Tampa, Florida — I walked into a room full of contractors, service business owners, and builders who were already fired up at The Hub Event. The energy was high, the AC was blasting (thanks to me), and everybody stood up, shook their neighbor’s hand, and got ready to hunt.
What happened next wasn’t another fluffy AI talk. It was a straight-to-the-point masterclass on how the game has changed — and how the next generation of entrepreneurs will use AI as labor, not as a toy.
If you run a business where you’re still the bottleneck, still answering phones after 6 p.m., or still wondering why you’re working harder but not scaling faster, this episode is your wake-up call.
What I Dropped Live in Tampa
I laid out the three waves every small business owner needs to ride:
- Access – The internet removed the gatekeepers.
- Attention – Social media let you speak directly to your market.
- AI – This is the new labor.
Miss any one of those and you end up as:
- The overworked operator (tons of leads, no time to follow up)
- The invisible machine (perfect systems, zero visibility)
- The influencer with no address (big following, no real business)
Then I drew the triangle right there on the sheets they handed out:
- Bottom = Chat (where most people stay stuck)
- Middle = Automation (better, but still rigid)
- Top = Agents (this is where the real leverage lives)
That top level is exactly what Alli was built for — your AI team member that actually works.
The Live Demo That Lit the Room Up
While I was still on stage cracking jokes, five people in the audience called the same number at the exact same time.
Alli answered every single call. Natural voice. Real inflection. Asked qualifying questions. Never sounded robotic.
No more “bright and sunny day at Rick’s Roofing.” No more missed $40k jobs because the phone rang while you were closing another deal. That’s what buying back your time actually looks like.
The 10-80-10 Framework Every Hunter Needs
I taught them the exact prompting system I use in my own businesses:
First 10% – The Setup Tell the AI exactly who it is, what you want it to do, the non-negotiable “musts,” and the exact format you need back.
Middle 80% – Let the Machine Work Give it your guardrails and let it generate copy, SOPs, emails, campaigns — whatever heavy lifting you need.
Final 10% – Human Polish Never just copy and paste. AI will hallucinate. Review, edit, repeat, and run until it sounds like you and hits like a hunter.
I also showed how I used this framework to turn a 500-page raw manuscript into a real book with stories and powerful chapter openers that actually move people.
More Fire from the Stage
- Why Meta’s Andromeda update changed advertising forever (your phone really is listening — use it).
- How the cost of content creation has crashed to the floor — images, videos, and motion graphics that used to cost thousands now take minutes.
- Why I focus on cutting jobs, not people (let AI handle the repetitive stuff so your best people can hunt bigger opportunities).
- My personal mission: help 100,000 entrepreneurs put an extra $100k in the bank and create a $1 billion impact.
I gave away copies of Buy Back Your Time and my own book, roasted a few sacred cows, and reminded the room: the government isn’t coming to save anybody. Entrepreneurs are the ones who provide the solutions.
The Big Truth I Left Them With
Technology is undefeated. The train already left the station, but the caboose is still here. You’re not late — you’re right on time if you start commanding the machine today.
The next 12–18 months will separate the spectators from the hunters who actually use AI as leverage.
Ready to Command the Machine?
You don’t need permission to build something meaningful. You just need clarity, systems, and the willingness to hunt.
The next generation of entrepreneurs will be AI-augmented.
Let’s build.
– Coach Carroll at
