Blind Spots in Business? AI Knows What You Don’t

How AI Helps You See More, Know More, and Do More

This is the second article in my series on AI Superpowers. If you missed the first overview, you can find it here.

I remember staring at my quarterly numbers, smugly confident I had my speaking business figured out. Bookings were up. Client satisfaction was high. I was practically high-fiving myself in the mirror each morning.

Then, I had the nerve to ask ChatGPT a simple question: “Who am I missing?” … cue the sound of my ego deflating like a sad birthday balloon.

When Your Experience Becomes Your Blindfold

The AI analysis revealed thousands of feedback forms from my keynotes had been screaming something I completely missed: attendees weren’t just hungry for inspiration – they were desperate for hands-on AI implementation skills.

While I was busy delivering high-impact keynotes to national associations and Fortune 500s (which I still do and love…hint hint), an entire market segment was waving their budgets in the air, begging for practical training. Within weeks of this revelation, I started building an intensive AI masterclass that now has a waitlist growing daily. (Yes, you can message me to join the waitlist – I promise it is coming soon!)

This pattern repeats across industries. A recent client discovered through AI analysis that their traditional customer segmentation was missing crucial behavior patterns. Their marketing director’s response? “That absolutely cannot be right!” he declared with the confidence of someone about to be proven spectacularly wrong.

After reluctantly implementing AI-recommended targeting, their sales jumped and customer engagement improved.

Why We Miss What’s Right in Front of Us

We business leaders love our experience and instincts. But the same experience that makes us effective often blinds us to new opportunities.

The delicious irony of AI is that it has zero emotional attachment to your long-held business beliefs. It doesn’t nod politely while secretly thinking you’re delusional. It just shows you the data and lets you have your existential crisis in private.

McKinsey’s 2023 research confirms what early adopters already know: companies effectively using AI for marketing and sales increase lead volume by 30-40% and reduce acquisition costs by 25-30%. These aren’t just impressive numbers – they’re the result of AI spotting patterns while humans were busy shouting about what they THOUGHT was happening.

I witnessed this firsthand at Kibsi, an AI computer vision startup I was part of. Our product used security video feeds to analyze a warehouse operation and found forklifts performing what can only be described as an inefficient logistics tango. And that ability to “see” with AI wasn’t limited to just the one question. In fact, we were able to use the same video feed to alert for safety issues, damages to products and facilities, and even breaches in product handling regulations. The result? One workflow redesign later, the company is on track to recovering millions in efficiency.

McKinsey’s 2023 research shows that companies are excited and eager for AI impact. In fact, effectively using AI for marketing and sales, they estimate, can increase lead volume by 30-40% and reduce acquisition costs by 25-30%.

From Mastercard preventing $20 billion in fraud by analyzing billions of transactions to UPS route optimization that is saving drivers’ an estimated 100 million miles annually, AI is transforming businesses.

At Kibsi, the AI computer vision startup I was part of, we analyzed a warehouse operation and found forklifts performing what can only be described as an inefficient logistics tango – a dance human supervisors had watched for years without noticing. And that ability to “see” with AI wasn’t limited to just one question. In fact, we were able to use the same video to alert for safety issues and breaches in food handling regulations. The result? One workflow redesign later, the company is on track to recovering millions in efficiency.

💡 In a world where we’re all drowning in data but starving for insights, AI helps us see the forest AND the trees.

Creating Data From the Invisible World

AI’s analytical powers go beyond existing spreadsheets. Computer vision – a technology that still blows my mind – turns the physical world into quantifiable data.

Take Sephora, who implemented AI-powered visual analysis throughout their customer experience. Their system creates personalized product recommendations by analyzing facial features in ways human associates never could. Mirror reflections become structured data for virtual try-ons. Visual product information transforms into 24/7 skincare advice.

Heck, at Kibsi, we were even using the technology to monitor zoo enclosures to ensure that animals were safe, happy, and healthy.

Your AI Challenge: Find Your Business Blind Spots

Yes, it IS magical that AI automates tedious tasks, but always remember that it can help you have OTHER superpowers, too. Here’s a simple challenge guaranteed to generate uncomfortable self-awareness:

1. Find Your Blind Spots: Ask, “Which customer segments am I ignoring that I shouldn’t be?” or “Given my business plan and business data, what patterns in my data contradict everything I believe to be true?”
2. Challenge Your Assumptions: Have AI analyze your most successful products and ask, “What unexpected factors are actually driving success here that I’ve perhaps been too oblivious to notice?” or “What less-than-obvious correlations or factors might be negatively impacting performance?”
3. Seek Better Ideas: When making a business decision, ask AI to generate alternatives to your brilliant plan. I do this regularly, and it’s humbling how often the machine has better ideas than I do. If you do this one, I recommend some reminders about your awesomeness to prop yourself back up again. But, in all seriousness, this is often just our business bias at work.
4. Test the Impossible: Use AI to model scenarios you’ve dismissed as “that would never work.” I’ve found the impossible often becomes inevitable once you actually test it.

AI Doesn’t Care About Your Feelings (Thank Goodness)

I recently shared this insight with finance and procurement professionals at an annual conference. These teams face challenging blind spots because they’re often measured on metrics that promote the status quo – cost savings with existing suppliers and processes rather than innovation.

I showed how AI can identify supplier relationships that look good on paper but create downstream costs through quality issues or missed innovation. I heard from several attendees later that when they implemented AI analysis, they found exactly these types of hidden patterns.

The Uncomfortable Truth About AI

The true value of AI isn’t making decisions for you – it’s showing you all the questionable decisions you’ve been making while feeling extremely clever about them. To me, when you ask AI the right questions, it’s like having a business advisor who never sugarcoats feedback, and never hesitates to point out when your brilliant strategy is actually just comfortable mediocrity in disguise.

When used correctly, AI doesn’t diminish your role as a leader – it gives you superpowers of perception that transform educated guesses into informed decisions.

💡 After all, the best leaders aren’t those who know everything. They’re the ones who know what they don’t know – and have the tools to fill those gaps.

Stay tuned for the next article in this series, where I’ll be sharing the second AI superpower: Creation.

Curious about how AI might reveal your business blind spots? Let’s grab a virtual coffee and explore how these analytical superpowers could transform your decision-making from “educated guessing” to “scary-accurate insight.” Your competitors can keep their dartboards – you’ll have radar.