I'm not an engineer. My background is marketing / ops / automation inside scrappy teams. Lately I've been deep in AI tools (automation, agents, content systems etc.). What I'm noticing is kind of interesting:
A lot of companies got super hyped on “AI,” spent money, then quietly scaled it back.
Not because AI "doesn't work," but because they literally have no idea how to actually implement it in a way that hits revenue or reduces cost.
Stuff I'm seeing over and over:
So instead of “AI replacing jobs,” what I actually see is:
When most people say "AI consultant" right now, what they really mean is:
The problem: most freelancers selling that can't actually push anything to production. They don't understand the business logic, they can't integrate with existing systems, and they bounce once the Loom video is recorded. So the company ends up with a Notion doc, a half-broken Zapier scenario, and zero actual behavior change in the team.
But here's where I'm starting to think there's a real gap:
Forget building custom AI products.
What if the value is just: making the team leaner with what already exists.
Very non-technical example from my world (marketing/ops):
In my own day-to-day I've cut my active work down to like 1–2 hours a day using AI for:
It's just: I know which tools to use, in which order, for which task, so humans stop wasting time on grunt work.
Inside normal companies, I keep seeing the same thing:
It's failing because there's no implementation layer.
Nobody is sitting next to the team saying:
"This part of your work can be cut by 40%. Here's the prompt/template/workflow you will use every single day. Here's how we track the time saved. Here's how you report that up so you don't get fired for using it."
In other words: most businesses don't know how to wield the sword.
So here's my actual question for you all:
Is "AI consulting" (done in this boring, practical way) actually a legit lane?
Not 'let me build you a chatbot.'
Not 'let me sell you a custom agent.'
More like: 'I sit inside one function of your business, remove wasted hours using AI + process tweaks, and prove it with numbers.'
Specifically:
To me, the shovel in this AI rush isn’t “we built an AI tool.”
The shovel is knowing how to make normal teams faster, today, with the tools that already exist.
I'm wondering if that's the quiet gem right now or if I'm just early-stage coping.
A lot of companies got super hyped on “AI,” spent money, then quietly scaled it back.
Not because AI "doesn't work," but because they literally have no idea how to actually implement it in a way that hits revenue or reduces cost.
Stuff I'm seeing over and over:
- Leadership says “use AI so we can cut headcount,” but gives zero direction.
- Teams panic, open ChatGPT, generate some paragraphs, then go back to the old process because nothing was integrated.
- They buy 20 seats of some AI SaaS because a vendor demo looked cool, then nobody uses it after week two.
- Compliance / brand / legal block anything customer-facing, so AI ends up stuck in a “pilot” folder forever.
- No one on the team is actually responsible for “this is how we plug AI into our workflow and measure impact.”
So instead of “AI replacing jobs,” what I actually see is:
- Wasted spend
- Confusion
- Internal politics
- Then retreat
When most people say "AI consultant" right now, what they really mean is:
- “I'll build you an AI workflow.”
- “I'll automate your [insert process] with an agent/bot.”
- “I'll hook you up with this tool and you'll print money.”
The problem: most freelancers selling that can't actually push anything to production. They don't understand the business logic, they can't integrate with existing systems, and they bounce once the Loom video is recorded. So the company ends up with a Notion doc, a half-broken Zapier scenario, and zero actual behavior change in the team.
But here's where I'm starting to think there's a real gap:
Forget building custom AI products.
What if the value is just: making the team leaner with what already exists.
Very non-technical example from my world (marketing/ops):
In my own day-to-day I've cut my active work down to like 1–2 hours a day using AI for:
- drafting and iterating content
- summarizing inputs from different channels
- cleaning up data / reporting
- handling first-pass responses and internal comms
- building outlines / briefs so people don't start from a blank page
It's just: I know which tools to use, in which order, for which task, so humans stop wasting time on grunt work.
Inside normal companies, I keep seeing the same thing:
- "use AI, get leaner, cut costs."
- The team opens ChatGPT, panics, and then goes back to the old process.
- People start saying "AI is a bubble, it's all hype, none of this actually works."
- Then spending gets scaled back and AI becomes a meme internally.
It's failing because there's no implementation layer.
Nobody is sitting next to the team saying:
"This part of your work can be cut by 40%. Here's the prompt/template/workflow you will use every single day. Here's how we track the time saved. Here's how you report that up so you don't get fired for using it."
In other words: most businesses don't know how to wield the sword.
So here's my actual question for you all:
Is "AI consulting" (done in this boring, practical way) actually a legit lane?
Not 'let me build you a chatbot.'
Not 'let me sell you a custom agent.'
More like: 'I sit inside one function of your business, remove wasted hours using AI + process tweaks, and prove it with numbers.'
Specifically:
- Would an owner / director / ops lead actually pay for that? Or do they only pay for things that directly say "more leads" or "more sales"?
- Who signs this kind of deal in your experience? CEO? Ops? Marketing lead who's underwater and needs output without more headcount?
- How would you structure it if you were me?
- One-time “make this department leaner” project?
- Monthly retainer to keep trimming inefficiency?
- A “we saved you X hours, we take Y” deal?
- Is there already a thousand people doing exactly this, or is everyone still mostly selling hype decks and broken automations?
- Long-term: If you're not technical, is this a real business (execution, relationships, results) or are you just building yourself a job unless you eventually productize it?
To me, the shovel in this AI rush isn’t “we built an AI tool.”
The shovel is knowing how to make normal teams faster, today, with the tools that already exist.
I'm wondering if that's the quiet gem right now or if I'm just early-stage coping.
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