WEBVTT
00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:05.280
Four, four, three, three, two, three, one, one.
00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:09.119
Welcome to the AI Profit Leaders Podcast.
00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:18.160
My name is Chris Weiser here with Adam Walter, founder and president of Humanize IT, soon to be humanize AI.
00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:19.120
I'm really excited about that.
00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:20.320
Adam, tell us about yourself.
00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:22.000
Yeah, my name's Adam Walter.
00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:24.320
I I've got a long history in engineering.
00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:27.679
I originally was a bachelor of science, computer science on an art scholarship.
00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:29.679
Personally, I was kind of an art student too.
00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:30.480
That's crazy.
00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:31.679
They're the best creative types.
00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:32.320
I didn't know that about it.
00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:35.600
The best engineers I've known had PhDs in trumpet.
00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:38.159
And so I've been even going there.
00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:40.880
I was an engineer for 17 years.
00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:42.000
I rose through the ranks.
00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:45.520
I was a critical infrastructure director uh for security.
00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:47.200
I was top-tier engineer.
00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:48.399
I was an Apache admin.
00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:49.359
You name it, I've done it.
00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:51.759
And uh Apache, that's like the old web server, right?
00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:52.799
The current web server, yeah.
00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:54.159
The best web server.
00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:54.960
Old web server.
00:00:55.039 --> 00:00:56.399
I was an old VSD guy.
00:00:56.560 --> 00:00:57.359
Oh, that's old.
00:00:57.439 --> 00:00:57.679
Yeah.
00:00:57.759 --> 00:00:57.920
Yeah.
00:00:58.159 --> 00:00:59.439
I was a Vax VMS guy.
00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:00.880
But we had Apache back then, too.
00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:03.359
Vax VMS was what I learned the code on.
00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:04.159
That's real old.
00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:04.560
Okay.
00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:07.599
Anyway, so welcome to the AI Profit Leaders podcast.
00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:09.040
Super pumped to have you here.
00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:11.120
So what so what does Humanize do?
00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:14.799
Talk to me a little bit about that and how are you transitioning into AI?
00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:16.000
We got some more stuff that we could do.
00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:17.200
Yeah, we got a lot to cover here.
00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:17.439
Yeah.
00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:22.079
Humanize IT's mission is to help engineers have better conversations with their clients.
00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:28.879
We noticed a problem back in around 2020 where MSPs were talking about tickets, speeds, and feeds.
00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:36.239
And I was going in as a fractional CIO with my years of experience and helping companies understand how to use technology better.
00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:38.560
I wasn't fixing things, I was done with that.
00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:45.439
I made 36,000 MRR just advising companies on agile and on best practices for IT.
00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:47.840
This is money that MSPs could have had.
00:01:47.920 --> 00:02:01.439
So we ended up buying a gap analysis platform called Managed Services Platform and transitioning it into something called Humanize IT to help engineers identify where the gaps were and what they should actually talk to their clients about to help their clients succeed.
00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:02.879
And that's to humanize it.
00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:04.079
Humanize IT.
00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:07.359
So rather than talking about technology, you're talking about the human behind it.
00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:18.240
It's so funny because almost almost all of your tech people, especially your IT service providers, for anybody that's not in IT, when he says MSPs, it means managed service provider.
00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:22.639
That's your outsourced help desk, your outsource, you know, all of the outsourced IT guys.
00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:24.719
That's kind of where Chris Weiser came from.
00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:26.639
That's how we know each other, is that world?
00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:36.000
It's really interesting that you mentioned that whole thing because so many IT people, it's kind of kind of like the thing about IT people in general, is we're techie dorks that aren't humans.
00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:36.479
Yeah.
00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:38.560
And that's a really cool take on it.
00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:43.520
I think you said it earlier today, even was to hammer everything's a nail.
00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:43.840
Yeah.
00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:51.840
And so when you're in tech and you're so used to being the person who knows everything about tech, you think that your solutions will solve every problem.
00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:52.080
Yeah.
00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:55.039
And so you think, oh, if they just had a new computer, if they would just do what I say.
00:02:55.120 --> 00:03:01.360
The number of times I've heard of a technical person say, if the if the client would just do what I say, they'd be fine, but they won't listen to me.
00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:05.759
And you know, to me, that's a key indicator that you're not listening to your clients.
00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:07.840
You don't actually know what their concerns are.
00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:10.080
And so you care about is your agenda.
00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:10.319
Yeah.
00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:20.400
You care about your agenda, you want to sell them that firewall, you want to sell them that PC, and they're over there struggling to make payroll, or they're struggling with hiring more employees.
00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:26.159
And a technician can help with that, but they need to understand the problem so they can provide a solution that will help the client.
00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:26.719
Yeah.
00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:29.120
So uh you mentioned talking earlier today.
00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:31.840
We are here in Austin, Texas at my headquarters.
00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:32.879
Got a bunch of people here.
00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:35.840
We're kind of recording a bunch of different content, having a little mastermind day.
00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:36.879
It's kind of a lot of fun.
00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:41.759
Uh, and I, you know, heard a little bit of your journey and and how some of the things are are moving around.
00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:45.439
We mentioned this in the open with humanize IT moving to humanize AI.
00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:52.400
We talked a little bit earlier about how fast AI is moving and how these things are transitioning so quickly.
00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:54.400
And you said, I thought I had more time.
00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:54.879
Yeah.
00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:57.199
Take me through that journey a little bit.
00:03:57.439 --> 00:04:01.120
So this year, we go through a plan build run cycle on our business.
00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:07.599
So during the build phases, we roll back on our marketing and we build our product that we're gonna go to market with.
00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:11.520
So this year we pushed a bunch of our cash because we're an independent software company.
00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:13.680
We're not backed by any VC or PE firms.
00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:14.800
We are our own entity.
00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:18.959
Pushed our money into building out a product that was gonna be better.
00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:20.160
That's humanize IT.
00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:24.720
We made uh better integrations, better processes so our clients can have a better experience.
00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:28.240
We closed out that process in October, and that's when I call budget cycle.
00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:29.680
I start planning out my next year.
00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:31.680
What am I going to lean into the next year?
00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:35.600
And so I started investigating AI in the marketplace.
00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:37.040
Everybody seemed to be adopting it.
00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:38.720
I thought they were rushing to it.
00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:40.560
Like there's going to be some security problems.
00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:43.439
So I need to get familiar with this from an architect standpoint.
00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:46.639
So you kind of thought you were already an early adopter at that point.
00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:47.040
Yeah.
00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:48.800
I I mean I'm ahead of the game here.
00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:51.279
I did an open letter to the community.
00:04:51.360 --> 00:05:01.759
You can read it on my website at humanize it.biz, and it explains my concerns about AI based upon what happened during the dot com bubble and the security breaches we saw there.
