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Claude Fable 5: A Powerful AI Leap — But Will Small Businesses Be Able to Afford the Future?

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 17:48:29 GMT

Anthropic’s new Claude Fable 5 may be one of the most important AI model releases of the year, not just because of what it can do, but because of what it signals about where artificial intelligence is heading.

Fable 5 is part of Anthropic’s new Mythos-class family of models, which sits above its previous Claude Opus models in capability. In plain English, this is not just a better AI model. This is a much more powerful system designed for complex work: software engineering, advanced research, long document analysis, scientific reasoning, visual understanding, and agentic workflows that can run across multiple steps.

For business owners, that should get your attention.

The promise of Fable 5 is significant. It can work on longer, harder, more complex assignments with greater endurance than earlier models. That means it may be useful for drafting strategic plans, reviewing large policy documents, analyzing contracts, supporting technical projects, building internal tools, developing training materials, summarizing research, or helping a team reason through complicated business decisions.

This is the kind of AI that starts to feel less like an assistant and more like a high-level analyst.

For small businesses, that is exciting. Many owners do not have a research department, a software team, or a strategic planning office. A model like Fable 5 could help smaller organizations access capabilities that used to be available only to large companies with deep benches of talent.

That is the optimistic view.

But there is another side to this release that small business owners should pay attention to: cost and access .

Fable 5 is currently available in Claude for a limited time, with access expected to end on June 22, giving users a short window to experience one of Anthropic’s most advanced public models before access changes. But long term, this type of intelligence will not be cheap. Anthropic’s listed pricing for Fable 5 is reportedly $10 per million input tokens and $50 per million output tokens . For large enterprises, that may be manageable. For small businesses, nonprofits, and solo entrepreneurs, that pricing could quickly become a serious barrier.

In everyday terms, this means Fable 5 may be affordable for an occasional high-value project, but expensive for constant daily use. Asking it to review one large report may cost only a few dollars. But using it all day across employees, documents, drafts, agents, and revisions could become a meaningful monthly expense very quickly. The concern is that Fable 5 is roughly double the cost of Claude Opus 4.8. That tells us something important: as models become more powerful, the best AI may not simply become cheaper. The market may split between everyday models for routine tasks and premium frontier models reserved for complex, high-value work.

That may be the bigger story.

For the past few years, small businesses have benefited from an incredible moment in technology: advanced AI was suddenly available through relatively affordable monthly subscriptions. A local business owner could access tools that felt almost magical for the price of a software subscription. That created a sense that increasingly powerful AI would always become cheaper and more accessible.

Fable 5 raises a different possibility.

What if the most powerful models become premium tools that only larger organizations can afford to use regularly? What if small businesses get access to “good enough” AI, while major corporations use the most advanced models for strategy, automation, coding, research, product development, and decision-making?

That would be a major shift.

Instead of AI closing the gap between small and large businesses, it could begin widening it again. Larger companies would have access to better reasoning, better automation, better agents, and better strategic support. Smaller firms might be forced to ration use, rely on cheaper models, or avoid advanced workflows because the cost is too unpredictable.

This does not mean small businesses should ignore Fable 5. Quite the opposite. If you have access to it, test it. Use it on high-value work where quality really matters. Ask it to analyze a strategic plan, compare vendors, review a complicated proposal, summarize a large report, or help think through a major decision. Do not waste a model like this on routine emails or simple brainstorming. Use your most powerful AI where the return justifies the cost.

There are also safety considerations. Anthropic has emphasized that Fable 5 includes safeguards around high-risk topics such as cybersecurity, biology, and chemistry. That matters because as AI becomes more capable, the risk of misuse also grows. Businesses should appreciate that the industry is taking safety seriously. But safety systems can also affect usefulness, especially when models become more cautious or restricted in certain areas.

So where does this leave small businesses?

The best approach is strategic adoption. Start by understanding which AI tasks are truly valuable for your organization. Use lower-cost models for routine work. Reserve frontier models like Fable 5 for complex, high-value projects. Train your team to understand when powerful AI is needed and when it is not. Track cost. Protect sensitive data. Keep humans involved in final decisions.

Claude Fable 5 gives us a glimpse of the next era of AI: more powerful, more autonomous, more capable — and likely more expensive.

That does not mean small businesses are out of the race. But it does mean they need to become smarter buyers and better managers of AI.

The future of AI may not simply be about who has access to the best model.

It may be about who knows when to use it, how to use it, and whether the value justifies the cost.

That is the real AI Advantage.

About the Author

Jonathan Liebert is CEO/Executive Director of the Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado, an AI thought leader and an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. He is the author of Thought Partner , which explores how leaders can collaborate with AI to improve decision-making and strategy. Jonathan also leads AI education and training programs through BBB of Southern Colorado to help businesses build practical AI skills for the modern marketplace.

Why OpenAI’s New Warning Matters for Small Business

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 15:25:51 GMT

OpenAI’s Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age : What Small Businesses Need to Know

OpenAI’s new paper, Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age, is not a product announcement. It is a policy and economic warning shot. The company is essentially letting us know that society is entering a period where increasingly advanced AI, and eventually superintelligence, could reshape jobs, industries, entrepreneurship, infrastructure, and the balance of economic power faster than our institutions are prepared for. OpenAI says the transition is “already underway” and warns that incremental policy updates will not be enough.

That may sound abstract, but the implications for small business are very concrete.

The central message of the paper is that AI is moving from a helpful tool to a foundational layer of the economy. In practical terms, this means AI is no longer just about writing emails, creating social posts, or summarizing notes. It is increasingly becoming part of how businesses operate, analyze information, serve customers, make decisions, and compete. Think of it this way: AI is becoming business infrastructure, not just a tool for increased productivity.

For small businesses, the most important opportunity in the paper is that AI can become a competitive equalizer. OpenAI argues that advanced AI can lower overhead, reduce friction in back-office operations, and help entrepreneurs launch and grow with fewer resources. That matters for accounting, marketing, procurement, administration, and many of the functions that typically strain lean teams. In plain language: AI can help a small firm operate with some of the speed and sophistication that once belonged mostly to larger organizations.

But OpenAI is also raising a deeper concern. The paper warns that if institutions do not keep pace, AI could concentrate wealth and power, widen inequality, and disrupt jobs and entire industries at a scale that communities are not ready to absorb. It explicitly highlights risks such as job displacement, misuse by bad actors, misaligned systems, weakened democratic values, and gains accruing to a narrow set of powerful firms rather than being broadly shared.

