GCM

Thank you LowcountryBizSC - Who's On The Move for featuring GCM and me in your latest Entrepreneur Minute. I really enjoyed the conversation.

Welcome to Edition 51 of our AI in Business Newsletter! Spring has arrived, and so have some big leaps in real-time AI capabilities and collaborative workflows. This week’s updates reflect how AI is becoming even faster, smarter, and more seamlessly integrated into the tools and tasks businesses rely on every day. Let’s get into it!

AI-Generated Images Just Got a Major Upgrade. Here’s Why That Matters for Your Business In the past two weeks, both OpenAI and Google released powerful new image generation capabilities. This time, the leap forward is more than just impressive. It is genuinely useful. Until now, generating images with AI felt disconnected. You could describe what you wanted, but the results often missed the mark. The tools were creative, but not collaborative. That is changing. OpenAI’s new GPT-4o model allows you to generate and refine images through conversation. Want a new version in a different style? Need to add a logo or change the background? You just ask, and it updates. Google’s Gemini now produces images with sharper accuracy, better spatial logic, and a wider range of creative styles. Both tools now make it easier to upload brand guides, fonts, and color palettes so the images you create actually reflect your brand. But perhaps the most important shift is how you engage with these models. Just like we teach teams to think of AI as an ambitious intern, eager to help but needing clear guidance, the same applies here. Like any intern, AI requires oversight and review. It performs best with direct instructions and consistent feedback. This was previously only possible with text. Now, you can apply this same collaborative, iterative process to images. You give direction. You offer feedback. You provide context. And the AI responds, improves, and builds on that input in real time. Practical Business Use Cases This is no longer just a tool for designers or developers. Teams across industries can put this to work: ➡️ Marketing and Social Media: Generate branded visuals, illustrations, and infographics on demand. ➡️ Sales and Internal Comms: Build polished, on-brand images for slide decks, proposals, and presentations. ➡️ Real Estate and Construction: Visualize property exteriors, interiors, or conceptual designs to support client conversations and marketing materials. ➡️ Media and Content Creation: Add original visuals to blog posts, newsletters, or digital publications without relying on stock images. ➡️ Creative Production: Rapidly prototype characters, environments, or storyboards to accelerate early concept development. ➡️ Education and Training: Generate diagrams and visual aids to support instruction or staff development. These tools are still evolving. They can produce errors, especially with fine details. Bias in training data remains a concern, and copyright rules around generated content are still developing. Businesses using these tools should remain thoughtful and responsible in how they are applied. AI-generated images are no longer a novelty. They are becoming a practical tool for everyday workflows. And with the ability to guide and iterate visually, not just with words, teams now have a faster, more flexible way to create. Watch our designer Gustav bring it to life using ChatGPT’s new image generation capabilities.

Key Construction took a strategic, hands-on approach to AI integration, focused not on hype, but on real operational value. Working alongside GCM, the team identified high-impact use cases across departments and implemented AI tools to support daily workflows. The results: an average of 14.4% time savings on AI-assisted tasks, nearly 19% more tasks completed, and 1 in 5 employees reporting time savings of over 40%. AI was used to streamline project reporting, analyze vendor proposals, and even assist in drafting contracts, freeing up time for more strategic work. This case study highlights what’s possible when AI is implemented with intention and aligned to how teams actually work. Read the full case study here: https://lnkd.in/e-QZt65z

South Carolina is taking real steps to become a national leader in applied AI innovation—and I’m proud to be part of that momentum. I recently spoke at the SC AI Roundtable hosted by South Carolina Council on Competitiveness, the Palmetto Applied Research Council and Jeff Bradley where I shared practical use cases being implemented by small and mid-sized businesses around the country. I also broke down the five keys to successful AI adoption—insights we’ve gained from working directly with SMBs who are already putting off-the-shelf AI tools to work inside their operations. We’re not talking theory. We’re talking real businesses solving real problems. This kind of collaboration—across government, higher ed, and the private sector—is exactly what it takes to build an AI-ready economy. South Carolina is on the path, and I’m excited to keep contributing to what comes next. https://lnkd.in/epECSKZx

