AI Today with Lou Bortone
by Lou Bortone
AI Today is a weekly livestream and podcast hosted by Lou Bortone that demystifies AI for small business owners. Each episode delivers quick, actionable insights on the latest AI tools, trends, and especially video-related tech — all without the overwhelm or jargon. It’s a go-to resource for entrepreneurs who want to work smarter, stay relevant, and keep the human touch in a tech-driven world.Perfect for solopreneurs, coaches, and creatives who want to embrace AI without losing their voice or their values. Visit us at AiToday.live
Episodes
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Ai Today: How to Get Recommended by ChatGPT & AI Search (AI Visibility Guide)
If someone asks ChatGPT who to hire in your industry, does your name even exist in the answer? Being visible online isn't enough anymore—you need to be findable by AI systems. High-intent buyers are bypassing classic Google searches and asking ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini who they should hire. If...
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AI Today: The Findability Factor
AI Findability: How to Get Recommended When Buyers Ask ChatGPT Lou Bortone explains how AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are changing customer discovery, meaning expertise and reputation aren’t enough if AI can’t find and understand you. He argues professionals must shift from…
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Ai Today: Branding, Vision Boards, and Ethical AI: Lindsay Hack on Using AI to Build Confidence
Branding, Vision Boards, and Ethical AI: Lindsay Hack on Using AI to Build ConfidenceOn AI Today, host Lou interviews transformational coach and branding expert Lindsay Hack about integrating AI into coaching and personal branding. Hack explains she began using AI imaging for vision boards after...
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Ai Today #Podcast: The AI Visibility Strategy You Need Right Now
How Critical Propulsion Uses AI Agents to Replace Offshore Teams, Accelerate Sprints & Help SMBs Build FasterLou interviews Matt Davis (co-founder) and Jerry Duff (VP of Technology) from Critical Propulsion about their “anti-consulting” model that replaces traditional offshore delivery with…
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Secure AI, Quantum “Q Date,” and Practical AI Adoption for Small Businesses | Allan Francis Beechinor
Lou Bortone interviews inventor and AI pioneer Allan Francis Beechinor of EmergeGen about “secure AI” and preparing for the “Q date,” when quantum computing and AI converge. Beechinor says many businesses adopt AI without enough caution, safety frameworks, and guardrails, and emphasizes that AI...
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Look Confident on Camera Over 45: Style, Branding, and AI Avatars with Dawn-Marie Mutell
Lou welcomes longtime friend and wardrobe consultant Dawn-Marie Mutell, the “Fashion Mistress,” to discuss why many people—especially over 40—hesitate to show up on video even though video builds trust and helps with AI findability. Dawn-Marie shares mindset advice to focus on helping one person,...
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The AI Accountant: How AI Will Disrupt Accounting with Peter McCarroll
Lou Bortone interviews Peter McCarroll (the “AI Accountant”) about how AI is rapidly disrupting accounting due to the industry’s transactional, repetitive work and large rules-based knowledge base, with major change expected within about two years. They discuss improved reliability from newer...
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Why AI Is Making Marketing’s “Do More With Less” Problem Worse | Lisa Cole
On AI Today, host interviews Lisa Cole, CMO and AI Officer at 2X, a global B2B go-to-market subscription services provider that lets mid-market and enterprise teams subscribe to marketing talent without long-term contracts to add skills and flexible capacity without operational burden. Cole...
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Vibe Coding, Custom AI Tools & Spark Lab with Kim Doyal
Can you build custom software applications without knowing how to code? In this episode of AI Today, host Lou Bortone chats with digital pioneer Kim Doyal (founder of Spark Lab) about the power of "vibe coding" and how AI is democratizing app development for non-technical creators. Discover how…
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How AI Search is Changing SEO Forever | AI Today Podcast
Is AI search killing traditional SEO? In this episode of AI Today, Kathryn Tsoukalas (Director of Marketing at Brick Marketing) explains how AI engines, top-of-page answers, and AEO/GEO are altering the way customers find your business online. Discover why visitors land on your site later in the...
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Fast-Tracking Small Business with AI Voice Agents & Claude Code with Brett Wallace
Think AI is just a bright, shiny object? Think again. In this episode of AI Today, host Lou Bortone sits down with Brett Wallace, founder of Agent Discovery, to unpack how small and mid-sized businesses can use AI voice agents and automation to eliminate everyday operational bottlenecks. Brett...
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Stop Copy-Pasting AI Content! (Practical AI Marketing with Denise Wakeman)
Are you drowning in AI tools? You aren't alone. In this episode of AI Today, host Lou sits down with longtime marketing expert and AI Success Club co-founder Denise Wakeman to cut through the generative AI hype. Denise shares her journey from testing ChatGPT in its earliest days to shifting her...
