WEBVTT
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Welcome back to the AI Profit Leaders Podcast.
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My name is Chris Weiser, your host for today.
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I have with me Tyler Wallace, CEO of CTS Computers, based in I'd say central Indiana or Central Illinois and northern Indiana.
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Is that right?
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Yeah.
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Okay, great.
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Well, it's great to have you with us today, Tyler.
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It's good to see you.
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Yeah.
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So tell me a little bit about your AI journey.
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Obviously, you know, we want to talk today about being an AI leader and what's what's your goals?
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What's uh oh well before we even get started, let's talk about your book.
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Oh, yeah.
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Yeah, pull that out for us.
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Tyler just wrote a book, which is pretty cool here.
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Yeah, yeah.
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So really, you know, I found that, you know, a lot of small businesses need to be educated on AI, right?
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They just don't know anything about it.
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So I thought, you know, the best way to get them educated quickly is to write a book.
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Yeah, I would agree with that.
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And also establish you as an expert, like it kind of shows who you are, gets you in the trenches right away with them.
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You have something you can just hand over to them that makes you immediately an authority figure.
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How's that worked so far?
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I I mean it's great, right?
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And I think the goal when I created the book was to get it out there as soon as possible, right?
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I mean, AI changes day to day.
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And I think businesses right now, they're gonna have to adopt it or they're gonna go out of business.
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Yeah, right.
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It is the future of all businesses, the foundation of how they're going to grow, operate, compete.
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And I'm like, how can I get this, you know, information to business owners?
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Well, I'll write a book.
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Do you have any specific verticals that you guys have been focusing on?
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Is it anything that that people in general just want to see?
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Anything that you specifically focus on?
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Uh, I mean, a little bit of everything, right?
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I think a lot of businesses have the same challenge, right?
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So, for example, maybe it's an engineering firm that wants to do quotes faster.
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Maybe it's a not-for-profit that wants to automate call scheduling, or maybe it's a dentist office that needs to automate follow-ups.
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I think a lot of businesses have the same challenges.
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So they might have different ways, you know, different services they deliver, but I think the challenges are usually the same.
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You know, it's kind of interesting, obviously, on a computer store/slash uh do you guys do like IT services, right?
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As a as a core, IT, cybersecurity.
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So if you start getting into that, I I think most business owners don't see an IT company focusing on time saving and helping their business be more efficient.
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But what's pretty cool about the AI world is it kind of enables you to do that.
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You talk a little bit more about that.
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What's what's your thoughts?
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Yeah, I mean, IT in general has been about fixing broken stuff.
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Yeah.
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Right?
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And then it kind of migrated, oh, well, let's try to prevent it from being broken.
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But, you know, I don't want to make my organizations that I do business with, I don't want, I don't want to make them more profitable through more efficient IT.
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I want to make them more profitable by making them more efficient by automation.
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Well, kind of helps them make, you know, be better at their business too, right?
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So they can actually not just be better, more efficient, I guess.
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I mean, that's great.
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Don't like, don't get me wrong.
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But if you can actually help them deliver their service better or respond to clients faster, or be, you know, just overall be a better business, that's solving a major problem that kind of IT could never really solve before.
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You know, I think your you know, help desks and all that stuff are great, but it's almost invisible stuff to the end user, right?
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This actually hits the bottom line for them.
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Yeah, you know, for example, if you can see more patients because you have a better workflow of getting patients called and scheduled and back in the door, right in the seats.
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Yeah.
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That's one of the biggest challenges a lot of healthcare providers have is people come to their appointments.
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If you can have AI, schedule the appointment, remind them to come to the appointment, follow up after the appointment.
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I mean, there's a lot of money to be had there.
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Yeah.
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Well, and I think it's lost revenue versus not just making new money because it's, I mean, obviously you want to help them make more money, but I think that's an important leadership lesson.
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I'm really glad you brought this all up because, you know, one of those things that you go into the healthcare industry or the engineering industry that you mentioned before, they don't have a lot of people talking to them about being more efficient and making more money in business.
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It's usually about marketing and lead gen and all this other stuff.
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And that stuff's also things you can solve with AI, but you're actually going in and hitting core profit leaks that they've had before, right?
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Would you agree with that?
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Yeah, and doing it, you know, strategically as well, right?
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I mean, I'll have a company come to me and say, well, I want to try to automate a workflow that takes a lot of time.
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Um and I'm like, well, but if we automate that, how much of that business will you close, right?
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Fits in sales.
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Oh, 10%.
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Well, what if we could change the way you go about doing it strategically and you could close 50%?
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Ooh.
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Yeah.
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So let's actually let's let's talk a little bit more about the strategic thing.
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Small business, strategy, AI.
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Put that all together for me.
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What does that look like from your standpoint?
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So I think a lot of organizations right now are using AI as tools, right?
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They're they're chat bots, right?
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Or they're creating social media posts, they're doing things like that.
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But they're not truly getting business processes automated.
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Um, it's not integrating with the ERPs.