00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:05.680
And so I started investigating this and I came up to a horror story.
00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:07.759
Like I wasn't ahead of the game.
00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:10.319
I was way, way behind.
00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:24.959
And so I really started leaning into, you know, learning things like Replit, learning things like Claude, and trying to figure out what the difference between the different AI solutions were out there, different terminologies and the field had passed me by by light years.
00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:28.720
And I started thinking, oh my gosh, I'm gonna get buried next year.
00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:30.879
And a lot of people are gonna get buried next year.
00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:32.879
They don't see the avalanche that's coming.
00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:33.920
This isn't the dot com.
00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:36.240
This is way, way more impactful.
00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:37.199
I went through the dot-com.
00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:38.000
I remember it.
00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:49.040
Well, and the dot-com was was more about okay, there's a bubble there, there's stuff there, but but it was more about loss than it was about an opportunity that I mean there was there was stuff that people missed, and I totally get that.
00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:55.040
But I think, you know, and I remember the dot-com stuff too, because it was it was pretty in, it was very, very impactful.
00:05:55.279 --> 00:06:02.240
But it was more about, you know, from my standpoint, it was like my business might go under because of all the reduction.
00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:06.160
This is you're gonna stay where you're at and you're missing out.
00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:13.120
Would you agree with like that's what that's what I see the difference is now is like it's not like I don't think there's gonna be this huge reduction and all this other stuff.
00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:18.240
It's just that everybody that's kind of like hanging out and just doing what they always did, they're gonna pretty much stay where they're at.
00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:18.879
I don't know.
00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:28.639
I I see it as you're gonna see some companies that have really great employees that have a real passion for their clientele, and they're gonna get augmented by AI.
00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:40.399
And when it comes to the customer trying to choose between two competitors, they're gonna go with the person who's going to be more intuitive, who's gonna listen to what they have to say, who's gonna process their orders faster.
00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:40.800
Yeah.
00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:47.759
And so I see AI as being it's gonna take your team of 10 and turn them to a team of 50 or a team of a hundred, or a team of a hundred.
00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:48.399
Yeah, yeah.
00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:52.319
While the your competitors are gonna sit there and they're continuing to do things the way they are.
00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:54.480
They're still taking weeks to process orders.
00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:56.079
They're still taking a long time.
00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:59.920
They're not being as intuitive because they're not looking at conversations the same way.
00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:10.160
AI helps me drive dive through all of this noise and get to valuable information much faster because I'm not spending all my time reading and digesting and analyzing data.
00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:16.800
Yeah, so I think we're speaking the same language because it's just, you know, I think the opportunity here is absolutely insane.
00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:26.160
Uh it's probably, you know, not only for the managed service providers that might watch this, for the IT cybersecurity folks that might watch this, but any of your traditional businesses.
00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:30.959
I mean, there's a massive, massive opportunity to make more money more efficiently.
00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:35.439
And so many people are seeing the AI thing as like it's gonna replace employees, blah, blah, blah.
00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:39.680
No, it's gonna like you said a very key word there, which I love and we don't hear enough of.
00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:40.720
It's going to augment.
00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:47.680
And and the people that are good, it's gonna make them absolutely freaking amazing if you allow it to.
00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:50.560
I also think there's gonna be a whole group of business.
00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:52.399
We were talking about this during the mastermind.
00:07:52.480 --> 00:08:00.240
I kind of started the mastermind stuff, and we were a group of you know, 10 people talking around a room as we did this stuff, and I talked a little bit about that.
00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:04.800
There's definitely people out there, a good chunk, that are like, this is a fad.
00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:09.519
I don't like, I don't believe AI as tech, especially in the IT MSP industry.
00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:13.519
We're we're definitely seeing that where it's like, nope, I'm not gonna, I'm not an expert in that.
00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:14.079
You know, yeah.
00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:15.360
I don't know if you saw my research.
00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:17.759
We were talking about a Facebook post earlier today.
00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:22.000
I know you're in my big Facebook group that had that there, and you said you lurked and you saw it.
00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:29.920
But there was some guys in there that said, I'm not an expert on that, so I'm not gonna talk about it, and I'm not gonna talk about AI and focus on AI.
00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:34.960
And what's funny about the IT MSP industry is how many MSPs are security experts?
00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:39.600
I would I would say less than five percent, probably less than two percent are really truly secure.
00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:41.039
But you know what they all dabble in?
00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:45.120
They go play in security and they risk management and they and they play in risk management.
00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:48.639
And I don't know what what's what's where's your thoughts on that whole thing?
00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:49.919
Because I feel like we're on the same page.
00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:53.039
Yeah, I think I think uh just to speak real world here.
00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:59.279
So I started researching AI and its implications on my business and how I was gonna roll this out a year from now.
00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:15.360
I got so scared when I started seeing where AI is and what its potential is that I stopped my dev cycle, went into my savings as a company, and I started burning through my savings to implement AI and rewriting.
00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:23.600
And in about two months, now I'm a computer science background, so I've got a I've got a little bit of head start, and I have an entire coding base that I launched off of.
00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:32.240
In about two months, I went from knowing what I thought was a lot about AI to realizing that I was way behind to now where I'm a thought leader in two months.
00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:34.240
I would I would agree in the room today.
00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:39.600
Yeah, you were definitely the thought leader around all of the, you know, all of the coding back end stuff.
00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:42.879
You were sitting there and the guys were looking at you like, holy crap, this guy's an expert.
00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:45.600
It's just that that's how fast you're going to learn.
00:09:45.679 --> 00:10:00.720
And I even if you're even if you're a regular business owner whose expertise is you're an attorney, so your legal jardin, or maybe your expertise is dental hygiene, you're even going to learn at this accelerated rate because that's what AI does, is it enables you to accelerate, it augments who you are.
00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:01.120
Yeah.
00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:08.559
I I kind of said I've said this uh I on stage all the way back on my first AI event to the IT industry was in April.
00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:11.200
So back, and I said you guys need to change this, you need to.
00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:17.279
That's kind of where we launched this whole the whole idea for the book and all the stuff came from that show, preparing for that show and doing that.
00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:20.240
And I said on stage that day, I've always been a great idea guy.
00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:29.600
Like it, I've always been really good about that, and I was always here, but my challenge was always getting idea to implementation, full execution on that, and AI is doing that for me.
00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:34.720
Yeah, and it's you know, so I I think the term augment is such a good I'm I'm stealing that.
00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:35.919
Sorry, it's mine now.
00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:47.679
That it's such a good phrase because it takes anyone that has ideas, any business owner, any forward thinker, dental hygiene, like uh literally anybody that's and it helps you implement faster and better.
00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:58.320
Yeah, I would say like for you EOS people out there, EOS if you're an implementer, it's gonna make you implement faster and it's gonna give you better data to make decisions off of.