That is where this paper becomes especially relevant for business leaders. The takeaway is not that owners should panic. It is that they should prepare. Small businesses should start building AI literacy now, identifying where AI can remove repetitive work, where human judgment still matters most, and how to use these tools in ways that improve productivity without hollowing out trust, accountability, or service quality. AI should reduce 'busyness" and improve job quality, not simply squeeze more output out of people.

The paper also reinforces something that fits strongly from the BBB perspective: trust will matter more, not less, in the AI economy. Businesses that protect customer data, verify outputs, use AI responsibly, and remain transparent will have an advantage over those that adopt AI carelessly. The winners will not just be fast adopters. They will be trusted adopters.

The bottom line for small business is this: OpenAI is telling the world that the age of advanced intelligence may arrive faster than expected, and that the choices we make now will shape who benefits. For small businesses, this is both a warning and an invitation. Learn the tools. Build the skills. Keep people at the center. The businesses that do that early will be in the best position to prosper as AI becomes part of the economic operating system.

Article

OpenAI recently published a paper called Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age , and it is worth paying attention to. This is not a product launch or a technical explainer. It is essentially a warning that AI is advancing so quickly that society, government, and the economy may not be fully prepared for what comes next. OpenAI’s message is not to panic, but to plan.

At its core, the paper argues that AI is moving from a helpful tool to a foundational layer of economic infrastructure. For small businesses, that means AI is no longer just about writing emails or generating social posts. It is increasingly becoming part of how businesses operate, analyze information, serve customers, and compete.

The paper also makes a bigger point: as AI becomes more powerful, it could dramatically reshape jobs, entrepreneurship, productivity, and access to opportunity. OpenAI is essentially raising the alarm that if institutions do not prepare now, the benefits of advanced AI may not be shared broadly enough.

For small business owners, the most important takeaway is this: AI can become a competitive equalizer. It can reduce overhead, help lean teams move faster, and make it easier to launch or grow a business without adding major payroll. But that opportunity comes with responsibility. Businesses need to build AI literacy, protect trust, verify outputs, and use these tools to strengthen people, not sideline them.

The real message of the paper is not fear. It is readiness. The future of AI may be bigger than most people expected. But small businesses that learn early, adopt wisely, and keep trust at the center will be better positioned for what comes next.

Teaching for Tomorrow : Closing the expectations gap

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 07:29:45 GMT

Teaching for Tomorrow: Closing the expectations gap

What happens when teachers are asked to do the impossible?

New research from the Walton Family Foundation and Gallup examines how teachers experience their job demands. The Teaching for Tomorrow study reveals just how much unrealistic expectations and lack of role clarity impact key outcomes like job satisfaction and intention to remain in the classroom. While the research finds that many teachers face unrealistic or unclear expectations, it also confirms that with improved job expectations, teachers thrive.

Human Judgement Still Matters

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 16:52:34 GMT

AI is a powerful tool - but when it comes to values, people and consequences, human judgement still matters.

Everyday AI: Start Here Series

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 16:13:42 GMT

One of the best places to begin your AI journey — or refresh what you already know — is the Everyday AI podcast’s Start Here Series . This resource does a great job breaking down the basics of artificial intelligence in a way that is clear, practical, and easy to understand.

Whether you are just getting started, trying to fill in the gaps, or looking for a simple way to stay current with how AI is changing work and business, this series is a helpful guide. It takes complex ideas and makes them accessible, giving listeners a strong foundation for understanding how AI tools can be used thoughtfully and effectively.

For small business owners, nonprofit leaders, and professionals who want to better understand AI without getting overwhelmed, this is a great place to start!

AI Tokens and The Economics of AI

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 16:04:49 GMT

AI Tokens and The Economics of AI how AI pricing actually works and how small businesses can get the most value from it

Claude Opus 4.8: Powerful AI for Business — If You Manage It Wisely

Fri, 29 May 2026 17:10:08 GMT

Anthropic’s newest Claude Opus 4.8 model is another reminder that the AI race is not slowing down. In 2025, ChatGPT and Gemini often dominated headlines. However, in 2026, Claude has quietly become one of the strongest AI platforms for reasoning, writing, coding, analysis, and complex knowledge work. This year, the headlines have mostly been about Anthropic.

For small businesses, the most important takeaway is this: Claude is becoming less like a chatbot and more like a serious business collaborator.

One of the biggest upgrades is stronger reasoning control. Claude Opus 4.8 gives users more ability to adjust how much effort the model puts into a task. That matters because not every job requires the same level of AI horsepower. A quick email draft does not need the same deep reasoning as a contract review, strategic plan, financial analysis, or complex customer research project. Better controls allow businesses to match the model to the task.

The second major feature is Claude’s growing strength with agentic workflows. In Claude Code, the model can now plan larger projects, break them into smaller pieces, and run multiple sub-tasks in parallel. For technical teams, that could help with software updates, code reviews, migrations, testing, and documentation. For non-technical business leaders, it signals where all AI tools are heading: toward systems that can manage complex work, not just answer questions.

The third feature is deeper collaboration. Claude has become especially useful for long documents, policy reviews, grant writing, board reports, training materials, and strategic planning. It is strong at taking messy information and turning it into something structured, thoughtful, and usable.

But there is a caution.

More powerful AI can also mean higher usage costs, faster rate-limit issues, and greater risk if employees use it without clear guidance. Businesses should not simply turn these tools loose on sensitive data or expensive workflows without a plan. Clade is one of the most expensive models out there, so you need to make sure you are using it correctly.

The smartest approach is simple: start with high-value, low-risk tasks. Use Claude to draft, summarize, analyze, and organize. Keep humans involved in final decisions. Track cost, quality, and time saved.

Claude Opus 4.8 shows where AI is heading: more capable, more collaborative, and more embedded in real work.

For small businesses, that is a major opportunity — if used wisely.

About the Author

Jonathan Liebert is CEO/Executive Director of the Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado, an AI thought leader and an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. He is the author of Thought Partner, which explores how leaders can collaborate with AI to improve decision-making and strategy. Jonathan also leads AI education and training programs through BBB of Southern Colorado to help businesses build practical AI skills for the modern marketplace.