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AI Today: Marvin Martinez: Moving Beyond ChatGPT to Real AI Systems
Are you wasting time as the "manual bridge" between your business tools? Marvin Martinez, co-founder of Bandsaw AI, joins Lou Bortone to break down the 3 layers of AI automation. Learn how to qualify leads in 60 seconds, use AI agents to manage your inbox, and why the "80/20 human-in-the-loop"…
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Darlene Killen: From SEO to GEO - How to Make AI Find Your Business
Is your business invisible to AI? SEO expert Darlene Killen joins Lou Bortone to break down Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Learn why traditional keyword stuffing is dead and how to make your small business "findable" in the era of AI summary boxes and Gemini search.
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Katie Brinkley: Beating the AI Tsunami with the "U-Factor"
Social media expert Katie Brinkley joins Lou Bortone to discuss "The Social Shift." Discover why engagement is hitting record lows despite AI making content easier to produce, and learn Katie’s strategy for using podcasts as a content engine without losing your human touch.
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AI Your Way in May: Closing the Confidence Gap
Are you "circling" AI but not actually using it to run your business? In this solo episode, Lou Bortone breaks down the "AI Confidence Gap" and introduces a month-long immersive experience designed to move you from guessing to doing. No homework, no complex courses—just real-time AI integration.
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AI Legal Landmines: What Small Businesses Need to Know with Heather Pearce Campbell
Are your AI tools secretly putting you at risk for a lawsuit? ⚖️ In this episode of AI Today, Lou Bortone sits down with "Legal Website Warrior" Heather Pearce Campbell to discuss the rising trend of mass arbitration and why your AI chatbot might be violating wiretapping laws. Watch here:...
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How to Create Consistent AI Characters & Visual Storytelling with Rosie Battista
Are you the driver or the passenger in your AI workflow? In this episode of AI Today, Lou Bortone welcomes visual storyteller Rosie Battista to discuss the "magic sauce" of image crafting. Watch here: https://youtu.be/KR7_GkXcX9k We’re covering: The Expert Stack: How Rosie uses Midjourney, Canva,...
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AI Today: No-Code Secrets & The AGI Myth with Ian Cook
Lou Bortone sits down with Ian Cook, SVP of AI at Clue, to discuss how to stay grounded in an era of dizzying AI breakthroughs. Ian explains why AI should be viewed as an "amplifier" for your business rather than a replacement for your staff. In this episode, you'll learn about the latest...
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AI Today: Scaling the Music Business with Brad Stewart
Can AI save the music industry? Host Lou Bortone talks with Brad Stewart, founder of Music Mogul AI, about how technology is finally fixing the "broken" traditional agency model. Brad explains why modern A&R starts with data—specifically ticket sales—and how he is using agentic AI to automate the...
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Jon Schumacher: Building No-Code AI Agents to Automate Your Sales Copy
In this episode of AI Today, Lou connects with long-time friend and sales expert Jon Schumacher to discuss the evolution of the "AI Space Race" and how to move from basic prompting to building sophisticated AI-powered business systems. Jon shares his philosophy on solving business bottlenecks...
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AI: A Utopian Future or a Dystopian Nightmare? (The Choice is Ours)
Is AI the end of human connection, or the beginning of a new Renaissance? Karin Volo joins the show to discuss why trust is the "secret sauce" for successful AI implementation in business. In this episode, Karin shares her incredible journey from a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis to becoming a leading...
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AI Today: Mastering NotebookLM with Sue & Matt Guiher
Is NotebookLM the "smarter, dumber assistant" we’ve all been waiting for? In this episode, Lou Bortone sits down with the mother-son duo Sue and Matt Guiher to discuss how they are using Google’s NotebookLM to revolutionize business systems and academic research. From "source grounding" to the...
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Ai Today: Psychology Meets Technology: Dr. Ana Melikian’s Rules for Co-Intelligence
Is AI making you more productive or just more "busy"? Dr. Ana Melikian, host of the Mindset Zone podcast, joins Lou Bortone to discuss how to navigate the "100-foot wave" of AI without losing your humanity—or your mind. What You’ll Learn: The ACE Framework: A simple, 3-step method (Act as…
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AI Today: Why You Should Make Your AI "Jump Through Hoops" with Rob Schultz
Think AI is too generic for your brand? Rob Schultz joins Lou Bortone to explain why the problem isn't the AI—it's your willingness to push it further. What You’ll Learn: The "Jump Through Hoops" Philosophy: Why you should never settle for the first AI response. Contextual AI: How to use...