00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:05.759
If you're a visionary in your in your company, it's gonna allow you to see more opportunities to help direct your company.
00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:07.360
That's what AI is gonna do for you.
00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:10.480
And like I read through this entire book today, because I don't throw it for the box.
00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:12.399
I finished it.
00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:14.720
That was just a big confirmation bias for me.
00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:16.799
Like, I'm like, yes, yes, yes.
00:11:16.960 --> 00:11:18.000
Oh, that's a great, yep.
00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:18.960
Read through this.
00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:29.200
That's if you want Adam's thoughts after diving in and spending 16 hours a day on AI for two months with a computer science background with over 20 years of experience in IT.
00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:32.480
This is a distilled version of what I was thinking in last school.
00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:33.200
Thanks, man.
00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:33.759
I appreciate it.
00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:36.000
And so go go do a review on Amazon, please.
00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:37.120
Yeah, all right out there.
00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:39.440
But yeah, like, but it's from a business standpoint.
00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:49.120
You're not gonna see, like, hey, what is you know, an MCP, what is Replit, what is level, you're not gonna see any of that technical jargon, but you are going to get a feel for how impactful this is.
00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:51.759
And I don't think there's a single number in there I disagreed with.
00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:57.840
I went in my software and I created several calculators because, oh my gosh, yes, and you are hitting it right on the head there.
00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:05.840
I need this calculator to help people understand the impact of this on the world today from a business standpoint.
00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:10.320
This isn't a technical thing, this is a business item empowered by technology.
00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:14.159
And I think, you know, first of all, thanks for the for the props on the book.
00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:14.639
That's really cool.
00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:19.519
It's really cool to sit there and watch you read it all day and to actually have you actually complete it.
00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:29.679
But the thing that we really focused on in the book is how you need to put AI into your daily mindset, but you need to focus on the strategic side.
00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:34.000
And so many people, especially business owners, are just thinking tool, tool, tool, tool.
00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:37.440
And you heard me, you know, you heard me say today to a to a hammer, everything's a nail.
00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:45.440
And to people that lead with tools, it's gonna turn into, and we're kind of already seeing this, people that are like, ooh, I can go vibe code this.
00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:56.159
And if you don't know what vibe code, what vibe code means, if you don't know what this means, it's I want to speak an idea into or type an idea into a platform that will write the back-end code for me.
00:12:56.320 --> 00:13:03.279
It doesn't do like it's typical, like even ChatGPT or Gemini or Claude or any of these ones, they kind of hallucinate at times.
00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:04.399
Well, so does vibe coding.
00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:07.679
Like it doesn't do a great job putting the finishing touches on anything.
00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:19.519
And I think what we're gonna watch happen over the next hours to months to years is we're gonna watch a ton of people in small business, ooh, vibe code, vibe code, vibe code, they're gonna get the instant gratification.
00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:24.080
Yes, and they're gonna put stuff in and it's gonna explode things, and there's gonna be this whole level.
00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:32.240
And if you're an IT person or even a consultant or a project person, you're gonna run behind a lot of the stuff and be clean up mode on a lot of these things.
00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:32.799
And it's wise.
00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:35.279
A lot of money will be made in what we call refactoring.
00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:36.399
That's cleaning up code.
00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:48.639
Yep, and and so much of it is gonna be lead with strategy, not and I have no problem with trying to throw a tool at an idea, but I think you gotta be really careful about just like well, I'm gonna I'm gonna yes and that.
00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:53.759
So take that concept and you hear your employee saying, I want to vibe code this for our team.
00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:56.720
And if you hear that word, vibe code, right?
00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:10.159
Stop just for a second and say, tell me your idea, and then go find somebody who has a programming background to create it, or find an MSP or a technical provider and have them vibe code it.
00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:14.240
You're still gonna get it, it's gonna cost a little bit more, but it's gonna be done correctly.
00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:21.360
It's not gonna cost you the$30,000 it would cost if you had a professional dev team do this from scratch, and it's gonna take days.
00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:25.120
Yeah, but now you've got a key business solution.
00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:27.600
Maybe it's something that helps you process customers better.
00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:29.759
And make sure it solves a problem first, too, I'd say, right?
00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:30.879
Make sure it solves a problem.
00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:31.200
Yeah.
00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:44.000
Uh, one of the things that I've kind of noticed as I as I built out my AI dev team and all like all the stuff that I have, there's, and I want to get your take on this because it's kind of a different thing, and it's and it's something that I think everyone watching this can this is a good piece.
00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:55.519
What I've kind of seen is your traditional coders are they still kind of want to traditionally code and they really have a hard time determining, like they're like, ooh, vibe code bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
00:14:55.679 --> 00:15:07.919
And it takes a rare person, which it's had it's taken me a while to find them, to say, okay, I'm gonna look at this project and I'm gonna choose whether to tradition code or combine code or vibe code and get me there faster.
00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:14.399
Because they don't want to, like the old school guys are like hours for dollars, I need to have billing, bill of blah, blah, blah.
00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:17.039
And it's probably not a whole lot different than the legal industry.
00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:27.120
Cause I think we're gonna see that happen there too, because there's they're all like hours for dollars, hours for so anybody that's trading that, I think it's kind of hard to determine for them where AI is a benefit.
00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:31.600
And I will tell you, I very good friends with a die with a dev shop owner.
00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:38.639
He had to cut multiple guys because they just flat out refused to look at anything AI because they're like, no, it's it writes bad code.
00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:41.919
Like they're like, no, it no, no, it writes bad code.
00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:44.000
The browser wars are back, people, right?
00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:45.120
Yeah, it's it's the same.
00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:46.320
So do you agree with that?
00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:48.080
Where's your uh do you disagree with that?
00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:49.120
Where's your head on that?
00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:51.919
I'm gonna take a quick story jump back in time to the 90s.
00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:53.840
Do you remember the mosaic browser?
00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:54.480
Yeah, yeah.
00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:56.799
Do you remember all the different Netscape?
00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:02.080
We had an in this Google, or not Google, Google came out with one later on called Chrome.
00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:11.200
And we had Internet Explorer, was this new thing, and it became a race because Netscape was really good at rendering good code.
00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:14.559
Internet Explorer was really good at rendering bad code.
00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:16.960
Which one of these browsers do you know today?
00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:21.200
Because the Internet Explorer took the world as it was, and Internet Explorer is now edge, right?
00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:24.960
Internet Explorer took the world as it was, and Netscape took the world as they wanted it to be.
00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:28.480
So you have these coders who are Luddites, and that's a really good time.
00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:32.080
They're falling behind because they're resistant to change.
00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:33.200
These are this Luddites.
00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:34.559
This has been around for millennia.
00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:36.159
People who are resistant to change.
