The Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber hosted a discussion on April 18 about using artificial intelligence with representatives from Liger Partners and Belay Solutions.
“We’re going to dig into the data about how and where you may be able to leverage some AI tools to increase your capacity and improve your productivity,” Adam Forrand, president and CEO of the Sandy Springs Perimeter Chamber, told the businesspeople who attended the panel discussion at Sandy Springs City Hall.
Julie Gilles, a placement manager for Belay Solutions of Dunwoody and Evan Johnson, a junior strategist with Liger Partners of Sandy Springs, were the panelists in the discussion moderated by Forrand.
“When we started thinking of things we wanted to do, the ultimate goal was to streamline and get away from these mundane tasks,” Gilles said.
To do this, the company has started to use automation and technology in almost every stage of the process.
“It begins with a chatbot that our sales team now uses that can actually help the user experience on the front end,” she said.
Automation helps the applicant in every step of the process on the website. And it helps screen the applicants so the staff can focus on the candidates the company wants to pursue.
Johnson said he isn’t a technical expert, but that isn’t needed to use or understand this technology.
“It’s intimidating, the wide variety of tools that exist out there, but it doesn’t have to be. It just requires a little bit of work to parse through what works for you and what works for us at Liger,” he said.
Liger is a hybrid marketing firm combining a brand strategy consultancy and a production house that offers content and creative services.
Johnson said it would take him hours to figure out the best bits of his company’s podcasts and turn them into written content. But he uses an AI assistant to transcribe the podcast, breaking it down into individual topics. An AI chatbot like ChatGPT can create high-value content such as a blog in about 15 minutes. He said the content still requires editing, but it saves the copywriter a lot of time.
“You’re getting an assistant that you’re able to get a lot more production out of in a shorter amount of time,” Gilles said. It’s able to do the tasks more efficiently, providing more time for the tasks that need the personal touch, she said.
These tools enable the Belay corporate team to scale its operations. It’s tough to find employees to get the right people in the right seats, and stay scaled to remain a profitable business, she said.
“If you take away some of the mundane tasks and start utilizing technology, you can focus on the personality and getting the right culture fit into your team with people that are team players that have the work ethic, all the soft skills that you’re looking for,” Gilles said.
