Switchboard Connect

Every other week, I curate a few relevant pieces of AI & Automation news and insights. A bit shorter with 3 items this week as I wanted to do a deeper dive into each as they’re really relevant for SMB’s.

Let’s dive in.

I've been skeptical of AI hype. Despite grand claims, AI has mostly excelled at crafting ideal responses based on context and prompts.

What's been missing is true reasoning - the ability to think through problems before answering.

Well, that leap in AI reasoning is finally here with OpenAI’s o1 release this past week.

🧠 AI gets smarter at solving complex problems

• OpenAI's o1 model scored 120 IQ on Mensa tests, matching above-average human intelligence.

• Uses advanced "chain-of-thought" reasoning to tackle multi-step challenges.

• Performs well even on new, unseen problems.

👀 Why It Matters to SMBs: This leap in AI reasoning could help SMBs tackle complex, real-world business challenges more efficiently, from financial modeling to strategic planning, as o1's superior performance on problem-solving tests suggests it can handle more nuanced scenarios.

🖼️ The Big Picture:

• While o1 itself isn't designed for everyday use, it paves the way for more capable AI assistants that can be given more vague inputs and have stronger outputs.

• Future AI tools based on this technology will become powerful allies for SMBs, helping level the playing field with larger competitors.

• As these new models evolve, they will transform how small businesses approach everything from customer service to product development.

💭 Our Take: SMBs should prepare as o1 signals a wave of more capable AI tools that will significantly boost productivity and AI’s decision-making for businesses of all sizes when it’s added into workflows and processes.

✨ With all of the AI hype out there, I wanted to share a new case study showing a real-world use case we built. It shows how AI can revolutionize business operations, particularly in scaling quality assurance without scaling team size.

⚙️ How It Works:

1. Automated call booking and transcription making it easier for customers and teams

2. AI-powered call reviews with custom prompts for different call types to ensure the right things are being reviewed by AI

3. Intelligent routing to ensure the right AI prompt is used to review each call

4. AI-generated summaries of call coverage and areas for improvement

5. Human-in-the-loop for quality control and personalized feedback

🔍 Results:

• 250+ collective hours saved per month across the Customer Success QA team

• Over 80% of calls now reviewed by AI

• 1.5+ hours saved per call review

• Maintained high-quality standards while scaling operations without adding headcount

💭 Hype-free AI: This case study demonstrates the power of AI in enhancing operational efficiency without compromising on quality. It's a prime example of how AI can be a game-changer in a businesses operations, freeing up human talent to focus on what they do best – building relationships and driving strategic initiatives.

⚙️ Check out the full case study here.

SaaS empires are crumbling as AI becomes the Robin Hood of business, redistributing billions back to teams.

With AI agents already able to build software and improving every week, the cost and skill barriers to creating software are plummeting to near zero.

No more paying exorbitant license fees to fund SaaS companies' lavish tech conferences convincing you to buy more of what you don't need.

Klarna's CEO just announced they're ditching Salesforce and Workday, using AI to build their own replacements. This isn't just for tech giants – AI is democratizing software creation, allowing everyone to build internal tools that outperform multi-billion dollar SaaS apps.

🔧 Automation and low-code platforms are already transforming how we create internal tools. 🚀 AI is supercharging this trend, making traditional software models obsolete.

The era of owning and controlling your tools is here:

1. Build a Loom alternative in days, not months (see proof below)

2. Create custom workflows that fit your team & business, not someone else's idea of it

3. Own your tools & data, not to mention your future

At Switchboard, we're already helping teams automate and streamline their workflows on top of great software. And with AI, this is only getting faster and easier.

Traditional SaaS business models are being disrupted and companies like Klarna doing this is just the beginning.

That’s all for this week.

Seeing all this AI Automation news out there and not sure where to start? Feel free to reply with any questions you may have – happy to chat!

Ciao for now 👋