00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:42.960
Now, imagine an artist saying, I don't want to use tempera paints because they're not oil, they're not real.
00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:45.039
Well, you're missing out on an entire medium.
00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:50.320
You know, I am a potter, I only work with clay, I do not work with porcelain.
00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:54.639
And so, okay, you're gonna make all of your stuff from scratch and you're gonna put it together.
00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:56.480
You're not gonna use anything prefabricated.
00:16:56.639 --> 00:16:58.720
Now, how are you gonna build something bigger?
00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:03.519
You're limiting your artistic ability by refusing to use the media that is available.
00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:09.759
Yeah, a good artist knows we use the media that's available to us to build the thing that's in our mind.
00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:14.559
And so if you're refusing to do that, if there's a take from today, that's really good, dude.
00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:15.680
Yeah, I really like that a lot.
00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:18.000
You need to be able to, it's just like just running a business.
00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:27.039
If you're gonna run a hamburger joint and you can't see outside your current menu, you might go out of business, or maybe even a way of processing, like how did you make burgers?
00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:29.119
It's you know, making it more efficient, making it better.
00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:31.119
Because no, we we do everything the old school way.
00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:34.960
Okay, that's fine, but I can only serve so many clients a day that way.
00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:37.440
Well, look at Wendy's, they've got they got square burgers.
00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:38.799
I thought it was called tendies now.
00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:40.079
Oh, I don't know what's anymore.
00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:42.000
They're doing chicken tenders now, so no.
00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:45.599
They got their whole commercial called tendies, and it's funny.
00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:47.039
So they're like, oh, we're now tendies.
00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:53.039
But I mean, you got a lot of people who think about businesses and they they they look at the trend and think, what does act people actually want?
00:17:53.279 --> 00:18:01.839
If I go to a steakhouse, I'm not looking for chicken fingers unless I'm trying to attract a younger uh uh crowd that has younger kids who don't want a steak.
00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:06.079
Yeah, but I want a steak as a dad, but I've got a two-year-old who won't touch anything but chicken nuggets.
00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:09.519
Yeah, you know, I'm gonna have chicken nuggets under menu because I want that guy to order a$70 steak.
00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:11.759
You gotta think outside the box, you gotta think creatively.
00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:13.599
You can't say I am not this.
00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:14.240
Yeah.
00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:19.519
So we had uh did a few different episodes today with some IT guys uh in the room.
00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:21.759
They were all like, you gotta have IT strategy.
00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:25.039
They're they were all, I think, reading my book and kind of stand behind that.
00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:25.920
Do you agree with that?
00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:28.559
Where's your head around strategy and and yeah?
00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:35.279
So strategy is weird because we in IT, I see a lot of people, they think operations is strategy.
00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:40.319
They don't see the difference between a CEO and a C O O, which is why I don't call myself a CEO.
00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:43.359
I know what you people do, and I'm not capable of that.
00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:44.880
That's not my talent set.
00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:48.400
I'm really good at working with staff, culture, and crafting that I'm a president.
00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:59.119
But some of these MSPs think that they're thinking strategically when they're thinking operationally and tactically, and because of that, they're falling behind and they're not helping businesses.
00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:04.000
A strategist says, Hey, tell me about your business and what you're trying to accomplish.
00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:08.480
So I went to a school and I said, Tell me about your school and what's going well and what's not going.
00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:14.319
And this school gave me this long list of things that were going really well, and then they gave me a longer list.
00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:32.000
All they said they couldn't do because they didn't they had bad internet, because they wanted to get their kids to Chromebooks so they could be like the other schools, but they just couldn't get technology to work right in their in their workplace because the MSPs kept coming in and fixing tickets, fixing printers, and fixing PCs.
00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:47.759
They never looked at the big issue of what the school is trying to accomplish and making sure that the internet was the right size for a Chromebook program to make sure the teachers were supported and to make sure the system was capable of doing all this art and all this media that the school is trying to do.
00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:57.119
And so they spent 10 years behind other schools until I came in and it wasn't I did anything special, I just sat and listened and created a strategy around what they wanted to do.
00:19:57.200 --> 00:19:57.759
I did not know.
00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:04.079
Not the operation side, not the because that that all effectively was there, but they never got a strategy that worked.
00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:04.559
Correct.
00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:07.279
So they were missing things like they just doubled the size of the internet.
00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:09.839
It's a funny story I tell on my podcast all the time.
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:13.519
They were from 10 to 20 megs for a school of 170 people.
00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:13.839
Yeah.
00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:16.319
And so they couldn't figure out why they were dropping internet all the time.
00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:20.079
So a technician would show up, they would fix the internet, and they would leave.
00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:21.759
And no one ever looked into the why.
00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:21.920
Yeah.
00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:23.519
What's the actual issue here?
00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:24.880
What's the core problem here?
00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:25.119
Yeah.
00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:25.440
Yeah.
00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:27.279
Like, oh, you want to be able to do all this?
00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:30.400
Oh man, let me look and see if you have the right technology.
00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:34.240
So, me as a guy, I didn't troubleshoot the internet connection.
00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:37.279
I just identified that they were having slow internet problems.
00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:43.039
And I I looked at all these problems and I went to an MSP and said, Here are the three core issues they have.
00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:46.000
I heard this from seven different key stakeholder interviews I had.
00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:47.279
Now help them.
00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:50.880
And within two weeks, we had them running flawlessly.
00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:55.440
By the next school year, we had a donor come in and donate Chromebooks so they could run a comeback program.
00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:57.519
Yeah, we solved the problems they wanted.
00:20:57.599 --> 00:21:04.079
It wasn't about the printers, it wasn't about the PCs, it was about the whole problem of the school and what they're trying to accomplish.
00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:04.640
I love it.
00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:04.960
I love it.
00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:07.200
Okay, some really good lessons from you today.
00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:08.480
Any final words?
00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:09.200
Yeah.
00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:15.279
When you talk to customers or when you're if you're a technology person, don't be like me.
00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:16.640
Listen more than you speak.
00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:19.200
You need to be quiet and listen to your client.
00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:22.640
A SBR, a QBR, a TBR, whatever it is.
00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:25.680
It's about reviewing what they're doing, not what you're doing.
00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:37.519
From a business standpoint, if you're working with a technology provider who doesn't understand your business, go find one that does, who will listen to what your problems are, what your dreams are, and who will help you build that dream.
00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:38.000
I love it.
00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:38.960
Great, great feedback.
00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:39.279
All right.
00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:40.559
I want to thank Adam Walter.
00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:44.000
Sorry, president of Humanize IT, soon to be a humanize AI.
00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:47.200
Thanks for being on the AI Profit Leaders podcast, and we'll see you guys next time.
00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:47.759
Thank you.
