Episode Details

Episode 26: Today, Omar Ayyash, President & CEO of the World Trade Center Kentucky interviews Todd Schmiedeler, Senior VP of Zero Waste Manufacturing, as well as the Founder & CEO of Thumbprint Consulting. They are going to discuss issues related to using AI to scale your business globally.

Meet Todd Schmiedeler

Todd spends a considerable time thinking about growing businesses, partly in an effort to make sure his own kids have a thriving environment in which to grow and work. The more global business that being done in Kentucky means people living hear will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience without having to leave for other cities.

Todd completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Louisville. He later earned his Master's degree in business communications, as well as his doctorate in Leadership at Spaulding University. He worked at the Center for Women and Families, a Louisville, nonprofit organization. He later worked at Norton Healthcare's Children's Hospital and the Norton Healthcare Foundation. Later, he spent 10 years at Trilogy Health Services. Four years ago, he launched his own company and also ventured into the waste-to-energy business.

Todd has become extremely involved in AI, especially from a business process and business growth perspective.

The Impact of AI

Omar asks Todd to discuss the impact on AI on Todd's business, as well as the business with which he consults. Todd is extremely excited about the growth of AI domestically, as well as internationally. He admits that 9 months ago, he used AI similar to how he used Google and as an administrative assistant. A friend gave him a copy of The AI-Driven Leader, by Geoff Woods. It helped bring the potential into focus and now he spends considerable time helping friends and clients to implement AI technology in their respective businesses.

Todd believes most people are significantly underutilizing the power of AI, if they're using it at all. He admits he was, at first. He contacted Geoff and asked how he could learn more. Geoff was in the process of establishing The Leadership Collective (AILeadership.com), which he later joined. It meets quarterly in Austin, TX. It's comprised of roughly 75 C-Suite leaders from across the world. Those leaders are incredibly savvy in business and implementation. It's, in large part, how Todd began engaging in global business.

Todd disagrees with the adage, knowledge is power. Knowledge is potential power. You have to understand how to apply it and how to access it. By itself, knowledge is only intelligence. Todd is taking this approach to AI and helping people with their individual businesses.

The productivity AI offers should result in employees being able to better balance their objectives with their outside lives. Todd readily admits, he struggles in this area. He loves what he does, but would relish the opportunity to spend more time with his family, several of whom work with him at Thumbprint Consulting. AI is helping them tool the business for scale. They are focused on 10X-ing the business, each year.

One of the people Todd interacts with in The Leadership Collective owns all of the Domino's pizzas in China. He's adding 500 stores per year. He's using AI to standardize back-office data and report out all of the key financials, at the individual store-level, and roll them up into a more manageable reporting structure, for problem identification and decision making insights, across 2,000+