AI Knowhow Episode 84 Overview
It’s easy to feel like every business headline is screaming essentially the same thing: “AI is here. Get on board or get left behind.” But does that mean every company is now an “AI company?” Or is that phrase just the next iteration of tech hype?
In this episode of AI Knowhow, host Courtney Baker explores these questions with Knownwell’s David DeWolf and Mohan Rao. Together, they dig into how organizations can approach AI transformation realistically and strategically. Plus, we kick off a must-hear interview with Max Gabriel, co-founder of Augmented AI, about how AI is poised to disrupt the SaaS industry in ways that business leaders can’t afford to ignore.
Using AI as a Strategic Imperative
If you’re a business leader trying to wrap your head around what being an AI company really means, you’re not alone. There’s increasing pressure from all sides to act fast. But what David and Mohan make clear is that not every company is an AI company today. And that’s okay.
Instead, what matters is progress. Just like we didn’t become “electricity companies” when we started using lightbulbs, adopting AI is about integrating a transformative capability, not becoming a tech lab. As Mohan notes, true transformation won’t happen in the next 18 months. But every organization should be identifying its AI leverage points now to stay competitive.
Courtney underscores this shift by sharing insights from a recent mastermind with professional service firm leaders, many of whom are still unsure how to even begin applying AI in their businesses. Their hesitation is real and reflective of a broader curve of adoption that’s still just getting started.
Why does this matter for services leaders?
According to David, the real question isn’t “Are we an AI company?” It’s “What does being an AI company mean for us, and what steps are we taking to get there?”
Leaders should ask:
- Where in our organization could AI deliver immediate value?
- Are we encouraging experimentation at the individual level and investing at the operational level?
- How might AI change our industry—and how can we lead that shift instead of following it?
The conversation highlights how professional services firms, in particular, may be among the industries most profoundly changed by AI, not just in how they serve clients, but in how they operate internally. That change doesn’t need to happen all at once. But it does need to start with intentionality and strategy.
AI is eating SaaS: Max Gabriel on the coming disruption
In the first half of a two-part interview, co-founder of Augmented AI Max Gabriel joins Pete Buer to explore the provocative idea that AI is about to eat SaaS.
Max outlines how the traditional SaaS model, long praised for its scalability, has left many businesses overwhelmed with bloated tech stacks, rising costs, and fractured data. AI-powered agents, he explains, are emerging as credible alternatives—able to integrate tasks across functions and even replace certain software products altogether.
“A mid-size company is managing 100+ tools just to run the business,” Max notes. “That’s not sustainable.”
He breaks down the distinction between horizontal agents (like ChatGPT) and vertical AI agents, which are industry-specific and trained to execute complex, domain-level work. As investor attention shifts rapidly toward these vertical solutions, executives will need to prepare for a software ecosystem that looks very different, possibly much sooner than expected. Stay tuned to next week’s show for part two of Max and Pete’s conversation.
AI in the News: Google searches decrease on Safari for the first time in 20 years
To close the episode, Mohan and Pete break down a big shift in the search world: for the first time in 20 years, Google search usage on Safari dropped. The culprit? At least in part, search is shifting to AI-native tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Pete explains what this means for executives:
- Ad placement strategies will need to adapt fast
- SEO and SEM may no longer be the go-to paths to customer visibility
- Internally, new search tools could improve productivity and access to knowledge across the enterprise
For any organization that depends on search, whether externally for leads or internally for operations, this is a trend to watch closely.
Watch the episode
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Show notes
- Register for the 5/22 webinar on developing an AI-powered client management operating system
- Connect with Max Gabriel on LinkedIn
- Connect with Courtney Baker on LinkedIn
- Connect with Pete Buer on LinkedIn
- Connect with David DeWolf on LinkedIn
- Connect with Mohan Rao on LinkedIn
- Watch a guided Knownwell demo
- Follow Knownwell on LinkedIn
