The AI of Things

Hey everyone, welcome back to the AI of Things. I’m your host, David Domm. Today, I want to break down something that’s already reshaping business in a massive way — but most folks don’t even see it coming yet. AI isn’t just a new gadget or a trend. It’s a complete shift in how businesses operate, grow, and compete. And once you understand the basics, it honestly becomes one of the biggest advantages you’ll ever have. So let’s get into it. The first big shift we’re seeing is moving away from the old-school org chart and moving toward what I call a leverage chart. In the old days, when a business hit a bottleneck, the knee-jerk reaction was, “We need more people.” More reps, more staff, more bodies. But today, the smartest companies are asking a different question: “What can we build that gives us leverage?” Let me give you an example. It used to take an entire sales team to keep up with leads, follow-ups, and appointments. Now, one really good closer, supported by AI, can outperform a whole department. The AI can qualify inbound leads, do outbound outreach, write follow-up messages, personalize emails, update the CRM, and book the calendar. So instead of spending time chasing people, that closer spends all their time talking to folks who are actually ready to move forward. That’s what leverage looks like. Same thing in marketing. For years, marketing has felt like a hamster wheel — constant output, constant pressure, always behind. But AI changes that completely. You can use AI to identify what content people actually want, outline an entire campaign, draft emails, write posts, and even analyze what’s working without you having to dig through piles of data. It’s like having a full creative team that works around the clock, never takes a break, and always stays on message. Now, let’s talk about the mindset behind all this, because this is where a lot of business owners get stuck. For most of our lives, we’ve been trained to be doers. Our value came from doing the tasks, grinding it out, doing everything manually. But in this new world, your value comes from directing — not doing. You become the director of the business, like a movie director. You’re looking at the big picture. You’re shaping ideas, guiding the vision, and letting AI handle the heavy lifting. Most people never experience that shift because they never slow down long enough to realize the opportunity. They stay stuck doing instead of directing. But the business owners who make the switch — they’re the ones who are going to win in this new era. Now let’s talk about something that’s going to matter more than anything else: data. Features can be copied. Offers can be copied. Entire businesses can be copied. But your data — that’s your moat. That’s your protection. And for the first time ever, AI allows you to actually put your data to work. Think about everything your business collects: customer preferences, buying patterns, service history, intake forms, public data, private notes — all of that has value. When you feed that into AI, it learns faster, it makes better recommendations, and it gives your customers an experience that feels personalized instantly. But this only works if your data is clean. Bad data is just as harmful as no data. So step one is making sure your system isn’t full of duplicates and outdated records. Clean it up, give AI the right information, and let it help you make smarter decisions than you ever could manually. Now let’s look at another quiet revolution happening behind the scenes — the autonomous back office. Finance, HR, legal… these used to be full-time roles for entire teams. Today, AI can draft contracts, analyze financial statements, audit information, update reports, and even close the loop with your team. And no, this doesn’t mean you fire everyone. It means your people stop doing the parts of the job they hate — the repetitive tasks — and start doing the parts humans are great at: judgment, creativity, relationships, and solving higher-level problems. And this brings us to the last big shift: distribution. The old advantage used to be who could build the biggest team or who had the best technical skills. Not anymore. AI writes code. AI builds tools. AI creates workflows. The real advantage today is: who can reach people? Who has the attention? Who has the brand, the community, the audience? You don’t need a giant team of engineers. You don’t need a coding background. You need distribution — your email list, your social presence, your relationships, your community. And if you don’t have one yet, that just means you start building one now. If you already have one, use it. Partner with other people who have attention. Build tools, test ideas, and launch them through the channels you already own. Here’s the bottom line: AI won’t replace the human touch. If anything, it gives us the time and space to lean into the parts of business that are the most human — creativity, vision, empathy, leadership, and real connection. But if you ignore these shifts, someone else who is paying attention will move faster than you. So don’t wait on this. Start now. Learn the basics, experiment a little, and let AI give you the leverage you deserve. Thanks for listening to the AI of Things. Stay curious, stay open-minded, and I’ll see you in the next episode.