#39: Steve Smith -The Career Move I Wish I Made 20 Years Earlier

Steve Smith has spent nearly 30 years at the intersection of technology, strategy, and operations, with a career spanning startups, IBM, TSIA, 8x8, and now Intelligence by Intent, where he helps law firms put AI to work. In this conversation, we trace his path from teaching adults to program when he was 13 to leaving corporate America and building a business he says he wishes he had started 20 years earlier.Steve explains why AI should handle individual tasks while people protect relationships and judgment, how firms can move from chatbots to agents, and how his agent system, Project Ollie, manages email, calendars, research, projects, and client knowledge. We also talk about becoming more present with family, protecting close friendships, skiing with his kids, and the standing rule that work stops whenever his 165-pound Saint Bernard brings him a toy.Chapters:00:00 Rapid Fire: Ping Pong, Star Wars, and Steak With Magnus03:54 Thirty Years in Tech, Startups, IBM, and RevOps06:46 The Career Move He Wishes He Made 20 Years Earlier08:54 The AI Advice Steve Gives His Kids12:40 Building Intelligence by Intent for Law Firms16:48 Choosing the Right AI Tool and Moving Beyond Chatbots22:55 Teaching Adults to Code at 13 and Learning How to Learn26:26 Magnus: Life With a 165-Pound Saint Bernard33:53 Building More Time for Family, Friends, and Presence38:21 Writing, Teaching, and Sharing What He Learns46:24 Project Ollie: The Agent System Running His Business52:46 Claude Code, ChatGBT, and Agentic Travel Planning56:12 Final Wisdom: Find What Makes You TickSubscribe to Longfire for more stories worth gathering around.Show LinksWatch on YouTube:https://youtube.com/@Steve_Seger2Listen on Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pieces-of-impact/id1851467002Listen on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/2IGYfTSYNvsD96UjUqqCJt?si=f5abdaf2294c4a35Connect with Steve Seger on LinkedIn:http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevesegerIntelligence by Intent:https://intelligencebyintent.com/Read Steve Smith’s Substack:https://www.smithstephen.com/Connect with Steve Smith on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/smithstephen