AI Moment Podcast Show Notes

Episode: The companies who are ripe for acquiring in AI - Part 3

Welcome back to the final part of Jonathan and my conversation with the brilliant Martin Spiller of Oakmere.

This episode was a fantastic exploration of how AI is revolutionising the business landscape, especially for SMEs.

We kicked off by diving into Martin's investment strategy. It was fascinating to hear that he actively looks for companies that aren't currently using AI.

His reasoning is simple but powerful: these are the businesses with the most to gain from a technology 'turbocharger'. He shared a brilliant anecdote about a carpentry business that only got its first internet-connected computer a few years ago – a perfect example of a ripe target for AI-driven growth.

The conversation then took a critical turn towards data security and privacy.

Jonathan and I often discuss this, but Martin's perspective was a valuable reminder of the real-world implications.

We highlighted the risks of putting sensitive data into public LLMs like ChatGPT and the importance of understanding where your information is stored and who can access it. Martin's comparison to using Dropbox in the legal profession was particularly insightful.

A Call To Indie Hackers I also shared my thoughts on the opportunities for developers to create bespoke AI solutions for SMEs. The current lack of adoption in this sector means there’s a huge gap for tools that can address specific operational inefficiencies.

Ultimately, we agreed that AI isn't about replacing people or strategies. It's about amplifying them.

Martin noted that AI can free up valuable time – even just a couple of hours a week – that can then be used for more strategic work. I found this to be the most compelling takeaway.

Thank you for listening again today!

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Hello and welcome back to the AI Moment podcast! I'm Danny Denhard, and this week we continue part 2 and 3 of finance and AI.

As a reminder, Jonathan and I sat down with finance expert Martin Spiller to discuss AI and its impact on the finance world, particularly for SMEs.

As promised if you’d like to listen to the full 35 minute interview with Martin enjoy it here exclusively on our site https://aimomentpodcast.substack.com/p/finance-and-ai-full-episode

In our conversation, we explored how AI can free up a significant portion of a finance professional’s time by automating routine "bean counting."

Martin explained how this saved time can be used for more strategic work, such as analysing business data and making crucial decisions to boost profitability. We talked about how "turnover is vanity, profit is sanity" and how a deep dive into customer profitability can reveal that a small number of clients are actually losing you money. Martin gave a brilliant example from his own business where they had to cut an unprofitable client to free up resources for growth.

We also discussed the power of AI in scaling a business without having to scale the headcount. As I’ve said before, I firmly believe the opportunity for SMEs is to make your existing people more efficient, not to replace them. By integrating AI into your workflows, you can double revenue with only a small increase in staff. Martin added that this approach makes a business more efficient and resilient, and therefore, more valuable to potential buyers.

We also touched upon the tools available, mentioning QuickBooks and Xero, and how they handle AI differently. Ultimately, while AI is a powerful tool, both of us agreed that it still needs human oversight to ensure accuracy and to prevent mistakes, particularly when dealing with complex data like cash flow forecasting.

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We share more important links, run through the tools mentioned in the podcast and more. See you next time!

Hello everyone, Danny here. Welcome back to the AI Moment podcast. This is the first part of a new three-part series where Jonathan and I delve into the fascinating world of AI and its impact on the finance industry and small to medium-sized businesses.

In this first episode, we're joined by the brilliant Martin Spiller.

Martin's a man of many talents, having qualified as both a barrister and an accountant, and with a background as a successful serial entrepreneur. His latest venture is Oakmere Partners, which focuses on helping owner-managed businesses find new avenues for growth.

During our conversation, Martin provided some incredibly valuable insights. He highlighted that many businesses are already using AI without even realising it, through tools like Xero and QuickBooks. We also discussed how AI can be a massive opportunity for businesses, not a threat, by automating the "dull stuff" and freeing up a finance team's time to focus on strategic, value-add tasks. Martin shared his perspective on how AI can be a perfect "finance friend," empowering non-finance professionals to understand their numbers better without the fear of looking stupid.

The key takeaway for me is that the future of finance is a hybrid model. It's about using AI for grunt work, such as data analysis and forecasting, while ensuring human oversight remains in place to check for errors and to provide the strategic thinking a machine simply can't.

We covered a lot of ground in this first part, and I'm really excited for you to hear what's coming up in parts two and three. So, thanks for listening today. If you have any questions or want to learn more, please reach out via the show notes below. You can also subscribe to our newsletter for more important links and tools mentioned in this podcast. You can find all the details at aicoments.co.uk. See you next time!