AI Vocabulary

Wed, 27 May 2026 20:29:33 GMT

AI Vocabulary brought to you by the BBB of Southern Colorado

AI as a Productive Multiplier

Wed, 27 May 2026 20:25:52 GMT

AI as a Productive Multiplier brought to you by the BBB of Southern Colorado

Google I/O’s Biggest AI Updates: What Small Businesses Should Watch

Fri, 22 May 2026 18:58:03 GMT

Google made a major AI statement at its latest I/O conference, announcing a wave of new tools and updates that show where business technology is heading next. For small business owners, three updates matter most: Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini Omni Flash, and Antigravity 2.0.

The first is Gemini 3.5 Flash, Google’s newest high-performance model. It is fast, powerful, and designed for more complex work, including research, automation, coding, and long-running AI tasks. For businesses, this means better support for reports, analysis, customer communication, and workflow automation. The caution is cost. “Flash” used to mean fast and inexpensive. Now, it may mean fast and powerful, but not always cheap. Businesses using AI heavily should pay attention to usage limits and return on investment.

The second update is Gemini Omni Flash, which may be one of the most exciting creative tools for small businesses. While many people think of it as a video tool, its real power is multimodal creation: text, image, video, and audio working together. That could help businesses create short-form ads, training videos, product demonstrations, social content, and branded visuals faster than ever before. For a small team without a full creative department, that is a big deal.

The third is Antigravity 2.0, Google’s desktop agentic app. It is designed to let AI work more directly with local files, projects, and tasks. This points toward a future where AI does not just answer questions, but helps complete work across your computer. The tool still appears early-stage, so businesses should experiment carefully before depending on it for critical workflows.

The takeaway is simple: Google is moving AI from search into work itself. These tools can help small businesses create, analyze, automate, and compete at a higher level. But the winning businesses will be the ones that test wisely, manage costs, protect data, and use AI strategically — not just because it is new, but because it solves real problems.

About the Author
Jonathan Liebert is CEO/Executive Director of the Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado, an AI thought leader and an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. He is the author of Thought Partner, which explores how leaders can collaborate with AI to improve decision-making and strategy. Jonathan also leads AI education and training programs through BBB of Southern Colorado to help businesses build practical AI skills for the modern marketplace.

Codex: Your AI Digital Employee Has Entered your Desktop!

Fri, 15 May 2026 17:22:54 GMT

One of my favorite AI tools right now is OpenAI’s Codex. I have been using it for real work, and I can say this clearly: Codex is not just another chatbot. It is a super-agent, and it feels much more like a digital employee.

That distinction matters.

Most people know ChatGPT as a place where you ask questions, draft emails, brainstorm ideas, or summarize information. Codex goes further. It is designed to help complete work, especially work that involves files, websites, code, data, automation, and multi-step projects. In plain English: ChatGPT works with you. Codex can work for you.

For small businesses, that is a big deal.

Codex is now part of ChatGPT plans, which means many users can begin experimenting with it without buying a completely separate enterprise system. It can operate from your terminal, which may sound technical, but here is why it matters: the terminal is where real computer work happens. When an AI can interact with files, run commands, organize folders, update code, test changes, and help manage projects from the command line, it moves from conversation into execution.

That is the difference between asking AI for advice and asking AI to help do the work.

Codex also has a Chrome plugin, which expands what it can do on the internet. Instead of only answering questions about a website, Codex can help navigate online tools, gather information, interact with pages, and support browser-based workflows. For a business owner, that could mean help with research, checking online listings, gathering competitive information, reviewing web content, or supporting repetitive internet tasks.

The remote-control feature may be the most exciting part. Codex can interact with your computer environment in ways that feel closer to an assistant sitting beside you than a tool sitting in a browser tab. It can create reports, send emails, use available tools from your computer, and help move a project forward while you are not at your desk. You access Codex through your mobile device to ping your computer on your desk, and have it do work while you are away!

That is why I think businesses should start thinking about Codex as a digital employee.

But like any employee, Codex needs direction, training, boundaries, and review. You would not hire a new person, hand them the keys to the business, and walk away. The same is true here. Start with defined tasks. Limit access to the right folders and systems. Review the work before anything is published, sent, deleted, or changed permanently. Have a robust AI Use Policy and work with your IT team to make sure you are using it safely.

The safest approach is still human-AI-human: a person starts the task, AI handles the messy middle, and a person reviews the final output.

Codex is especially useful for repetitive projects, website updates, internal tools, data cleanup, document organization, automation, and technical tasks that used to require outside help. It does not mean every business owner needs to become a programmer. It means every business owner should understand that AI is beginning to operate like a capable technical teammate.

The takeaway is simple: Codex shows where AI is heading, getting real work done for your business.

For small businesses, this is amazing. The businesses that learn how to manage digital employees wisely will move faster, operate smarter, and compete at a level that used to require much larger teams.

Your next employee may not need a desk. But it will still need a go od manager.

Americans Want to Believe in AI — But Businesses Must Earn Their Trust

Mon, 11 May 2026 14:21:13 GMT

A new report from Just Capital, p ublished in The Just Report, offers one of the clearest pictures yet of how Americans really feel about artificial intelligence. The headline is not simply that people are afraid of AI. It is more nuanced than that: Americans see the value of AI, but they have clear conditions for embracing it.

That distinction matters for business leaders.

The report found that when Americans were asked to rank their priorities for responsible corporate AI deployment, three issues rose to the top: preventing harm, deception, and manipulation; keeping humans in charge; and protecting personal data and privacy.

Those priorities should become a roadmap for any business using AI.

First, customers want to know AI will not be used to mislead them, impersonate people, or manipulate decisions. As AI-generated content becomes easier to produce, transparency becomes more important.
Second, people want humans to remain in charge. AI can support marketing, customer service, operations, and decision-making, but customers and employees still expect human judgment, accountability, and common sense to guide important decisions.
Third, privacy matters. If a business uses AI tools with customer information, employee records, financial data, or proprietary documents, it must understand where that data goes and how it is protected.

For small businesses, this is not just a compliance issue. It is a trust opportunity. You do not need a massive AI department to lead responsibly. Start with simple rules: be transparent, protect data, train employees, verify outputs, and keep people involved in decisions that matter.

The takeaway is simple: Americans want to believe in AI. But businesses must show that AI is being used responsibly.

The companies that do will have the real AI advantage.

