Stop chasing AI tools and start connecting the ones you already have

Artificial intelligence is everywhere, and for most small business owners, that’s the problem. The pressure to adopt is intense, the options are overwhelming, and what vendors promise rarely matches what they actually deliver. Meanwhile, the companies spending the most on AI are failing at alarming rates.

For small and mid-sized businesses, the road ahead isn’t about chasing every new tool. It’s about making targeted investments that connect AI to the data and workflows they already have.

Joining us on this episode of Business Trends Today is Gene Marks, technology consultant, nationally syndicated columnist, and small business expert. He is also the author of the newly released The AI Business Playbook.

A practical guide to AI in business

As a columnist for Forbes magazine, Marks writes six to eight columns a month covering business technology. He says over the last two to three years, those columns have almost all been about AI. Those columns, combined with his consulting work, became the basis for his book. 

"What we really want is to know what's hype, and what's reality."

Marks says the book is intended to be a practical guide for business owners interested in implementing AI. He notes that there’s a lot of noise surrounding AI, but there’s also a lot of opportunity, if you know where to look.

“They’ve got pundits and experts and all these people being like, ‘Oh my God,’ you have to adopt AI. You’re going out of business… Meanwhile, your employees are terrified… You don’t know what to spend and what not to spend on. So this book is trying to bring some clarity to those decisions and what is real,” Marks said.

Learn from AI mistakes

Marks says he’s seen several large corporations pour millions of dollars into AI projects with little to show for it. He points to a recent MIT study that found that 95% of generative AI pilot projects fail to deliver a substantial ROI.

He believes that the failures of big corporations present an opportunity for small- to medium-sized businesses.

“Let the big guys make their mistakes so they can toss away their money. And then once they figure out how AI is really working at all, different things will trickle down to us as well,” he said.

As more AI tools enter the marketplace, getting started can be overwhelming. Many SMBs are ready, but unclear where to start. Marks believes the answer is to look for ways to connect AI systems you’re already using, like accounting systems, CRM platforms, and cloud files. Platforms like Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini can integrate directly with those systems, turning a general-purpose chatbot into one that understands your specific operation.

"The one takeaway is, you've got to connect your chatbots into your data."

If your business uses Microsoft Office, you already have access to Microsoft’s AI agent, Copilot. What you need, Marks says, is training on how it works and how you can best use it in your business. He recommends spending a few hundred dollars on a trainer sourced through LinkedIn to unlock what’s already available.

Addressing AI’s job threat

For many business owners, the biggest AI question has nothing to do with software or data. It’s whether their job will still exist in five years.

"Anybody that touches a computer is vulnerable to being replaced by AI. That's everybody. Unless you're taking dishes for a living." 

Marks puts the threat into perspective, pointing out that technology has always eliminated certain roles while creating new ones.

“I have a list I could show you of like 75 job titles that did not even exist 20 years ago. Imagine going back to 2006 and telling somebody that you’re a cannabis compliance officer at a company, or you’re a social media manager,” he said.

While some jobs will be eliminated by AI, Marks sees it as an opportunity for acceleration and growth. A business that can do more with the same number of employees is going to see profits rise.

The business owners gaining ground with AI right now aren’t the ones chasing every new tool. They’re the ones making targeted investments in the systems they already use. Marks says he hopes The AI Business Playbook helps owners see the difference and find the right ways to put AI to work for their business.