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I find a lot of businesses don't even really know their problems.
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And I think to strategically implement AI, you gotta know the problems, you gotta understand your processes, but then you also have to really have clean data, you gotta track your data.
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Yeah.
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Uh and I'm my goal is to come in and say using AI, if we can get these three things lined out, we can have AI automate processes, not just be a task rabbit.
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Yeah.
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Well, and I think you you mentioned a couple core things there, namely going in and looking at it from a strategy standpoint before because they're coming to you saying, Oh, I want to put this tool in.
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Is that right?
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Yeah, I I want to put this tool in.
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And they're not necessarily saying, okay, let's back up and why did we think of this tool or or what maybe maybe let's do an analysis or an assessment on your business and let's kind of go downhill and see what tool you actually should maybe maybe that's the right tool, but you were kind of throwing a tool at a system.
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How about we go figure out what's actually wrong?
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Then let's solve it with maybe that tool, but maybe something else too.
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Yeah, and you know, and if an organization doesn't implement AI strategically, here's a good example, right?
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So let's say you're a development company, and you say, Well, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get rid of all my entry-level developers and I'm just gonna have AI write all my code.
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So you you do that, and then you realize, oh, wait, it's actually taking my senior developers more time to audit the code, and now I'm actually losing money.
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Yeah.
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So because it wasn't implemented strategically.
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It's oh, well, we'll just throw AI in the mix.
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I mean, it doesn't really have the desired outcome at the end of the day.
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Yeah, I think uh that's actually a really, really good example.
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So let's let's go back again to it's like you have to put the right plan in place before you can just throw AI at something.
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And you know, you think about how many, you know, from your standpoint, how many, how many business owners are trying to jam AI in because it's a fad or it's because you know, and and we we both know it's not a fad, but they may they kind of don't know better, so they're doing AI to do AI.
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Well, I mean, that's making the assumption they're even using AI, yeah, right.
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I think the problem I'm running into is they're not even using it, right?
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Or they're using Chat GPT, right?
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That's they kind of see that as okay, I'm using AI, that's exactly exactly what I meant.
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Like, oh, we're using AI, but it's like what why?
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Well, because it's Chat GPT, I saw a commercial, or you know, whatever whatever, right?
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How do we how do we get them to actually believe and really care about the strategic side?
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Because I think you know, they're using a tool to use a tool, but how do we go back to the business owner that says, okay, I know I want AI, and then you're like, okay, for what?
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And they're like, I don't know, but I want it.
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I know I gotta have it.
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How do we get them to think strategically?
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Well, I think it comes down to education, but also getting an assessment done, right?
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Going in and showing them, hey, do you understand your business processes?
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Do you know that this process that you have right here is taking a lot of manual automation, it's causing a lot of problems in your business, or I'm sorry, manual intervention, a lot of problems in the business.
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We could have AI fix that, right?
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But then also they got to know what that's costing them now so we can go in and show, okay, well, here's the ROI if you were to do it.
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Yeah.
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Right.
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Because I think if you don't know your data, and this is where clean data, knowing your data comes in, if you don't know how much time or money it takes for a process to be done now, how are you gonna know if you saved money at the end of the day when you automate it?
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Yeah, and I think, you know, the assessment piece is a massive one.
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So actually, you know, and it's very, you know, similar to any professional industry, like you actually have to assess before you can diagnose, right?
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I gotta I gotta look at what it is.
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So, how do we get a business owner that has just like, no, I don't want to do that?
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I just I just want AI.
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How do we get them to step back and say, yes, I'd like to do an assessment, or I need to review what I'm doing?
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Like, how do we have that conversation with them?
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Uh buy my book.
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I like that.
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Yeah, you know, buy my book.
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You know, so I think it starts with, you know, trying to get them to understand that AI today is like the internet was back in the 90s.
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It's like social media was, you know, in 2000s, right?
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I mean, it's it's changing quickly, and it's going to be required for them to stay in business.
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Imagine a business today that did not embrace the internet.
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I mean, it's there's still some out there, but they're literally are forced to be on paper, and it's like a mom and pop shop that can't they're never gonna make millions of dollars, right?
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You can you can't even think about that.
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Yeah, and and you think about social media and marketing.
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I cannot remember the last time that I actually just searched for a product, right?
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I I find it in social media, yeah, right?
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I'm scrolling through, I see our product, I'm like, oh, I gotta have it, right?
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Or or it's like I'm on Amazon or I'm on TikTok shop or you know, whatever you're on, but it's almost being pushed to you versus you going and looking for it.
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And that's the trend.
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I mean, now we're talking about internet to social media, right?
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So the internet was like, oh, I'm gonna go search for a product, right?
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Then that's now it's transitioned to social media.
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A lot of marketing is done through social media.
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Like when I did my Christmas shopping, a lot of my ideas came from social media.
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Agreed, yeah.
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Right?
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My grandma would love that, you know.
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Sponsors or ads that you see or anything like that, right?
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Most of my in fact, very, very valid point.
