AI in Action: Small Business Owners Share What's Actually Working

Real AI Use Cases – Episode 10: How Small Business Owners Are Using Artificial Intelligence Right Now

Artificial intelligence is no longer just for tech companies. In this episode of Real AI Use Cases Business Owners Roundtable — part of the Passage to Profit podcast — host Elizabeth Gearhart and co-host Richard Gearhart sit down with four guests who share exactly how they are using AI tools in their businesses today.

Dr. Danielle Dick, founder of ThriveGenetics.ai and addiction researcher, explains how machine learning and AI are being used to integrate genomics, brain scan data, electronic health records, and behavioral data to build risk prediction profiles for addiction and mental health treatment outcomes.

Neil Senturia, CEO of AskTuring.ai, discusses why data privacy is the most critical unsolved problem in enterprise AI, how confidential RAG — retrieval augmented generation — works for wealth managers, law firms, and CPA firms, and why AI pricing models are shifting from per-seat licensing to usage-based billing.

Alan Porter, financial advisor at StrategicWealthStrategies.com, shares how ChatGPT deep research helped him grow his client base and how AI video tools like HeyGen allowed him to produce professional content without the filler words and pauses of traditional recording.

Richard Gearhart, founder of Gearhart Law and intellectual property attorney, walks through a practical example of using ChatGPT to analyze a conference speaker list and identify the best networking connections and potential podcast guests.

Elizabeth Gearhart shares how she uses Google Gemini for marketing reports, website consulting, and content strategy — and makes the case that the barriers to using AI as a small business owner have never been lower.

The conversation also covers AI voice cloning, what it feels like to talk to an AI version of yourself, Microsoft Copilot for enterprise privacy, and whether Google Search will be replaced by large language models like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity by 2028.

This episode was recorded at iHeart Studios in Manhattan as part of the Passage to Profit Radio Show with Elizabeth Gearhart and Richard Gearhart.

Chapters

• (00:00:00) - Real AI Use Cases for Business Owners
• (00:01:10) - Dr. Danielle Dick
• (00:02:50) - Neil Senturia
• (00:06:44) - Alan Porter
• (00:08:37) - Richard Gearhart
• (00:11:56) - Elizabeth Gearhart
• (00:12:50) - Roundtable