Source: Just Capital, “The Public Wants to Believe in Corporate AI. Companies Must Earn Their Trust,” published in The Just Report: https://justcapital.com/news/the-public-wants-to-believe-in-corporate-ai-companies-must-earn-their-trust/

About the Author

AI Ethics, Guardrails and Governance - Video

Mon, 11 May 2026 12:49:54 GMT

Ethics, governance and guardrails in ai

Americans Want to Believe in AI — But Businesses Must Earn Their Trust

Fri, 08 May 2026 17:41:32 GMT

A new report from Just Capital, published in The Just Report , offers one of the clearest pictures yet of how Americans really feel about artificial intelligence. The headline is not simply that people are afraid of AI. It is more nuanced than that: Americans see the value of AI, but they have clear conditions for embracing it.

That distinction matters for business leaders.

Those priorities should become a roadmap for any business using AI.

First, customers want to know AI will not be used to mislead them, impersonate people, or manipulate decisions. As AI-generated content becomes easier to produce, transparency becomes more important.

Second, people want humans to remain in charge. AI can support marketing, customer service, operations, and decision-making, but customers and employees still expect human judgment, accountability, and common sense to guide important decisions.

Third, privacy matters. If a business uses AI tools with customer information, employee records, financial data, or proprietary documents, it must understand where that data goes and how it is protected.

The takeaway is simple: Americans want to believe in AI. But businesses must show that AI is being used responsibly.

The companies that do will have the real AI advantage.

Source: Just Capital, “The Public Wants to Believe in Corporate AI. Companies Must Earn Their Trust,” published in The Just Report : https://justcapital.com/news/the-public-wants-to-believe-in-corporate-ai-companies-must-earn-the ir-trust/

ChatGPT 5.5 Is Here and its Impressive

Fri, 01 May 2026 15:09:39 GMT

I’ve had some time to play around with 5.5 since it launched last week and it is very impressive!

OpenAI says ChatGPT is becoming stronger at complex, multi-step work: research, coding, data analysis, document creation, spreadsheets, reports, and working across tools until a task is complete. For small businesses, that matters because AI is no longer just helping draft an email. It is beginning to help complete real business workflows.

One of the biggest developments is workspace agents in ChatGPT. I wrote about this in the last article, and I love this feature! These are shared agents that teams can build to handle recurring workflows, such as weekly reports, lead follow-up, product feedback routing, sales assistants etc. OpenAI says these agents can work across tools, remember context, ask for approval when needed, and keep working even when you are away.

That is a major opportunity for small businesses. Imagine an agent that prepares a weekly sales summary, drafts follow-up emails, reviews customer feedback, or organizes documents before a team meeting. That kind of support can save hours every week.

OpenAI also released ChatGPT Images 2.0, its newest image generation model, with improved text rendering, multilingual support, and stronger visual reasoning. For businesses, that means better flyers, ads, product mockups, social graphics, presentation visuals, and branded content inside ChatGPT itself. It is very good; you need to try it out immediately!

The takeaway is simple: ChatGPT is becoming more than a place to ask questions. It is becoming a place where small businesses can plan, create, analyze, design, and automate.

But the same rule still applies: use AI as a thought partner, not an autopilot. Let it do the heavy lifting, but keep human judgment in charge.

About the Author

Jonathan Liebert is CEO/Executive Director of the Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado, an AI thought leader and an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. He is the author of Thought Partner , which explores how leaders can collaborate with AI to improve decision-making and strategy. Jonathan also leads AI education and training programs through BBB of Southern Colorado to help businesses build practical AI skills for the modern marketplace.

Welcome to the BBB AI Hub

Fri, 01 May 2026 14:13:10 GMT

Welcome to the BBB of Sothern Colorado AI Hub Video Presentation

Your First AI Employee Just Showed Up — And It Costs Less Than a Tank of Gas

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:14:17 GMT

On April 22, OpenAI quietly launched Workspace Agents inside ChatGPT. It's one of the most consequential small business announcements of the year — and most owners haven't heard of it yet.

Here's what changed. ChatGPT can read your Gmail, post to Slack, pull from Google Drive, draft in Google Docs, and update HubSpot — on a schedule, without you. Not a chatbot answering questions. An agent, a digital employee, doing the work.

Real example from OpenAI's launch: a sales rep built an agent that researches each new lead, summarizes the discovery call, and drops a deal brief into Slack before the next meeting. Five to six hours a week of manual work, gone. No engineer. No code.

You build one by clicking "Agents" in the systems tray on the left side on ChatGPT, then describing the job in plain English. Something like: "Every morning at 7 a.m., scan my inbox for new quote requests, draft a response in my voice, and text me a summary." ChatGPT walks you through the rest.

Two things to know. It requires a ChatGPT Business plan ($25 per user, per month). And it's free to use until May 6. After that, you pay by usage.

The takeaway is simple. AI just stopped being a tool you open and became a teammate that runs in the background. The owners who win in 2026 won't simply be the ones using

AI faster. They'll be the ones who hired an agent to help them get actual work done.

Where should you start? Pick one repetitive, boring task that bottlenecks your week. Build an AI Agent to handle it and move from being Busy to Strategic. That's your first AI Employee.

State of the Global Workplace: The Human Side of the AI Revolution

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:38:58 GMT

Gallup State of the Global Workplace (2026 Report)

The 2026 Gallup report, titled "The Human Side of the AI Revolution," reveals a sobering reality: while the technological "plumbing" for AI is ready, the human integration is failing. Despite billions in investment, global engagement has hit a five-year low, and the "manager premium" has vanished.

The State of AI in Nonprofits: Benchmark Report on Adoption, Impact, and Trends

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:36:51 GMT

This comprehensive report, produced by TechSoup and Tapp Network, analyzes how the nonprofit sector is navigating the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence. Based on a survey of 1,321 participants, the findings reveal a sector that is optimistic and curious but currently lacking the formal structure to fully scale AI integration.

State of the Global Workplace: Understanding Employees, Informing Leaders

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:34:24 GMT

Gallup State of the Global Workplace (2025 Report)

The 2025 Gallup report highlights a critical juncture for the global workforce. As Artificial Intelligence (AI) begins to reshape industries, global employee engagement has faltered, largely driven by a significant decline in manager wellbeing and engagement.

Beyond the Buzz: Is AI the next industrial revolution or a bubble that’s about to burst

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:29:25 GMT

Is AI the next industrial revolution or just a bubble? Join Dr. Christopher Laney, Labor Economist at Lightcast, for a data-driven exploration of how Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the global workforce.

