For the last few years, the conversation around AI has focused on productivity.
How do you write emails faster? Create content faster? Get more done in less time?
Those are useful applications, but I think they're missing the bigger opportunity.
The real value of AI is removing costs from your business.
Over the past year, we've started evaluating AI through a much simpler lens:
- What can we automate?
- How do we avoid unnecessary hiring?
- Which software subscriptions can we replace?
That's where things get interesting.
A few months ago, we needed fleet management software to track repairs, maintenance, mileage, and vehicle data. The solutions we looked at were going to cost roughly $20,000 per year.
Instead of buying the software, we built our own.
We've taken a similar approach with dashboards, reporting, and several internal workflows. Anytime we see a recurring software expense, we're asking a simple question:
Can we build this ourselves?
The answer is becoming "yes" more often than most people realize.
What excites me isn't that AI can help an employee complete a task faster. It's that AI can complete the task entirely and simply route it to a human for approval.
That's a completely different model.
Data entry, accounting, purchasing, reporting, permitting, job costing, and dozens of other administrative processes are all candidates for automation.
Why does this matter?
Because customer acquisition isn't getting cheaper.
Every dollar you save by eliminating software, reducing manual work, or automating a workflow can be reinvested into growth. More marketing. More leads. More market share.
For years, a 10% net margin business was considered good. Fifteen percent was great.
I think AI is going to raise the standard.
My Takeaway
AI is creating opportunities to simplify operations, reduce overhead, and solve problems that previously required additional software or headcount. Operators who consistently look for ways to automate workflows and remove friction will have more resources available to invest in growth.