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All of my Christmas shopping has come from either Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok for me.
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Yeah, and I'm a 48-year-old guy.
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Yeah, you know, and a stat I just read yesterday was that I'm trying to remember what it was, 800% increase, 805% increase in product sales driven from AI searches.
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Wow.
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This year on Black Friday.
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So what that means is people are no longer using Google.
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They're now searching for give me an idea for this problem in their AI solution.
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Yeah, oh, and compare it to other products on the market, why would I want this product?
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So you're no longer looking at Google reviews, you're just saying, hey, AI, like what product should I pick for my grandma?
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Yeah, you talk about an AI strategy, actually having an AI search plan for your business is a really important one.
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Yeah, what's the best dentist in my area, right?
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Uh is your is your brand, your company, optimized for AI searching?
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Yeah.
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Yeah, I think you heard it from Tyler on that one, that's for sure, right?
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Okay, so you know, kind of thinking about all that stuff, maybe putting a little bit of a of a of a cap on it.
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What's what's the best, you know, let's let's take a couple different business types here.
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What's the best strategy for the small business owner thinking of AI from from Tyler Wallace?
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What what's your biggest number one advice that you'd give the small business owner in 2026 related to their business and AI?
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Well, embrace it, right?
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Don't worry about it replacing people.
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I'm sorry, don't worry about it replacing people.
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It's going to supplement people, right?
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So I think a lot of small businesses are like, oh my gosh, you know, I I don't want to lay anyone off, or you know.
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Or even the employees are maybe worried about it.
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The employees.
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And the employees are using it already.
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Right?
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They're already using it.
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You might as well like take ownership of it at the leadership level, adopt it, create privacy around it, right?
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So it's used the way it should be.
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Yeah.
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And then trickle it down to the team.
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That's funny, how many of you even realize what he's talking about related to privacy and using it the right way?
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Because I bet you most people are just like, what do you mean?
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I'm just using ChatGPT, or you know, that's they don't even know.
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Yeah.
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I mean, I was talking to an organization the other day where the employees were using AI and the course the leadership didn't know, and they were actually putting patient data into the AI platform because they had no, I mean they had no idea.
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There's no education.
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Right?
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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They just were trying to help generate reports.
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Yeah.
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Not realizing, you know, the privacy, the data leakage.
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So I think it starts with leadership adopting it, understanding it, creating policies around it, and then trickling it down.
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And starting with the people that aren't going to be the the negative Nancy's, right?
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Start with the people that will adopt it, right?
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The people, oh, I want to try that.
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Yeah.
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Not the people.
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Because you're always going to have like your staples.
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You know, you maybe your legacy employees are maybe the people paranoid about I'm going to get replaced so we can't use AI.
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So find a couple of people that are behind your strategic mission as an owner.
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Yeah.
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And then they're going to be the advocate for for the rest of the culture in the office, right?
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Once you get a few people like adopting it, like, wow, this is the greatest thing, then it just takes off like fire, right?
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Like wildfire.
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Okay.
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So that's kind of the SMB side.
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That's usually your small owner or your solo owner, or maybe a couple of owners.
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But let's get up into the mid-market.
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You're, you know, your bigger companies, maybe like a hundred employees, et cetera.
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How what's what's your suggestion for that leadership team or that board of directors?
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How do they put in AI to actually really have a strategy?
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I mean, I think it kind of starts the same way, right?
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It's adopted through the leadership, right?
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So always got to be because the employees are probably doing it already.
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Right.
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So somebody's got to have kind of a maybe your CEO leads the charge, goes to the board and says, hey, we got to have a plan around AI.
00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:06.559
Or maybe the board doesn't have any influence, but a lot of the bigger companies, they have a lot of ownership and the CEO kind of answers to them.
00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:08.000
Put that in play.
00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:08.639
Yeah.
00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:11.600
And I think you have to be an AI-driven organization.
00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:12.080
Right.
00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:15.120
So I think you have some small businesses, you're going to put AI in place.
00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:16.960
It's going to create a lot of processes.
00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:20.799
I think, you know, once you go up in size, I guess it is for small business too.
00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:22.720
You want to be an AI-driven company.
00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:23.279
Right.
00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:27.679
Just like, you know, right now, I want to be a marketing company that provides IT services.
00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:27.919
Yeah.
00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:31.279
You should be an AI company that provides dentistry, right?
00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:33.679
Or an AI company that provides engineering.
00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:36.879
I think that becomes the forefront of what you do.
00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:42.960
And I think one of the things that might be more challenging for larger companies is you got to move fast with AI.
00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:43.360
Yeah.
00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:43.840
Right.
00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:48.320
And the bigger companies, you know, the nice thing about the small companies is they're quick and they're agile.
00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:48.559
Right.
00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:54.240
Big companies are usually slow and kind of hard to more turtle-like, right?
00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:54.799
So I agree.
00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:56.159
Big ships turn slow.
00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:56.879
Absolutely.
00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:57.519
Absolutely.