Leveraging a massive database of over 2.5 billion job postings and 400 million professional profiles, Lightcast cuts through the noise to provide actionable insights for employers, educators, and policymakers. By triangulating real-time job postings, government statistics, and professional talent data, we move beyond guesswork to evidence-based strategy.

Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age: Ideas to Keep People First

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:27:07 GMT

As artificial intelligence advances toward systems that may outperform even the smartest humans, the opportunities are enormous—but so are the risks. This paper explores how AI could drive breakthroughs in science, lower costs, expand opportunity, and transform the global economy, while also raising urgent questions about jobs, inequality, safety, and governance.

The core message is clear: the future of AI must be shaped intentionally. By investing in smart policies, expanding access, protecting workers, and building safeguards around advanced systems, society can ensure that the benefits of AI are broadly shared. The transition to superintelligence is already underway, and the choices made now will determine whether it empowers everyone—or only a few.

The New Language of Business: How an AI-Literate Workforce Is the New Competitive Advantage

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:23:12 GMT

AI is rapidly transforming how businesses communicate and operate—but most organizations aren’t fully prepared. While many employees are experimenting with AI, gaps in knowledge, usage, and training are holding companies back from realizing its full potential.

This guide highlights why AI literacy is now a critical business skill, how organizations progress through stages of AI adoption, and what’s preventing teams from moving forward. The takeaway: companies that invest in AI education and empower their workforce will gain a clear competitive edge—while those that don’t risk falling behind.

Labor market impacts of AI: A new measure and early evidence

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:19:54 GMT

Employee engagement is slipping—and it’s costing organizations trillions in lost productivity. As workplaces evolve with AI and constant change, many employees feel disconnected, unclear about expectations, and undervalued.

This guide highlights key strategies to rebuild engagement, from addressing core workplace gaps like purpose, feedback, and leadership transparency to helping managers lead AI adoption with clarity. The message is clear: stronger engagement starts with better management, clearer communication, and making change—especially AI—feel relevant and actionable for every employee.

Labor market impacts of AI: A new measure and early evidence

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:14:51 GMT

New research by Maxim Massenkoff and Peter McCrory suggests the impact of AI on jobs is more gradual than many expect. While AI has the potential to automate a wide range of tasks, real-world use is still limited—and there’s no clear evidence of rising unemployment in highly exposed roles.

However, early signs point to slower hiring for younger workers in AI-affected fields. The takeaway: AI isn’t disrupting the labor market overnight, but subtle shifts are already beginning to emerge.

When Using AI Leads to “Brain Fry”

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 14:47:52 GMT

A new study finds that certain patterns of AI use are driving cognitive fatigue, while others can help reduce burnout. by Julie Bedard, Matthew Kropp, Megan Hsu, Olivia T. Karaman, Jason Hawes and Gabriella Rosen Kellerman

AI Is More Than Ready. Most Businesses Are Not.

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 15:21:45 GMT

One of the biggest mistakes small business owners can make right now is assuming the main barrier to AI adoption is the technology itself. It isn’t. The AI models are ready. In many cases, they are already outperforming human professionals on defined knowledge-work tasks. The real issue is that most businesses have not redesigned how they work to take advantage of what AI can already do.

That gap has a name: the AI capability gap. It is the distance between what AI is theoretically capable of doing and what businesses are actually using it for. Many companies still use AI for surface-level tasks like drafting a quick email or brainstorming social content, while missing the much bigger opportunity to improve research, reporting, workflow design, project coordination, and decision support. The most successful organizations are those that audit their workflows with the most advanced AI models, invest heavily in redesign, and relentlessly track real-world automation rates.

That matters because small businesses may actually have more to gain than larger organizations. Lean teams can use AI to reduce repetitive work, speed up analysis, improve customer communication, and act with more sophistication without immediately adding payroll. But that only happens when AI is deployed strategically, not casually.

The strongest organizations are not simply “adding AI.” They are rethinking workflows, separating low-risk tasks from high-risk ones, measuring where AI-assisted work is accepted without rework, and training their teams continuously as the technology evolves. The pace of change is now monthly, not yearly.

The takeaway is simple: AI does not create value just because you bought access to a tool. It creates value when you redesign your work around it.

For small business owners, the smartest next move is not to automate everything overnight. It is to start with one meaningful process, build AI literacy across the team, and use AI where it removes friction while keeping human judgment, trust, and accountability at the center. That is where the real AI Advantage begins.

Copilot Is Getting Smarter — And Microsoft Users Should Pay Attention

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 15:28:30 GMT

Many small businesses already live inside the Microsoft ecosystem. They use Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive every day. That’s why this week’s wave of Copilot updates matters: Microsoft is moving Copilot from a helpful assistant to something much closer to a true work operating layer.

The biggest headline is Copilot Cowork, now available through Microsoft’s Frontier program. For a knowledge worker, Cowork acts more like a digital teammate than a chatbot. Instead of asking one question at a time, you can give it a larger assignment — like organizing research for a proposal, pulling together notes from emails and meetings, drafting a client update, or helping prepare a presentation — and it can work across your Microsoft files and tools to move that project forward. It can show you what it is doing, keep track of multiple steps, and help you come back to work that is already in progress instead of starting from scratch every time.

Microsoft also rolled out updates that make Copilot far more practical: video recaps in Copilot Chat for meetings, stronger report outputs that can turn research into PowerPoint or PDF, AI-powered SharePoint building, better Excel context, automatic citations in Word, and presentation-wide formatting cleanup in PowerPoint. Microsoft is also expanding multi-agent orchestration through Copilot Studio, which means more specialized AI agents can coordinate work together instead of operating in isolation.

The takeaway for small business is simple: if you already use Microsoft tools, Copilot is becoming much more valuable. It may finally feel less like a novelty and more like a serious productivity system. Copilot is leveling up, and 2026 may be the year it becomes extremely powerful.

The Real Lesson Behind Sora’s Shutdown

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 17:52:27 GMT

OpenAI’s decision to shut down Sora, its high-profile AI video tool, surprised many people. Sora was one of the most visible examples of the creative power of generative AI, and for many consumers it represented the fun, imaginative side of what these tools could do. But its shutdown may actually reflect a smart business decision and an important lesson for small businesses.

The AI market is entering a more disciplined phase. In the early wave of generative AI, companies rushed to release flashy tools that captured attention and showed what was possible. Now, they are asking harder questions: Which products are sustainable? Which ones create repeat value? Which justify the cost, infrastructure, and risk required to operate at scale?

