Grow with Technology deep-dives into Richard Butler Jr.’s powerful argument that AI is an amplifier—not a fixer—of your organization’s underlying strengths and weaknesses.
Introduction: Rethinking the AI Hype
It’s easy to get swept up in the promise of artificial intelligence. Every headline touts smarter workflows, transformed customer experiences, and data-driven decision making. But as the latest episode of the Grow with Technology podcast reveals, not everyone buys into the narrative that AI is a universal cure-all. In their “Deep Dive” segment, co-host Jessica Smith and host Ben Bard tackle Richard Butler Jr.’s provocative take: AI will not fix your bad business—in fact, it just might make things worse.
Based on Butler’s article “The Real Reason AI Will Not Fix Your Bad Business,” the episode challenges us to look beyond the tech buzz and examine the groundwork every organization needs before deploying AI tools.
The Painful Misunderstanding: AI Isn’t a Magic Fix
Jessica kicks off the episode by summarizing Butler’s core message: AI is not the superhero companies hope will swoop in to rescue failing business models. Instead, as Bard puts it, “AI is more likely to magnify what’s already wrong inside a business.” That means if your operations are chaotic, or your teams are misaligned, AI will only exacerbate those problems—making your weaknesses more glaring and more costly.
Think of AI as an ultra-powerful engine. Without a reliable car (your business fundamentals), that engine can’t take you anywhere meaningful. Worse, it could just cause everything to break down even faster.
Four Foundations AI Can’t Fix (and Might Make Worse)
So, what are the key weaknesses AI can’t eliminate? Drawing on Butler’s analysis, Ben and Jessica distill the problem into four critical foundations that must be strong before you bring AI into the fold.
1. Foundational Strategy
AI thrives on direction. If your business doesn’t have a clear, cohesive strategy, even the most sophisticated algorithms can’t help. As Bard describes, “AI is like that powerful engine…with no steering wheel, no rudder.” Automating aimlessness just gets you nowhere—only faster.
2. Clear Processes
Automation works best when it’s applied to orderly, repeatable processes. If your workflows are a mess—full of skipped steps, undocumented workarounds, and incomplete information—AI will simply automate the chaos, not resolve it. As Jessica notes, “AI needs structure to work effectively. It doesn’t create the structure itself.”
3. Data Discipline
Data is AI’s lifeblood, but only if it’s accurate, consistent, and accessible. The hosts echo Butler’s warning: “Garbage in, garbage out, but potentially at a massive, unprecedented scale.” AI cannot learn or make sound decisions from fragmented, messy, or outdated data. Data hygiene isn’t glamorous, but it’s absolutely essential.
4. Cultural Alignment
Perhaps most underestimated is the human factor. If your organizational culture resists change, harbors silos, or doesn’t collaborate, even the best technology will struggle to take hold. Adopting AI requires people to adjust how they work, trust new tools, and be open to new ways of thinking. Without cultural readiness, “even the most brilliant AI system can fail,” not for technical reasons, but because people don’t buy in.
The Real Work Starts Within
Butler’s message—echoed by the podcast team—is both clear and challenging: AI can’t fix what’s fundamentally broken. If the basics aren’t right, AI is likely to deepen your business’s problems, not solve them. The temptation to chase the latest shiny object masks the hard but necessary work of aligning your team, cleaning your data, locking in your strategy, and tightening your operations.
As Jessica encourages listeners, the most important opportunity is internal: “Fixing the foundation first makes you think.” Before investing in AI, organizations need to invest in themselves.
Conclusion: Amplify Strength, Not Failure
The Grow with Technology podcast episode leaves us with a vital lesson—AI is a powerful force-multiplier, but it multiplies whatever is already present, good or bad. To make the most of AI, businesses must first build strong strategic, operational, data, and cultural foundations. Do that, and AI can take you further than ever. Skip that step, and you’ll just amplify failure—at a breathtaking scale.
Ready to grow? Fix the core before reaching for the future.