00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:05.280
Four, four, three, three, two, three, one, one.
00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:09.119
Welcome to the AI Profit Leaders Podcast.
00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:18.160
My name is Chris Weiser here with Adam Walter, founder and president of Humanize IT, soon to be humanize AI.
00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:19.120
I'm really excited about that.
00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:20.320
Adam, tell us about yourself.
00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:22.000
Yeah, my name's Adam Walter.
00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:24.320
I I've got a long history in engineering.
00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:27.679
I originally was a bachelor of science, computer science on an art scholarship.
00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:29.679
Personally, I was kind of an art student too.
00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:30.480
That's crazy.
00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:31.679
They're the best creative types.
00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:32.320
I didn't know that about it.
00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:35.600
The best engineers I've known had PhDs in trumpet.
00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:38.159
And so I've been even going there.
00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:40.880
I was an engineer for 17 years.
00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:42.000
I rose through the ranks.
00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:45.520
I was a critical infrastructure director uh for security.
00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:47.200
I was top-tier engineer.
00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:48.399
I was an Apache admin.
00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:49.359
You name it, I've done it.
00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:51.759
And uh Apache, that's like the old web server, right?
00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:52.799
The current web server, yeah.
00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:54.159
The best web server.
00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:54.960
Old web server.
00:00:55.039 --> 00:00:56.399
I was an old VSD guy.
00:00:56.560 --> 00:00:57.359
Oh, that's old.
00:00:57.439 --> 00:00:57.679
Yeah.
00:00:57.759 --> 00:00:57.920
Yeah.
00:00:58.159 --> 00:00:59.439
I was a Vax VMS guy.
00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:00.880
But we had Apache back then, too.
00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:03.359
Vax VMS was what I learned the code on.
00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:04.159
That's real old.
00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:04.560
Okay.
00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:07.599
Anyway, so welcome to the AI Profit Leaders podcast.
00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:09.040
Super pumped to have you here.
00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:11.120
So what so what does Humanize do?
00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:14.799
Talk to me a little bit about that and how are you transitioning into AI?
00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:16.000
We got some more stuff that we could do.
00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:17.200
Yeah, we got a lot to cover here.
00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:17.439
Yeah.
00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:22.079
Humanize IT's mission is to help engineers have better conversations with their clients.
00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:28.879
We noticed a problem back in around 2020 where MSPs were talking about tickets, speeds, and feeds.
00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:36.239
And I was going in as a fractional CIO with my years of experience and helping companies understand how to use technology better.
00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:38.560
I wasn't fixing things, I was done with that.
00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:45.439
I made 36,000 MRR just advising companies on agile and on best practices for IT.
00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:47.840
This is money that MSPs could have had.
00:01:47.920 --> 00:02:01.439
So we ended up buying a gap analysis platform called Managed Services Platform and transitioning it into something called Humanize IT to help engineers identify where the gaps were and what they should actually talk to their clients about to help their clients succeed.
00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:02.879
And that's to humanize it.
00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:04.079
Humanize IT.
00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:07.359
So rather than talking about technology, you're talking about the human behind it.
00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:18.240
It's so funny because almost almost all of your tech people, especially your IT service providers, for anybody that's not in IT, when he says MSPs, it means managed service provider.
00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:22.639
That's your outsourced help desk, your outsource, you know, all of the outsourced IT guys.
00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:24.719
That's kind of where Chris Weiser came from.
00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:26.639
That's how we know each other, is that world?
00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:36.000
It's really interesting that you mentioned that whole thing because so many IT people, it's kind of kind of like the thing about IT people in general, is we're techie dorks that aren't humans.
00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:36.479
Yeah.
00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:38.560
And that's a really cool take on it.
00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:43.520
I think you said it earlier today, even was to hammer everything's a nail.
00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:43.840
Yeah.
00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:51.840
And so when you're in tech and you're so used to being the person who knows everything about tech, you think that your solutions will solve every problem.
00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:52.080
Yeah.
00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:55.039
And so you think, oh, if they just had a new computer, if they would just do what I say.
00:02:55.120 --> 00:03:01.360
The number of times I've heard of a technical person say, if the if the client would just do what I say, they'd be fine, but they won't listen to me.
00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:05.759
And you know, to me, that's a key indicator that you're not listening to your clients.
00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:07.840
You don't actually know what their concerns are.
00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:10.080
And so you care about is your agenda.
00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:10.319
Yeah.
00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:20.400
You care about your agenda, you want to sell them that firewall, you want to sell them that PC, and they're over there struggling to make payroll, or they're struggling with hiring more employees.
00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:26.159
And a technician can help with that, but they need to understand the problem so they can provide a solution that will help the client.
00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:26.719
Yeah.
00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:29.120
So uh you mentioned talking earlier today.
00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:31.840
We are here in Austin, Texas at my headquarters.
00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:32.879
Got a bunch of people here.
00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:35.840
We're kind of recording a bunch of different content, having a little mastermind day.
00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:36.879
It's kind of a lot of fun.
00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:41.759
Uh, and I, you know, heard a little bit of your journey and and how some of the things are are moving around.
00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:45.439
We mentioned this in the open with humanize IT moving to humanize AI.
00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:52.400
We talked a little bit earlier about how fast AI is moving and how these things are transitioning so quickly.
00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:54.400
And you said, I thought I had more time.
00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:54.879
Yeah.
00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:57.199
Take me through that journey a little bit.
00:03:57.439 --> 00:04:01.120
So this year, we go through a plan build run cycle on our business.
00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:07.599
So during the build phases, we roll back on our marketing and we build our product that we're gonna go to market with.
00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:11.520
So this year we pushed a bunch of our cash because we're an independent software company.
00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:13.680
We're not backed by any VC or PE firms.
00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:14.800
We are our own entity.
00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:18.959
Pushed our money into building out a product that was gonna be better.
00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:20.160
That's humanize IT.
00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:24.720
We made uh better integrations, better processes so our clients can have a better experience.
00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:28.240
We closed out that process in October, and that's when I call budget cycle.
00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:29.680
I start planning out my next year.
00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:31.680
What am I going to lean into the next year?
00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:35.600
And so I started investigating AI in the marketplace.
00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:37.040
Everybody seemed to be adopting it.
00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:38.720
I thought they were rushing to it.
00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:40.560
Like there's going to be some security problems.
00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:43.439
So I need to get familiar with this from an architect standpoint.
00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:46.639
So you kind of thought you were already an early adopter at that point.
00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:47.040
Yeah.
00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:48.800
I I mean I'm ahead of the game here.
00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:51.279
I did an open letter to the community.
00:04:51.360 --> 00:05:01.759
You can read it on my website at humanize it.biz, and it explains my concerns about AI based upon what happened during the dot com bubble and the security breaches we saw there.