That shift likely means consumers and business owners may see fewer free or low-cost “fun” AI tools as companies pull in the reins and focus more on monetization, efficiency, and products with clearer long-term value.

For small businesses, that is an important signal. The best uses of AI are often not the flashiest ones. They are the practical ones: writing stronger marketing content, improving customer service, summarizing meetings, training staff, organizing information, and helping leaders think more strategically. These are the areas where AI can save time, improve quality, and create measurable return.

The lesson is simple: do not build your business strategy around hype. Build it around value.

Sora’s shutdown does not mean AI is fading. It means the industry is maturing. As AI companies become more selective, the tools most likely to last will be the ones that solve real problems, improve everyday work, and deliver meaningful outcomes for businesses and consumers alike.

Powerful AI Agents Are Here — But Businesses Should Use Them Carefully

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 17:57:14 GMT

A new class of AI tools is moving beyond chat and into action. These are AI agents: systems that can browse, edit files, work across apps, and complete multi-step tasks on your behalf. Claude’s Cowork launched as a research preview to bring agentic capabilities to the desktop, OpenAI folded Operator into ChatGPT’s agent mode, and Perplexity’s Computer is marketed as a digital worker that can execute workflows in the background.

For businesses, that is exciting — and risky.

The safer commercial options today tend to be the ones built by major labs with clearer product boundaries and business controls, such as Claude Cowork, ChatGPT agent, and

Perplexity Computer. They can help with research, document work, browser tasks, and repetitive workflow steps. But they still require strong internal guardrails around permissions, file access, and sensitive data.

Then there are more open-ended agent systems like OpenClaw, which runs across many messaging platforms and devices and is explicitly designed to “actually do things.” That flexibility is powerful, but it also increases risk. Recent reporting has linked OpenClaw’s rise to security warnings, phishing scams, accidental file access, and other concerns tied to elevated permissions and weak controls.

The biggest mistake businesses can make is handing agents an entire workflow end to end. The better model is human–AI–human: a person starts the task, the agent handles the messy middle, and a person reviews the output before anything is sent, changed, or approved. That approach reduces risk while still capturing most of the productivity upside.

This is an inference based on how these products are designed for autonomous task execution and the types of failures already being reported.

The takeaway: AI agents are real, useful, and getting stronger fast. But the winning businesses in 2026 won’t be the ones that automate everything. They’ll be the ones that automate wisely.

About the Author

The AI Model Race Is Heating Up for 2026

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 02:31:13 GMT

Over the past few months, the world’s leading technology companies have released a new wave of powerful AI models: OpenAI’s GPT-5.4, Google’s Gemini 3.1 Pro, and Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.6.

These systems are dramatically more capable than earlier versions. They can reason through complex problems, analyze large documents, generate detailed reports, write code, and help businesses interpret large amounts of information faster than ever before.

In short, these models are no longer just answering questions, they’re helping people think, analyze, and make decisions.

This rapid progress is also reshaping the global economy. Investors are paying close attention to the companies building these technologies, often referred to as the “Magnificent 7” — Apple, Microsoft, Google (Alphabet), Amazon, Meta, Nvidia, and Tesla. These firms are pouring billions of dollars into AI development, fueling one of the most competitive technology races in history.

The result is a constant cycle of new releases, faster capabilities, and smarter models.

For business owners, this competition is actually great news.

As companies race to build the most powerful AI systems, the tools available to businesses become more capable, more affordable, and easier to use. Tasks that once required large teams — research, marketing content, strategic analysis, data interpretation — can now be accelerated with the help of AI.

The big question heading into 2026 is simple: Which model will come out on top?

The answer may not matter as much as the outcome.

Because regardless of who wins the race, businesses will gain access to increasingly sophisticated tools that can help them work smarter, move faster, and compete more effectively in the years ahead.

Why GPT-5.4’s “Memory” Could Change How Businesses Use AI

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 02:40:40 GMT

OpenAI released a new version of its model this week — GPT-5.4 Thinking and Pro — and it highlights an important shift in how artificial intelligence is evolving.

The key concept to understand is something called the context window, which is essentially the AI’s working memory the, it is the amount of information it can read, remember, and process at once.

With GPT-5.4, the API version supports context windows as large as 1 million tokens. In plain terms, that’s roughly 700,000 to 750,000 words, which is the equivalent of more than 1,000 pages of text.

Why does that matter?

Earlier AI systems could only process small pieces of information at a time. You might have needed to paste sections of a report or summarize documents manually so the system could keep up. For example, if you were analyzing a long strategic plan or business proposal, you often had to feed it one section at a time. The same thing happened in long conversations with ChatGPT. After a while the system would “forget” earlier parts of the discussion because they fell outside the memory window. With these new models, AI can analyze the entire picture at once, connecting ideas across large bodies of information and maintaining much longer, more coherent conversations. For businesses, that opens new possibilities. AI can now:

• Analyze a full strategic plan or annual report in one pass
• Compare multiple documents or contracts simultaneously
• Review extensive policies or procedures for insights
• Maintain longer working conversations without “forgetting” earlier details

The result is AI that can better synthesize complex information and support decision-making.

The new “Thinking” models are also designed to reason through problems more deliberately, spending more time analyzing information instead of simply generating quick responses.

In other words, AI is moving closer to becoming a true thought partner , helping leaders interpret large amounts of information and make smarter decisions.

For business owners, the takeaway is simple: the tools are becoming dramatically more capable. Learning how to use them effectively is a competitive advantage.

Claude Cowork: The AI Operating Partner Businesses Should Watch

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 02:45:07 GMT

AI is no longer experimental. It’s infrastructure.

Globally, AI tools now reach an estimated 2.5 billion users each week, with roughly 900 million weekly users on ChatGPT alone. Adoption isn’t slowing, it’s accelerating. And while

ChatGPT dominates headlines, Anthropic’s Claude has quietly been releasing some of the most sophisticated enterprise-grade tools on the market.

One of its newest capabilities, Claude Cowork, signals where AI is heading next.

Claude Cowork moves far beyond simple chat. It brings agentic capabilities directly to your desktop, whether you’re on Mac or Windows. You can grant Claude access to selected local files, assign a task, and step away — returning to completed drafts, organized documents, or structured outputs. Still in research preview, the tool is already powerful. It can work across multiple documents, make structured edits, analyze files, support project coordination, and execute multi-step tasks within your actual working environment. Instead of copying and pasting between applications, AI becomes embedded into how work is produced and is now operating alongside you, instead of just responding to prompts. For small businesses, that’s powerful. Faster document revisions. Smarter internal collaboration. Real-time strategic support.

