Let’s kick this off with the basics: what’s an AI agent? It’s just a chunk of artificial intelligence—usually juiced by reasoning models or large language models (LLMs)—built to tackle specific jobs, think a little on its own, and churn out results without you holding its hand. Think digital assistant with a brain, whether it’s drafting emails, crunching data, or even trolling spammers (yep, I’ve got one of those too). But here’s where it gets messy: AI’s the latest buzzword getting slung around by heavy hitters like Microsoft, Salesforce, and every startup with a logo, and sifting the real from the BS is turning into a full-time job.
The Hype Mess: Even the Big Guys Are Stumbling
Everyone’s riding the AI hype train these days. Microsoft’s pushing CoPilot agents, Salesforce is hyping its Einstein gear, and the list keeps growing. Trouble is, as of March 2025, a lot of it’s underwhelming. Take CoPilot—sounds cool, right? But it’s clunky, misses the mark half the time, and feels like a beta they shoved out the door to cash in on the buzz. The noise is deafening—every company’s swearing their agent’s gonna change your life, but you’re stuck wading through half-baked tools and empty promises. It’s frustrating because AI’s supposed to deliver automation, time savings, and efficiency—real stuff, not just shiny demos for shareholder meetings.
What AI’s Meant to Do
Here’s the truth: AI agents are destined to be game-changers when done right. We’re talking automation that kills grunt work, time savings that free you up for big-picture moves, and efficiency that comes from LLMs reasoning through complex tasks better than any intern. It’s not about replacing humans—it’s about turbocharging what we’re already good at. That’s the promise, anyway, and it’s where the rubber’s gotta meet the road past all the hype.
My FlyUSA Use Case: From Chaos to Cash in Minutes
Speaking of real wins, let’s talk about March 2025—when my first official, “holy crap this works” AI use case went live at FlyUSA. I’m the Director of Technology here, juggling projects with staff who’ve got AI on the brain. Everyone’s buzzing about it, but no one—big companies included—has dropped a clear, slam-dunk solution. So, I dug in. Our Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) came to me with a pain point: he builds custom aircraft ownership model estimates based on a client’s flight habits—where they’re going, how often, time of year, all that jazz. Then he’s gotta mash it up with aircraft variables like speed and time to nail an accurate price. Normally? That’s 2-3 hours of number-crunching per estimate, digging through Excel sheets and PDFs packed with aircraft specs.
I clocked it instantly: ChatGPT’s “Custom GPT” feature was the move. The CRO’s a sharp dude—an accomplished pilot—so I gave him a crash course on building one. I walked him through how reasoning models work, how to prompt like a pro, and even how the LLM can tweak its own prompts to get sharper. We loaded his docs—Excel, PDFs, the works—into the GPT as its data backbone. Next morning? He storms in, grinning, and goes, “You created a monster!” He’d spent the night tweaking his GPT, and now it was spitting out those pricing models in minutes—down from 2-3 hours each. Some weeks, he’s got 3-4 of these to crank out. That’s 9-12 hours of manual labor slashed to a fraction, leaving him to focus on the big-picture stuff. Time compression, productivity spike—that’s AI doing its job.
Keep It Simple, Win Big
Here’s the kicker: this wasn’t about me inventing some crazy new tech. It was about showing a smart guy the basics and letting him run with it. The CRO’s light bulb went off—he’s off to the races now, evolving his “monster” GPT into something even wilder as he piles on complexity. I didn’t need to over-engineer it; I just handed him the keys and watched him floor it. That’s the beauty of AI when you strip the hype away—give sharp people the fundamentals, and they’ll build something amazing. At FlyUSA, it’s saving us hours and boosting output, and it’s just the start.
Where This Is Headed
This use case? It’s the simplest form of what AI’s meant to deliver—real, tangible wins over flashy promises. As the world warms up to agents, folks will start seeing ways to weave them into their gigs that we haven’t even dreamed up yet. Me? I’m stoked to keep tinkering—whether it’s at FlyUSA or wherever 2026 takes me (Spain’s calling, maybe). Point is, AI’s here to cut the fat and amp the good stuff, not just pad some tech giant’s keynote.
The AI Arms Race: Just Getting Started
Oh, and this AI arms race? It’s barely crawling out of diapers. From OpenAI to Grok, Google’s DeepMind, Anthropic, Tensor, N8N—the tools and platforms are evolving fast, but keeping your eye on business use cases that actually deliver is what matters. Not just flexing some weak sauce like ordering a pizza with an LLM (looking at you, OpenAI)—that’s a yawn.
Real wins, like my CRO’s monster GPT, are where it’s at, and that’s what I’m chasing as this thing heats up.
About Me: I’ve helped hundreds…literally hundreds of small business, medium size businesses and worked for enterprise in my life when their staff screws up. Today I maintain a book of clients privately running their I.T. & Digital Marketing initiatives with the aim of growth. I love working with small business and start-ups vs corporate/enterprise environments for personal reasons and have built a life that sustains that happily. Today, I can happily say I can cherry pick who I work with and I can tell you it’s not all about the money.
