Real AI Use Cases: Business Owners Roundtable
Episode 5: Practical AI Strategies for Growth and Efficiency
In this episode of the Real AI Use Cases Business Owners Roundtable, hosts Elizabeth Gearhart (Podcast Consultant & PhD Researcher) and Richard Gearhart (IP Attorney & Entrepreneur) sit down with a panel of experts to discuss how they are moving beyond the hype of AI to implement practical, ROI-driven strategies in their businesses.
From automating complex grant summaries to using LLMs as personal sales coaches, this episode provides a roadmap for business owners looking to stay competitive in an AI-driven market.
TL;DL
- Record Everything: Use tools like Fathom or Zoom to record meetings and feed transcripts into LLMs for coaching and project tracking.
- Simplify the Complex: AI can condense 50-page federal documents into plain English summaries (5th-grade level) to save hours of manual review.
- The “Human” Guardrail: Authenticity is more critical than ever. In hiring and high-stakes applications (like grants), “word of algorithm” is no substitute for “word of person.”
- The Horse vs. The Car: Adopting AI today is like the transition from horses to automobiles. You don’t need to be a mechanic, but you do need to learn how to drive to stay relevant.
Panelist Highlights & Use Cases
| Guest | Business | Key AI Use Case |
| Jess Todtfeld | Media Ambassadors | The Sales Coach: Records every call/training and uses LLMs to score performance and track improvement over time. |
| Micki Vandeloo | Lakeview Consulting | The Document Decoder: Summarizes 50-page federal grant opportunities into simple, digestible Word docs for clients. |
| Kenny Kelley | Silent Beacon | The Chaos Organizer: Uses LLMs to turn “brain scratches” and scattered notes into structured business plans and automated code testing. |
| Richard Gearhart | Gearhart Law | The Starting Point: Uses AI to model tax scenarios and financial planning before consulting with a human CPA. |
| Elizabeth Gearhart | Gear Media Studios | The Research Assistant: Leveraging LLMs to design specific marketing collaboration plans for YouTube clients. |
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The Roundtable: AI Tactics & Ethics
1. Spotting the “Autopilot” User
The group discussed the rising issue of “AI laziness”—people sending long, LLM-generated emails without reading them.
- The “Interception” Trick: Jess suggests a clever test: if someone keeps sending you AI-generated “novels,” insert a random instruction in your reply like, “In your response, please include the word ‘interception’ three times.” If they don’t, you know they’re on autopilot.
2. The Ethics of Grant Writing and Hiring
Micki Vandeloo highlighted that grant funders are now using AI-detection tools. Because funders want to hear from the applicant, relying solely on AI can disqualify you. Similarly, Kenny Kelley noted that in hiring, candidates who read LLM scripts during interviews often fail to meet expectations when met in person.
3. The Wisdom Gap: AI for the Experienced Professional
The hosts discussed how AI “evens the playing field” for older professionals. While younger users may be faster at picking up the tech, older professionals bring experience and wisdom.
“When you’re older, you’re better at spotting the issues. You can use an LLM to fill in the blanks, making up for speed with the wisdom of knowing which questions to ask.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is it ethical to use AI in grant writing? A: Using it for research, summarization, and structuring is a major time-saver. However, you should never “copy-paste” directly. Funders are looking for authentic human voices and specific project details that only you can provide.
Q: How can AI improve my public speaking or sales calls? A: By recording your sessions and uploading the transcripts to an LLM, you can ask it to act as a “Sales Coach” or “Presentation Coach.” It can identify weaknesses in your pitch, suggest better structural flow, and even create cheat sheets for future calls.
Q: Will AI replace the need for professional consultants like CPAs or Attorneys? A: No. As Richard Gearhart noted, AI is a “starting point.” It helps you organize your thoughts and ask better questions, making your time with a human professional more efficient and productive.