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Hey, it’s David

Welcome back to M&A from the Plane with quick stories and insights drawn from the many miles I log in the air talking to business owners, founders, and dealmakers.

Departure board is flickering… Gate is about to change

At the gate recently, I saw two passengers respond to the same gate change in two very different ways…

I watched one fellow passenger frantically digging through emails trying to figure out if his connecting flight was still on time. His phone was literally buzzing with airline app notifications, but he was ignoring them to manually hunt through his inbox.

Meanwhile, the guy next to him glanced at his lock screen, saw his gate change notification, and calmly walked to the new gate.

Same information available to both. One used what worked. The other got caught up in the complexity.

The best systems are the ones you actually use, not the ones with the most features.

What I'm Seeing in the Market

I get pitched AI tools weekly if not more. In addition, most business owners tell me they're eager to use AI technology to get ahead, but they're not sure where to start or what actually delivers results.

Here's what I'm seeing work in companies that buyers fight over:

The most successful operators aren't waiting for the perfect AI strategy. They're solving their daily pain points with simple automation that just works.

One manufacturing company I know gets a daily text at 7 AM with their top 3 collection opportunities and the exact language to use in the follow-up call. Takes their A/R person just minutes instead of 2 hours to figure out who to call.

A services business owner shows me his phone: "Alert: XYZ opened your proposal for the third time this week." He calls within an hour and is closing significantly more deals than last year.

The Real AI Revolution

While everyone's debating AI strategy, smart professionals are asking a practical question: "What do I do every morning that could be streamlined?"

Not revolutionize their entire business overnight. Just eliminate the proverbial 30 minutes they spend each day figuring out what deserves attention first.

The AI tools that actually deliver results are the ones that quietly eliminate friction. They monitor key business signals, send a clear alert, and suggest the next move. No complex dashboards to navigate. No steep learning curves.

Final Thoughts

Buyers pay premiums for predictable, efficient operations. But efficiency isn't about having the most sophisticated systems…

It's about eliminating the mental overhead that slows down decision-making.

Just like your phone already knows when your flight is delayed before the gate agent announces it. The question isn't whether AI can help your business. It's whether you're using the simple stuff that actually works while your competitors are still digging through their email.

The companies getting this right aren't the ones with the fanciest AI strategy.

They're the ones whose Monday morning starts with clarity instead of wasting time with distractions postponing growth and revenue.

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David