But with deeper integration comes potential security risks.

Tools that access files and workflows introduce real security considerations. Businesses must ensure strong IT governance, clear access controls, firewall protections, and employee training before deploying tools like this at scale. Sensitive client data, proprietary information, and financial records should never be exposed casually.

The opportunity is real. So is the risk.

Claude Cowork represents the next evolution of AI — agentic, embedded operating systems on your desktop. If you haven’t explored Claude before, it’s worth evaluating. Just make sure your AI use includes a strong security strategy.

Because in 2026, productivity gains will matter, but trust and data protection will matter more.

Hollow Intelligence: When AI Makes You Sound Smarter Than You Are

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 02:48:34 GMT

I’m noticing a new pattern in the marketplace.

Business owners tell me they receive incredibly polished emails, strategic proposals, and detailed insights from someone they’ve never met. The writing is sharp. The ideas are structured. The analysis is impressive.

Then they meet the person.

And something feels… off.

The individual can’t explain the strategy they proposed. They don’t remember key details. They struggle to speak fluently about the very ideas they sent. Why? Because AI generated most, or all, of it.

I call this phenomenon Hollow Intelligence:

The perceived intelligence or competence of an individual that is largely generated by artificial intelligence tools, creating a gap between AI-assisted output and actual personal knowledge.

At first glance, it looks impressive. But over time, it creates performance without depth.

This is going to become more problematic in 2026 and beyond.

AI is powerful. It can help you research, draft, refine, and elevate your thinking. But if it becomes a crutch, if it thinks for you instead of with you, then you will eventually be exposed. Clients will ask follow-up questions. Partners will probe deeper. Rooms will test your understanding.

AI should level you up, not replace you.

In my book Thought Partner , I argue that the safest and smartest way to use AI is as a collaborator, a thinking companion that sharpens your ideas, not a substitute that masks gaps.

Because in business, sustained credibility requires depth, not just polish.

The goal isn’t to sound intelligent. It’s to be intelligent, with AI as your partner, not your disguise.

Moltbook: Awesome Innovation or Slightly Spooky?

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 02:54:14 GMT

A new platform called Moltbook is generating a lot of buzz online, not just for what it is, but for what it represents. Created by Matt Schlicht of OpenClaw, it is an online platform designed for AI Agents to interact with one another without human intervention. It highlights the emerging trend of a machine-to-machine internet and has hosted over a million AI agents since its creation in January 2026.

And the internet has opinions.

Some call it awesome. They see it as the next logical step in digital evolution, faster transactions, cleaner data exchange, and fewer human bottlenecks. If AI agents are already searching, negotiating, and buying on our behalf, why not create environments optimized for them? Efficiency increases. Friction drops. Commerce accelerates.

Others find it a little spooky. The idea of AI systems building spaces for other AI systems? AI agents analyzing human behavior and talking about us? This obviously raises some questions. Are we slowly designing a web that humans no longer fully understand? Are decisions increasingly being made in machine conversations we can’t see? And finally, what does it mean for humans when AI organizes on its own?

Both reactions are valid.

What’s undeniable is this: the shift toward an agent-driven economy is happening faster than most predicted. Businesses assumed they had years to prepare for AI-native infrastructure. It may be months away.

For small business owners, the takeaway isn’t fear, it’s awareness. Your website, listings, policies, and reputation are no longer just read by people. They’re parsed by systems deciding whether you’re credible, competitive, and worth recommending.

Moltbook is another signal that the web is evolving. The question isn’t whether it feels awesome or spooky. It’s whether your business is ready to respond to the continuous changes that AI is creating.

When AI Knows Your Customer Better Than You Do

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 02:57:54 GMT

This past week, Google quietly crossed an important threshold: AI stopped being just a search tool and became personal intelligence.

With new updates, AI systems can now connect context across email, calendars, photos, location history, search behavior, and preferences — all with user permission — to make smarter, more personalized recommendations. Instead of asking “What’s nearby?” customers will increasingly ask “What’s right for me?”

That distinction matters.

For small businesses, this means customers won’t just be discovering businesses; their AI will be filtering them. Personal AI assistants will consider past purchases, values, timing, location, and trust signals before ever presenting an option. Two people asking the same question may receive completely different recommendations.

This is a major shift from traditional marketing.

In a personal intelligence world, success depends less on clever messaging and more on alignment. Is your business clearly defined? Do your offerings match real customer needs? Are your values, policies, and reputation easy for AI to understand?

It also raises the bar for trust. As AI becomes more selective, it will favor businesses with consistent information, strong reputations, and credible third-party validation. AI doesn’t guess, it recommends based on confidence.

The opportunity is significant. Businesses that understand this shift can become preferred choices , not just visible options. But it requires a mindset change: marketing to algorithms alone won’t work. You must earn trust with both humans and machines.

The takeaway for 2026 is simple: AI won’t replace relationships, but it will decide which ones get introduced .

Apple and Google Just Changed Siri — and How Customers Will Find You

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 03:00:56 GMT

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When ChatGPT Starts Showing Ads, What Changes for Small Business Visibility

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 03:04:12 GMT

If you’ve used ChatGPT regularly, you’ve probably noticed how quickly it’s becoming a go-to place for answers, recommendations, and decision support. OpenAI’s recent announcement that it will begin testing paid ads for some U.S. users signals something bigger than a new revenue stream, it marks AI’s evolution into a true mass-market discovery platform.

What’s changing is the format of visibility. Ads will appear only for free users and a new low-cost “Go” plan, clearly labeled and shown separately from the AI’s response. Paid subscriptions will remain ad-free. These ads are designed to align with user intent, appearing inside a conversational experience rather than alongside a list of search results.

ChatGPT is now approaching 900 million weekly users, and roughly 95% of them are on free plans. That reality explains why ads are entering the picture and why this shift deserves attention from small businesses. When nearly a billion people use a single tool to ask questions and evaluate options, how businesses show up in that environment matters.

For small businesses, this reflects a familiar pattern in a new place. Consumer discovery continues to move closer to the moment of decision. But AI doesn’t replace trust; it magnifies it. Paid placement may create awareness, yet reputation, transparency, and consistency still shape whether a business is recommended, believed, or chosen.

