Instead of hiring a 'Chief AI Officer' or an agency, the most successful GTM AI deployments empower existing top performers. Pair your best SDR, marketer, or RevOps person with AI tools, and let them learn and innovate together. This internal expertise is more valuable than any external consultant.

Most companies are not Vanguard tech firms. Rather than pursuing speculative, high-failure-rate AI projects, small and medium-sized businesses will see a faster and more reliable ROI by using existing AI tools to automate tedious, routine internal processes.

Instead of searching for new "AI" job titles, non-coders should focus on applying AI capabilities to traditional roles like marketing or sales. Companies are prioritizing existing positions but now require AI fluency, such as building custom GPTs or using AI assistants, as a core competency.

Companies once hired siloed 'digital experts,' a role that became obsolete as digital skills became universal. To avoid repeating this with AI, integrate technologists into current teams and upskill existing members rather than creating an isolated AI function that will fail to scale.

Simply instructing engineers to "build AI" is ineffective. Leaders must develop hands-on proficiency with no-code tools to understand AI's capabilities and limitations. This direct experience provides the necessary context to guide technical teams, make bolder decisions, and avoid being misled.

Prototyping and even shipping complex AI applications is now possible without writing code. By combining a no-code front-end (Lovable), a workflow automation back-end (N8N), and LLM APIs, non-technical builders can create functional AI products quickly.

Flexport uses AI agents for tasks that were previously skipped because they were too costly for human employees, like calling warehouses to confirm addresses. This shows that AI's value isn't just in replacing existing work, but in performing new, marginally valuable tasks at a scale that is finally economical.

AI reverses the long-standing trend of professional hyper-specialization. By providing instant access to specialist knowledge (e.g., coding in an unfamiliar language), AI tools empower individuals to operate as effective generalists. This allows small, agile teams to achieve more without hiring a dedicated expert for every function.

Contrary to the idea that AI will eliminate the need to code, it's making coding a crucial skill for non-technical roles. AI assistants lower the barrier, allowing professionals in marketing or recruiting to build simple tools and automate tasks, giving them a significant advantage over non-coding peers.