The shallow end
Most owners are standing in the shallow end of AI, waiting for a reason to get in.
I have been in the deep end for over two and a half years. That gap is not intelligence and it is not budget. It is time in the water.
What the gap actually is
People imagine the difference is knowledge, so they try to close it by reading. It is not knowledge. It is reps.
The person who has built forty things with AI is not smarter than you. They have forty results to reason from and you have none, and that is the entire distance between you.
Waiting is a decision
It rarely feels like one. It feels like prudence, or like waiting for the tools to settle.
But the clock runs during the wait. Your competitors get reps. The tools stop being novel and start being expected. And the gap you have to close gets wider than the one you were looking at when you decided to wait.
The water is not getting warmer
There is no version of this where it becomes comfortable first and you get in second. The comfort comes from being in.
How to get in this week
1. Stop researching
You have read enough. More reading is a way of staying dry.
2. Pick something with no consequences
Not a client deliverable. Something where a bad result costs you nothing.
3. Finish it badly
A finished bad version teaches you more than an unfinished good one.
4. Do it again tomorrow
Reps, not projects. Frequency beats scale early.
5. Give it thirty days before judging
The first week is awkward for everyone. That is not a signal.
What this does not mean
It does not mean rush every process onto AI. Bad processes get worse when you automate them.
It also does not mean everyone in the shallow end is wrong to be cautious. It means caution and inaction look the same from the outside, and only one of them has a plan behind it.
The decision
Pick one low-stakes task and do it with AI today. Not this quarter. Today.
Sources
- Jeff Fargo, Fargo Factor Insight: You've Known About AI for Two Years. What Are You Waiting For?
- Jeff Fargo, Fargo Factor Insight: Do Not Automate a Bad Process
Transcript
Verbatim from the Fargo Walks clip, as recorded.
Most owners are waiting in the shallow end of the AI pool, waiting to jump in. I've been in the deep end for over two and a half years. Cameo Jack Fargo, Alex Fargo. Deep. It's up to you if you want to jump in. Are you gonna put your toe in the water? But either way, the clock is not on your side. Go forth.
Jeff Fargo is the founder of Fargo Factor and host of Fargo Talks. Fargo Factor advises established businesses on AI Search Authority, AI Decision Systems, and selective AI-enabled implementation.
WHEN THE DECISION MATTERS
Get out of the shallow end.
Fargo Factor helps established businesses move past the chat window and build one working system from their own records, which is where the return actually starts.
