Best Uses and How to Apply It Appropriately and Efficiently
Artificial intelligence has become part of daily business life. Tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Canva’s Magic Studio have made it easier than ever for teams to write content, create graphics, and organize information in minutes instead of hours. But with so many tools available, it’s important to understand not just what AI can do, but how to use it appropriately and efficiently.
Used the right way, AI becomes a quiet partner, helping you save time, stay consistent, and make better decisions. Used carelessly, it can introduce risks from inaccurate information to potential data exposure. The goal isn’t to replace the human touch; it’s to use AI smartly so you can spend more time serving customers and building trust.
Understanding AI – What It Really Is
Before diving in, it’s important to understand what AI actually does. It doesn’t “think” or “understand” the way people do. It predicts what’s likely to come next based on the patterns it has learned. When you ask ChatGPT to write an email or summarize a meeting, it’s not reasoning like a person. Instead, it’s predicting, based on massive amounts of data, what sounds right.
That means AI is great for organizing, drafting, and speeding up tasks, but it still needs you to give it direction, check its accuracy, and make sure it represents your business the right way. The human element is still what makes the work authentic and trustworthy.
Where AI Actually Helps Businesses
AI can touch almost every part of your operation, if you use it with purpose. Here are the most practical areas where businesses are benefiting right now:
1. Content and Marketing
AI writing tools like ChatGPT and Claude are great at getting you unstuck. You can use them to:
- Brainstorm ideas for social posts, newsletters, or blog articles
- Create outlines or marketing plans faster
- Rephrase or polish content you’ve already written
AI can help you sound more consistent and professional, but it shouldn’t sound robotic. Always edit the final version yourself so your business still feels personal and retains the voice your customers know and trust.
Canva’s Magic Studio also offers incredible time-savers for visual content. You can quickly resize graphics for different platforms, remove backgrounds, or even create layouts that match your brand colors automatically. It’s a great way to speed up marketing work without outsourcing every design project.
2. Customer Communication
AI can make it easier to stay on top of emails, messages, and follow-ups. Tools like ChatGPT or Claude can help summarize conversations and draft responses, while note-taking platforms like Fireflies.ai can automatically record and transcribe meetings. That means you can spend less time typing notes and more time focusing on clients.
If you use automated replies or chatbots, keep them simple. Let them answer routine questions or help customers schedule appointments but always make it clear when a person will take over. Automation should save you time, not frustrate your customers.
3. Efficiency and Operations
AI can help you look at your own data in new ways. Perplexity, for example, can summarize long reports or help you research industry trends, supplier comparisons, or local market insights in seconds.
Meanwhile, tools built into Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace can help automate repetitive tasks from sorting email to generating reports. It’s not about replacing jobs; it’s about freeing up time for the parts of your business that require human connection.
Choosing AI Wisely and Protecting Your Data
With so many new AI tools appearing every week, it’s tempting to try them all. But before you sign up for anything, slow down and think strategically. Choosing the right AI isn’t just about features; it’s about trust, privacy, and long-term stability. Here are a few smart habits that keep your business efficient and secure:
- Stick with reputable providers like ChatGPT (OpenAI), Claude (Anthropic), and Perplexity. These companies offer “pro” or “team” plans that include stronger privacy and data-handling options.
- Use business or paid accounts whenever possible. Free tools may seem appealing, but they often have loose privacy rules or share user data for model training.
- Avoid entering sensitive information. Never paste customer data, financials, or private documents into any AI prompt.
- Turn on multi-factor authentication. It’s one of the simplest ways to protect your accounts from unauthorized access.
- Review permissions and integrations. AI plug-ins often request broad access to files, calendars, or messages. Always check what you’re agreeing to.
The bottom line: treat AI like any other tool connected to your business. It should streamline your workflow, not put your customers’ trust at risk.
Prompting: The Skill That Makes AI Work
One of the biggest differences between those who get value from AI and those who don’t comes down to how they ask. Prompting, the way you structure your questions or request, is everything.
Vague prompts like “Write a marketing plan” will return vague results. Specific prompts like, “Create a short marketing plan for an HVAC company focusing on residential clients and seasonal maintenance reminders” produce far more useful output.
You get out what you put in. The clearer you are with your goals, tone, and context, the better AI can help you. Think of prompting as a new kind of digital literacy – the better your communication, the more powerful the tool becomes.
To make it practical, think of prompts in three parts:
- The Task: What do you want the AI to do? (e.g., “Write,” “Summarize,” “Brainstorm,” “Edit”)
- The Context: Who or what is it for? (e.g., “a local HVAC company’s
newsletter,” “a small business blog post”) - The Output Style: How should it sound or look? (e.g., “friendly and
professional tone,” or “technical and analytical”)
Example:
“Act like my marketing brainstorm partner and write blog post for a small-town HVAC company about winter home safety and energy efficiency tips. Include a short call-to-action encouraging customers to schedule a furnace check before cold weather hits.”
The more you clarify, the closer the AI gets to what you actually want. Over time, you’ll build a personal “prompt library.” Short reusable templates that let you work faster without reinventing the wheel every time. That’s one of the biggest shifts we see. Learning to “speak AI” clearly saves more time than any single new app.
AI Is Becoming Non-Negotiable
Using AI in business over the next few years won’t be optional. It will be a baseline expectation for efficiency. In five years, refusing to use AI will be like being in business 25 years ago and insisting you didn’t need a computer.
Every organization – from small local teams to large enterprises – will depend on some level of AI to stay competitive. It’s simply too powerful a tool to ignore. The businesses that adapt now will be the ones positioned to grow later because they’ll already understand how to use AI safely, effectively, and purposefully.
Using AI Efficiently (Not Endlessly)
It’s easy to lose hours experimenting with new AI tools. The key is to use them intentionally. Here’s how to get real efficiency from AI:
- Start small. Pick one or two tasks that frustrate you most, like drafting emails or
summarizing meeting notes. - Create prompt templates. Save versions of the questions or instructions you use most often in ChatGPT or Claude.
- Schedule time to use AI. Instead of letting it distract you, block off 30 minutes once or twice a week for AI-based tasks.
- Edit everything. Even the best AI tools can make small mistakes, especially with context or tone. Always proofread before posting or sending anything public.
Over time, you’ll find that AI becomes a quiet background tool, something that speeds you up without overwhelming you.
The Human Advantage
The biggest mistake people make is thinking AI can replace people. It can’t.
AI doesn’t build relationships. It doesn’t understand local context or care about a customer’s experience. Those things still require you – the business owner or professional who knows the community, who follows up, who remembers names.
AI should give you more time to do that. By letting it handle the routine, you get to focus on the work that truly matters: serving your customers, mentoring your employees, and growing your business with intention.
The most successful businesses of the future won’t be the ones that use the most AI – they’ll be the ones that use it best.
Final Thoughts
AI isn’t magic, and it isn’t meant to replace what you do best; it’s designed to make your day run smoother. Having seen firsthand how AI can help local businesses thrive, sharing
practical tips for using it is something that excites me. Working smarter, protecting our data, and keeping our communities at the heart of everything we do ensures technology helps strengthen the connections and values that matter most.
By Jason Denovich, owner of New Look Computer and Data; originally published in SBAM’s January/February 2026 issue of FOCUS magazine
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