How a Retail Tech Founder Cloned Himself with AI and Got 50x More Done, with Greg Buzek

What if you could put a million-dollar consultant on your team for $20 a month?For 30 years, Greg Buzek has been the person retail calls when it needs the unvarnished truth about technology. As founder of IHL Group, he's watched every tech wave hit the industry: barcodes, POS, self-checkout, RFID, e-commerce. He's been cited in the Wall Street Journal. He's appeared on NBC, CBS, and CNBC. He's been named a "Top 10 Influential in Retail." And for three decades, his job has been to separate signal from noise, to tell retailers what actually works and what's vaporware.So when Greg added "Chief AI Orchestrator" to his title, built an AI clone of himself at JustAskGreg.ai, and started telling small retailers that this moment is fundamentally different, Keenan wanted to know why.In this episode, Greg joins Keenan Kok-Carlson on Beyond the Register to share what he's learned about AI's real superpower for small business, why "building your second brain" is the unlock he wishes every shop owner knew about, and the 30-minute starter plan any independent retailer can execute this week.In this episode, you'll learn:- Why Greg, one of retail's most respected tech skeptics, believes this AI moment is fundamentally different- The "second brain" framework: how creating one folder on your computer unlocks near-consultant-level output- How to "clone" the smartest person in your business (usually the owner) so employees stop asking the same 10 questions- Greg's 3-tier AI playbook: when to vibe code, when to build skills, when to brainstorm with the base model- The $20 subscription that's making his team 50x more productive (and why "penny wise, pound foolish" is the single biggest trap small retailers fall into)- The $1.73 trillion inventory distortion crisis, and the practical first AI move small retailers can make to stop the bleeding- Greg's mindset for why creativity + knowledge + AI = superpower, and why the human is still the most important part of the equationWhether you're running a single-location boutique, managing a growing retail brand, or just curious about what AI actually looks like inside a working business, this episode is the practical starting point you've been looking for.Beyond the Register is brought to you by Genius™ (Link globalpayments.com/genius) from Global Payments, the retail point of sale system designed to help busy store owners track inventory, manage customers and take payments.