Most Companies Are Using AI Completely Wrong

Need help marketing your business? Talk to Nick: https://calendly.com/nickolasnatali/roas-engine-audit In this episode of The Nickolas Natali Show, Nickolas Natali sits down with Christian Ulstrup, founder of GSD (recently rebranded as Caritas Venture Co.), where he helps companies use AI to create measurable business outcomes rather than simply adopt new tools. Christian brings nearly a decade of applied AI experience across startups, medical devices, venture-backed companies, private-equity-backed companies, media, and government, along with experience as an MIT Sloan MBA, former MIT AI conference co-chair, startup executive, and patent holder. Nickolas and Christian explore why AI should be viewed less as a replacement for people and more as a tool for dramatically expanding what capable people can accomplish. They discuss AI agents, identifying the right processes to automate, creating measurable business outcomes, and why human judgment, relationships, and goal-setting become more important as execution gets cheaper. Christian also shares how his company structures outcome-based engagements, aligns incentives through shared upside and downside, and uses "digital exhaust" from meetings, emails, and customer conversations to uncover hidden opportunities and risks. They also examine AI power users, shadow IT, evolving compensation models, and how service businesses can avoid commoditization. The conversation closes with a broader idea: technology may change how work gets done, but creating value still begins with taking a genuine interest in other people and helping them move closer to their goals. Takeaways AI is most valuable when it expands the scope of what people can accomplish rather than simply attempting to remove humans from the process. Leaders should begin AI initiatives with customer outcomes and business bottlenecks, not with the technology itself. The best automation opportunities combine measurable ROI with strong buy-in from the employees closest to the work being transformed. When AI frees employee capacity, that time can be redirected toward relationships, customer conversations, opportunity spotting, and higher-value work. Outcome-based pricing can better align incentives, but putting 100% of compensation at risk can reduce client commitment and create unnecessary risk. AI power users are often experienced, verbally fluent employees who understand their work deeply, not necessarily the people leadership expects to be the most technical. Meeting transcripts, sales calls, emails, CRM data, and other digital exhaust can help surface patterns, risks, and opportunities that would otherwise remain difficult to see. AI should generate hypotheses and make information more legible, but humans still need to apply judgment, collaborate, set goals, and decide what is actually worth pursuing. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Christian Ulstrup and the Future of AI 02:00 Why AI Cannot Simply Replace Human Workers 10:11 What AI Agents Actually Look Like in Practice 17:00 How to Decide What Your Business Should Automate 26:04 What Happens When AI Frees Up Employee Capacity 33:15 Outcome-Based Pricing and Aligning Incentives 44:26 Finding and Developing AI Power Users 50:07 Mining Digital Exhaust for Hidden Business Insights 01:04:26 How Service Businesses Can Avoid Commoditization 01:08:10 Building a Fulfilling Life Through Service and Relationships Christian Ulstrup’s Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianulstrup/ https://www.instagram.com/culstrup/ Want to work with Nick and his team?: https://allthingsmediallc.com/ Nick’s Podcast Equipment, Training Equipment and More (Affiliate): https://www.amazon.com/shop/nickolasnatali Support The Nickolas Natali Show on Patreon⁠: https://www.patreon.com/nickolasnatali What We Use For Virtual Interviews (Affiliate): https://tinyurl.com/42h624wt DM Nick on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickolasnatali