Are We 8 People Working Like 80... or Just 8 People Chatting with a Computer?

There is a lot of noise around AI right now.  Every week there's another language model, another AI assistant, another "game-changing" application, another company claiming they've reinvented work.  It's easy to get distracted by the technology.  We've tried to focus on something much simpler:

Can eight people consistently produce the output of eighty?

Not by working longer, not by cutting corners, not by replacing experience but by eliminating friction.  That has become our benchmark.

If AI isn't making us faster, more informed, more consistent, and ultimately producing better results for clients & customers, then it's just another interesting piece of software.

The Wrong Question

Many organizations ask:   "How are we using AI?"

We've found a better question is:  "Where are our people spending time that doesn't create customer value?"

Research

Searching email.

Followup reminders 

Looking for old files

Preparing meeting notes

Updating or searching CRM records

Finding supplier information

Reading long reports

Writing reports or regular updates

 Writing the same email for the twentieth time

Monitoring industry news

Building presentation after presentation from scratch

None of these activities are bad.  They're just not where our expertise creates the most value.

Connecting Everything

The biggest breakthrough wasn't asking ChatGPT better questions - It was starting to connect information. 

Instead of jumping between CRM systems, calendars, email, documents, spreadsheets, websites, market research, meeting transcripts, engineering documentation, and customer notes, we began connecting those information sources into coherent workflows.

Now the question isn't:  "Where is that information?"

It's: "What decision do we need to make?"

That's a completely different way of working.

Agents, Not Chats

We've gradually moved away from isolated conversations with AI.  Instead, we've built specialized agents with specific responsibilities.  

Some continuously monitor manufacturing investment announcements.

Others help with marketing and outreach content.  prepare customer briefing packages.

Some summarize meetings.

Others analyze CRM activity.

Others watch industries, competitors, or emerging technologies.

Others draft newsletters, white papers, LinkedIn content, proposals, or executive summaries.

Each agent has a job.

Together they become part of the organization.

What is the Stack like?

This is nothing exotic. In fact, we really just tried to connect a bunch of disparate systems like Outlook, Hubspot, Sharepoint, Linkedin, etc.  We did find some interesting widgets along the way (like Hublead) that continued to reduce friction in the process.  In short - integration was the goal.  Not wholesale use of new software.  

The Human Role Has Become More Valuable

The interesting part is that AI hasn't made expertise less important - It's made it more important.

AI can assemble information but it cannot replace good judgment and experience.  It cannot build trust, negotiate, etc.  In most businesses that face the pressure around AI, an actual human touch for any customer (or other) relationship will be even more important.  I hate getting (clearly) AI generated emails, texts etc.   we did Not want to repeat that. 

in short - the more routine work AI absorbs, the more valuable those uniquely human skills become.

Fumbles

Not every person is comfortable embracing new tools and not every new tool is the game changer it claims to be.  In the end, the results have to be there and whatever process or tool combination works the best for the business will pull ahead.  Just make sure you're measuring the right things.  Is Activity important...or productivity?  Are opp's entering the funnel important...or is the revenue coming out the other side what's important.  More unqualified leads is not the goal.  

The Journey Isn't Finished

We're still experimenting, failing, trying, implementing, walking away, etc. 

I hate the token model.  But on the other hand, it does enable experimentation.  Some ideas fail, the goal is to fail fast and move on.  

Our ambition isn't to become an AI company, it's to become a better engineering, manufacturing, and technical sales organization.

If we can help eight people consistently deliver the value that once required eighty, while improving quality instead of sacrificing it, we'll know we're heading in the right direction.

Because at the end of the day, we don't want to be eight people chatting with a computer.

We want to be eight people accomplishing what used to take eighty.