will be back - SaaStr AI in the SF Bay Area, aka the SaaStr Annual, will be back in May 2026.  With 68% VP-level and above, 36% CEOs and founders and a growing 25% AI-first professional, this is the very best of the best S-tier attendees and decision makers that come to SaaStr each year.   But here's the reality, folks: the longer you wait, the higher ticket prices can get. Early bird tickets are available now, but once they're gone, you'll pay hundreds more so don't wait.  Lock in your spot today by going to podcast.saastrannual.com to get my exclusive discount SaaStr AI SF 2026. We'll see you there.

Can you build an art career without social media? How helpful is AI, actually? Jake Parker, Lee White, and Anthony Wheeler discuss why human connections still outweigh algorithms and how you can use them to your advantage. 3 Point Perspective Podcast is sponsored by SVSLearn.com, the place where becoming a great illustrator starts!Click here for this episode's links and show notes.

As podcast guests, showing up unprepared, overly scripted, or simply repeating yourself in every podcast interview can quickly lead to burnout and a lack of results. But, there's a quick way to ensure you're always uniquely prepared for every podcast interview! In this episode, Mike Montague explains how to utilize AI to help with preparation and positioning for upcoming interviews. Get ready to tailor your message uniquely for every host and their audiences in a way that gets you remembered!MORE FROM THIS EPISODE: HTTPS://PODMATCH.COM/EP/361Chapters00:00 Harnessing AI for Podcast Preparation02:53 Crafting Your Podcast Persona05:45 Sharpening Your Talking Points09:04 Connecting Through StorytellingTakeawaysAI can help you show up sharper and more relevant.Great guests package their ideas well for hosts.Context builds trust, and AI can give you that context.Be interesting and memorable, not just prepared.AI can be the best brainstorming partner you've ever had.Use AI to save time in your prep and promotion.Know the show, know the host, and know the audience.Don't let AI make you sound more robotic.Treat AI like a coach, not a crutch.Find fresh stories and personal insights with AI.MORE FROM THIS EPISODE: HTTPS://PODMATCH.COM/EP/361

Stories can increase revenue by 376%, but only if you do them right. In one study, scientists proved that adding a fictional story to a cheap spoon on eBay increased its final selling price by 64%. They found the same result with wine, art, and charitable donations (Those used real stories though. They call it the "Rokia" Effect). Stories don't change the product. They change the value of the product in the customer's mind. But it can be hard to come up with them because we think they have to be about us, our amazing accomplishments, or our lives. THEY DON'T. In this video, I break down: The "Value Inflation" Data: Why stories mathematically increase conversion rates by 30%+. The Revenue Spike: Why a specific type of story can lead to 376% more revenue per customer. The Anti-Personal Brand: How to use stories without ever being the "main character." The Danger Of AI: Why purely AI-generated stories usually cause a 62% DROP in trust (and how to fix it). My Story-Based Workflow: How I use AI (Ojoy) for "Deep Research" and structuring—so I can deploy this strategy without staring at a blank page, making stuff up, or being too boring. It's a cool little system: Use AI to find the story, so the story can sell the product for you.