00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:05.680
And so I started investigating this and I came up to a horror story.
00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:07.759
Like I wasn't ahead of the game.
00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:10.319
I was way, way behind.
00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:24.959
And so I really started leaning into, you know, learning things like Replit, learning things like Claude, and trying to figure out what the difference between the different AI solutions were out there, different terminologies and the field had passed me by by light years.
00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:28.720
And I started thinking, oh my gosh, I'm gonna get buried next year.
00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:30.879
And a lot of people are gonna get buried next year.
00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:32.879
They don't see the avalanche that's coming.
00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:33.920
This isn't the dot com.
00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:36.240
This is way, way more impactful.
00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:37.199
I went through the dot-com.
00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:38.000
I remember it.
00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:49.040
Well, and the dot-com was was more about okay, there's a bubble there, there's stuff there, but but it was more about loss than it was about an opportunity that I mean there was there was stuff that people missed, and I totally get that.
00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:55.040
But I think, you know, and I remember the dot-com stuff too, because it was it was pretty in, it was very, very impactful.
00:05:55.279 --> 00:06:02.240
But it was more about, you know, from my standpoint, it was like my business might go under because of all the reduction.
00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:06.160
This is you're gonna stay where you're at and you're missing out.
00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:13.120
Would you agree with like that's what that's what I see the difference is now is like it's not like I don't think there's gonna be this huge reduction and all this other stuff.
00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:18.240
It's just that everybody that's kind of like hanging out and just doing what they always did, they're gonna pretty much stay where they're at.
00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:18.879
I don't know.
00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:28.639
I I see it as you're gonna see some companies that have really great employees that have a real passion for their clientele, and they're gonna get augmented by AI.
00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:40.399
And when it comes to the customer trying to choose between two competitors, they're gonna go with the person who's going to be more intuitive, who's gonna listen to what they have to say, who's gonna process their orders faster.
00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:40.800
Yeah.
00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:47.759
And so I see AI as being it's gonna take your team of 10 and turn them to a team of 50 or a team of a hundred, or a team of a hundred.
00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:48.399
Yeah, yeah.
00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:52.319
While the your competitors are gonna sit there and they're continuing to do things the way they are.
00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:54.480
They're still taking weeks to process orders.
00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:56.079
They're still taking a long time.
00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:59.920
They're not being as intuitive because they're not looking at conversations the same way.
00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:10.160
AI helps me drive dive through all of this noise and get to valuable information much faster because I'm not spending all my time reading and digesting and analyzing data.
00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:16.800
Yeah, so I think we're speaking the same language because it's just, you know, I think the opportunity here is absolutely insane.
00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:26.160
Uh it's probably, you know, not only for the managed service providers that might watch this, for the IT cybersecurity folks that might watch this, but any of your traditional businesses.
00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:30.959
I mean, there's a massive, massive opportunity to make more money more efficiently.
00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:35.439
And so many people are seeing the AI thing as like it's gonna replace employees, blah, blah, blah.
00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:39.680
No, it's gonna like you said a very key word there, which I love and we don't hear enough of.
00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:40.720
It's going to augment.
00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:47.680
And and the people that are good, it's gonna make them absolutely freaking amazing if you allow it to.
00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:50.560
I also think there's gonna be a whole group of business.
00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:52.399
We were talking about this during the mastermind.
00:07:52.480 --> 00:08:00.240
I kind of started the mastermind stuff, and we were a group of you know, 10 people talking around a room as we did this stuff, and I talked a little bit about that.
00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:04.800
There's definitely people out there, a good chunk, that are like, this is a fad.
00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:09.519
I don't like, I don't believe AI as tech, especially in the IT MSP industry.
00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:13.519
We're we're definitely seeing that where it's like, nope, I'm not gonna, I'm not an expert in that.
00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:14.079
You know, yeah.
00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:15.360
I don't know if you saw my research.
00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:17.759
We were talking about a Facebook post earlier today.
00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:22.000
I know you're in my big Facebook group that had that there, and you said you lurked and you saw it.
00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:29.920
But there was some guys in there that said, I'm not an expert on that, so I'm not gonna talk about it, and I'm not gonna talk about AI and focus on AI.
00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:34.960
And what's funny about the IT MSP industry is how many MSPs are security experts?
00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:39.600
I would I would say less than five percent, probably less than two percent are really truly secure.
00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:41.039
But you know what they all dabble in?
00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:45.120
They go play in security and they risk management and they and they play in risk management.
00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:48.639
And I don't know what what's what's where's your thoughts on that whole thing?
00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:49.919
Because I feel like we're on the same page.
00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:53.039
Yeah, I think I think uh just to speak real world here.
00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:59.279
So I started researching AI and its implications on my business and how I was gonna roll this out a year from now.
00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:15.360
I got so scared when I started seeing where AI is and what its potential is that I stopped my dev cycle, went into my savings as a company, and I started burning through my savings to implement AI and rewriting.
00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:23.600
And in about two months, now I'm a computer science background, so I've got a I've got a little bit of head start, and I have an entire coding base that I launched off of.
00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:32.240
In about two months, I went from knowing what I thought was a lot about AI to realizing that I was way behind to now where I'm a thought leader in two months.
00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:34.240
I would I would agree in the room today.
00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:39.600
Yeah, you were definitely the thought leader around all of the, you know, all of the coding back end stuff.
00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:42.879
You were sitting there and the guys were looking at you like, holy crap, this guy's an expert.
00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:45.600
It's just that that's how fast you're going to learn.
00:09:45.679 --> 00:10:00.720
And I even if you're even if you're a regular business owner whose expertise is you're an attorney, so your legal jardin, or maybe your expertise is dental hygiene, you're even going to learn at this accelerated rate because that's what AI does, is it enables you to accelerate, it augments who you are.
00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:01.120
Yeah.
00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:08.559
I I kind of said I've said this uh I on stage all the way back on my first AI event to the IT industry was in April.
00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:11.200
So back, and I said you guys need to change this, you need to.
00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:17.279
That's kind of where we launched this whole the whole idea for the book and all the stuff came from that show, preparing for that show and doing that.
00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:20.240
And I said on stage that day, I've always been a great idea guy.
00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:29.600
Like it, I've always been really good about that, and I was always here, but my challenge was always getting idea to implementation, full execution on that, and AI is doing that for me.
00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:34.720
Yeah, and it's you know, so I I think the term augment is such a good I'm I'm stealing that.
00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:35.919
Sorry, it's mine now.
00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:47.679
That it's such a good phrase because it takes anyone that has ideas, any business owner, any forward thinker, dental hygiene, like uh literally anybody that's and it helps you implement faster and better.
00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:58.320
Yeah, I would say like for you EOS people out there, EOS if you're an implementer, it's gonna make you implement faster and it's gonna give you better data to make decisions off of.
