I have been pretty consistent by going to the gym 3 days a week. I can feel the effects of lifting weights, stretching, and using the treadmill. I feel a bit stronger and more stable on my feet.

I do realize that I am working with knowledge acquired in my 30s. I could go to AI and ask it to create a workout plan, but I would have to prompt it with my age, weight, strengths, and weaknesses. Then I have to believe that I know best and I am putting in realistic information, and not just the skewed version of what I believe.

If I want to achieve better and faster, I would have to bypass cheaper and get a personal trainer. They could look at my body and movements and give me positive and negative feedback as I actually perform the exercises.

An AI agent could get me started, but to achieve the best results, it's gonna take an expert who knows more about fitness than I do.

The Agentic AI Myth

Agentic AI is everywhere now. Almost every program we use today is being fortified with Vitamin AI. I am finding that some of them are battling each other. For example, I use Grammarly and Apple Pages (or almost any Apple program). They often have competing but concurrent tools that help you with spelling and grammar.

Hope springs eternal, especially with AI. It is being sold as a way to do things faster, cheaper, and better. But there is an old saying that goes. “Faster, Cheaper, Better… Pick Two!” And that is what I am finding while using AI in many aspects of my business. I can do things faster, and sometimes cheaper, but better is in the eye of the beholder and often elusive.

The Price Is Wrong

There is no doubt that our business climate is changing rapidly. The cost of doing business is on the rise, with food and fuel at the forefront of the national pulse.

When prices rise, it's almost a knee-jerk reaction to cut costs. I have seen this many times throughout my career with marketing budgets. What I have found is that people who continue to get the word out often create more business by staying top of mind among customers who are motivated to trim their budgets. You have to show and prove the value of your people, products, and processes, and explain how and why you can actually save them money or increase their income to counter rising costs.

The bottom line is YES, you can create things with less human cost and interaction, but is it really better, or are you just feeding your own biases and compromising to please yourself?

Agents Are Sycophants

Real relationships take friction, while chatbots are a reflection of you.

Think about it. Have you ever sold a big client because you had the right script? It was probably because you pushed back, asked hard questions, and made them think differently. That friction is what builds trust.

A chatbot will never tell you that your idea needs work. It will never challenge your assumptions or give you time to think while you work through a tough decision. It mirrors what you give it and hands it right back, polished and agreeable.

Real relationships, the kind that create loyal clients and long-term referrals or business, are built on honesty, tension, and the kind of give-and-take that only happens between two people who are genuinely invested in the outcome.

Agents can provide great references or research, but I don't believe they will replace talking with a real, live person when you need to make tough decisions.

Are You a Creator or an Approver?

Why hire an expert to give you plenty of options for a book cover (or even the written words behind it) when AI can do it cheaper and faster?

AI can create 20 book covers in under an hour, and you get to pick the one you like. You may feel like YOU created it, but it's just a culmination of other people's designs.

Creativity and relationships create friction. When you work with people, there is a back-and-forth that you and an expert volley through to reach a consensus. With AI, you alone are the judge. But will your tastes and experience speak for the audience you are trying to reach?

The buzz around AI is that it can do what people do cheaper. People or outsourced services tend to be one of the first places that companies look to reduce expenses, but AI is not the panacea (yet) that can replace knowledge, experience, and creativity. It can perform repetitive tasks, but it is only as good as the information it has been fed. Also, AI still hallucinates and can provide wrong information depending on the task and the model you are using.

Your ZOG

Zog is your overlord… Zone of Genius. Mine is the ability to teach and interview clients to help them create thought leadership content.

Your zone of genius is where your skills, passion, and market value meet. It has been learned and earned through years of experience, instinct, and perspective, and it is something no AI can replicate.

AI agents can research, draft, automate, and optimize, but they cannot replicate your ZOG. They do not know your customers the way you do. They do not carry the trust you have built over the years. They cannot replace the human judgment, creativity, and authentic voice that define your brand.

So before you hand over the keys to an AI agent, ask yourself: “What is my zone of genius?” The answer shows you where you should focus. AI may be able to handle what you are not good at, but does it make better business sense to hire a person whose ZOG makes your ZOG better?

The bottom line is that AI is good at tasks, but it is probably not going to uplevel your quality or ability to serve clients better.

Why a Coach or Mentor Beats AI

Coaches have a powerful word… “NO”.

My business coach always questioned my decisions. I was grasping at straws and following the latest trends, and she would help me see that saying yes to every client was not in my ZOG, it was desperation to make the money others promised if you just followed their secret formula.

She helped me say no to clients who want cheaper and faster, not better. More importantly, I learned to say “No” to myself. That helped me better understand my zone of genius and realize that if I was going to be successful, I could not do everything myself to save money. I needed to fill the gaps with other people whose ZOG raised the bar not only for me, but especially for my clients.

Although AI can help guide you over some hurdles, it will rarely create the friction that is uncomfortable, but necessary for success.

Closing Thought

Although AI will continue to change and even enhance the way we work, I believe that you should find a balance (especially at this point). Try to spend at least as much time at work talking with real people who have a zone of genius that enhances yours as you do prompting or conversing with AI agents.

Search them out, connect, and schedule some time in your work life to ask for feedback and ask the hard questions.

Realize that your zone of genius is uniquely yours. It's where thought leadership comes from. The best way to maximize it is to share it with others, and let others share it with you!

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Comment below and share your thoughts, ideas, or questions about business-to-business sales and marketing today! Do you have a sales or marketing communications strategy that works for you? What tips or techniques can you share that work for you and your business?

To learn more about this and other topics on B2b Sales & Marketing, visit our podcast website at The Bacon Podcast.