From Busy to Brilliant: How Small Businesses Win with AI with Olga Topchaya

SummaryIn this podcast episode, Olga Topchaya shares her journey into the world of AI, emphasizing the importance of integrating AI into small and mid-sized businesses. She discusses the accessibility of AI tools, the significance of training employees, and the need for a strategic approach to AI implementation. Olga highlights success stories, challenges faced during integration, and the importance of calculating ROI for AI projects. The conversation also touches on overcoming employee resistance and the future of work in the age of AI, encouraging listeners to embrace AI as a valuable tool for their businesses. Anastassia and Olga discuss the reality of productivity gains in SMEs deploying AI.Olga Topchaya is a New York–based AI product strategist and entrepreneur, and the founder and CEO of Lapis AI Consults. She has more than a decade of experience in marketing and product roles across companies like EquityZen, IAC, Adorama, and Copy.ai. Her work emphasizes a business-first approach to AI: she starts from a client’s goals and pain points, then designs AI solutions that measurably reduce costs and busywork—for example, cutting customer support tickets from around 15 dollars to mere cents using conversational AI assistants.​Lapis AI Consults is a boutique AI consulting and product studio that builds “AI that works for you,” specializing in AI integration, custom AI software, and AI strategy for pre-seed to Series A startups and SMBs. TakeawaysAI might be a new career path, even if the industry moves into recession!Generative AI can change how we work and communicate.AI must solve a specific problem for businesses. Therefore, instead of starting with AI-related use cases, businesses must start with problem definition.Training of empoyees is crucial for successful AI adoption.Small businesses can access affordable AI tools.Prompting is key to effectively using AI.AI can automate repetitive tasks and save costs.Employee involvement is essential for AI integration.Change management is critical in AI implementation.Learning to read code can empower business owners.Chapters02:40 Introduction to AI and Small Businesses05:52 Olga's Journey into AI08:47 The Importance of AI Integration11:34 AI Accessibility for Small Businesses14:39 Getting Started with AI Tools15:02 Success Stories in AI Implementation17:42 Challenges in AI Integration23:31 Calculating ROI for AI Projects26:30 Overcoming Employee Resistance to AI29:28 The Future of Work with AI32:40 Addressing AI Vulnerabilities35:25 Conclusion and Final ThoughtsHyperlinksOlga Topchaya – LinkedIn Lapis AI Consults“A New Framework for Building Responsible AI — Part II” (Artificial Intelligence in Plain English )Guest post at AI Edutainment / “The Evolution of AI” blog – Olga Topchaya of Lapis AI Consults (on why most AI consulting fails and how to make it practical)Anastassia Lauterbach - LinkedInFirst Public Reading, Romy, Roby and the Secrets of Sleep (1/3) First Public Reading, Romy, Roby and the Secrets of Sleep (2/3) First Public Reading, Romy, Roby and the Secrets of Sleep (3/3) AI Snacks with Romy and Roby@romyandroby “Leading Through Disruption”AI EdutainmentThe AI Imperative BookRomy & Roby Book