Elizabeth Gearhart, Ph.D.: Welcome to Real AI Use Cases Business Owners Roundtable. I’m Elizabeth Gearhart, podcast consultant, marketing expert, and Ph.D. researcher using AI every day.

Richard Gearhart: And I’m Richard Gearhart, entrepreneur, seasoned business owner, and intellectual property attorney specializing in innovation. Here’s how real companies are using AI right now.

Elizabeth: I’m here with Saahil Mehta, Brady Sticker, and Tom Wragg. Saahil, what’s one way you’re using AI in your business?

Saahil Mehta – Building “Saahil Bot”: I’ve created a Sahil Bot — I fed it everything I’ve ever said publicly, all my research and posts, and put it into ChatGPT. Now my team doesn’t always have to depend on me to get an answer; I’d honestly say it’s better than I am in some ways, since it never forgets anything I’ve said. It’s not just internal, either — clients I coach around the world can ask it a question in between our sessions, even while I’m asleep. My team built in guardrails too: if you ask it about mortgages, for example, it’ll say that’s outside what it knows and ask you to try another question, rather than answering everything.

Elizabeth: Brady, what’s one way you’re using AI at Church Candy?

Brady Sticker – Efficiency Over Replacement: When AI first showed up, I was intimidated — people were saying you don’t need employees anymore, and I have a big team with a great culture I didn’t want to replace. A business coach helped me reframe it: don’t use AI to replace your team, use it to make your team more efficient. We had everyone run a specific prompt — telling ChatGPT to act as an automations expert, ask about their role and KPIs, and build them a plan to get more efficient with AI. Now we have a custom bot that takes our proven ad templates and writes client-specific copy in seconds instead of hours. My team loves it — they’re hitting higher numbers and embracing it instead of fearing it.

Elizabeth: Tom, what’s one way you’re using AI at loanDepot?

Tom Wragg – AI Across the Loan Lifecycle: AI has become very influential very quickly for mortgage originators — it touches lead generation, prospecting new borrowers and realtors, income and asset verification, and personalized follow-ups. It doesn’t sleep, so it can wish a client happy birthday while I’m asleep and still make me look on top of things. It’s helped me automate customer retention and keep the path to closing smooth for first-time homebuyers especially.

Elizabeth: Richard, what about you?

Richard Gearhart – An Unexpected Personal Use Case: I’ve actually lost weight using AI. I started tracking my meals in it, and it logs calories and macros and suggests dinner options. Four days in, I’m down two pounds. If I tell it I had a couple of sugar cookies, it’ll say I’ve had enough for the day — no judgment, but it nudges me back toward my goals. It’s turned out to be a genuinely useful coach.

Elizabeth – On Prompting Well: I use AI heavily for research too — not just ChatGPT, but Perplexity and Gemini, which also give you access to Claude and other models. The most important skill is knowing what to actually ask it. I love what Brady said — tell it to act as a specific kind of expert, then ask your question. Do you two think AI will displace your employees?

Richard: Some roles, depending on what they are. In law, younger attorneys who spend their time drafting are understandably concerned — work that used to take three or four hours can now happen in seconds. Experienced people are still needed to review and apply judgment, but I do worry there won’t be enough young attorneys getting the reps in to build that judgment in the first place.

Elizabeth: I think the people with real job security are the ones who can bring AI into a business and help automate it — which is why I asked Saahil how his team actually built his bot.

Saahil – Operating from Love, Not Fear: It was a team effort — they were the architects who executed the plan. But I’d add: everything new carries both fear and love in it, the same way the industrial revolution or nuclear energy brought real benefit alongside real pain. Every day you get to choose which one you operate from. I do think AI will take some roles away — but I also think new roles and opportunities will show up because of it.

Elizabeth: That’s exactly it — people don’t drive horse carriages anymore, but those drivers learned to drive cars instead. The job changed, it didn’t just disappear. Tom, what do you think?

Tom – Where AI Won’t Go: AI won’t replace trust-building, structuring a complex deal, or negotiating between people — and it won’t replace the realtor-to-originator relationship. It amplifies a good originator, it doesn’t replace one. Once you’re talking about $500,000-plus transactions, people want a human being on the other end of the phone, because the stakes of getting it wrong are that much higher.

Closing – Elizabeth: I agree with Saahil — there’s no need to be afraid. We’ll find creative ways to use this. Things will shift, and we’ll shift with them. You’ve been listening to Real AI Use Cases Business Owners Roundtable.