00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:05.759
If you're a visionary in your in your company, it's gonna allow you to see more opportunities to help direct your company.
00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:07.360
That's what AI is gonna do for you.
00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:10.480
And like I read through this entire book today, because I don't throw it for the box.
00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:12.399
I finished it.
00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:14.720
That was just a big confirmation bias for me.
00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:16.799
Like, I'm like, yes, yes, yes.
00:11:16.960 --> 00:11:18.000
Oh, that's a great, yep.
00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:18.960
Read through this.
00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:29.200
That's if you want Adam's thoughts after diving in and spending 16 hours a day on AI for two months with a computer science background with over 20 years of experience in IT.
00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:32.480
This is a distilled version of what I was thinking in last school.
00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:33.200
Thanks, man.
00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:33.759
I appreciate it.
00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:36.000
And so go go do a review on Amazon, please.
00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:37.120
Yeah, all right out there.
00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:39.440
But yeah, like, but it's from a business standpoint.
00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:49.120
You're not gonna see, like, hey, what is you know, an MCP, what is Replit, what is level, you're not gonna see any of that technical jargon, but you are going to get a feel for how impactful this is.
00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:51.759
And I don't think there's a single number in there I disagreed with.
00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:57.840
I went in my software and I created several calculators because, oh my gosh, yes, and you are hitting it right on the head there.
00:11:57.919 --> 00:12:05.840
I need this calculator to help people understand the impact of this on the world today from a business standpoint.
00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:10.320
This isn't a technical thing, this is a business item empowered by technology.
00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:14.159
And I think, you know, first of all, thanks for the for the props on the book.
00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:14.639
That's really cool.
00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:19.519
It's really cool to sit there and watch you read it all day and to actually have you actually complete it.
00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:29.679
But the thing that we really focused on in the book is how you need to put AI into your daily mindset, but you need to focus on the strategic side.
00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:34.000
And so many people, especially business owners, are just thinking tool, tool, tool, tool.
00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:37.440
And you heard me, you know, you heard me say today to a to a hammer, everything's a nail.
00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:45.440
And to people that lead with tools, it's gonna turn into, and we're kind of already seeing this, people that are like, ooh, I can go vibe code this.
00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:56.159
And if you don't know what vibe code, what vibe code means, if you don't know what this means, it's I want to speak an idea into or type an idea into a platform that will write the back-end code for me.
00:12:56.320 --> 00:13:03.279
It doesn't do like it's typical, like even ChatGPT or Gemini or Claude or any of these ones, they kind of hallucinate at times.
00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:04.399
Well, so does vibe coding.
00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:07.679
Like it doesn't do a great job putting the finishing touches on anything.
00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:19.519
And I think what we're gonna watch happen over the next hours to months to years is we're gonna watch a ton of people in small business, ooh, vibe code, vibe code, vibe code, they're gonna get the instant gratification.
00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:24.080
Yes, and they're gonna put stuff in and it's gonna explode things, and there's gonna be this whole level.
00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:32.240
And if you're an IT person or even a consultant or a project person, you're gonna run behind a lot of the stuff and be clean up mode on a lot of these things.
00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:32.799
And it's wise.
00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:35.279
A lot of money will be made in what we call refactoring.
00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:36.399
That's cleaning up code.
00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:48.639
Yep, and and so much of it is gonna be lead with strategy, not and I have no problem with trying to throw a tool at an idea, but I think you gotta be really careful about just like well, I'm gonna I'm gonna yes and that.
00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:53.759
So take that concept and you hear your employee saying, I want to vibe code this for our team.
00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:56.720
And if you hear that word, vibe code, right?
00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:10.159
Stop just for a second and say, tell me your idea, and then go find somebody who has a programming background to create it, or find an MSP or a technical provider and have them vibe code it.
00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:14.240
You're still gonna get it, it's gonna cost a little bit more, but it's gonna be done correctly.
00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:21.360
It's not gonna cost you the$30,000 it would cost if you had a professional dev team do this from scratch, and it's gonna take days.
00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:25.120
Yeah, but now you've got a key business solution.
00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:27.600
Maybe it's something that helps you process customers better.
00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:29.759
And make sure it solves a problem first, too, I'd say, right?
00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:30.879
Make sure it solves a problem.
00:14:31.039 --> 00:14:31.200
Yeah.
00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:44.000
Uh, one of the things that I've kind of noticed as I as I built out my AI dev team and all like all the stuff that I have, there's, and I want to get your take on this because it's kind of a different thing, and it's and it's something that I think everyone watching this can this is a good piece.
00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:55.519
What I've kind of seen is your traditional coders are they still kind of want to traditionally code and they really have a hard time determining, like they're like, ooh, vibe code bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
00:14:55.679 --> 00:15:07.919
And it takes a rare person, which it's had it's taken me a while to find them, to say, okay, I'm gonna look at this project and I'm gonna choose whether to tradition code or combine code or vibe code and get me there faster.
00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:14.399
Because they don't want to, like the old school guys are like hours for dollars, I need to have billing, bill of blah, blah, blah.
00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:17.039
And it's probably not a whole lot different than the legal industry.
00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:27.120
Cause I think we're gonna see that happen there too, because there's they're all like hours for dollars, hours for so anybody that's trading that, I think it's kind of hard to determine for them where AI is a benefit.
00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:31.600
And I will tell you, I very good friends with a die with a dev shop owner.
00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:38.639
He had to cut multiple guys because they just flat out refused to look at anything AI because they're like, no, it's it writes bad code.
00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:41.919
Like they're like, no, it no, no, it writes bad code.
00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:44.000
The browser wars are back, people, right?
00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:45.120
Yeah, it's it's the same.
00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:46.320
So do you agree with that?
00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:48.080
Where's your uh do you disagree with that?
00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:49.120
Where's your head on that?
00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:51.919
I'm gonna take a quick story jump back in time to the 90s.
00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:53.840
Do you remember the mosaic browser?
00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:54.480
Yeah, yeah.
00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:56.799
Do you remember all the different Netscape?
00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:02.080
We had an in this Google, or not Google, Google came out with one later on called Chrome.
00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:11.200
And we had Internet Explorer, was this new thing, and it became a race because Netscape was really good at rendering good code.
00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:14.559
Internet Explorer was really good at rendering bad code.
00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:16.960
Which one of these browsers do you know today?
00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:21.200
Because the Internet Explorer took the world as it was, and Internet Explorer is now edge, right?
00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:24.960
Internet Explorer took the world as it was, and Netscape took the world as they wanted it to be.
00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:28.480
So you have these coders who are Luddites, and that's a really good time.
00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:32.080
They're falling behind because they're resistant to change.
00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:33.200
These are this Luddites.
00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:34.559
This has been around for millennia.