The takeaway: as AI becomes a starting point for consumer decisions, visibility alone isn’t enough. Businesses that invest in trust will be better positioned—whether they ever buy an AI ad or not.

Retail’s AI Pivot: Why Shopping Is About to Feel Very Different

Fri, 16 Jan 2026 03:07:33 GMT

This past week, several major retailers — including Walmart, Target, Wayfair, and Shopify-— announced new partnerships with Google, integrating AI-powered shopping features directly into Gemini. This includes product discovery, and checkout with AI assistance. If that sounds familiar, it should. Just months ago, many of these same retailers entered similar partnerships with OpenAI, signaling a clear trend: retailers are racing to meet customers where AI already lives.

Together, these moves point to a fundamental shift in how buying happens and business need to pay attention to this.

Traditionally, shopping meant searching, comparing tabs, reading reviews, and clicking “buy.” AI changes that flow entirely. With Google’s latest Gemini-powered shopping upgrades, customers can now ask natural questions, receive summarized product recommendations, compare options instantly, and purchase with a single AI-assisted click, often without ever visiting a retailer’s website.

This mirrors what began last fall with OpenAI integrations, where retailers like Target, Etsy, Shopify, and Walmart enabled AI assistants to browse products, check availability, and place orders on behalf of users. The result is a new reality: people aren’t just shopping online anymore, their AI is shopping for them.

For businesses, this has major implications. Visibility will no longer be driven only by ads or traditional SEO, but by how clearly your products, pricing, and policies can be understood by AI systems. Trust signals, accurate data, BBB Accreditation and transparent information will matter more than clever marketing copy and business need to add AEO to their learning list and update websites for AI optimization.

For consumers, buying will feel faster, simpler, and more conversational. Instead of browsing endlessly, we’ll increasingly rely on AI to filter choices and surface the “best” option.

The takeaway is clear: retail is shifting from clicks to conversations. And the businesses that adapt to AI-driven buying now will define the future of commerce.

AI Year in Review: The Year Intelligence Changed How We Work

Sat, 27 Dec 2025 03:11:09 GMT

This year marked another turning point for artificial intelligence — not because AI became more powerful, but because it became more personal.

We moved from asking, “What is AI?” to “How do I work with it?” AI stopped being a novelty and started becoming a thought partner — embedded in how businesses plan, decide, create, and compete.

Here’s what defined the year:

AI became operational, not experimental

Businesses stopped “testing” AI and started deploying it. From marketing and customer service to finance and operations, AI tools became everyday productivity engines, especially for small businesses looking to do more with less.

Reasoning replaced raw output

With releases like Chat GPT5.0, Gemini 3.0 and Deep Think, the race shifted from speed to understanding. AI is no longer just generating answers, it’s learning to reason, analyze, and support complex decision-making.

Agents entered the marketplace

AI agents now shop, negotiate, compare pricing, and place orders on behalf of humans. Partnerships with platforms like Shopify, Walmart, and Target signaled the rise of an agent-driven economy, where AI doesn’t just assist with work, it does the work.

Trust became the differentiator

As AI adoption accelerated, trust emerged as the true competitive advantage. Businesses that use AI transparently and responsibly are earning loyalty in an increasingly automated marketplace. Signals like BBB Accreditation and other third-party validations are becoming essential markers that AI systems rely on to identify and elevate trusted businesses.

These shifts inspired my newly published book, Thought Partner , which explores how leaders can evolve from using AI as a tool to collaborating with it as a thinking companion.

The takeaway from this year is clear. AI is a competitive advantage for your business, but you have to learn how to implement it. The businesses that learn to think with AI will define the next era of growth.

New AI Executive Order: Innovation Fuel — and Regulatory Headache

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 21:15:05 GMT

A major new AI executive order at the federal level is already reshaping the policy landscape, and it has real implications for Colorado. Rather than establishing a new regulatory framework, the order aims to spur AI innovation nationally while limiting state-level regulation. It directs federal agencies to evaluate and potentially challenge state AI laws that are seen as burdensome and threatens to withhold federal funds from states with certain regulations. ( AP News )

This move reflects a broader push to keep the U.S. competitive in the global AI race by avoiding a patchwork of 50 different regulatory regimes — but it also raises important issues for business leaders to understand:

Innovation vs. Accountability

The order is designed to accelerate AI deployment and investment, which is good news for businesses adopting new tools. But by discouraging state regulation, it could slow the development of protections around algorithmic fairness, transparency, and consumer trust that some companies and advocates see as vital. ( The Guardian )

Why Colorado’s Pause Matters

Colorado’s own AI Act, the first-of-its-kind legislation aimed at regulating “high-risk” AI systems has been paused as lawmakers work through how best to balance innovation with protections. ( Colorado Newsline ) But the new federal actions mean that state regulators will likely be watching closely how far they can go without running afoul of federal priorities. That could influence the timing and substance of Colorado’s eventual rules.

What Small Businesses Should Watch

Compliance complexity: National vs. state rules could change quickly so stay updated.
Competitive advantage: States without heavy regulation may attract more AI investment, but also more risk.
Trust and ethics as assets: Regardless of regulation, consumers increasingly value responsible AI use.

The broader takeaway: the U.S. is betting on innovation first, regulation later. As this unfolds, small business leaders must navigate both opportunity and uncertainty as we all prepare for a future where AI policy is as dynamic as the technology itself.

Why Small Businesses Can’t Afford to Ignore AI

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 03:18:53 GMT

This week, I’m excited to launch The AI Advantage, a new weekly column here in the Colorado Business Digest. Each week, I’ll share practical insights into how artificial intelligence is changing the way we work and how small business leaders can use it to their advantage.

AI is no longer just for big corporations or Silicon Valley startups. It’s already reshaping how local businesses market, communicate, and serve customers. From writing content to managing customer inquiries, or even generating new product ideas, AI is becoming the tool that helps small businesses do more with less.

At the Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado, I see firsthand the challenges small businesses face: limited time, tight budgets, and growing competition. AI isn’t here to replace people, it’s here to help leaders reclaim their time, make smarter decisions, and focus on what matters most: building trust and relationships.

Through The AI Advantage, I’ll cut through the hype and keep it simple. No jargon — just clear, actionable takeaways you can use right away. Think of it as your guide to navigating the AI landscape without getting lost in the noise.

The future isn’t waiting. AI is already here. The question is: are you ready to take the AI Advantage?