Insights from Kevin Williams of Ascend AI Labs and Shawn Miele, CEO of MyAdvice
We recently hosted an exclusive webinar with two standout voices in the AI transformation space Kevin Williams, Co-founder of Ascend AI Labs, and Shawn Miele, CEO of MyAdvice. The topic? How businesses can move beyond the AI hype and start logging real, measurable wins in 2025.
The response was overwhelming hundreds of business leaders joined us to learn how to get ahead with AI without overhauling everything at once.
Missed the webinar? You can now listen to the full conversation on our podcast:
Listen to the full episode here: Having AI FOMO? Practical Tips for Logging Real AI Wins in Your Business for 2025
In this blog post, we’ve distilled the key takeaways from that conversation into a practical guide you can apply right away no technical background required. Whether you’re just getting started or ready to scale, these proven strategies will help you turn AI FOMO into focused action.
AI is not just hype anymore. It is the new electricity powering businesses, and those who fail to adopt it strategically may soon find themselves left behind. If you’re experiencing AI FOMO (fear of missing out), you’re not alone. The good news? You can start logging real, measurable wins in 2025 without overhauling everything at once.
In this article, we’ll walk through practical, business-friendly AI strategies that are already driving results. From empowering employees to embedding automation in daily workflows, here’s how successful companies are turning AI curiosity into consistent performance.
1. Start With Culture Before Technology
The most successful AI journeys begin not with tools, but with mindset. Organizations that thrive with AI start by fostering emotional and cultural adoption.
They treat AI like a strategic priority. Leadership talks about it often, encourages its use, and demonstrates value through small wins. Over time, this transforms fear and resistance into excitement and engagement.
Key ideas to apply:
- Begin talking about AI in all-hands meetings
- Encourage team leads to share AI success stories
- Celebrate experimentation, even if it doesn’t go perfectly
Companies that aligned their culture saw natural momentum grow from top to bottom. Those who resisted the shift eventually self-selected out, preserving a forward-focused workforce.
2. Build an AI-Enabled Infrastructure
A strong foundation matters. The companies winning with AI make tools available to everyone and set up simple, secure environments for experimentation.
One example: offering every team member access to a private AI workspace. This removes friction and creates room for consistent use. When engagement slows, they bring in external experts to re-energize efforts and introduce new capabilities.
Practical ways to enable AI adoption:
- Provide access to approved AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini
- Offer internal toolkits for prompt writing and risk training
- Form a cross-functional AI council to guide decisions
This infrastructure supports both structured workflows and spontaneous innovation.
3. Focus First on What People Don’t Like to Do
Not sure where to start? Look for the tasks that your team dislikes or struggles to do well. Then look at the work that is time-consuming but not transformational.
Use the “AI pyramid” approach from the presentation:
- Start with things people don’t like to do
- Next, target what they don’t do well
- Finally, aim for business-changing opportunities
This sequence creates fast wins and builds trust in the value of AI.
4. Empower Personal Productivity
AI adoption is not limited to enterprise-wide changes. You can start by empowering individuals to boost their productivity.
Here’s what forward-thinking teams are doing:
- Writing emails, summaries, and code using LLMs
- Using tools like Spiky.ai for call insights or Gamma.app for presentation design
- Creating personal GPTs to handle repetitive tasks and answer frequent questions
Encouraging each team member to build 3 to 5 simple AI helpers can unlock 10 to 15 percent productivity gains almost immediately.
5. Automate With AI Chains and Agents
Beyond individual productivity lies the power of connected workflows. AI agents and automation chains can handle multi-step tasks, like summarizing call notes and triggering actions in a CRM, or automatically updating data across systems.
These require more technical integration, but they bring exponential returns. Organizations are using tools like Zapier, n8n, or VAPI to build smart systems that save hours of repetitive work.
Use AI automation for:
- Customer onboarding workflows
- Document generation and routing
- Sales data capture and follow-up
When done right, this reduces manual input and human error, allowing teams to focus on what matters most.
6. Embed AI Into Customer Products
AI is not just internal. Companies are embedding it directly into the customer experience to add value and boost loyalty.
Examples from the presentation include:
- Smart website chat agents that engage visitors 24/7
- AI-driven social media scheduling to maintain brand presence
- HIPAA-compliant systems that protect sensitive information automatically
These enhancements help reduce response time, maintain compliance, and improve customer satisfaction.
7. Define Clear Success Metrics and Keep Iterating
If you want to log real AI wins, you have to track them. Success comes from measuring impact and evolving based on what works.
Use the internal automation matrix to find high-impact areas that have both volume and structure. Sales, customer service, and operations are great places to start. Focus on tasks that require many people and lots of time.
Track your success by measuring:
- Time saved per process
- Error reduction
- Output volume or speed increases
- Customer or employee satisfaction changes
Refine your efforts quarterly to maximize outcomes and scale responsibly.
Conclusion: AI Wins Are Closer Than You Think
AI FOMO is real, but you don’t have to stay on the sidelines. You also don’t need to bet everything on a massive overhaul.
Start small. Focus on people, not just platforms. Empower teams to experiment, automate wisely, and use data to guide decisions. Whether you’re trying to save hours, delight customers, or unlock innovation, the path to real AI wins is practical and achievable.
2025 is the year of measurable outcomes. And your business can lead the way.