00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:00.080
So, okay, really good advice from Tyler.
00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:11.440
I would say, you know, so what you're just telling me, I don't care if you're a one-person shop or a 500-person small to medium enterprise, you need to be AI first.
00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:12.720
AI first, yeah.
00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:13.120
Yeah.
00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:13.440
Okay.
00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:18.799
And AI strategy should lead the way, not letting tools dominate the conversation.
00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:23.440
If you don't have the strategy, I I think sometimes you're trying to pound a square peg through a round hole.
00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:23.759
Yeah.
00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:24.080
Right.
00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:26.720
I mean, you might get it to fit and go through, but you know it's oh yeah.
00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:28.559
How how damaged is everything around it?
00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:28.960
Right.
00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:29.200
Yeah.
00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:29.360
Yeah.
00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:30.879
All right.
00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:33.440
Any any final parting words from you, Tyler?
00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:34.799
I man, great advice.
00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:36.080
Just really good conversation.
00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:38.559
I really appreciate your viewpoints and congrats on the book.
00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:41.200
It's I noticed that you got the bestseller sticker on it.
00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:41.600
That's good.
00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:43.360
I I think seven different categories.
00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:44.159
That's awesome.
00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:44.799
That's great to see.
00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:45.519
It's great to see.
00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:48.559
So any any final parting words, any words of advice for our listeners?
00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:50.960
You know, I just you know, AI is here, right?
00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:51.759
You got to embrace it.
00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:53.519
I I talk to organizations all the time.
00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:56.159
They're like, are you planning on implementing AI?
00:15:56.399 --> 00:15:58.240
Like 100% say yes.
00:15:58.639 --> 00:15:59.759
Have you started?
00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.080
Like a hundred percent say no.
00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:04.480
So I think you got to start.
00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:04.960
Yeah.
00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:05.360
Right?
00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:07.200
But start with the strategy, like you said.
00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:10.559
Not just find a tool and put that in place.
00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:11.679
Start with a plan.
00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:12.159
Right.
00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:14.879
Because it's easy to say, yeah, I'm I'm gonna implement AI in my business.
00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:15.919
Well, when are you gonna do that?
00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:16.799
Oh, I don't know.
00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:18.320
What does that even mean, right?
00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:19.360
Yeah, what's it mean?
00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:20.320
Like, when are you gonna do?
00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:21.600
Oh, I just plan on doing it sometime.
00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:22.240
Well, guess what?
00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:25.440
The companies that are executing on AI, yeah, they're just elite frogging.
00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:26.480
Yeah, absolutely.
00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:27.039
Okay.
00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:28.399
Well, great advice, man.
00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:32.320
If you guys are watching, feel free to call Tyler Wallace at CTS Computers.
00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:33.919
Man, uh really great job on the book.
00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:34.480
Congratulations.
00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:35.440
Super fun to have you here.
00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:36.240
Yeah, thanks for having us.
00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:37.200
Please be in here.
00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:37.679
Yep, yep.
00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:38.240
Bye bye.
00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:38.559
Thanks.
00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:39.279
See ya.
00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:07.280
Welcome back to the AI Profit Leaders Podcast.
00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:09.119
My name is Chris Weiser, your host for today.
00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:16.480
I have with me Tyler Wallace, CEO of CTS Computers, based in I'd say central Indiana or Central Illinois and northern Indiana.
00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:16.879
Is that right?
00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:17.039
Yeah.
00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:17.679
Okay, great.
00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:19.519
Well, it's great to have you with us today, Tyler.
00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:20.239
It's good to see you.
00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:20.640
Yeah.
00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:23.440
So tell me a little bit about your AI journey.
00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:28.800
Obviously, you know, we want to talk today about being an AI leader and what's what's your goals?
00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:32.159
What's uh oh well before we even get started, let's talk about your book.
00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:32.719
Oh, yeah.
00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:33.840
Yeah, pull that out for us.
00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:35.840
Tyler just wrote a book, which is pretty cool here.
00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:36.880
Yeah, yeah.
00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:42.560
So really, you know, I found that, you know, a lot of small businesses need to be educated on AI, right?
00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:44.560
They just don't know anything about it.
00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:48.560
So I thought, you know, the best way to get them educated quickly is to write a book.
00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:49.679
Yeah, I would agree with that.
00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:54.960
And also establish you as an expert, like it kind of shows who you are, gets you in the trenches right away with them.
00:00:55.039 --> 00:00:58.399
You have something you can just hand over to them that makes you immediately an authority figure.
00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:00.000
How's that worked so far?
00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:01.679
I I mean it's great, right?
00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:06.079
And I think the goal when I created the book was to get it out there as soon as possible, right?
00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:07.920
I mean, AI changes day to day.
00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:12.480
And I think businesses right now, they're gonna have to adopt it or they're gonna go out of business.
00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:13.040
Yeah, right.
00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:19.359
It is the future of all businesses, the foundation of how they're going to grow, operate, compete.
