Getting Started with AI in Your Business

A Practical Guide for Business Leaders Who Don’t Want to Fall Behind

AI is here — and it’s powerful. But getting it set up isn’t magical, it takes some work and a lot of knowledge of how to do that best.

This guide gives you a straight-talking breakdown of where to start, what to avoid, what tools to look out for, and practical ways to get custom tools.

I have it built out in Notion that I can change easily because the space is constantly in flux and I want you to have access to the latest. If you want a previous version or have questions, email me at [email protected].

This new world with AI will be a massive transition, and it will be painful. Like the printing press, the industrial revolution, the internet, and many other times in history, things are changing and all the assumptions that fit the old will not fit the new. That transition to the new is scary, hard, and hurts.

Not only that, but we’re in competition with the world, so there’s no stopping it. There's no escaping the global competition, where you use the new tools or get left behind. Any space or business with significant competition will have some people using the new technology to pull ahead; therefore, to stay competitive yourself, adopting this technology will be required.

<aside> 💡

History shows that even very optimistic inventors and early adopters routinely under-predict the breadth and societal reach of their creations—especially when the invention becomes a platform that others build on (cough like LLM based AI cough).

Some examples:

• **Edison’s phonograph:** Edison envisioned dictation, talking clocks, toys, and books for the blind; music was just one item on the list. The entertainment industry that followed dwarfed his business-office use cases.
• **Radio:** Marconi, the inventor of the radio, focused on point-to-point wireless telegraphy and “saw no need for voice transmission.” Mass broadcasting was pioneered by others and became radio’s defining use.
• **Intel 4004:** The first microprocessor was commissioned for a calculator. Intel only later realized it was a general-purpose computer on a chip—the seed of the PC and everything after.
• **ARPANET:** The network was built to share computing resources; within two years email—an unintended use—made up the bulk of traffic and reshaped what the internet was for. (And AI is growing even faster than the internet 😬) </aside>

Where AI Is Most Helpful (Right Now)