AI is undoubtedly a great tool, allowing humans to amplify their capabilities and accomplish more in less time. Tim Warren, a regular speaker on the topic, highlights how AI is reshaping the entrepreneurial landscape and paving the way for scalable success.
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, small businesses are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline operations, improve customer experiences and drive growth. To explore this transformative trend, NZBusiness spoke with Tim Warren, co-founder of Ambit, a leading provider of AI solutions for businesses. Tim shared his insights on the role of AI in empowering small businesses and the opportunities it presents for innovation and competitiveness.
Q: In your experience, would it be fair to say that AI helps humans develop their awesomeness?
Tim Warren: Totally. Motivated people get a lot out of it.
Q: When it comes to small businesses, how do owners translate this awesomeness into their business?
TW: Small businesses are realizing they can meet many of their marketing and structural needs using free tools. Much of the design and writing can be done in minutes, whereas small businesses used to spend thousands of dollars just to get started.
Q: Do you think small businesses are better positioned than larger organizations to experiment with AI?
TW: Not really structurally, but since they’re generally more liberal, they can actually start earlier. However, the rules of the game are open.
Q: I’m a small business owner, I’ve attended your conferences and workshops, and I’m ready to translate my thoughts on AI into a practical solution for my business. Where to start with its implementation?
TW: AI is interesting because it has brought incredible power to people without much planning. Therefore, the first thing most people need to do is set up a process. Once people know what they do and what they want to achieve, they can define why they need AI and what they don’t need.
Q: What are the most common misconceptions about AI, especially when it comes to AI in a small business context?
TW: One of the problems is that there are a lot of people claiming to be experts in AI when in reality they started playing with it last week. I think it’s up to business owners and managers to improve themselves so they can tell the real thing from the fake. Also lower your expectations, because if you’re expecting magic, you might be disappointed.
Q: What challenges do organizations face when implementing AI processes?
TW: AI isn’t really a standalone thing; he really can’t do anything on his own. What you need are good people, good processes, and plenty of other technology to support it. For example, artificial intelligence can be very effective at creating a project plan for you, but you need guidelines for it and people who know what they’re doing, who know what a good project plan looks like. project.
Q: Are there any downsides to SMEs adopting AI technologies within their organization?
TW: No, I don’t think so. However, AI is just a tool, and whether you can do good or bad things, if people put something into production and start using AI before they’re ready, they’ll probably make fools of themselves . So do a lot of experimentation, have fun, use it for things that don’t matter too much, like internal processes and that sort of thing, before releasing it into the world.
Q: How long do you think this period of AI disruption will last, before it becomes just another “tool” that humans use to get their jobs done?
TW: In a way, it will follow the hype cycle – excitement then disappointment. But in another way, it’s so transformative that I don’t think artificial intelligence will ever go away. In a sense, we will simply learn to expect it in our everyday lives. Think about productivity; When it came out it was awesome and it never got less awesome, we just got used to it. The disturbance will therefore continue, we will learn that the disturbance is constant.
Q: What is your favorite thing about AI right now?
TW: My favorite thing is that people are very curious about it, and the best thing is when people want to talk to me and find out more. I don’t claim to be an expert, but I’ve figured out how to get people to use it for good.