Let’s kick this off with the basics: what’s an AI agent? It’s just a chunk of artificial intelligence—usually juiced by reasoning models or large language models (LLMs)—built to tackle specific jobs, think a little on its own, and churn out results without you holding its hand. Think digital assistant with a brain, whether it’s drafting emails, crunching data, or even trolling spammers (yep, I’ve got one of those too). But here’s where it gets messy: AI’s the latest buzzword getting slung around by heavy hitters like Microsoft, Salesforce, and every startup with a logo, and sifting the real from the BS is turning into a full-time job.
The Hype Mess: Even the Big Guys Are Stumbling
Everyone’s riding the AI hype train these days. Microsoft’s pushing CoPilot agents, Salesforce is hyping its Einstein gear, and the list keeps growing. Trouble is, as of March 2025, a lot of it’s underwhelming. Take CoPilot—sounds cool, right? But it’s clunky, misses the mark half the time, and feels like a beta they shoved out the door to cash in on the buzz. The noise is deafening—every company’s swearing their agent’s gonna change your life, but you’re stuck wading through half-baked tools and empty promises. It’s frustrating because AI’s supposed to deliver automation, time savings, and efficiency—real stuff, not just shiny demos for shareholder meetings.
What AI’s Meant to Do
Here’s the truth: AI agents are destined to be game-changers when done right. We’re talking automation that kills grunt work, time savings that free you up for big-picture moves, and efficiency that comes from LLMs reasoning through complex tasks better than any intern. It’s not about replacing humans—it’s about turbocharging what we’re already good at. That’s the promise, anyway, and it’s where the rubber’s gotta meet the road past all the hype.
My FlyUSA Use Case: From Chaos to Cash in Minutes
Speaking of real wins, let’s talk about March 2025—when my first official, “holy crap this works” AI use case went live at FlyUSA. I’m the Director of Technology here, juggling projects with staff who’ve got AI on the brain. Everyone’s buzzing about it, but no one—big companies included—has dropped a clear, slam-dunk solution. So, I dug in. Our Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) came to me with a pain point: he builds custom aircraft ownership model estimates based on a client’s flight habits—where they’re going, how often, time of year, all that jazz. Then he’s gotta mash it up with aircraft variables like speed and time to nail an accurate price. Normally? That’s 2-3 hours of number-crunching per estimate, digging through Excel sheets and PDFs packed with aircraft specs.
I clocked it instantly: ChatGPT’s “Custom GPT” feature was the move. The CRO’s a sharp dude—an accomplished pilot—so I gave him a crash course on building one. I walked him through how reasoning models work, how to prompt like a pro, and even how the LLM can tweak its own prompts to get sharper. We loaded his docs—Excel, PDFs, the works—into the GPT as its data backbone. Next morning? He storms in, grinning, and goes, “You created a monster!” He’d spent the night tweaking his GPT, and now it was spitting out those pricing models in minutes—down from 2-3 hours each. Some weeks, he’s got 3-4 of these to crank out. That’s 9-12 hours of manual labor slashed to a fraction, leaving him to focus on the big-picture stuff. Time compression, productivity spike—that’s AI doing its job.
Keep It Simple, Win Big
Here’s the kicker: this wasn’t about me inventing some crazy new tech. It was about showing a smart guy the basics and letting him run with it. The CRO’s light bulb went off—he’s off to the races now, evolving his “monster” GPT into something even wilder as he piles on complexity. I didn’t need to over-engineer it; I just handed him the keys and watched him floor it. That’s the beauty of AI when you strip the hype away—give sharp people the fundamentals, and they’ll build something amazing. At FlyUSA, it’s saving us hours and boosting output, and it’s just the start.
Where This Is Headed
This use case? It’s the simplest form of what AI’s meant to deliver—real, tangible wins over flashy promises. As the world warms up to agents, folks will start seeing ways to weave them into their gigs that we haven’t even dreamed up yet. Me? I’m stoked to keep tinkering—whether it’s at FlyUSA or wherever 2026 takes me (Spain’s calling, maybe). Point is, AI’s here to cut the fat and amp the good stuff, not just pad some tech giant’s keynote.
The AI Arms Race: Just Getting Started
Oh, and this AI arms race? It’s barely crawling out of diapers. From OpenAI to Grok, Google’s DeepMind, Anthropic, Tensor, N8N—the tools and platforms are evolving fast, but keeping your eye on business use cases that actually deliver is what matters. Not just flexing some weak sauce like ordering a pizza with an LLM (looking at you, OpenAI)—that’s a yawn.
Real wins, like my CRO’s monster GPT, are where it’s at, and that’s what I’m chasing as this thing heats up.
About Me: I’ve rolled up my sleeves for hundreds—yep, hundreds—of small and medium businesses, and even bailed out enterprise folks when their teams drop the ball. These days, I keep a tight crew of private clients, running their IT and digital marketing plays with one goal: growth. I’ve got a soft spot for small businesses and startups over the corporate grind—personal choice, really—and I’ve built a life that lets me thrive doing it. Now, I’m at a spot where I can pick and choose who I work with, and trust me, it’s not just about the cash. I’m here for the ones who vibe, the ones chasing a dream, and the ones I can actually help level up.
