Is Your AI Actually Doing Anything for Your Business?

Posted on by Craig

Is Your AI Actually Doing Anything for Your Business? Let’s make it.

You’re probably seeing it – maybe even feeling it: lots of companies are proud to say they’ve “invested in AI.” They put it in a board deck, pop it into marketing copy, and even hold a ribbon-cutting for a new “AI initiative.” Maybe even – I don’t know – pay for a Super Bowl commercial. But here’s the uncomfortable question:

Is your AI actually doing anything for youR BUSINESS?

Not “It gets my Facebook posts done in 30 seconds,” or “Do I really need the paid version?” or “It helped me make a recipe.” I mean: is it producing results you can measure, with impact you can feel in your business? Revenue growth? New clients or members? 

The Big Disconnect

Is Your AI Actually Doing Anything? How do I use AI for my chamber of commerce? How do I use AI to get more members? How do I use AI to get more clients? How do I use AI to grow my business?Over the past two years I’ve worked with more than 1,500 teams – chambers of commerce, small businesses, mid-sized organizations – trying to help them figure out where AI fits into their operations. And I hear the same story again and again:

“It’s helping us with our writing, but we’re not sure it changed much.”

This isn’t just anecdote. The research backs it up:

Translation: the majority are throwing money at shiny tools and praying.

That 95% number sticks with me. It means most companies out there are in the AI theater business – showing off the curtain, but the stage is empty.

Why AI Fails (And It’s Not the Technology)

If AI is so powerful, why is the scoreboard so lopsided? From what I’ve seen, the problem isn’t the tools. It’s the way companies adopt them.

Common pitfalls:

  • Treating AI like a gadget, not a system. Buying a tool without redesigning the workflow is like putting a turbocharger on a car that never leaves the driveway.
  • No KPIs. Many “AI initiatives” can’t answer the simplest question: how will we measure success?
  • Siloing AI. IT buys it, marketing dabbles, operations doesn’t even know it exists. (For many organizations, it’s worse: their “AI integration” is employees working on their private – free, unsecure – ChatGPT accounts.)
  • “No Customer”. Whose life are you trying to improve with your AI?
  • No champions. Without leadership backing, AI pilots get stuck as pilots forever.

That’s how you end up in the 95% bucket.

So What Does “Doing Something” Look Like?

Here’s how I define whether AI is actually “doing something”:

  1. It ties to real KPIs. Not “we have AI,” but “our open rates went from 40% to 55%.”
  2. You’ve integrated it into your workflow. People (the entire team) use it daily, without thinking twice.
  3. It delivers sustained improvement. Results don’t disappear after the novelty wears off.
  4. Your AI scales. You can take “wins”, and replicate them in other functions.
  5. It earns trust. Your team believes in it because it works.

If you can’t check those boxes, your AI is still auditioning.

AI Actually Doing Something – Use Cases

Let me pull from our own playbook. These are real chamber projects, real outcomes.

The Newsletter Lift

Every chamber struggles with the same problem: newsletters people don’t open. For chambers, your newsletter is essentially your existence. Before AI, one of our chambers had open rates stuck in the mid-30s. After using AI to deep clean the database, optimize subject lines, and strengthen content to beat spam filters, we pushed it up to 55% on average.

That’s not just a number on a dashboard. That means more members are actually seeing that the chamber’s events and programs exist, which means they actually show up and actually engage. Attendance went up, and so did buzz in the community around the chamber’s work. That’s AI doing something.

Matchmaking That Actually Works

At a recent conference, the organizers asked us to help them breathe life into their speed networking session – normally one of those activities that feels more like checking a box than sparking real connections.

We built a short survey for attendees, collected key data about their goals and expertise, and then used AI to generate a personalized matchmaking list for each participant. Instead of wandering the room hoping to bump into the right person, every attendee walked in with five specific people they were matched to meet – aligned perfectly with the skills, insights, or best-practice sharing they were looking for.

The result? Conversations that mattered. Attendees left the session with new contacts who were relevant to their business, not just names on a badge. That’s AI doing something – turning “just another networking block” into a strategic, high-value experience.

More Examples

  • Using an AI Agent to create lead lists based on the profile of your perfect client
  • Optimizing your web site to be found not just by Google, but by AI search engines
  • Turning entrepreneurial ideas into actionable strategies

That’s the difference between “we’re trying AI” and “AI is part of how we operate.”

Is your AI actually doing anything?

The Blueprint: From Maybe to Doing

Here’s the path I use when working with chambers and small businesses to get them out of the 95% zone:

  1. Start small, start real. Pick one pain point you can measure (something you already have to do – don’t try to save the world… yet).
  2. Define success first. Decide what winning looks like before you plug anything in.
  3. Map the workflow. Don’t just add AI – reshape the process.
  4. Keep a human in the loop. AI should assist, not replace judgment.
  5. Measure relentlessly. Did it save time? Increase engagement or leads? Cut costs? Provide better value to your customers? Prove it.
  6. Scale. Once you get a win, expand.

This isn’t rocket science, but it is discipline. And it’s what separates the 5% from the 95%.

The Real Question

So I’ll ask you again: is your AI actually doing anything for you?

If you can’t point to a metric, a saved hour, a reduced cost, or an increased revenue stream, then the answer is probably no. Very cool stuff, but no real impact that makes your boss, board or shareholders happy.

But that’s not a death sentence. Instead, it’s just a sign that you need to stop chasing the hype and start grounding your AI in the real world.

We’ve proven it’s possible.

We’ve helped organizations grow engagement, find leads, clean their systems, save their staff time and create better relationships with their customers – all with smart, simple AI moves.

In true, “I’m not just the president, I’m also a client” fashion, at Momentum AI we use AI daily to create new product lines (like MemberBoost AI for chambers), strengthen lead generation, build our brand and even stay on top of AI tools and updates to make our trainings up-to-the-minute and powerful. Notwithstanding, I’m currently running not only our quickly growing company, but also serving as interim executive director of the chamber – two full-time roles… There’s no way I could pull it off without AI.

The tools are there. The question is whether you’ll use them in a way that matters.

IS YOUR AI ACTUALLY DOING ANYTHING? – Closing Thought

AI doesn’t have to be complicated to be powerful. It just has to be pointed at the right problem, in the right way, with the right guardrails.

Ninety-five percent of companies are throwing money at AI and getting nothing back. You don’t have to be in that 95%. You can be in the 5% that makes it count.

And in the process, you might just rediscover that beautiful, rarest of things in business: results.

FAQs

  • Why isn’t my AI delivering ROI?
    Most AI projects fail because they’re not tied to measurable KPIs, integrated into workflows, or backed by training. Without those, AI becomes shelfware.

  • What does AI success look like for a chamber or small business?
    Real success is measurable: newsletter open rates rising from 35% to 55%, cleaner databases that cut bounce rates, and networking events that match attendees with the right connections.

  • How can small businesses use AI effectively?
    Start with one pain point, define success before adoption, embed AI into workflows, and measure relentlessly. Scale once you see results.

 

 

Want to join the 5% of companies seeing real and significant results from their AI investment?
We’re already there, and so are our clients. Want to join us?
Set up a 15-minute Zoom call with us today, and let’s explore YOUR possibilities with AI.