In a new episode of the SaaS Pop podcast, John Golden from SaaS Pop and Pipeline CRM talks with Mohan Rao, the Chief Product and Technology Officer at Knownwell. The episode is called “Shaping Business Strategy in the AI Era.”
They explain how AI is changing how businesses work, especially in professional services. Below are the best ideas and real tips from the talk. These can help your business use AI smartly and powerfully.
AI Is More Than Just Tools
Think of AI as a full system, not just a tool.
Mohan says businesses should stop seeing AI as something used for small tasks. Instead, think of AI as a full platform that can change the way your business works.
Pro Tips:
- Use AI in many areas of your business, not just one.
- Make sure AI fits your big business goals.
Look at How You Create Value
Start with your current process. Is it working?
Mohan says to look at how you bring value to customers. What do you sell? How do you deliver it? AI can help improve this.
Pro Tips:
- Review your current work process. Find problems to fix.
- Use AI to make customer service faster and better.
Don’t Automate Broken Processes
Fix the process before using AI.
John says many companies try to use AI without fixing their systems. Mohan warns that this makes things worse.
Pro Tips:
- Make your workflows clean and simple first.
- Keep improving them as your business grows.
Scale Without Hiring More
AI can help your company grow without adding staff.
Mohan says AI helps you scale by doing work faster and better. This is key in fields like consulting and tech.
Pro Tips:
- Pick AI tools that grow with your business.
- Cut down on middle layers of management. Let AI handle routine tasks.
Turn Your Work into Smart Data
Every part of your business should create helpful data.
Mohan shares a big idea called an “operational data factory.” This means building systems that produce data as you work.
Pro Tips:
- Use this data to make smart choices.
- Make sure your tools all connect and share data.
Test New Ideas Fast
AI makes testing easy and fast.
AI can help you try new things without wasting time or money. Mohan says this builds a culture of learning.
Pro Tips:
- Encourage your team to try new ideas.
- Let AI help you decide what works best.
Fewer Managers, Happier Teams
AI can reduce extra layers in your company.
With AI doing boring tasks, workers can focus on creative work. Mohan says this makes people happier and work faster.
Pro Tips:
- Let your team do what they do best.
- Use AI to cut out extra steps and approvals.
Data Must Be Clean and True
Bad data = bad results.
John talks about data quality. Mohan agrees. If your data is wrong, your AI will be wrong too.
Pro Tips:
- Set strong data rules and checks.
- Review your data often to fix problems.
Get Ready for the Future
AI is changing job roles. Be ready.
Mohan says workers need to learn new skills. Businesses should help them do that.
Pro Tips:
- Train your team to use AI tools.
- Help people grow in new directions.
Final Thought: Use AI to Grow Smarter
Mohan ends the episode by sharing Novell’s goal. They want to build smart AI platforms to help professional service teams work better and serve clients well.
By learning from experts like Mohan and John, you can take real steps toward using AI the right way.
Top Takeaways:
- See AI as a full business tool, not just a helper.
- Fix your processes before using AI.
- Use AI to grow without hiring more people.
- Let your work create helpful data.
- Try new ideas fast with AI.
- Cut out extra managers with smart tools.
- Keep your data clean.
- Help your team learn new skills.
Our Host
John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.
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