For the past couple of years, we’ve all been hearing the same tired line: “AI will replace jobs.” Allow me to disagree. AI (artificial intelligence) isn’t replacing people; it’s replacing excuses.
As a founder who bootstrapped a company from a messy spreadsheet to acquisition by a public tech company, I’ve seen firsthand how AI doesn’t eliminate the entrepreneurs; it actually empowers them, but only if they’re willing to stop doing things the old way.
Founders and tech leaders need to stop seeing AI as a feature and start treating it as a foundation.
Most organizations still get AI wrong
Despite the hype, most business uses of AI still don’t really work. They’re either stuck in endless pilot projects that never scale, used mainly for publicity rather than real results, or built on poor data and outdated systems.
The problem is in the mindset: Too many teams treat AI like an add-on, when in reality it’s a redesign. If you’re still building linear workflows with occasional “AI insights” on the side, you’re missing the point. The companies that will win this decade are those that rebuild their core with AI baked into the infrastructure, not just sprinkled on top.
The framework
If I had to break it down into a playbook for any SaaS platform, logistics company, or B2B marketplace looking to utilize AI and realize its full potential, here’s what I’d recommend:
• Automate the repeatable: If a human is doing it the same way twice, AI should be doing it. Inventory syncing, order routing, price monitoring? Gone.
• Personalize the critical: Humans don’t want generic anymore, not in onboarding, not in emails, not in customer support. Use AI to build user-specific flows, offers, and messaging.
• Optimize the funnel: AI isn’t just ChatGPT. Use predictive modeling to adjust pricing, recommend products, or trigger retention offers before a customer churns.
Speed of learning
The “superpowers” AI is capable of granting us are still only half the story. The real unlock is how fast you can learn. Every AI model becomes smarter the more data it has, and every founder becomes smarter the more feedback they hear.
Combine the two, and you create a loop of learning that’s 10x faster than the competition. This is how we went from bootstrapped to acquired in one of the most saturated markets in tech – we “outlearned” the rest.
Play offense
Here’s the trap most founders fall into: waiting. Waiting for AI to be “ready,” waiting for the perfect use case, waiting for someone else to prove it first. By then, it’s too late.
The real opportunity is right now – while the rulebook is still being written. If you’re building in 2025 and still doing things manually, you’re not just wasting time – you’re giving your competition a head start.
AI might not care if you’re behind, but your customers sure will.
The writer is CEO and a co-founder of AutoDS.