00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:23.599
And I'm like, how can I get this, you know, information to business owners?
00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:24.799
Well, I'll write a book.
00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:28.560
Do you have any specific verticals that you guys have been focusing on?
00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:31.840
Is it anything that that people in general just want to see?
00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:34.079
Anything that you specifically focus on?
00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:35.760
Uh, I mean, a little bit of everything, right?
00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:38.400
I think a lot of businesses have the same challenge, right?
00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:42.640
So, for example, maybe it's an engineering firm that wants to do quotes faster.
00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:50.000
Maybe it's a not-for-profit that wants to automate call scheduling, or maybe it's a dentist office that needs to automate follow-ups.
00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:52.480
I think a lot of businesses have the same challenges.
00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:57.920
So they might have different ways, you know, different services they deliver, but I think the challenges are usually the same.
00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:03.680
You know, it's kind of interesting, obviously, on a computer store/slash uh do you guys do like IT services, right?
00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:05.599
As a as a core, IT, cybersecurity.
00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:16.719
So if you start getting into that, I I think most business owners don't see an IT company focusing on time saving and helping their business be more efficient.
00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:20.400
But what's pretty cool about the AI world is it kind of enables you to do that.
00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:21.840
You talk a little bit more about that.
00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:23.039
What's what's your thoughts?
00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:26.800
Yeah, I mean, IT in general has been about fixing broken stuff.
00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:27.120
Yeah.
00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:27.439
Right?
00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:30.960
And then it kind of migrated, oh, well, let's try to prevent it from being broken.
00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:38.560
But, you know, I don't want to make my organizations that I do business with, I don't want, I don't want to make them more profitable through more efficient IT.
00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:43.680
I want to make them more profitable by making them more efficient by automation.
00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:47.680
Well, kind of helps them make, you know, be better at their business too, right?
00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:51.439
So they can actually not just be better, more efficient, I guess.
00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:52.240
I mean, that's great.
00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:53.520
Don't like, don't get me wrong.
00:02:53.680 --> 00:03:06.560
But if you can actually help them deliver their service better or respond to clients faster, or be, you know, just overall be a better business, that's solving a major problem that kind of IT could never really solve before.
00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:12.080
You know, I think your you know, help desks and all that stuff are great, but it's almost invisible stuff to the end user, right?
00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:13.840
This actually hits the bottom line for them.
00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:23.840
Yeah, you know, for example, if you can see more patients because you have a better workflow of getting patients called and scheduled and back in the door, right in the seats.
00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:24.000
Yeah.
00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:27.439
That's one of the biggest challenges a lot of healthcare providers have is people come to their appointments.
00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:32.960
If you can have AI, schedule the appointment, remind them to come to the appointment, follow up after the appointment.
00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:34.479
I mean, there's a lot of money to be had there.
00:03:34.639 --> 00:03:34.879
Yeah.
00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:43.199
Well, and I think it's lost revenue versus not just making new money because it's, I mean, obviously you want to help them make more money, but I think that's an important leadership lesson.
00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:57.759
I'm really glad you brought this all up because, you know, one of those things that you go into the healthcare industry or the engineering industry that you mentioned before, they don't have a lot of people talking to them about being more efficient and making more money in business.
00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:01.039
It's usually about marketing and lead gen and all this other stuff.
00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:07.840
And that stuff's also things you can solve with AI, but you're actually going in and hitting core profit leaks that they've had before, right?
00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:08.800
Would you agree with that?
00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:12.000
Yeah, and doing it, you know, strategically as well, right?
00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:17.360
I mean, I'll have a company come to me and say, well, I want to try to automate a workflow that takes a lot of time.
00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:22.000
Um and I'm like, well, but if we automate that, how much of that business will you close, right?
00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:22.879
Fits in sales.
00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:23.600
Oh, 10%.
00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:29.040
Well, what if we could change the way you go about doing it strategically and you could close 50%?
00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:30.000
Ooh.
00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:30.720
Yeah.
00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:34.480
So let's actually let's let's talk a little bit more about the strategic thing.
00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:37.360
Small business, strategy, AI.
00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:38.879
Put that all together for me.
00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:40.800
What does that look like from your standpoint?
00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:46.319
So I think a lot of organizations right now are using AI as tools, right?
00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:48.319
They're they're chat bots, right?
00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:51.600
Or they're creating social media posts, they're doing things like that.
00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:56.079
But they're not truly getting business processes automated.
00:04:56.399 --> 00:04:58.879
Um, it's not integrating with the ERPs.
00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:02.000
I find a lot of businesses don't even really know their problems.
00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:12.079
And I think to strategically implement AI, you gotta know the problems, you gotta understand your processes, but then you also have to really have clean data, you gotta track your data.
00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:12.480
Yeah.
00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:21.680
Uh and I'm my goal is to come in and say using AI, if we can get these three things lined out, we can have AI automate processes, not just be a task rabbit.
00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:22.079
Yeah.
