AI isn’t replacing you - but it should be helping you think

Session Speaker: David Bell, Business Consultant and Marketing Strategist
Theme: Sales, Marketing & Technology
Date: Summer Trimester - July 2025

Many business leaders still approach AI with the wrong question: how do I use it? David Bell’s session turned that on its head: what do I need more thinking time for - and how can AI give it to me?

AI isn’t about automation for its own sake. It’s about removing friction - the blockers that slow you down, distract you, or drain your energy. David’s message was clear: AI won’t replace the strategic thinker - but it might finally give them space to think.

Your smartest new team member - with no experience

David encouraged us to stop imagining AI as a machine or a threat. Instead, think of it as a confident but inexperienced graduate. It has speed, energy, and surprising insight - but it needs your guidance.

He walked through several use cases, particularly in sales and marketing: - Refining your positioning - Clarifying your tone of voice - Generating first drafts of content - Improving consistency across channels - Helping test and iterate ideas before they hit the market

None of these replace judgment. But they remove the blank page problem - and in lean teams, that’s a gift.

Better prompts, better outputs

AI tools are only as good as your inputs. David stressed the importance of good prompting, not technical, but clear, structured, and iterative.

Trying to get it right first time rarely works. Treat AI like a collaborator: give it a direction, see what it produces, refine it, then go again. This cycle isn’t inefficiency, it’s how clarity is built.

Tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Midjourney all offer SMEs access to what once felt out of reach. The trick isn’t learning every function. It’s knowing what you want from them and most importantly why.

Thinking time isn’t a luxury

Many in the room recognised the real promise here: AI gives you back time to think. Not to do more tasks, but to lift your eyes. To be sharper in how you position your business, clearer in how you explain it, and more confident in how you move.

It doesn’t start with the tech. It starts with what your business needs more of - clarity, consistency, creativity - and whether you’ve built time for any of those lately.

If AI is your new teammate, the challenge isn’t to master it - it’s to brief it well.

• What do you wish you had more time to think about?
• Where are you reinventing the wheel, when AI could support consistency?

Are you using AI to amplify clarity - or just create noise?