You need to hire tinkerers

Everyone right now is trying to build more AI, automations, and keep up with all the new technology.

The hard part?

There is no playbook yet.

I constantly talk to business owners who say, "Hey, can you just hire somebody who knows AI and can AI-ify and automate my business?"

I can hire you a software dev who likes playing with these tools. But there isn't really anyone out there who "knows how to use AI in commercial landscaping" at a high level.

Not even the people who develop the tools themselves fully understand what they're capable of!

Where they're strong. Where they're weak. How it applies to YOUR use case.

So how the hell could you hire somebody to do this?

I'll tell you who you need to hire. You need to hire a tinkerer.

Anybody who's been in my orbit over the last nine years knows who our resident tinkerer is — Zac.

I met Zac nine years ago in Dubai when I played rugby with his dad (who is a tough bastard — former New Zealand Army officer).

When we started, he was just doing some part-time work with me. Eventually we figured out how well we work together.

We've traveled together, been in multiple businesses together.

He came out and was the general manager at our home improvement business for a couple years before moving back to New Zealand with his wife and growing family.

In his spare time, Zac likes working on cars. He can also hang drywall in a pinch.

So when AI started really ripping — who better to lead the charge with me?

lol.

This is how an "applied expert" gets created.

If I had to guess, Zac and I have spent 5-10 hours a week for the last two years talking about how to use automation and AI in real businesses. Where it works. Where it breaks. The whole thing.

That's somewhere between 250 and 500 hours of just playing with the tools and talking about it. Trying stuff. Breaking stuff. Figuring out what actually works versus what just looks cool on twitter. There's no certification for that. You can't find "applied AI expertise in home services" on a resume. That person doesn't exist yet! Stop looking.

So stop looking for the AI expert. Start looking for the person on your team — or the person you can hire — who's curious, who knows your business, and who isn't afraid to tinker. That's how this stuff actually gets figured out.

Yallah Habibi,

Jon

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