00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:33.519
Well, and I think you you mentioned a couple core things there, namely going in and looking at it from a strategy standpoint before because they're coming to you saying, Oh, I want to put this tool in.
00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:35.439
Is that right?
00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:36.959
Yeah, I I want to put this tool in.
00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:52.879
And they're not necessarily saying, okay, let's back up and why did we think of this tool or or what maybe maybe let's do an analysis or an assessment on your business and let's kind of go downhill and see what tool you actually should maybe maybe that's the right tool, but you were kind of throwing a tool at a system.
00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:55.199
How about we go figure out what's actually wrong?
00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:58.959
Then let's solve it with maybe that tool, but maybe something else too.
00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:04.079
Yeah, and you know, and if an organization doesn't implement AI strategically, here's a good example, right?
00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:12.160
So let's say you're a development company, and you say, Well, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get rid of all my entry-level developers and I'm just gonna have AI write all my code.
00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:22.399
So you you do that, and then you realize, oh, wait, it's actually taking my senior developers more time to audit the code, and now I'm actually losing money.
00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:22.639
Yeah.
00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:24.399
So because it wasn't implemented strategically.
00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:26.560
It's oh, well, we'll just throw AI in the mix.
00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:29.439
I mean, it doesn't really have the desired outcome at the end of the day.
00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:32.000
Yeah, I think uh that's actually a really, really good example.
00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:39.439
So let's let's go back again to it's like you have to put the right plan in place before you can just throw AI at something.
00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:54.720
And you know, you think about how many, you know, from your standpoint, how many, how many business owners are trying to jam AI in because it's a fad or it's because you know, and and we we both know it's not a fad, but they may they kind of don't know better, so they're doing AI to do AI.
00:06:55.600 --> 00:06:58.560
Well, I mean, that's making the assumption they're even using AI, yeah, right.
00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:01.120
I think the problem I'm running into is they're not even using it, right?
00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:02.639
Or they're using Chat GPT, right?
00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:06.639
That's they kind of see that as okay, I'm using AI, that's exactly exactly what I meant.
00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:11.120
Like, oh, we're using AI, but it's like what why?
00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:16.160
Well, because it's Chat GPT, I saw a commercial, or you know, whatever whatever, right?
00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:23.439
How do we how do we get them to actually believe and really care about the strategic side?
00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:31.600
Because I think you know, they're using a tool to use a tool, but how do we go back to the business owner that says, okay, I know I want AI, and then you're like, okay, for what?
00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:33.040
And they're like, I don't know, but I want it.
00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:34.000
I know I gotta have it.
00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:36.560
How do we get them to think strategically?
00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:41.360
Well, I think it comes down to education, but also getting an assessment done, right?
00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:45.120
Going in and showing them, hey, do you understand your business processes?
00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:56.399
Do you know that this process that you have right here is taking a lot of manual automation, it's causing a lot of problems in your business, or I'm sorry, manual intervention, a lot of problems in the business.
00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:58.079
We could have AI fix that, right?
00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:06.000
But then also they got to know what that's costing them now so we can go in and show, okay, well, here's the ROI if you were to do it.
00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:06.319
Yeah.
00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:06.720
Right.
00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:17.759
Because I think if you don't know your data, and this is where clean data, knowing your data comes in, if you don't know how much time or money it takes for a process to be done now, how are you gonna know if you saved money at the end of the day when you automate it?
00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:22.000
Yeah, and I think, you know, the assessment piece is a massive one.
00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:28.240
So actually, you know, and it's very, you know, similar to any professional industry, like you actually have to assess before you can diagnose, right?
00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:29.680
I gotta I gotta look at what it is.
00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:33.679
So, how do we get a business owner that has just like, no, I don't want to do that?
00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:35.120
I just I just want AI.
00:08:35.279 --> 00:08:41.600
How do we get them to step back and say, yes, I'd like to do an assessment, or I need to review what I'm doing?
00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:43.759
Like, how do we have that conversation with them?
00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:45.120
Uh buy my book.
00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:45.919
I like that.
00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:47.200
Yeah, you know, buy my book.
00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:54.320
You know, so I think it starts with, you know, trying to get them to understand that AI today is like the internet was back in the 90s.
00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:58.559
It's like social media was, you know, in 2000s, right?
00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:04.480
I mean, it's it's changing quickly, and it's going to be required for them to stay in business.
00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:07.279
Imagine a business today that did not embrace the internet.
00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:18.879
I mean, it's there's still some out there, but they're literally are forced to be on paper, and it's like a mom and pop shop that can't they're never gonna make millions of dollars, right?
00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:20.240
You can you can't even think about that.
00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:23.120
Yeah, and and you think about social media and marketing.
00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:27.919
I cannot remember the last time that I actually just searched for a product, right?
00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:30.080
I I find it in social media, yeah, right?
00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:33.279
I'm scrolling through, I see our product, I'm like, oh, I gotta have it, right?
00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:42.480
Or or it's like I'm on Amazon or I'm on TikTok shop or you know, whatever you're on, but it's almost being pushed to you versus you going and looking for it.
