Want AI to Work for You & Your Business? Fix This First
Welcome to the Dave vs. AI.
It’s hard to keep up nowadays… Every week, there’s another AI tool promising to change the game.
This month? It’s Clawdbot… Automate the boring stuff. Scale the output. Never write again.
Tempting, right?
But here’s the reminder most business owners need:
AI doesn’t fix broken systems. It accelerates them.
AI Amplifies What’s Already There, Good or Bad
If your business runs on shaky processes, inconsistent messaging, or unclear ownership?
AI will make those cracks more obvious, not less.
If your workflows are a mess, AI will just make the chaos happen faster.
If you don’t know what success looks like, AI will give you outputs with no outcomes.
The founders winning with AI aren’t using it to create direction.
They’re using it to scale clarity.
That’s a massive difference.
Here’s what I mean:
Here’s What They Do First
Before layering in tools, the best operators:
Document their processes
Map their workflows
Clarify what “good” looks like
Know how to measure success
Identify clear pain points where automation would add real value
Then they ask:
“Where can AI save us time, increase consistency, reduce risk, or even increase quality?”
That’s how you go from AI as a toy to AI as leverage.
Because here’s the truth:
AI is a force multiplier. But it multiplies whatever you give it.
Give it structure → You get scale.
Give it confusion → You get a whole lotta chaos.
“Move Strategically” ≠ “Move Slowly”
Let me be clear… this isn’t permission to sit still.
A lot of business owners hear this advice and use it as an excuse to ignore AI altogether.
That’s not the move either.
Waiting for perfect SOPs or an epic tech stack before trying AI?
You’ll be waiting forever. And your competitors won’t be.
Instead, treat AI adoption like any other business decision:
Ground it in strategy
Tie it to ROI
Start small, test fast
Integrate where it actually improves things
You don’t need to use every tool.
But you can’t afford to use none of them.
The companies building real advantage right now aren’t chasing the latest shiny object…
They’re quietly integrating AI into the parts of the business that already work.
And now those parts work 10x better.
A Quick Gut Check for Your Business
Before you add another AI tool to your stack, ask:
Do we already have a system for this?
Is the system producing reliable results?
Is this tool solving a specific bottleneck or just adding complexity?
Will this make our team faster and clearer, or just busier?
If the answer is unclear, pause.
If the foundation is solid, proceed.
And if the tool really solves a real problem, go.
Bottom line:
AI isn’t a shortcut to success. It’s a shortcut to scale.
But you'd better know what you’re scaling.
Start with strategy, fix the foundation, then let AI make it fly.
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Good advice requires thinking!
Check out the latest episode of the Startup Different Podcast