What AI Should Actually Be Doing in Your Business | Zero Shot Ep. 25

Last week we covered what is now possible with AI. This week is the question that comes right after. Out of everything in your business, where do you actually point it? James Gauci (CEO of Cadent) and Llew Jury (MD of Advancer) give you a way to look at any task in your business and know exactly which pile it belongs in. This is worth handing to AI, this stays human, this is a bit of both. Most businesses reach for the shiny, visible task, customer service, the website, the thing that is easy to picture. It is rarely the highest value one. Automating the wrong thing does not just cost money. It makes a broken process permanent, burns your team trust in AI, and kills the innovation cycle before it starts. In this episode, you will learn: 🎯 Why your instinct about what to automate is usually wrong, and what to look at instead 💸 The real cost of automating the wrong thing, the band-aid effect and lost momentum 🔁 Trigger one, the repeat test, spotting the bottleneck you do every week ✍️ Trigger two, the sentence test, if you can say it you can likely automate it 😩 Trigger three, the dread test, letting AI have the emotions for you 📥 Trigger four, the messy input test, the human gatekeeping that is now automatable 🤝 Trigger five, the apology test, knowing when the human has to stay in the lead ✅ The seven questions to decide is it worth it, can I do it, and should I do it ⏱️ Timestamps 0:00 , The damage of automating a broken process 1:52 , Welcome to Episode 25: What is actually worth doing 4:00 , Sponsor: Prompt Cowboy 4:27 , News: the Australian AI Safety Forum and Claude Fable returns 7:00 , Why your instinct about what to automate is usually wrong 9:00 , The mindset shift, from mechanical work to information synthesis 10:04 , The real cost of automating the wrong thing, trust and momentum 15:00 , The five triggers begin, trigger one, the repeat test 18:00 , Trigger two, the sentence test, articulating the procedure 21:00 , Trigger three, the dread test, the finance team example 24:20 , Trigger four, the messy input test, human in the lead 26:35 , Trigger five, the apology test, accountability and the human relationship 32:37 , The seven questions to interrogate any candidate 35:38 , Getting the call right in regulated industries 🔗 Resources and Links 🛡️ Australian AI Safety Institute , National body guiding responsible AI adoption, under the Department of Industry, Science and Resources: https://www.industry.gov.au 🧠 Microsoft Copilot , Microsoft 365 AI assistant referenced for the Cowork feature and the finance team example: https://copilot.microsoft.com 📊 Google Gemma , Open-weight AI model family that can run on your own hardware for sensitive settings: https://ai.google.dev/gemma 📐 ISO 42001 , International standard for AI management systems, a governance and accountability starting point: https://www.iso.org/standard/81230.html 📚 Thinking Fast and Slow , Daniel Kahneman on system one and system two thinking, referenced for judgement calls: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/thin... 🔗 LinkedIn:   / zero-shot-ai-podcast   🌐 Zero Shot: https://zeroshot.com.au/ 🎙️ About Zero Shot Zero Shot is the anti-hype AI podcast for business leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs who want the technical and commercial truth about artificial intelligence. Hosted by James Gauci (CEO of Cadent) and Llew Jury (MD of Advancer), and produced by Yennia La Rotta. We cut through the noise to bring you the strategies that actually move the needle. New episode every week. Subscribe so you never miss the filter. 🎙️ 💬 Run your week through the five triggers. What is your best automation candidate? Drop it in the comments. James and Llew read every single one. 👍 Like , 💬 Comment , 🔔 Subscribe Deciding what to automate with AI in 2026 is the difference between real return and expensive innovation theater. The highest value candidate is almost never the shiny, visible task. From the five triggers, repeat, sentence, dread, messy input, and apology, to the seven questions that separate worth it from not worth it, this episode gives business leaders, operators, and decision-makers a practical framework for pointing AI at the right work, keeping humans in the lead where it matters, and getting the call right even in regulated industries. If you want AI that delivers instead of disappoints, this is where to start. #AIAutomation #AIStrategy #BusinessAI #ZeroShotPodcast #ProcessAutomation #AIAdoption #FutureOfWork #AIGovernance #Productivity #ArtificialIntelligence #AIForBusiness #DecisionMaking #Automation #FirstPrinciples #Australia