You know what’s hilarious?
Everyone’s out here fighting over which AI model is best while completely missing the actual gold mine sitting right in front of them.
I just dug through ICONIQ Capital’s survey of 300 software executives, and damn the biggest AI opportunity isn’t what you think it is.
While your competitors are burning cash on fancy AI tools that nobody uses, there’s a massive opening for anyone smart enough to focus on the real problem: getting people to actually use this stuff and finding folks who know how to build with it.
Seriously, 70% of companies buy AI tools for their teams, but only half their people actually use them. And it takes over 70 days to hire one AI engineer.
That’s not a problem—that’s your ticket to dominating your market.
Why This Is Pure Gold for Every Business
Look, I don’t care if you’re running a corner bakery or a Fortune 500 company. This opportunity is sitting there waiting for you to grab it.
Here’s the thing everyone’s missing: AI isn’t a technology problem anymore. The tech works. The models are good enough. The real bottleneck? People. And that’s exactly why it’s such a massive opportunity.
Think about it—while everyone else is arguing about GPT vs Claude, you can quietly build the actual systems that make AI work in the real world. It’s like everyone’s fighting over the best excavator while you’re the only one who knows where to dig.
What You Can Actually Do (No Matter What Business You’re In)
If You’re a Small Business Owner
Listen, you’ve got a secret weapon here. While big companies are stuck trying to hire unicorn AI engineers for six-figure salaries, you can move like a ninja.
Here’s your playbook:
- Forget hiring AI experts. Find freelancers who can set things up for you
- Pick one boring task that drives you crazy (scheduling, customer emails, invoicing) and throw AI at it
- Use tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Zapier—stuff that doesn’t need a computer science degree
If You’re Running a Mid-Size Company
This is your sweet spot. You’re big enough to invest but small enough to actually get everyone on board.
Your move:
- Hire one AI-savvy person (just one!) and have them train your existing team
- Pick three departments and make them AI adoption labs
- Create friendly competition between teams on who can get the most productivity gains
Story time: A accounting firm I know hired one AI specialist who taught their whole team to use AI for research and document review. Their billable hours stayed the same, but the quality of work shot through the roof. Clients started paying premium rates for “AI-enhanced” services.
Your superpower: You can pivot fast but still have resources to do it right.
If You’re at a Big Company
Okay, you’ve got different problems but way more resources to solve them.
Your strategy:
- Stop trying to hire AI engineers (you’ll lose that arms race). Instead, build AI literacy across your whole organization
- Create “AI Champions” in every department who become the local experts
- Measure everything—usage rates, productivity gains, cost savings—and make it visible
Case study: A insurance company stopped trying to hire AI specialists and instead trained 500 existing employees to use AI tools. Result? They’re processing claims 40% faster while their competitors are still posting job listings that nobody answers.
Your edge: Scale. When you get this right, you can impact thousands of people at once.
The Four Opportunities Everyone’s Missing
1. The “Actually Using It” Opportunity
The stat that blew my mind: 70% of companies give their people AI tools, but only 50% actually use them.
What this means for you: While your competitors are paying for digital shelf-ware, you can be in the 50% that gets actual value. Those companies see 15-30% productivity gains. That’s not incremental—that’s game-changing.
How to win: Pick one tool. Get everyone using it. Measure the results. Rinse and repeat.
2. The “Talent Shortage” Arbitrage
Everyone’s trying to hire AI engineers. It takes 70+ days and costs a fortune.
Your opportunity: Train the people you already have instead of competing for the people you can’t get.
Real example: A marketing agency stopped trying to hire “AI experts” and instead sent their existing team to a weekend AI bootcamp. Six months later, they’re charging 50% more for “AI-powered” campaigns and their team loves their jobs again.
3. The “Multi-Tool” Strategy
Companies are using an average of 2.8 different AI models. Most are doing it randomly.
Your edge: Be strategic about it. Use ChatGPT for writing, Claude for analysis, Midjourney for images. Chain them together for complex workflows.
Pro tip: Document what works. When you figure out a killer AI workflow, that becomes your competitive moat.
Your Week-by-Week Action Plan
Week 1: Figure out where you are
- Ask your team: “What AI tools do we have access to?” Then ask: “Who actually uses them?”
- Find your power users and your holdouts
- Calculate what you’re already getting from AI (probably less than you think)
Week 2: Pick your battle
- Choose one process that everyone agrees is a pain in the ass
- Find one person who’s excited about AI (there’s always one)
- Set a goal: get 80% of the relevant team using AI for this one thing
Week 3: Get help
- You don’t need to hire anyone. Find a consultant, take a course, or just ask your most tech-savvy employee to figure it out
- Create a simple training plan—30 minutes, once a week, for a month
Week 4: Scale what works
- Document your wins and share them with everyone
- Let success sell itself—when people see results, they’ll ask how to get them
- Start planning your next AI implementation
The Bottom Line (And Why This Matters)
Here’s what’s really happening: We’re in the middle of the biggest shift in how work gets done since the internet. The companies that figure out the people side of AI will eat everyone else’s lunch.
Your competitors are still arguing about which AI model to use. You can be building systems that actually work while they’re stuck in analysis paralysis.
Your next meeting talking point: “Everyone’s trying to solve the AI technology problem. We’re going to solve the AI people problem and win while they’re still figuring out the tech.”
What You Should Do Right Now
Stop overthinking this.
Pick one annoying process in your business. Find one AI tool that might help. Get one person to test it for a week. If it works, teach everyone else. If it doesn’t, try something else.
The AI revolution isn’t coming—it’s here. But it’s not being won by the people with the best technology. It’s being won by the people with the best implementation.
Remember: AI won’t replace you, but someone who knows how to get their team to actually use AI will replace someone who’s still shopping for the perfect AI solution.
The gold rush is happening. The question is: Are you going to keep arguing about which shovel to buy, or are you going to start digging?
Want the full playbook? Download the complete ICONIQ Capital 2025 State of AI report here
P.S. What’s the most annoying process in your business right now? Hit reply and tell me—I bet there’s an AI solution that could fix it in a week. I read every response and love helping people figure this stuff out.
Forward this to someone who’s tired of AI hype and ready for AI results.
Seb