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AI Today: Stop Doing Manual Busywork: 3 AI Automations for Every Business with Jen Lehner
Are you overwhelmed by the "tool-of-the-week" fatigue? Jen Lehner joins Lou Bortone to pull back the curtain on how to actually integrate AI into your business workflow rather than just playing with it. What You’ll Learn: The Meta-Prompting Secret: How to make ChatGPT interview you to build a...
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Ai Today: Why Nika Stewart Prefers "Goldie" Over Claude for Brand Voice
Are you overwhelmed by the "New AI Tool of the Week" cycle? Lou Bortone welcomes social media agency founder and short-form video expert Nika Stewart to discuss how to quiet the noise and use AI to amplify your unique human voice. What You’ll Learn: The Overwhelm Antidote: Why focusing on one…
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AI Today: Beyond the Hype: Practical AI Frameworks for Business with Tanya Smith
Ready to move past "playing" with AI and start profiting from it? Lou Bortone sits down with the "Live Stream Queen," Tanya Smith, to discuss the high-level frameworks she uses to automate video production and analyze social data. What You’ll Learn: The "VIDEO" Framework: A specific strategy for...
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AI Today: AI for Realists: Amplifying Human Connection with Bob "The Teacher" Sparkins
Is AI a replacement for your creativity, or the ultimate amplifier? Lou Bortone welcomes long-time friend and digital marketing expert Bob Sparkins to cut through the "shiny object" noise and focus on tools that actually save time and generate revenue. What You’ll Learn: The "Invisible" AI: Why...
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Ai Today: Living in the Jetsons: The Essential AI Toolkit for 2025
Are you using AI as a toy or a teammate? Rich Brooks, founder of flyte new media and the Agents of Change podcast, joins Lou Bortone to pull back the curtain on the exact AI workflows driving his multi-decade agency. What You’ll Learn: The Workflow Shift: Why Claude is beating ChatGPT for...
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AI Today: Day 12: Building Websites with AI-Powered Lovable | 12 Days of AI Tools Finale
http://www.LouBortone.com presents…Day 12: Building Websites with AI-Powered Lovable | 12 Days of AI Tools FinaleJoin Lou Bortone for the grand finale of the 12 Days of AI Tools series! On the final day, Lou introduces Lovable, an AI-powered web development platform that transforms written...
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AI Today: Discover Canva's New AI-Powered Features | 12 Days of AI Tools - Day 11
Discover Canva's New AI-Powered Features | 12 Days of AI Tools - Day 11Welcome to Day 11 of the 12 Days of AI Tools! In this episode, we dive into Canva's AI integrations that have transformed it from a simple template tool to an advanced AI design platform. Explore features like text-to-image,...
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AI Today: Unveiling Google Gemini Gems: Custom AI Assistants for Every Task
http://www.LouBortone.com presents…Unveiling Google Gemini Gems: Custom AI Assistants for Every TaskJoin Lou on day 10 of the 12 days of AI tools as he introduces Google's Gemini Gems. Discover how you can create custom AI assistants with specific instructions, personalities, and expertise. Learn...
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Day 9 of 12 Days of AI Tools: Unveiling Google's Nano Banana Image Generator!
http://www.LouBortone.com presents…Day 9 of 12 Days of AI Tools: Unveiling Google's Nano Banana Image Generator!Hey, it's Lou! Welcome to day 9 of our 12 days of AI tools series. Today, we explore Nano Banana, Google's new experimental image generation tool from Google AI Studio. It's...
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Day 8 of AI Tools: Voice Cloning & Text to Speech with 11 Labs
Day 8 of AI Tools: Voice Cloning & Text to Speech with 11 LabsJoin Lou on Day 8 of the 12 days of AI Tools as he explores 11 Labs, an advanced AI voice generation platform. Discover how 11 Labs can create ultra-realistic human speech, clone your voice, and even translate content while preserving...
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AI Today: The 12 Days of AI - Day 7
In Day 7 of the 12 Days of AI Tools, Lou Bortone introduces Gamma, an AI-powered presentation builder that generates professional presentations from a simple prompt or outline. Discover how Gamma handles structure, design, and layout, allowing you to create custom-looking, polished slides in...
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AI Today: Unlock Next-Level Research with Perplexity AI: Day 6 of 12 Days of AI Tools
http://www.LouBortone.com presents…Unlock Next-Level Research with Perplexity AI: Day 6 of 12 Days of AI ToolsJoin Lou Bortone as he introduces Perplexity, an AI-powered research and answer engine, on day 6 of his '12 Days of AI Tools' series. Perplexity offers real-time research with actual...
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AI Today: Day 5 of 12 Days of AI Tools: Unlocking the Power of ChatGPT
Day 5 of 12 Days of AI Tools: Unlocking the Power of ChatGPTIn day five of the 12 Days of AI Tools series, Lou Bortone explores the transformative impact of ChatGPT, OpenAI's conversational AI that became mainstream in November 2022. Lou discusses how ChatGPT has evolved beyond a simple chatbot...
