Opening Hook

Remember when you had time to “think about” new technology? Maybe run a few committee meetings? Draft a white paper about potential implementation strategies?

Yeah, those days are dead.

Your competitors just shipped three new features while you were still scheduling the kickoff meeting. Their AI chatbot answered 47 customer questions while your team was arguing about whether Comic Sans is ever acceptable (it’s not, but that’s beside the point).

Here’s what nobody wants to say out loud: AI isn’t your secret weapon anymore. It’s your minimum entry fee.

It’s like showing up to a Formula 1 race on a bicycle. Sure, you technically have transportation. But you’re about to get lapped. Repeatedly.

Section 1: Welcome to the Expectation Shift (AKA: Why Everything Feels Insane Right Now)

The Old Days: Spend six months building something perfect. Launch with champagne. Collect your “Innovator of the Year” award.

Right Now: Ship something functional on Tuesday. Fix the weird bugs on Wednesday. Launch version 2.0 on Thursday. Wonder why you’re still moving so slowly.

Your customers have stopped caring whether a human or a robot wrote that email. They care that it showed up in 3 minutes instead of “2-3 business days” (which everyone knows means “whenever we feel like it”).

They don’t care if AI wrote your product descriptions. They care that they can actually find what they’re looking for instead of scrolling through your website like it’s a digital scavenger hunt.

The brutal math: Fast movers grab attention. Even faster movers grab market share. Slow movers grab… well, nothing really. They just grab another coffee and wonder what happened.

When your competitor launches an AI feature that actually works, they’re not just winning that customer. They’re training every other customer to expect the same thing from YOU.

Translation: You’re not just behind. You’re now the person explaining why you’re slower than normal. And nobody likes being that person.

Section 2: “But We Value Quality!” (And Other Things Slow People Say)

Let me guess. You’re thinking: “But Larry, we can’t just rush things! We have STANDARDS. We have a PROCESS. We have Sharon from compliance who needs to review everything fourteen times!”

I hear you. Quality matters. Sharon probably serves an important function (maybe).

But here’s what’s actually happening while you’re perfecting things:

Your competitor is learning what quality actually means. In real-time. With real customers.

They shipped that imperfect AI chatbot two weeks ago. Sure, it gave some weird answers at first. Carl from accounting got some questionable recipe recommendations when he asked about refund policies. But now they know exactly what customers actually ask, what confuses them, and what makes them happy.

By month three, their “rushed” chatbot is running circles around your “carefully planned” one that’s still in the “requirements gathering phase.”

Meanwhile, you’re in a conference room optimizing for problems that might not even exist. You’re basically rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, except the Titanic is your market share and the iceberg is your competitor who just figured out how to use ChatGPT.

Reality check time:

• Can AI write your entire business strategy? No, and please don’t let it try.

• Can it generate 10 email subject lines in 30 seconds that you can polish? Yep.

• Can AI replace your entire customer service team? No, and that would be weird.

• Can it handle “Where’s my order?” questions instantly while your humans deal with actual problems? Absolutely.

The winners aren’t firing everyone and replacing them with robots (despite what your CEO read in that one LinkedIn post). They’re using AI to move faster while humans focus on stuff that actually requires a brain like strategy, relationships, and explaining to Carl why the AI suggested he make a cake when he asked about refunds.

Section 3: The System Reality (Or: Why Your House of Cards Will Eventually Fall)

Okay, here’s the part that should genuinely concern you:

Everyone’s about to have AI. And when that happens, your service quality will be limited by how much of a mess your business actually is.

I know that sounds dramatic. But stick with me.

Right now, it’s a land grab. Everyone’s scrambling to implement AI. Fast movers are winning. It’s chaos. It’s exciting. It’s like the California Gold Rush, except with more Python code and fewer horses.

But in 12 to 18 months? Everyone in your industry will have AI chatbots, automation, and AI-generated content. It’ll be as common as having a website.

And that’s when the truth comes out.

When everyone has the same tools, the quality of your AI will expose the quality of your actual business systems.

Real talk: If your customer data lives in five different places (Excel, that weird CRM from 2015, Janet’s personal notebook, sticky notes, and Dave’s “system” which is just his memory), your AI is going to be confused. Really confused.

