The first time I really played around with AI, it wasn’t about work at all. I was using it to generate bedtime stories for my kids, stories that adapted to their wild and ever-expanding imaginations. We’d start with a character, an outrageous situation, and a non-conventional superpower, and ask ChatGPT to craft something funny and compelling. I’d then ask early versions of DALL-E to create images of key points in the story, attempting to bring these characters to life for them. It was all about fun, not productivity.

Fast forward to today, and my relationship with AI has changed. As I’ve come to trust the safety and increasing accuracy of the data crunching it can do, I use it to save significant amounts of time at work. It’s a total game changer for me, and the team at Five.

AI is no longer just for the big players

For years, AI was the preserve of tech giants—Google, Amazon, and the like – and then early adopter corporates with bank accounts to match the size of their employee base. Now, thanks to the rapid democratisation of AI tools, small and mid-sized businesses can harness its power without breaking the bank. The rise of generative AI, low-code automation platforms, and smarter analytics tools means that even the leanest teams can benefit.

At Five, we’ve seen first-hand how businesses can implement AI in a way that doesn’t require a major overhaul. Most importantly, it genuinely feels like those who don’t will be left behind very quickly indeed.

AI isn’t about replacing people—it’s about enabling them

One of the biggest misconceptions about AI that I hear regularly is that it’s here to replace jobs. In reality, AI should be viewed as an enabler, not a threat. I was having breakfast with a senior HR leader recently who was initially sceptical about AI-driven recruitment tools. But after piloting an AI-powered CV screening tool, they realised it didn’t replace human judgement—it simply freed up time so that their team could focus on more meaningful conversations with candidates, which increased their quality of hires whilst reducing time to hire. Win-win.

This is where AI shines. It removes the grunt work, giving people more time to think strategically, engage deeply, and do the kind of work that actually drives businesses forward.

Where should you start?

If AI feels overwhelming, start small. You don’t need to implement an enterprise-wide system overnight. Here are a few simple areas where AI can make an immediate impact:

• Email and calendar management – Tools like Microsoft Copilot or Google's AI assistants can draft emails, schedule meetings, and even summarise conversations.

• Customer service automation – Chatbots and AI-driven helpdesks can handle routine queries, allowing your team to focus on high-value customer interactions.

• Data analysis – AI-powered tools can quickly analyse trends in customer data, financials, or operations, surfacing insights that would take humans days to uncover. It’s also pretty neat at providing comparative analysis of different perspectives over the same data set.

• Turning scribbles into slick – using OCR or image enhancement analysis to extract text from handwriting, and to recreate diagrams into professional images

• Notetaking – using tools like Fireflies or Otter to automatically transcribe meetings or conversations – and automatically capture and share action points with participants.

The mindset shift: AI as a co-pilot, not a silver bullet

AI isn’t a magic fix—it’s a tool that’s only as good as the strategy and the skill of the user behind it. Businesses that get the most out of AI don’t just implement it; they rethink their processes to integrate it effectively.

A real game-changer for me personally? AI has saved my kids and me from the mind-numbing task of transcribing workshop post-it notes. They used to painstakingly type up my barely legible, scribbled notes into Airtable or Excel, earning a bit of pocket money in the process. Now, our Five custom GPT can recognise even the most awful handwriting and automatically and accurately tabulate hundreds of post-it notes in seconds. It saves our clients’ money (and me money too), and more importantly, it frees up time for all of us to do something much more fun. Typing up post-its is never a good time—regardless of whether there’s a bit of pocket money involved!

Like many business owners, I’m constantly time-poor. I spend a lot of time in the car, and keeping up with the news or LinkedIn updates often falls by the wayside. So, I built a news aggregation script that provides me with highlights while I’m driving. It hasn’t completely replaced my morning playlist of embarrassing 'dad-rock', but it’s definitely getting more airtime than before because of the value it brings in keeping me informed. AI like this doesn’t just save time—it elevates us to new levels of productivity, allowing us to operate at a more strategic, interesting level of work.

Final thoughts

AI is no longer a futuristic concept reserved for tech elites. It’s here, it’s affordable, and it’s ready to be leveraged by businesses of all sizes. The key is to approach it strategically, ensuring it enhances productivity without overwhelming your team.

So, where can AI start making a difference in your business today? You might be surprised at how much efficiency you can unlock with just a few small tweaks. Give us a shout and we can help you take those first important steps in gaining confidence and developing your AI adoption strategy. We can even help you get your own custom GPT up and running asap.