A new study out of Harvard Business School, based on real business challenges faced by 776 professionals at Procter & Gamble, shows how AI can reshape teamwork, improve performance, and even enhance the emotional experience of work. Here’s what stood out: ➡️ Individuals using AI improved performance by 37% ➡️ Teams using AI performed 39% better than non-AI teams ➡️ Tasks were completed 12.7% faster, with more detailed solutions ➡️ Teams using AI were 3x more likely to land in the top 10% of solutions ➡️ Stronger emotional wellbeing. AI users reported higher excitement, energy, and less anxiety at work ➡️ And - AI broke down silos. R&D specialists produced more commercially viable work, and commercial teams created more technically sound solutions. One key insight from Wharton Professor, Ethan Mollick: framing AI only as a “productivity tool” misses the bigger opportunity. Today’s AI, when integrated intentionally, can function like a team member. It brings ideas, shares expertise, and improves how people work together. At GCM, we’ve seen this firsthand. We don’t just teach teams how to “use AI”, we help them integrate it in ways that make work better, faster, and more collaborative. This study supports what we’ve experienced across hundreds of trainings: AI can reshape the way small and mid-sized businesses operate, if you give it the chance to be more than just a tool. We’ve worked with chambers, associations, nonprofits, and growing businesses across the country to make that happen.

Tears, Laughter, and a Room Full of Possibility Last week, I had the honor of delivering the closing keynote at the VIRGINIA ASSOCIATION OF CHAMBER OF COMMERCE EXECUTIVES event in Staunton, VA—standing in front of 70+ Chamber of Commerce executives from across the state. We laughed together. Some had tears in their eyes. Not because of fear, but because something deeper hit home: they saw what's possible. Not flashy, futuristic tech. Not empty promises of overnight success. But real, practical ways AI can help them do the work they’ve always dreamed of doing—if only they had a bigger team, a larger budget, or more hours in the day. We talked about how AI is already transforming chambers around the country. Not in theory, but in the action we have seen working with chambers all over. What moved me most? -These leaders didn’t show up because AI is trendy. -They showed up because they care. -Because they want their communities to thrive. -Because they believe in the power of small businesses—and they’re willing to evolve to keep serving them better. I'm grateful I get to do this work. Every time we help a chamber, we’re helping hundreds of businesses in their community. Thank you to VACCE for the invitation, the warmth, and the belief in what’s possible. Let’s keep going.

Only 7% of businesses have integrated AI in a truly strategic way, but as that number rises, the vast majority, over 90%, will rely on off-the-shelf AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. That means most businesses have zero control over the biases built into these models. We are on the receiving end of other companies' data choices, and that’s a reality we can’t ignore. So what can businesses do? 1. Develop an AI Ethics Policy. Your company already has ethical values; your AI use should reflect them. 2. Transparency Matters. We've seen companies blame AI for bad decisions. But AI doesn’t act alone. Users are responsible for the outputs they accept and act on. Be clear about how your business uses AI and what safeguards are in place. 3. AI Shouldn't Make Decisions for You. Bias exists in AI, but human oversight is non-negotiable. AI should assist, not replace, human judgment. As AI adoption grows, businesses that actively engage with AI, discussing its impact, questioning its outputs, and setting clear boundaries, will be the ones who truly understand and shape its role in their work.

Managing AI-generated content across multiple tasks can quickly become overwhelming the more conversations you have. ChatGPT's Projects feature is designed to solve this problem for SMBs juggling multiple AI tasks. This new functionality allows you to create dedicated project spaces that group related files and conversations, making it easier to manage and retrieve specific information. Here's how it can transform your workflow: - Custom instructions within each project let you dictate the tone, focus, and format of responses for different business needs - When working with code, you can set project-specific parameters (like telling ChatGPT your project uses pandas) without repeating yourself in every conversation - By grouping related tasks, chats, and files, you'll improve workflows and reduce the cognitive load of switching between different contexts - Keep your team's instructions, reference documents, and previous conversations about specific deliverables all in one place - Perfect for long ongoing tasks where you want to revisit and continue work without losing context The Projects feature exemplifies how small businesses can increase adoption by making AI an organized part of daily operations rather than just another tool. Here's how to get started. ⬇️

Fifty editions in, and we’re just getting started! When we launched this newsletter, our goal was simple: to cut through the noise and provide real, actionable AI insights for businesses like yours. AI can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Every week, we aim to show you how to use AI in ways that make a real impact, saving time, increasing productivity, and making your daily work more efficient. Whether you’ve been with us since Edition 1 or you’re just joining the journey, we truly appreciate you. Your feedback, questions, and shared success stories fuel what we do at GCM. Keep experimenting, keep integrating AI where it makes sense for your business, and know that we’re here to help along the way. Thanks for being part of this growing community. Here’s to the next 50 editions!