How do startups choose what to automate with AI?

Jeff Finkelstein

Owner · Customer Paradigm

Start with privacy

Jeff Finkelstein says to start with privacy—determining what information you're collecting, how it can be used, and who has access to it—and use that to decide the rest, noting it's complicated and no one answer is correct.

The answer starts at 21:29.

MT

Matt Taylor

Founder · Trepo

Communications stay human

Matt Taylor says his company keeps all communications manual and doesn't use AI for them because consumers can tell; otherwise, he recommends automating what AI can do with 99.99% accuracy.

R "Ray" Wang

Principal Analyst, Founder & Chairman · Constellation Research, Inc.

By use case

Ray Wang says he decides by use case, treating AI not as one thing but as each use case deems, and weighing where human judgment improves the outcome versus just relying on the AI.

Shaju Puthussery

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer · LightSpun

Targeted, context-driven tasks

Shaju Puthussery says automation should be targeted and context-driven, with humans making the bigger decisions and handling exceptions, while AI provides context and insights.

Mahesh Ram

Head of AI, Zoom · Zoom

Automate everything

Mahesh Ram says he would automate everything and start with no manual process, calling it a self-evident, obvious principle that requires a radical shift in how you think about building companies.