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AI Today: Day 4: Transform Your Video Editing with Descript - 12 Days of AI Tools
http://www.LouBortone.com presents…Day 4: Transform Your Video Editing with Descript - 12 Days of AI ToolsWelcome to day four of the 12 Days of AI Tools! Join Lou as he introduces Descript, an AI-powered video and audio editing platform that simplifies media editing to the level of text document...
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AI TODAY Podcastt: Day 3: Discover Claude — The Ultimate AI Tool for Writers & Researchers!
Day 3: Discover Claude — The Ultimate AI Tool for Writers & Researchers!Join Lou on day three of the '12 Days of AI Tools' series, where he introduces Claude, an advanced conversational AI by Anthropic. Lou highlights why Claude is his go-to tool for daily tasks, describing its robust…
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AI Today Podcast: The 12 Days of AI Tools - Day Two
Unlock Google's AI Marketing Assistant: Pomelli | Day 2 of 12 Days of AI ToolsJoin Lou on day two of the 12 Days of AI Tools as he explores Pomelli, Google's new experimental AI marketing assistant. Pomelli helps marketers create comprehensive campaigns, including social media posts, email...
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AI Today: The 12 Days of AI Tools - Day One!
AI Tool Review: Unveiling Sora2 for Text-to-Video Magic | Day 1 of 12 Days of AIJoin Lou Bortone as he kicks off a special AI tool series, exploring Sora2, OpenAI's text-to-video generation platform. Lou demonstrates how Sora2 transforms text prompts into high-quality videos, sharing examples and...
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AI Today: Discover Canva's New AI-Powered Features | 12 Days of AI Tools - Day 11
http://www.LouBortone.com presents…Discover Canva's New AI-Powered Features | 12 Days of AI Tools - Day 11Welcome to Day 11 of the 12 Days of AI Tools! In this episode, we dive into Canva's AI integrations that have transformed it from a simple template tool to an advanced AI design platform....
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Ai Today with Lou Bortone: Make Apps without Coding!
Exploring AI-Powered Apps: Video Scripts, Sweet Spots, and Tool AssessmentsIn this episode, Lou Bortone demonstrates a few of the innovative apps he created using Lovable dev. He showcases the 'Video Sweet Spot Assessment' that helps businesses identify the most impactful types of videos to…
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Ai Today by Lou Bortone: Make Your Own Apps!
Exploring AI Apps: Lovable Creations and Tools for Your BusinessIn this episode of AI Today with Lou Bortone, Lou introduces viewers to apps he created using Lovable, a no-code platform for building apps and websites. He showcases a 'Video Sweet Spot Assessment' app for discovering effective…
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Discover Your Video Sweet Spot with the Free AI App
Discover Your Video Sweet Spot with Lovable AppIn this episode of AI Today, Lou Bortone introduces the Lovable app, a tool for creating no-code apps, and demonstrates how to build a 'Video Sweet Spot' assessment. He walks through the assessment process, which helps users determine the best types…
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Ai Today with Lou Bortone
Welcome to AI Today, your daily 10-minute briefing on the latest AI tools, trends, and tactics—served up in plain English for small business owners, solopreneurs, and creators. Hosted by digital marketing expert Lou Bortone, this no-fluff video podcast helps you cut through the hype and actually...
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Ai Today for May 20, 2025
AI Today is brought to you by AI Aligned — the digital marketing agency that helps smart, successful women ditch the tech overwhelm and get back to doing what they love. If you're ready to save time, money, and your sanity, visit AIAligned.me and let their team bring your brand into the future —...
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AI Today! A quick look at Pictory!
Exploring Pictory AI: Effortless Video Creation from Audio and TextIn this episode, the host discusses their experience on a podcast panel at Pod Fest, focusing on their favorite AI video tool, Pictory. They demonstrate how Pictory can transform audio, transcripts, articles, and URLs into videos…
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Ai Today with Lou Bortone
Welcome to AI Today — the daily podcast where smart business meets artificial intelligence. Hosted by Lou Bortone, this show delivers quick tips, trending tools, and powerful strategies to help small business owners work smarter, save time, and stay ahead. Let’s dive in...
About this show
AI Today is a weekly livestream and podcast hosted by Lou Bortone that demystifies AI for small business owners. Each episode delivers quick, actionable insights on the latest AI tools, trends, and especially video-related tech — all without the overwhelm or jargon. It’s a go-to resource for entrepreneurs who want to work smarter, stay relevant, and keep the human touch in a tech-driven world.Perfect for solopreneurs, coaches, and creatives who want to embrace AI without losing their voice or their values. Visit us at AiToday.live
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Lou Bortone
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