The AI Moment: Lazy AI & The Implications

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Episode Summary:

Thanks for listening to Jonathan (Wagstaffe) and me (Danny Denhard).

We dive into a common and frustrating issue: 'Lazy AI'.

We discuss how the unthinking, copy-and-paste use of AI-generated content for business outreach is not only ineffective but actively damaging to personal and professional brands.

Our conversation highlights the pitfalls of prioritising quantity over quality and the growing savvy of audiences who can easily spot generic, AI-driven messages.

We share real-world examples, including an amusing anecdote about a British MP using an Americanism in a speech, clearly showing the lack of human review.

The episode's core message is a plea for authenticity and a call to use AI as a smart drafting assistant, not as a lazy substitute for genuine human connection.

Key Takeaways:

• Damaging Your Brand: Discover how unedited AI outreach can actively push away potential clients and partners, making a worse impression than no contact at all.

• Quality Over Quantity: Learn why a smaller number of thoughtful, personalised messages will always outperform a bulk-sent, lazy AI campaign.

• The Human Touch: The hosts stress that AI is a tool for ideation and drafting, but the final, authentic version of any communication must be reviewed and approved by a person.

• Audience Savvy: We're all getting better at spotting AI-generated content. Find out why this means it's more important than ever to ensure your communications feel genuine.

• Smart AI in Action: Hear about companies like Intercom and Sierra that are using AI intelligently for customer support, focusing on positive, outcome-based results.

Episode Links & Mentions:

• Intercom: A company using AI to deliver high-quality customer support.

• Sierra: Bret Taylor's company, focusing on outcome-based results in customer support.

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AI Moment Podcast 17: Why Your Business Needs a Prompt Library

Thanks for listening today

In this episode, Jonathan and I (Danny Denhard) dive deep into the world of prompt libraries.

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We explain what they are, why they're essential for businesses, and whether you actually need one. We discuss how a prompt library is a brilliant way to expand the use of AI beyond simple tasks like writing emails or creating content, and how it helps departments quickly spread best practices.

We explore the many benefits, starting with how a prompt library gives team members a head start and sets a good standard for work. It effectively solves the "blank page problem," giving people a solid starting point.

We also chat about fostering healthy competition with ideas like a monthly "prompt contest" to encourage wider use and innovation with AI.

From an operational perspective, a prompt library is a smart move that can significantly reduce internal costs.

It streamlines the onboarding process for new hires, giving them immediate access to the company's quality standards and existing prompts. Think of it as a living, expanding knowledge centre that can give your business a competitive edge, especially when recruiting.

We also touch on the different ways to organise a library, such as by department, team, or even cross-functionally.

A well-structured library ensures a smooth handover when someone is away on holiday.

As a final takeaway, we agree that prompt libraries are a fantastic tool to get people up to speed with AI quickly and working together more effectively.

Key Takeaways:

• Solve the "Blank Page Problem": A prompt library provides a template to help team members get started and sets a good standard.

  
  

• Encourage Best Practices: It's a great way to spread knowledge and best practices across departments

  
  

• Reduce Costs: The library can save time and money, particularly during employee onboarding

  
  

• Boost Collaboration: It can be used to create cross-functional prompts that improve teamwork and

  
  

• Competitive Edge: It can act as a knowledge centre that attracts and retains talent.

  
  

Tools Mentioned:

• Notion

• Google Docs

  
  

Going Beyond Search & Stream – Preparing for the Agentic Web

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Ever wished you could just tell your computer to "buy the best concert tickets for under £150" and have it done?

Welcome to the agentic web, the next evolution of the internet that we explore in this episode of AI Moment.

We break down what this monumental shift from a "search" model to an "agent" model means for you and your business.

This new phase isn't about chatbots answering questions; it's about autonomous AI agents with the authority and budget to execute complex tasks on our behalf.

As we discuss,

"The agentic web is basically the next phase of where we will have agents or bots that will go and complete tasks on its own and have a way to spend some money or a set budget on an action to take." With major players like Anthropic and Microsoft building the technical foundation, this future is closer than you think—potentially on a 12 to 18-month roadmap.

We unpack the enormous opportunities this creates. For businesses that prepare now, the potential is vast.

As we argue, "If you invest early, because the adoption will be slower and then ramp right up, there's a huge opportunity to make significant ROI in this."

