How to Improve Consultant Productivity Using AI

Are you making the most of AI, or just skimming the surface? Stop stopping at the pre-step. Let me explain. My teammate and I traded voice memos on a complex operating procedure so we didn’t have to wait until both of us were free for an hour. In a non-AI world, I would: - listen to it - take notes - listen to it again - finish notes - summarize - put into a format for my cofounders to review - get on a call to discuss - decide on next steps - assign action items - send summary out - schedule meetings to track progress In an AI world, I now: - listen to the voice memo at 2x while reading the AI transcription (I like to capture emphasis/tone) - send transcript to ChatGPT to summarize - ask ChatGPT for new format (table); review - ask ChatGPT for next steps, 5x more detailed; review - ask ChatGPT for additional legal/financial/product/user considerations; review and answer - ask ChatGPT for a meeting agenda to review all of this; review - hold the meeting; record and transcribe review meeting - summarize transcript with AI, review, send out recap and any followup meeting makers Most people will stop at asking ChatGPT to summarize the voice memos. The top AI users will think about how it can improve their entire workflow, even with its imperfections, and move away from doing everything from scratch to INSTEAD being a creative process manager, critical thinker, and reviewer. Challenge yourself to augment more of your process, not just step 1.

Yesterday, I helped my client begin to add an extra $80K in profit this year. Growing a business is HARD. With so many moving parts, it's tough to identify and fix problem areas limiting your potential. I recently helped a video production agency owner struggling with this. Despite a talented team and consistent work, he felt trapped working IN his business instead of ON it. There were just too many manual, repetitive tasks that kept him chained to his desk. Here are the 4 steps we took to help him grow faster: 1️⃣ Identified areas of “operational waste”. I had him walk through his entire production workflow from start to finish. It revealed over a dozen clunky processes - from creating GDrive folders to sending Notion/Slack status updates to posting deliverables. These manual tasks created friction that slowed down operations and hindered growth. 2️⃣ Prioritized the biggest pain points. Next, we estimated potential time/money savings for each inefficient process. This made it easy to pick the low-hanging fruit - things like data entry, reporting, and internal notifications. Fixing those would free up 20+ hours/week for higher-level creative work. 3️⃣ Defined the role of his AI-powered “Employee”. Using the insights from 1 and 2, I mapped out every job that his AI-powered helper would have. We gave it job responsibilities like: ✔️ Automating folder creation ✔️ Sending project status notifications ✔️ Posting finished videos to correct channels Screenshot of just some of these workflows below. 4️⃣ Built and launched the AI prototype. I set up AI Automations for the urgent tasks first. We tested them for a week before expanding the AI Employee's duties. After a few rounds of feedback and tuning, our AI helper was fully deployed yesterday. 📌 All of these steps were taken strategically to ensure we were adding the most value possible, in the shortest amount of time. And now, because we took a structured approach, he’s got an AI-powered Employee working 24/7/365 in the background. Helping him grow faster at all times. And adding $80K in profit while we’re at it. Man, I love go-live day. --- Want to install an AI-powered Employee in your business? Click my name above, and DM me “Growth” to learn more about how I can help. 🔝

Get 50% of Your Time Back with AI: A Practical Framework for Business Leaders Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to present alongside Ryan Markman to a group of elite fractional CMOs (thanks, Rajat Kapur and &Marketing!), sharing insights I’ve gained working with AI over the past year. In my portion of the presentation, I laid out a practical framework for business leaders looking to install that "first AI outlet" in their organizations. The key insight is that done right, integrating AI into workflows and processes gives knowledge workers back 50% of their time. However, most companies flounder trying to figure out exactly how and where to implement AI capabilities. My 3-level model offers guidance: ✅ Eager Assistant: Delegate rote information retrieval, documentation and other tedious tasks to AI. This is contingent on you knowing the goals. 🧠 Thought Partner: If goals aren't clearly defined, use conversational AI to provide clarity on objectives and strategy. ⚡️ Electricity: Take an "AI-native" approach where it's embedded in everything. Build custom workflows and software to save more time. Where should you start? Identify irksome tasks people have to do but don't enjoy. Find bottlenecks holding back core processes. Empower a champion user to demonstrate major productivity gains. Prove AI can deliver over 90% time savings. The key is iterating quickly at first. You don't need huge teams or long development cycles. Over time the capabilities compound, more users see the benefits and adopt the tools. Eventually your workforce hits the "screaming pain" point if AI is taken away. This practical approach allows AI to enhance human potential rather than replace jobs. The time savings let people focus on satisfying, high-leverage activities. Overall organization agility and responsiveness increase dramatically. I explain the framework in more detail in the accompanying video clip. Check it out and let me know your thoughts! Are you looking to install some "AI outlets" in your company? Send me a DM, and I’d be happy to provide guidance.

AI's hype is everywhere, but its practical application is what truly matters. !! Unlike the self-driving car hype of a decade ago, AI's implementation in the real world is uniquely different. Over the past year, I've witnessed firsthand how AI can augment our capabilities at SJ Innovation. It may not replace our jobs, but it does serve as a powerful assistant, handling numerous tasks efficiently. Since OpenAI introduced the "OpenAI Assistant," we've created over 250 specialized assistants within our organization. Upon reviewing these AI assistants, I've come to realize they haven't replaced any jobs. Instead, they're akin to having a team of interns, each adept at performing specific tasks, saving us 10-15 minutes each time. If you're leveraging 5-10 such assistants, that's a savings of 1-2 hours per day — a significant boost to productivity that will only improve over time. Here are some unusual and small assistant example: 1) Attendance Analysis: Develop AI solutions to analyze attendance data across multiple files, generating comprehensive reports to identify patterns and optimize team schedules. Create and Used by: Admin/Hr department 2) Quality Assurance Report Review: Assist QA teams Assistant manager by tracking project hours versus contracted hours to prevent burnout and ensure optimal productivity. 3) QA/Test cases for Client Project: Upload client project data, past test cases and input new requirements. Result new cases 4) Convert my code to old Version of Cakephp: Client running an application with old version, write code and it convert to old version of cakephp 5) RFP helper: Upload All document about project and old RFP document and now it can help write based on client requirements and our past RFP My advice? Get involved. Sign up for ChatGPT premium, create your own GPT, or if you're leading a team, develop your own assistants using the API. These digital helpers could become your next competitive edge, much like an diligent interns, ready to streamline your daily tasks and workflows. #AIAssistants #ProductivityTools #Innovation #OpenAI #Teamwork #SJInnovation