00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:36.159
People who are resistant to change.
00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:42.960
Now, imagine an artist saying, I don't want to use tempera paints because they're not oil, they're not real.
00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:45.039
Well, you're missing out on an entire medium.
00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:50.320
You know, I am a potter, I only work with clay, I do not work with porcelain.
00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:54.639
And so, okay, you're gonna make all of your stuff from scratch and you're gonna put it together.
00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:56.480
You're not gonna use anything prefabricated.
00:16:56.639 --> 00:16:58.720
Now, how are you gonna build something bigger?
00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:03.519
You're limiting your artistic ability by refusing to use the media that is available.
00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:09.759
Yeah, a good artist knows we use the media that's available to us to build the thing that's in our mind.
00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:14.559
And so if you're refusing to do that, if there's a take from today, that's really good, dude.
00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:15.680
Yeah, I really like that a lot.
00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:18.000
You need to be able to, it's just like just running a business.
00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:27.039
If you're gonna run a hamburger joint and you can't see outside your current menu, you might go out of business, or maybe even a way of processing, like how did you make burgers?
00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:29.119
It's you know, making it more efficient, making it better.
00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:31.119
Because no, we we do everything the old school way.
00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:34.960
Okay, that's fine, but I can only serve so many clients a day that way.
00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:37.440
Well, look at Wendy's, they've got they got square burgers.
00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:38.799
I thought it was called tendies now.
00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:40.079
Oh, I don't know what's anymore.
00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:42.000
They're doing chicken tenders now, so no.
00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:45.599
They got their whole commercial called tendies, and it's funny.
00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:47.039
So they're like, oh, we're now tendies.
00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:53.039
But I mean, you got a lot of people who think about businesses and they they they look at the trend and think, what does act people actually want?
00:17:53.279 --> 00:18:01.839
If I go to a steakhouse, I'm not looking for chicken fingers unless I'm trying to attract a younger uh uh crowd that has younger kids who don't want a steak.
00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:06.079
Yeah, but I want a steak as a dad, but I've got a two-year-old who won't touch anything but chicken nuggets.
00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:09.519
Yeah, you know, I'm gonna have chicken nuggets under menu because I want that guy to order a$70 steak.
00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:11.759
You gotta think outside the box, you gotta think creatively.
00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:13.599
You can't say I am not this.
00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:14.240
Yeah.
00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:19.519
So we had uh did a few different episodes today with some IT guys uh in the room.
00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:21.759
They were all like, you gotta have IT strategy.
00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:25.039
They're they were all, I think, reading my book and kind of stand behind that.
00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:25.920
Do you agree with that?
00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:28.559
Where's your head around strategy and and yeah?
00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:35.279
So strategy is weird because we in IT, I see a lot of people, they think operations is strategy.
00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:40.319
They don't see the difference between a CEO and a C O O, which is why I don't call myself a CEO.
00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:43.359
I know what you people do, and I'm not capable of that.
00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:44.880
That's not my talent set.
00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:48.400
I'm really good at working with staff, culture, and crafting that I'm a president.
00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:59.119
But some of these MSPs think that they're thinking strategically when they're thinking operationally and tactically, and because of that, they're falling behind and they're not helping businesses.
00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:04.000
A strategist says, Hey, tell me about your business and what you're trying to accomplish.
00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:08.480
So I went to a school and I said, Tell me about your school and what's going well and what's not going.
00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:14.319
And this school gave me this long list of things that were going really well, and then they gave me a longer list.
00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:32.000
All they said they couldn't do because they didn't they had bad internet, because they wanted to get their kids to Chromebooks so they could be like the other schools, but they just couldn't get technology to work right in their in their workplace because the MSPs kept coming in and fixing tickets, fixing printers, and fixing PCs.
00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:47.759
They never looked at the big issue of what the school is trying to accomplish and making sure that the internet was the right size for a Chromebook program to make sure the teachers were supported and to make sure the system was capable of doing all this art and all this media that the school is trying to do.
00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:57.119
And so they spent 10 years behind other schools until I came in and it wasn't I did anything special, I just sat and listened and created a strategy around what they wanted to do.
00:19:57.200 --> 00:19:57.759
I did not know.
00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:04.079
Not the operation side, not the because that that all effectively was there, but they never got a strategy that worked.
00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:04.559
Correct.
00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:07.279
So they were missing things like they just doubled the size of the internet.
00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:09.839
It's a funny story I tell on my podcast all the time.
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:13.519
They were from 10 to 20 megs for a school of 170 people.
00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:13.839
Yeah.
00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:16.319
And so they couldn't figure out why they were dropping internet all the time.
00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:20.079
So a technician would show up, they would fix the internet, and they would leave.
00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:21.759
And no one ever looked into the why.
00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:21.920
Yeah.
00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:23.519
What's the actual issue here?
00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:24.880
What's the core problem here?
00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:25.119
Yeah.
00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:25.440
Yeah.
00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:27.279
Like, oh, you want to be able to do all this?
00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:30.400
Oh man, let me look and see if you have the right technology.
00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:34.240
So, me as a guy, I didn't troubleshoot the internet connection.
00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:37.279
I just identified that they were having slow internet problems.
00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:43.039
And I I looked at all these problems and I went to an MSP and said, Here are the three core issues they have.
00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:46.000
I heard this from seven different key stakeholder interviews I had.
00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:47.279
Now help them.
00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:50.880
And within two weeks, we had them running flawlessly.
00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:55.440
By the next school year, we had a donor come in and donate Chromebooks so they could run a comeback program.
00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:57.519
Yeah, we solved the problems they wanted.
00:20:57.599 --> 00:21:04.079
It wasn't about the printers, it wasn't about the PCs, it was about the whole problem of the school and what they're trying to accomplish.
00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:04.640
I love it.
00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:04.960
I love it.
00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:07.200
Okay, some really good lessons from you today.
00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:08.480
Any final words?
00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:09.200
Yeah.
00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:15.279
When you talk to customers or when you're if you're a technology person, don't be like me.
00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:16.640
Listen more than you speak.
00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:19.200
You need to be quiet and listen to your client.
00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:22.640
A SBR, a QBR, a TBR, whatever it is.
00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:25.680
It's about reviewing what they're doing, not what you're doing.
00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:37.519
From a business standpoint, if you're working with a technology provider who doesn't understand your business, go find one that does, who will listen to what your problems are, what your dreams are, and who will help you build that dream.
00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:38.000
I love it.
00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:38.960
Great, great feedback.
00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:39.279
All right.
00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:40.559
I want to thank Adam Walter.
00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:44.000
Sorry, president of Humanize IT, soon to be a humanize AI.
00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:47.200
Thanks for being on the AI Profit Leaders podcast, and we'll see you guys next time.
00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:47.759
Thank you.
