CEOs reveal how they’re using generative AI to solve problems, save time, make more money, and get an edge on their competition.

BY JAKE KLEINMAN, FREELANCE WRITER @JACOBKLEINMAN

Illustration: Inc.

Get a group of business owners together and they are apt to one-up one another. In the recent past, this might have been over how much they sold, how much they raised, or how many employees were on their payroll.

But nowadays, you are just as likely to hear them brag in a new way—about their absolute favorite, most surprising, and most timesaving AI hack.

We talked to more than a dozen founders about AI, and paid subscribers can read on to learn:

Ashley Kirkwood, CEO of the sales-training company Speak Your Way to Cash, uses ChatGPT’s custom GPT feature to deal with customers who haven’t paid their bills. “When you have to have a difficult conversation with a client, we’ll train these GPTs to handle it,” Kirkwood says. She applies the same thinking to most tasks. Rather than train an employee directly, Kirkwood will train a GPT and tell employees to use it. She even gives them names. “Instead of saying, ‘Use the GPT,’ I’m like, ‘Use Ollie, the objection-overcomer.’ ”

Jonathan Meyers, CTO of

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