Brown's small business supplier summit builds bridges between campus, local businesses

Everyone told you to "just start with AI." So you did. Now you're paying $200/month for a tool your team ignores. You're not alone — and you're not behind because you're not smart enough. You're behi

Everyone told you to "just start with AI." So you did. Now you're paying $200/month for a tool your team ignores.

You're not alone — and you're not behind because you're not smart enough. You're behind because the people selling AI solutions have zero incentive to make them simple.

Here's what caught my attention from Brown University's recent supplier summit. They brought together large institutions and small business owners — not to sell anything — but to build real working relationships around shared problems. The insight? Lasting results come from matching the right resource to the right problem, not from chasing the biggest solution.

That's exactly what's missing in most AI rollouts. Business owners buy a platform first, then hunt for a problem to justify it. It should be the opposite.

Start with one painful, repetitive task your team does manually every week. Just one. Then find the simplest tool that eliminates that specific task. That's it. No overhaul. No new hires. No learning to code.

Measure the time saved in 30 days. That's your ROI. That's your proof of concept. That's how momentum starts.

What's one task you wish you could take off your team's plate tomorrow?

#AIForBusiness #SmallBusinessGrowth #BusinessStrategy #AIImplementation

Original Source

Brown staff member sits among other Brown employees and small business owners at Brown's Small Business ... AI agents have in teaching students the ...