On this week’s People Powered Tech podcast, powered by Profit Optics, Nick Pericle, recaps his time at Distribution Strategy Group's Applied AI for Distributors Conference in Chicago with our VP of Digital Strategy and Design, Nathan Henry. Here are a few key takeaways from our Podcast episode.
Nathan Henry: "The energy was infectious and the education was strong. Talking about data and AI and challenges that people are having created a collegiate environment to learn and share collaboratively.”
The Value of One-on-One Conversations
Nick Pericle: "My favorite part of the conference were one-on-one conversations. For example, someone asked us to show basic ways to use gen AI. We pulled up ChatGPT and demonstrated some cool things, like estimating the number of mints in a bowl."
Martex Law and AI Expectations
Nick Pericle: "Zach Kass mentioned Martex Law, which states that technology changes exponentially fast, but organizations change logarithmically. This means tech advances faster than organizations are ready to accept it. Another highlight was that we have a high threshold for human error but a virtual zero threshold for machine error."
Nathan Henry: "So true. We will give grace to humans because of our humanity, but the machines must always be correct."
Nick Pericle: "Paul Bear from GI Insights shared prompts and ways to think through tasks a sales rep in distribution would work through. Despite ChatGPT going down during his session, it highlighted the need for flexibility and having multiple tools at hand."
Nick Pericle: "Teresa Payton, a former White House CIO, shared practical tips for data security. One memorable story was about incentivizing White House staff to report lost phones quickly by providing them with a new phone on the same day."
Nathan Henry: "It's important to remember that protecting business data is crucial, even if it’s not 'nuclear secrets.' Simple things like client contacts on your phone can put your business at risk."
Nick Pericle: "Brian Walker from Grainger spoke about their journey from using commercial off-the-shelf software to upgrading their enterprise architecture and building software in-house. His insights on composable architecture and AI fit were particularly resonant."
Nathan Henry: "Even if you’re a small distributor, thinking of yourself as an IT company can help you drive growth and profitability."
Nick Pericle: "During the conference, we shared ProfitOptics’ 'Care' application, which allows customer service reps to use AI for parsing customer information and improving response times. The AI engine learns from the reps’ inputs and becomes more efficient over time."
Nick Pericle: "We also shared ProfitOptics’ 'Adapt' tool is another powerful application. It can handle document parsing for order entry, offering modular solutions that can be customized to different distributor needs."
Nick Pericle: "Custom GPTs have untapped potential. They can significantly improve quote turnaround times, product matching, and internal documentation. Less than 10% of distributors use them, but they offer incredible value."
Nathan Henry: "Custom GPTs can be tailored to your business logic, helping you unlock untapped potential and drive efficiency."
At the DSG Applied AI conference, Nick premiered ProfitOptics’ new gen AI Workshop solution.
Nick Pericle: "Our workshop focuses on two principles: composable architecture and AI fit. We provide hands-on activities to build a prompt engineering library and custom GPTs, helping you identify areas for improvement without needing to overhaul your entire system."
Nathan Henry: "You’ll leave with solutions that can solve time problems, order entry issues, and data challenges. Plus, you’ll have a partner to help you along your AI journey."
Visit us at www.buildbetterwork.ai to learn more. We’re excited to share our knowledge and help you build better work with Gen AI.
Thanks for joining us on this Applied AI for Distributors Conference recap. We’re passionate about using AI to drive better work and can’t wait to see how these insights help you in your business. Connect with us on our website or LinkedIn to learn more about how ProfitOptics is helping distributors build better work by getting started with GenAI now.