However, we also tackle the significant challenges, from security and fraud to the need for robust governance frameworks when AI has access to your wallet.

Finally, we look at the workforce transformation ahead. This isn't about job replacement but job evolution, requiring new strategies across entire organizations. "Marketing's gonna have to adapt to agentic marketing, customer services... they're gonna be dealing with bots, not just consumers and customers."
Tools Mentioned

ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini & NotebookLM

Episode Show Notes:

Your AI Isn't Just a Smart Friend—It's (Potentially) Your New Research Analyst

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Is your business tapping into the full potential of its AI tools?

In this episode, Jonathan and Danny dive into the game-changing "deep research" feature available in platforms like Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT.

They argue that business leaders need to stop seeing AI as just a smart, knowledgeable friend and start treating it as a dedicated, highly trained research analyst.

This powerful function transforms the AI into a specialist capable of producing in-depth, consulting-level reports on complex topics. Unlike standard queries, deep research performs extended reasoning to generate substantial, transparent, and fully-cited documents that can save your business significant time and money.

Danny shares a compelling example of how he used the feature to analyse the intricate $75 million Adidas and Arsenal sponsorship deal in just 10 minutes—a task that would have previously taken days. This capability is a direct disruptor to the consulting industry, where similar reports could cost thousands of pounds.

Despite its power, adoption is shockingly low, with fewer than 10% of users taking advantage of it.

The episode concluded with a strong call to action for executives to start experimenting with this feature immediately to gain a competitive edge.

Key Takeaways

1. AI as a Research Analyst: Elevate your view of AI from a smart assistant to an expert research analyst for complex, technical questions.
2. In-Depth, Transparent Outputs: Expect substantial, fully-cited reports (sometimes 40+ pages), not just quick answers.
3. Ideal Use Cases: Perfect for detailed market analysis, pro-and-con evaluations, and synthesizing complex information.
4. A Potential Disruptor: This technology poses a genuine threat to the consulting industry by automating high-value research tasks.
5. A Call to Experiment: With low adoption rates, there is a massive opportunity for leaders to gain an advantage by using this feature now.

Top Quotes From This Episode

• "If AI is your smart, knowledgeable friend, you can regard deep research as your really highly trained research analyst also in the room with you." - Jonathan Wagstaffe
• "What I would say is it did was something that would've probably taken me a number of days before it pulled it together within, you know, a matter of minutes, really." - Danny Denhard
• "This is a threat to the world of consulting because the sort of thing you might have paid a consultant five or 10,000 pounds for a couple of years ago, you can now do yourself in sort of less than an hour." - Jonathan Wagstaffe

Tools Mentioned

• ChatGPT
• Gemini
• Claude
• NotebookLM

Today's AI Moment Pod Answers: Is SEO Dying or Just Evolving In The AI World?

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In this episode of AI Moment, hosts Jonathan Wagstaffe and Danny Denhard tackle the burning question for marketers everywhere: Is AI killing SEO? 🧐

Our consensus is clear:

SEO isn't dead, but it is undergoing a radical transformation. The game has changed from optimising for "search engines" to strategizing for "answer engines."

The core user need to find information remains, but AI has fundamentally altered the journey. Jonathan highlights a critical shift, citing SparkToro data that shows nearly 60% of searches are now "zero-click," with users getting answers directly from AI summaries on the results page.

Jonathan warns, "The days when you could decide on a keyword, write a blog post around that keyword, SEO the life out of it, and then drive a load of traffic to your website have also gone."

Danny introduces a new way to think about this landscape, differentiating between traditional search engines that provide options and new "answer engines" that deliver direct outputs. "You've now got what, a new breed of engine, which is an answer engine, which is like perplexity, which gives you very succinct answers very quickly," he notes.

Understanding user intent is now paramount.

Danny (Denhard) break down the customer journey into four states: Educate, Want, Need, and Action.

While traditional SEO focused on the first three, AI accelerates the entire process. "With AI, you can be very quickly escalated from the education all the way through to purchase really quickly," Danny explains.

Despite the hype, AI search adoption is still only 1-2%, offering a crucial window for businesses to adapt. The episode concludes by looking ahead to the next big shift: the rise of "Agentic AI" within the next 18 months. Now is the time to reassess your strategy for the next evolution of search. 🚀

Tools Mentioned:

Google, SparkToro, Perplexity, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Gemini, Claude, ChatGPT, Co-pilot, and Llama.