00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:43.360
And that's the trend.
00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:45.759
I mean, now we're talking about internet to social media, right?
00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:48.879
So the internet was like, oh, I'm gonna go search for a product, right?
00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:51.840
Then that's now it's transitioned to social media.
00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:53.679
A lot of marketing is done through social media.
00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:56.720
Like when I did my Christmas shopping, a lot of my ideas came from social media.
00:09:56.960 --> 00:09:57.360
Agreed, yeah.
00:09:57.440 --> 00:09:57.600
Right?
00:09:57.679 --> 00:09:58.639
My grandma would love that, you know.
00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:02.159
Sponsors or ads that you see or anything like that, right?
00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:02.480
Yeah.
00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:02.799
Yeah.
00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:05.679
Most of my in fact, very, very valid point.
00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:13.200
All of my Christmas shopping has come from either Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok for me.
00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:15.759
Yeah, and I'm a 48-year-old guy.
00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:31.360
Yeah, you know, and a stat I just read yesterday was that I'm trying to remember what it was, 800% increase, 805% increase in product sales driven from AI searches.
00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:31.840
Wow.
00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:33.120
This year on Black Friday.
00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:36.720
So what that means is people are no longer using Google.
00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:44.639
They're now searching for give me an idea for this problem in their AI solution.
00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:48.559
Yeah, oh, and compare it to other products on the market, why would I want this product?
00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:53.919
So you're no longer looking at Google reviews, you're just saying, hey, AI, like what product should I pick for my grandma?
00:10:54.159 --> 00:11:03.679
Yeah, you talk about an AI strategy, actually having an AI search plan for your business is a really important one.
00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:06.080
Yeah, what's the best dentist in my area, right?
00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:12.159
Uh is your is your brand, your company, optimized for AI searching?
00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:12.639
Yeah.
00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:16.399
Yeah, I think you heard it from Tyler on that one, that's for sure, right?
00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:22.960
Okay, so you know, kind of thinking about all that stuff, maybe putting a little bit of a of a of a cap on it.
00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:28.080
What's what's the best, you know, let's let's take a couple different business types here.
00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:34.879
What's the best strategy for the small business owner thinking of AI from from Tyler Wallace?
00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:42.559
What what's your biggest number one advice that you'd give the small business owner in 2026 related to their business and AI?
00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:45.279
Well, embrace it, right?
00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:47.519
Don't worry about it replacing people.
00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:51.679
I'm sorry, don't worry about it replacing people.
00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:53.600
It's going to supplement people, right?
00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:58.240
So I think a lot of small businesses are like, oh my gosh, you know, I I don't want to lay anyone off, or you know.
00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:00.240
Or even the employees are maybe worried about it.
00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:01.200
The employees.
00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:03.039
And the employees are using it already.
00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:03.759
Right?
00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:04.879
They're already using it.
00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:12.080
You might as well like take ownership of it at the leadership level, adopt it, create privacy around it, right?
00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:13.759
So it's used the way it should be.
00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:14.080
Yeah.
00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:15.519
And then trickle it down to the team.
00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:20.159
That's funny, how many of you even realize what he's talking about related to privacy and using it the right way?
00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:22.000
Because I bet you most people are just like, what do you mean?
00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:25.679
I'm just using ChatGPT, or you know, that's they don't even know.
00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:26.159
Yeah.
00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:39.200
I mean, I was talking to an organization the other day where the employees were using AI and the course the leadership didn't know, and they were actually putting patient data into the AI platform because they had no, I mean they had no idea.
00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:39.919
There's no education.
00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:41.519
Right?
00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:41.759
Yeah.
00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:42.159
Yeah.
00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:44.240
They just were trying to help generate reports.
00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:44.639
Yeah.
00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:48.159
Not realizing, you know, the privacy, the data leakage.
00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:54.799
So I think it starts with leadership adopting it, understanding it, creating policies around it, and then trickling it down.
00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:58.799
And starting with the people that aren't going to be the the negative Nancy's, right?
00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:00.399
Start with the people that will adopt it, right?
00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:01.919
The people, oh, I want to try that.
00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:02.159
Yeah.
00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:02.639
Not the people.
00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:04.960
Because you're always going to have like your staples.
00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:10.399
You know, you maybe your legacy employees are maybe the people paranoid about I'm going to get replaced so we can't use AI.
00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:14.320
So find a couple of people that are behind your strategic mission as an owner.
00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:14.799
Yeah.
00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:19.200
And then they're going to be the advocate for for the rest of the culture in the office, right?
00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:25.440
Once you get a few people like adopting it, like, wow, this is the greatest thing, then it just takes off like fire, right?
00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:26.320
Like wildfire.
00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:26.799
Okay.
00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:28.320
So that's kind of the SMB side.
00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:32.399
That's usually your small owner or your solo owner, or maybe a couple of owners.
00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:33.919
But let's get up into the mid-market.
00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:38.240
You're, you know, your bigger companies, maybe like a hundred employees, et cetera.
