Stop Chasing New AI Tools — Build Your Business Foundation Instead
ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code, Codex, GrokBot, Gemini, Muse. Business owners are finally paying attention to AI, and the first question we keep hearing is the same one: where do I start? None of those tools is the answer.
John Clendenning, Chris Hunter and Brad Killgore talk through how they'd start if they were doing it again. Chris builds the foundation first: a "brain" of plain text files in Google Drive that Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini can all read, so switching tools never means starting over. Then come two first moves. Get out of your inbox, and connect AI to the services you already pay for through MCP connectors like ClickUp and Google Search Console.
Brad tells how his agent found a product his client no longer rents mentioned about 200 times across the website, and cleaned it up in roughly 10 minutes. John explains why AI's advice lands in the middle of the class, and why your own know-how is what pushes it to the top.
Inside this episode:
Why picking a tool is the wrong first decision.
Building one "brain" every AI agent can read, so you're never locked into a platform.
Brad's path from tool overload and $500-a-month upgrade pitches to an agent he uses every day.
Getting out of your inbox as the first win for any owner or executive.
MCP connectors in plain English, and the questions you can answer once AI is hooked to ClickUp, Google Analytics or Search Console.
Giving AI view-only access first, then more rope as it earns it.
The tools audit: finding the task that costs you the most clicks and keystrokes.
Why AI is a regression to the mean, and why you still need human experts.
Mentioned in this episode:
ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code, Codex, Genspark, GrokBot, Gemini, Perplexity, Muse, n8n, ClickUp, Monday.com, Google Drive, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, QuickBooks, and Dan Martell's book Buy Back Your Time.
Chapters:
00:00 What AI did in 10 minutes
00:55 Intro
01:25 Where should a business actually start with AI?
03:32 Foundation first: a brain any agent can read
08:37 Brad: from tool overload to an agent that works
13:10 200 mentions on a website, fixed in 10 minutes
15:57 Step 1: get out of your inbox
17:04 Step 2: connect your tools with MCP connectors
19:03 Buy Back Your Time and the morning briefing
22:09 Baby steps: limited access before full trust
22:40 Why owners are curious but stuck
25:50 The tools audit
29:16 Build it, test it, start where it's bleeding
32:06 AI is a regression to the mean
35:25 You still need human experts
36:15 Join AIME Insiders and book a tools audit
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