Ex-Google Chief Evangelist: 90% of Companies Optimize AI Wrong
episodePreviously titled “Ex-Google Chief Evangelist: Why 90% of Companies Are Optimizing AI for the Wrong Thing” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 4, 2026
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What is the $15 billion AI mistake most companies are making?
to me ai feels different it feels like it's moving so fast and so far in each leap that if you're trying to wait till like the finished version you're not going to be able to catch up at that point i think as these models are doubling in power every six months right and they're getting 90 cheaper every year basically if you're going to compound that out over five years that's a hundred million improvement in price power if you're telling the ai to go in the wrong direction the guy's going to take you there really really fast it's like a self-driving car with the wrong address
It's not about being right. It's about getting it right. And if you can't get past that, we can't move forward. I am so far down this AI agent rabbit hole that it's insane. I... I'm not technically, I'm not like a native tech guy. Uh, I get people, people misconstrue it. And I think, I think this is interesting. I'm interested just in your take on this. Like there's nothing technical about me by nature. I'm not great at fixing things. I can't code at all. I took like one week of C++ in college and was like, screw this. Uh, But a lot of what I do is technical in so much as I love getting into AI, I love learning about these things because I see them as, to me, it is undeniable what is coming. And to be unprepared as a leader, regardless of your...
technical proclivities feels you're denying yourself a skill set that's going to be very relevant. And I get a ton of questions from the audience about how much of this should I be putting into my business? Should I be building myself an open claw? Should I have co-work? Like, how much time should I be delegating to learning about this stuff? Because I think there's this group of people that has been able to will say skip off new technology and wait till it's mature and still be okay in what they're doing. And I'm, worried is the wrong word, but I'm concerned for them in so much as, to me, AI feels different. It feels like it's moving so fast and so far in each leap that if you're trying to wait till the finished version is available to you, you're not gonna be able to catch up at that point.
Yeah, I'm with you, I think, you know, senior leaders. And by the way, like when I was at Google, I met over a thousand CEOs and advised them right on their digital transformation, marketing and AI strategy. And that was one of the typical questions. This is like, look, you know, things are moving very quickly. Do I want to be a fast follower? Do I want to be a leader? My answer is you always want to be a leader. You don't have to take on the most complex projects at first, right? But you can't wait. And so if you're not building your AI muscle right now as a company and as an individual, and I think as these models are, I mean, doubling in power every six months, right? And they're getting 90% cheaper every year.
Basically, if you kind of compound that out over five years, that's 100 million improvement in price power. So if you're not building the muscles right now, I don't think you're going to thrive in the next five years unless the government regulation saves you. So I'm with you. I think you've got to go hard on developing the skills yourself. You have to go hard on helping your team develop that skill. The problem is that a lot of employees are scared, as they should be. It's very normal. And so as an executive, what you have to do is not just, you know, teach people AI, is you have to show them what the future looks like for them. Like, hey, if you're doing this job right now and the AI is going to take over 50% of this job, you'll be more productive and it's going to be great.
But let's be honest, eventually that job, you know, won't be that fulfilling. So here's your next job. And we're going to try to get you to stay, you know, ahead of AI. And if you become really, really good at this, you know, your career is going to thrive for the next 10 years. And so that kind of Hopeful message I think is important. Also talking about AI as a growth engine, not AI as a productivity engine, right?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the $15 billion AI mistake most companies are making?
0:00–7:34
2
Why is optimizing for conversion rate detrimental to long-term profit?
7:34–13:41
3
How can AI be used to predict future business outcomes?
13:41–21:40
4
What strategy helped a gym owner increase revenue sixfold?
21:40–29:06
5
How can companies build a limitless testing organization?
29:06–35:58
6
Why is brand building essential for all businesses today?
35:58–43:17
7
What metrics should businesses focus on to improve customer lifetime value?
43:17–50:55
8
How can small businesses leverage AI to stay competitive?
50:55–56:15
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