There's a version of "AI-powered business" that I keep seeing, and I want to talk you out of it.

A client reaches out with a question. And instead of you (with your expertise, your judgment, your relationship with them), they get a chat window. They get to talk to an AI assistant that answers in your approximate voice, trained on your approximate knowledge, available 24/7 so you don't have to be.

I understand the appeal. You're busy. The question probably has an obvious answer. Why not let the bot handle it?

Well let me answer that for you: Because your clients hired you. Not a system that sounds kinda like you.

The thing AI actually makes possible (and almost nobody is talking about this) is IMPECCABLE service. AI allows us to overdeliver in every way in less time.

When I use AI in my client work, I can do in 2 hours what used to take 2 days. I can pull together research, draft a full deliverable, run analysis, build a plan and still have time to call the client and walk them through it myself. The AI handles the production and I show up for the relationship.

That's white glove service. That's the version of AI-powered business worth building.

Business are fumbling this because they are treating AI as a way to do less instead of more. Automated intake. Automated responses. Automated follow-up. The client gets faster answers and less of you. Over time they start to wonder why they're paying a premium for something that feels increasingly... automated.

Your clients (or your manager, your patients, your customers) pay for your judgment and your ability to see what they can't see yet. AI should make you more present in those moments, not less. It handles the work that kept you too busy to be present. You show up better because of it.

The chatbot is a shortcut that costs you the thing your business runs on.

Use AI to do more for your clients. Not to do less.

— Jamie

P.S. The best use of AI I've seen in a client-facing business isn't automation — it's preparation. Knowing everything about a client before a call because you spent 10 minutes asking AI to pull it all together. That's the version that builds loyalty.