00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:42.399
How what's what's your suggestion for that leadership team or that board of directors?
00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:46.159
How do they put in AI to actually really have a strategy?
00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:48.399
I mean, I think it kind of starts the same way, right?
00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:50.080
It's adopted through the leadership, right?
00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:52.960
So always got to be because the employees are probably doing it already.
00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:53.200
Right.
00:13:53.440 --> 00:14:00.639
So somebody's got to have kind of a maybe your CEO leads the charge, goes to the board and says, hey, we got to have a plan around AI.
00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:06.559
Or maybe the board doesn't have any influence, but a lot of the bigger companies, they have a lot of ownership and the CEO kind of answers to them.
00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:08.000
Put that in play.
00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:08.639
Yeah.
00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:11.600
And I think you have to be an AI-driven organization.
00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:12.080
Right.
00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:15.120
So I think you have some small businesses, you're going to put AI in place.
00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:16.960
It's going to create a lot of processes.
00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:20.799
I think, you know, once you go up in size, I guess it is for small business too.
00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:22.720
You want to be an AI-driven company.
00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:23.279
Right.
00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:27.679
Just like, you know, right now, I want to be a marketing company that provides IT services.
00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:27.919
Yeah.
00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:31.279
You should be an AI company that provides dentistry, right?
00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:33.679
Or an AI company that provides engineering.
00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:36.879
I think that becomes the forefront of what you do.
00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:42.960
And I think one of the things that might be more challenging for larger companies is you got to move fast with AI.
00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:43.360
Yeah.
00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:43.840
Right.
00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:48.320
And the bigger companies, you know, the nice thing about the small companies is they're quick and they're agile.
00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:48.559
Right.
00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:54.240
Big companies are usually slow and kind of hard to more turtle-like, right?
00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:54.799
So I agree.
00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:56.159
Big ships turn slow.
00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:56.879
Absolutely.
00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:57.519
Absolutely.
00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:00.080
So, okay, really good advice from Tyler.
00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:11.440
I would say, you know, so what you're just telling me, I don't care if you're a one-person shop or a 500-person small to medium enterprise, you need to be AI first.
00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:12.720
AI first, yeah.
00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:13.120
Yeah.
00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:13.440
Okay.
00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:18.799
And AI strategy should lead the way, not letting tools dominate the conversation.
00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:23.440
If you don't have the strategy, I I think sometimes you're trying to pound a square peg through a round hole.
00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:23.759
Yeah.
00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:24.080
Right.
00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:26.720
I mean, you might get it to fit and go through, but you know it's oh yeah.
00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:28.559
How how damaged is everything around it?
00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:28.960
Right.
00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:29.200
Yeah.
00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:29.360
Yeah.
00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:30.879
All right.
00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:33.440
Any any final parting words from you, Tyler?
00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:34.799
I man, great advice.
00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:36.080
Just really good conversation.
00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:38.559
I really appreciate your viewpoints and congrats on the book.
00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:41.200
It's I noticed that you got the bestseller sticker on it.
00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:41.600
That's good.
00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:43.360
I I think seven different categories.
00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:44.159
That's awesome.
00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:44.799
That's great to see.
00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:45.519
It's great to see.
00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:48.559
So any any final parting words, any words of advice for our listeners?
00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:50.960
You know, I just you know, AI is here, right?
00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:51.759
You got to embrace it.
00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:53.519
I I talk to organizations all the time.
00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:56.159
They're like, are you planning on implementing AI?
00:15:56.399 --> 00:15:58.240
Like 100% say yes.
00:15:58.639 --> 00:15:59.759
Have you started?
00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.080
Like a hundred percent say no.
00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:04.480
So I think you got to start.
00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:04.960
Yeah.
00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:05.360
Right?
00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:07.200
But start with the strategy, like you said.
00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:10.559
Not just find a tool and put that in place.
00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:11.679
Start with a plan.
00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:12.159
Right.
00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:14.879
Because it's easy to say, yeah, I'm I'm gonna implement AI in my business.
00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:15.919
Well, when are you gonna do that?
00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:16.799
Oh, I don't know.
00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:18.320
What does that even mean, right?
00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:19.360
Yeah, what's it mean?
00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:20.320
Like, when are you gonna do?
00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:21.600
Oh, I just plan on doing it sometime.
00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:22.240
Well, guess what?
00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:25.440
The companies that are executing on AI, yeah, they're just elite frogging.
00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:26.480
Yeah, absolutely.
00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:27.039
Okay.
00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:28.399
Well, great advice, man.
00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:32.320
If you guys are watching, feel free to call Tyler Wallace at CTS Computers.
00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:33.919
Man, uh really great job on the book.
00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:34.480
Congratulations.
00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:35.440
Super fun to have you here.
00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:36.240
Yeah, thanks for having us.
00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:37.200
Please be in here.
00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:37.679
Yep, yep.
00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:38.240
Bye bye.
00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:38.559
Thanks.
00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:39.279
See ya.