If your processes are unclear, your AI will reflect that. It’s like holding up a mirror to your business, except the mirror talks and sometimes tells customers the wrong thing.

Actual example:

Business A has their act together. Clear documentation. Organized data. Defined processes. Their AI is like a helpful, knowledgeable employee who actually knows where things are.

Business B is held together by duct tape and prayers. Scattered information. Unclear policies. Their AI is like that one coworker who always says “I’ll get back to you on that” but never does.

Same AI technology. Wildly different results.

The difference? Business A built their house on rock. Business B built theirs on… well, let’s just say the foundation is questionable.

Section 4: The “Stop Overthinking This” Action Plan

Phase 1: Just Start (Months 1 to 3)

Implement AI somewhere. Anywhere. Stop planning and start doing.

Low-hanging fruit that even Dave can handle:

• Let AI draft your emails (you polish them)

• Turn one blog post into five social posts (AI does the heavy lifting)

• Let AI take meeting notes (revolutionary, I know)

• Have AI answer the questions you get asked 47 times per day

Don’t make this complicated. Your competitor already started while you were still reading articles about whether to start.

Phase 2: Fix Your Mess (Months 3 to 6)

While AI is handling the busy work, clean up your business:

• Write down your processes (even if they’re imperfect and involve way too many spreadsheets)

• Figure out where your data actually lives (yes, all of it, including Janet’s notebook)

• Define what “good” looks like (more specific than “we’ll know it when we see it”)

• Document your brand voice (so AI doesn’t make you sound like a robot trying to sell insurance)

Phase 3: Actually Scale (Months 6 to 12)

Now your AI becomes genuinely powerful:

• AI spots patterns you missed (because it’s not tired from Dave’s 3-hour meetings)

• Automation actually works (because your processes aren’t held together with hope)

• Everything is consistent (because you finally wrote down the standards)

• Your team focuses on interesting work (because AI handles the repetitive stuff)

Section 5: The Faith Part (Without Making It Weird)

Alright, let’s address the elephant in the room:

“Is using AI to move faster… like… morally okay?”

Short answer: Yes. Unless you’re being a jerk about it.

Longer answer: Using AI to respond faster, serve better, and remove friction isn’t manipulation. It’s just good stewardship.

Biblical principle translated: Use your resources wisely to serve people well. (Pretty sure there’s not a verse that says “Thou shalt respond slowly to customer emails to prove you’re authentic.”)

If AI helps you answer questions in 5 minutes instead of 5 hours, you’re not cutting corners. You’re respecting people’s time. If AI helps you create more helpful content, you’re not gaming the system. You’re actually being more helpful.

The real question: “Am I using this to serve people better, or to manipulate them faster?”

Using AI to write clearer messages that solve real problems? ✓ Good.

Using AI to write manipulative copy that pressures people into buying stuff they don’t need? ✗ Not good.

The tool isn’t the problem. Your motives are what matter.

It’s like having a really fast car. You can use it to rush someone to the hospital, or you can use it to run people off the road. The car isn’t good or evil. You are. (Hopefully good. Please be good.)

Closing: Your Move, Slowpoke

The reality check: AI is happening. Your competitors aren’t waiting. The businesses moving now are grabbing market share while you’re still “evaluating options.”

But here’s the good news: The businesses that combine speed with actual solid systems will win long-term. So you can still catch up. You just have to, you know, actually start.

Your actual action plan (no excuses):

1. This week: Pick one annoying repetitive task. Let AI do it. Badly is fine.

2. This month: Write down one of your core processes. Badly is still fine.

3. This quarter: Identify where your systems are a mess. Start untangling.

Hard truth: Your competitors didn’t ask permission. They just moved.

Encouraging truth: You don’t have to choose between moving fast and honoring God. You just have to be honest about whether you’re using speed to help people or manipulate them.

And honestly? If you’re the kind of person worried about that distinction, you’re probably fine. The people who should worry about it… aren’t.

Now stop reading articles about AI and go implement something.

Anything.

Seriously, why are you still here?