AI Knowhow Episode 83 Overview
Professional services firms live and die by client retention and growth, yet many still rely on scattered CRM data, tracking client satisfaction in spreadsheets or with quarterly surveys, and individual heroics to ensure client success. In this episode of AI Knowhow, Courtney Baker sits down with Pete Buer to map out a repeatable client management operating system—and the role AI plays in turning relationship chaos into insight you can act on in minutes. This episode previews an upcoming client management operating system webinar that Courtney and Pete will host on Thursday, May 22nd.
What is a client management operating system?
We kick the episode off by defining what we mean when we talk about a client management operating system. As Pete says, it is the combined set of processes and objectives that have dependencies on one another that, ultimately, power your business. Whether you think of them as an interconnected OS or not, every business has them. The five active ingredients of a high-performing operating system are:
- Cascaded goals and objectives
- Clear roles and responsibilities
- Aligned incentives
- Purpose-built meeting cadence
- Data-driven decision making
Why does this matter for services leaders?
Taking a scientific approach to how you manage clients may sound “academic.” In reality, however, the fate of any professional services company relies on continually honing and perfecting its operating system. Here’s why now is such a vital time for any professional services leader to consider how they deliver value to their clients and where AI can plug in:
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Retention fuels growth. A 5-point lift in client retention can increase profits 25–95 percent.
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Data is there—but disconnected. CRMs, ticketing tools, email threads, invoices, and Slack DMs rarely line up in one view.
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AI is ready. Modern LLMs can now ingest unstructured touch-points, infer sentiment and risk, and surface next-best actions—no army of analysts required.
“AI makes everyone on the team some degree of expert,” Pete says. “No more context hunting, only decision-making.”
Be sure to tune in to the full episode below for more, and register for our May 22nd webinar to take a deeper dive into what an AI-powered client management operating system can do for you.
AI in the News: OpenAI is keeping its non-profit roots after all…
While Courtney, David, and Mohan were recording footage for upcoming episodes, the news broke that OpenAI won’t pursue converting to for-profit status after all. The move comes after pressure from Elon Musk, among others, to retain the non-profit status and posture the company has had since being founded in 2015. It also harkened back to our Hot Takes episode from earlier this year, when David predicted just such a move.
On that episode, David looked into his crystal ball and said, “I just think we are going to look up in two years, and OpenAI isn’t going to be the clear leader anymore, and the assets will still exist somewhere, but they won’t be seen as the leader. The assets will be somewhere distributed. I don’t know if they’ll get acquired. I don’t know if they’ll merge somewhere. I don’t know if they’ll go back to being a pure not-for-profit, and the profit engine will be spun off somewhere…”
Watch the episode
Watch the full episode below, and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Listen to the episode
You can tune in to the full episode via the Spotify embed below, and you can find AI Knowhow on Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get your podcasts.
Show notes
- Register for the 5/22 webinar on developing an AI-powered client management operating system
- 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
