AI: The Next Business Boon

“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”

That’s a quote widely attributed to Ken Olsen, the founder, president, and chairman of Digital Equipment Corporation, from back in 1977. Equally stunning, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were reportedly rejected several times when pitching their idea for the Apple I computer, including the latter being rejected by his own employer, HP, five times.

These are just two examples of an unfortunate reality: game-changing innovation has not always been readily understood or embraced by the corporate world. Today, we’re in the midst of another revolution, artificial intelligence, which is transforming businesses at breakneck speed. Ride this tech wave, and yours can become a superefficient machine that maximizes its full potential.

“But I don’t use AI.”

You may have such a mindset; however, in reality, you’re probably familiar with it, even if you don’t realize it. For instance, if you ask your phone or another device for help (via Google Assistant, Siri, Alexa, etc.), you’re using artificial intelligence. Getting a medical diagnosis or test? AI is likely to be involved. You, your team, and most other Americans are already benefitting from its efficiency; you just need to apply it to your own business.

If you haven’t, you may already be behind your competition. According to a 2024 McKinsey & Company survey, 78 percent of organizations said they were already using artificial intelligence in some form. The AI bug has hit consumers as well: another company, AltIndex.com, estimated that 378 million people would use AI tools in 2025.

Implementing AI

So perhaps you are now excited about the possibilities this revolutionary tool can bring to your company and are ready to apply it to your processes. However, your enthusiasm may be dashed by another hurdle: actually executing this goal. Per the business software company Vention, over three-quarters of business leaders find it difficult to do so.

But it actually may be easier than you think, says Jason Pantana, a coach, trainer, and speaker who cofounded AI Marketing Academy with legendary real estate coach Tom Ferry, which provides cutting-edge AI training courses. “Reluctance is the biggest problem,” he admits. “But AI is a tool to be leveraged. [Marketing pioneer] Seth Godin goes as far as to say that ‘AI is the biggest change since electricity—bigger than the internet.’ I’d suggest recognizing it for what it is: an incredible opportunity that’s going to help your team do more, do it faster, and do it better. AI will enhance your company, solving customer problems in the most optimized, efficient way. Every business owner should incorporate it into their marketing strategies.”

The tools on the AI shelf

The first step is to get familiar with the various AI programs available, which Pantana says is no different than “the tool section of Home Depot having different types of screwdrivers.” He suggests the following to help fill your AI marketing toolbox:

• Video creation: ElevenLabs or Grok
• Video editing: CapCut, Descript, or Runway ML
• Image editing: Canva
• Writing and brainstorming: ChatGPT or Gemini
• Email and newsletter coding: Claude (“Prompting is the new coding,” Pantana adds.)

Just as important, he says, is familiarizing yourself with the six primary AI platforms people use to find businesses: ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Perplexity, Claude, and Copilot. While noting that each has its own strengths, Pantana says that optimizing your business for ChatGPT should be your initial choice due to its vast superiority in current usership—with an important caveat. “Focusing on ChatGPT increases your odds of success since it has the biggest market by far. But keep an eye on Gemini; once Google has perfected it, it will be even bigger,” he predicts.

Supercharge your marketing

In addition to knowing your customers’ resources, how can AI improve your marketing? Think of it from this perspective: Pantana says that AI products create outputs—words, images, sounds, and video—based on your input, so it’s simply an amplified result of your requests and goals. For example, a real estate agent can put MLS data or spreadsheets for a specific area into Claude or ChatGPT and then give it a detailed written instruction for what to do with the information (the prompt), such as creating a comprehensive email newsletter, and the tool will use code to deliver it within seconds.

Likewise, you can prompt Claude to build a website within days. Just think of how that stacks up compared to traditional methods, freeing your team to accomplish even more.

No matter the format or function, however, Pantana stresses that you need to be very specific about your prompts. Doing so creates playbooks that AI can use to learn not only your efficiency and scaling objectives but also how to sound like your company’s voice in its output.

A final word and four innovator archetypes

Perhaps most important of all is a key customer-facing change that Pantana says is on the horizon. “More and more consumers are taking their searches to AI instead of traditional platforms like Google,” he reveals. “The key action word nowadays is becoming ‘Ask’ versus ‘Search.’ As a result, you’re going to see a paradigm shift where the message bar will replace the search bar, consumers will ask their questions and find their answers in AI chats, and answer engine optimization will be more vital than search engine optimization.” Much like you strive to do with SEO, you’ll soon need to discover how you can scale so that you get your business to be the result in AEO. “Everything will be retrofitted for an AI world,” he puts plainly.

To help business owners get a grasp of their current status, the AI guru notes that innovation adoption is often broken down into four phases: innovators, early adopters, late adopters, and laggers. Ask yourself: By name only, which category do you think you fall into? If it’s one of the latter, it’s not too late. However, time is of the essence. “This tech isn’t the threat. It’s your competition using the tech to scale and leave you in the dust,” Pantana concludes. “However, as soon as you get accustomed to AI and master prompting it, your imagination will know no bounds. Any efficiency or tech ceiling you thought your business had will be in the past.”

TAKE ACTION:
Determine at least two ways you can incorporate AI into your organization’s strategies to improve your business’s efficiency.

For more info, visit academy.jasonpantana.com