How AI is changing businesses

BUSINESS. I’M FRED KOCHER. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. A 44% OF NEW HAMPSHIRE’S SMALL BUSINESSES USE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, OR AI, IN THEIR BUSINESSES. AND THAT’S ACCORDING TO THE U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. MOST USED GENERATIVE AI. AND WE’RE GOING TO LOOK AT THE BENEFITS AND THE RISKS IN SOME AI PREDICTIONS WITH MY GUEST IN THE STUDIO, RYAN ROBINSON, SENIOR DIRECTOR AT MAINSTAY TECHNOLOGIES IN MANCHESTER. LACONIA AND BURLINGTON, MASS. WHERE THEY GIVE ADVICE ON AI. RIGHT. AND A LOT MORE. NICE TO HAVE YOU IN THE STUDIO. THANK YOU RYAN, IT’S GREAT TO BE INVITED BACK. THAT’S THE BIGGER COMPLIMENT THAN BEING INVITED INITIALLY. WE LOOK AT THIS LIST OF AI BENEFITS AND WE’RE GOING TO PUT THEM UP ON THE SCREEN FOR A SMALL BUSINESS, WHICH BENEFITS DO YOU SEE THE MOST WITH YOUR BUSINESS CLIENTS? OF THAT LIST? I THINK I THINK ALL OF THEM ON THAT LIST ARE VALID. AND AND I THINK WHAT BUSINESS LEADERS NEED TO BE THINKING OF RIGHT NOW IS HOW DO I LEVERAGE THESE AI TOOLS AND PUT THEM IN THE HANDS OF OUR HUMAN RESOURCES, OUR PEOPLE, TO GET THE MOST FROM THOSE PEOPLE? NOT NOT HOW DO WE REPLACE OUR PEOPLE WITH AI? BUT HOW DO WE GET THE MOST VALUE FROM FROM THESE PEOPLE? AND SO I LIKE TO THINK OF IT AS LIKE, YOU SHOULD BE LOOKING AT YOUR PEOPLE AND TRYING TO LEVERAGE THEM WITH THE HUMAN TO THE POWER OF AI. THAT’S THE HUMAN INVOLVEMENT, WHICH IS STILL WHICH IS VERY CRITICAL. YEAH, YEAH. THERE ARE RISKS AND MAJOR RISKS. AND HERE’S A LIST OF THE RISKS. PUT THEM UP ON THE SCREEN. RYAN, WHAT ARE THE BEST WAYS TO AVOID ANY OF THESE RISKS? YEAH, WELL, I’M GLAD YOU BROUGHT UP THE RISK SIDE BECAUSE IT’S SOMETHING THAT, IN THE EXUBERANCE TO IMPLEMENT AI. A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE FORGETTING. BUT, YOU KNOW, JUST LIKE ANY TOOL THAT’S VERY POWERFUL, THE GREATER THE THE POWER AND THE TOOL, THE GREATER THE RISK, RIGHT. AND I KNOW YOU HAD YOU AND I HAD TALKED ABOUT THIS IDEA OF SHADOW AI AS, AS AN EXAMPLE BEFORE, SHADOW AI SOUNDS VERY SINISTER, BUT BASICALLY IT JUST MEANS THAT PROBABLY A LOT OF THE EMPLOYEES AT YOUR COMPANY ARE USING AI TOOLS, BUT NOT USING THEM SECURELY. THEY’RE NOT MANAGED BY THE IT TEAM OR THE INFORMATION SECURITY TEAM. AND SO THE GOAL IS TO LEVERAGE AI, BUT LEVERAGE IT IN A SECURE FASHION. SO WE NEED TO BE THINKING ABOUT SECURITY FIRST AT MAINSTAY, A LOT OF WHAT WE’RE DOING FOR OUR CLIENTS, NOT JUST ADVISING THEM ON AI, BUT ESSENTIALLY HELPING THEM BUILD THESE SECURE FORTRESSES THAT THEY CAN THEN PLACE AI INSIDE OF. SO SECURITY SHOULD ALWAYS COME FIRST, THEN I, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. AI IS A TOOL AND NOT A MASTER. THAT’S CORRECT. OKAY, LET’S LOOK AT PREDICTIONS FOR 2025. THESE ARE PREDICTIONS THIS YEAR. TOP AI PREDICTIONS, PERSONALIZED MARKETING. SMARTER DEVICES SUCH AS ROBOTICS REVOLUTION AND HEALTHCARE INTEGRATION, AND EDUCATION. AI POWERED AUTOMATION. WHAT ARE YOUR PREDICTIONS? YOU’RE IN THE BUSINESS. YES. WELL, YOU KNOW, PREDICTIONS ARE FUNNY BECAUSE IF I LOOK AT THAT LIST, NONE OF THOSE ARE REALLY PREDICTIONS IN TERMS OF IN THE FUTURE. THEY’RE ALL HERE. THERE’S A THERE’S A GREAT WILLIAM GIBSON QUOTE THAT SAYS THE FUTURE IS HERE. IT’S JUST NOT EVENLY DISTRIBUTED YET. AND AND THE IDEA BEHIND THAT IS THAT, LOOK, ALL OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES ARE ALREADY BEING USED PROBABLY IN YOUR INDUSTRY TO DISRUPT THAT INDUSTRY TO CHANGE WORKFLOWS, TO CHANGE WHO SUCCEEDS AND WHO FAILS. IT’S JUST A QUESTION OF WHETHER YOU ARE LEVERAGING IT OR NOT, WHETHER YOU ARE PART OF THE DISRUPTION OR YOU ARE BEING DISRUPTED. SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE’VE DONE AT MAINSTAY, FOR INSTANCE, IS WE HAVE THIS 30 DAY QUICK START AI PROGRAM WHERE WE ASSESS AN ORGANIZATION, WE GIVE THEM PLAYBOOKS FOR HOW TO IMPLEMENT AI SECURELY, HOW TO HOW TO UTILIZE IT. WE TRAIN THE TEAM AND WE STAND UP AN ENTERPRISE LEVEL AI ACCOUNT FOR THEM SO THEIR TEAM CAN PILOT IT. WE HAVE FOUR SPOTS LEFT ON THAT ACTUALLY, SO ANYONE CAN LOOK ME UP ON LINKEDIN OR ON ON OUR WEBSITE. OUR MAINSTAY TECHNOLOGIES, WEBSITE TECHNOLOGIES, IF THEY’RE INTERESTED. BUT BUT ULTIMATELY IT’S ABOUT LEVERAGING THESE TOOLS IN A SECURE WAY, BECAUSE THE FUTURE, SECURE FUTURE IS ALREADY HERE. YEAH. HERE ARE TWO AI INITIATIVES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE THAT ARE WORTH NOTING. LET’S PUT THEM UP ON THE SCREEN. HERE’S THE FIRST ONE. THE AI TASK FORCE BY NEW HAMPSHIRE TECH ALLIANCE, GUIDING POLICY AND REGULATORY EFFORTS PROMOTING RESPONSIBLE AI FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD, AND ENABLING SMALL BUSINESSES TO ADOPT AI. AND THEN THERE’S ANOTHER ONE GENERATIVE AI FRAMEWORK FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE SCHOOLS, PRE-K THROUGH 12, AND IS DEVELOPED BY THE NEW HAMPSHIRE AI EDUCATION COLLABORATIVE. IT’S A PRACTICAL ROADMAP TO GUIDE THE DISTRICT AND SCHOOL LEADERS. AND THOSE ARE TWO INITIATIVES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. WORTH NOTING. MY THANKS TO RYAN ROBINSON, SENIOR DIRECTOR AT MAIN STATE TECHNOLOGIES. AND NICE TO HAVE YOU HERE. AND WE’LL I’LL KEEP TRACK OF WHAT YOUR PREDICTIONS ARE AND SEE IF THEY COME TRUE. SOUNDS GREAT. IF YOU MISSED PART OF THIS BRIEFING ON AI, YOU CAN G