Friday, September 25
With guest speaker Casey Plunkett, CEO of Secure AI, former IBM and Oracle.
The one idea
Think of AI as a team of newly hired PhDs.
Confident. Great first drafts. Always check its work. Context is king. And it tends to tell you what you want to hear.
The Super Bowl test
Facts stay the same. Opinions drift. The more open the question, the more you check.
Response 1
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Response 2
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Response 3
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Prompts
Pull prompting
It interviews you instead of guessing.
“Before you write anything, ask me questions one at a time until you have what you need, then give me a draft.”
Paste it at the end of any request.
Two more worth trying
Tell it the date
It does not know what day it is unless you say so.
“Today is [today's date]. Look up the most recent information.”
Copy fills in today's date for you.
Ask for the easy way
Often it knows a shortcut you didn't.
“What is the most efficient way to do this?”
Bonus
“Help me learn how to use you.”
Works in every tool.
Not every tool is good at every job. Some write better, some handle pictures, some are better at research.
Cautions
Free tools can learn from what you paste.
Do not put client data, contracts, or sensitive info into free versions.
It makes things up with confidence.
Check facts and numbers.
Customers can smell generic AI.
Edit before you publish.
The scams got smarter.
Phishing emails now sound like people you know, and AI can clone a voice from seconds of audio.
Don't hand it your thinking.
Use it to draft and research, not to decide. Skills you stop using fade.
The one rule
Surprise money request? Hang up. Call back on the number you already have.
Homework for October 9
Staffing
Hiring, scheduling, turnover, training.
Marketing
Reviews, social, website, getting found.
Sales
Quotes, follow-ups, leads that go quiet.
Operations
Paperwork, scheduling, the stuff nobody owns.
Money
Invoices, bookkeeping, chasing payments.
Write down the one to three (or 50) things you wish took less time. Bring the list.
Our work
Flight school compliance software
Maverick
Student records, flight logs, and progress against the Part 61 minimums a flight school has to prove. Live and in use at a flight school in Waupaca.
Built by a kinesiology major and a marketing major. Not software developers.
See the case study
Property management platform
Meridian
A command center for small landlords: what each property made, what it cost, which rent is missing, and what needs attention this month.
Built by a kinesiology major and a marketing major. Not software developers.
See the case study
Website
Health & Fitness Headquarters
A local gym, on its own domain, with inquiries going straight to the owner.
See the case study
Website
715 Harvest Fest
An event site with online vendor applications that land in one organizer spreadsheet.
See the case study
Feedback
Only the first question is required.