We’re two weeks into our second AI for Business Owners Cohort, and I keep thinking about how much the landscape has shifted since we wrapped the first one in early November.
The Technology Moved Fast
Anthropic released Opus 4.5, their most capable model yet. I’m building software, newsletters, agent pipelines, etc. much faster and with far fewer errors than previously.
They launched Claude Co-work, which gives users the same magic of Claude Code building, changing, and organizing files on your computer with a less technical interface.
We’ve also seen Claude’s ability to document and use skills become a game changer for adding capabilities to Claude.
In my view, Anthropic has taken a clear lead in B2B AI and knowledge work. While others like ChatGPT chase the consumer market, Anthropic is building tools that actually work for professionals.
As a result we stopped teaching anything about OpenAI and ChatGPT in the course and have relegated Google’s Gemini to image and video creation.
That’s why you need to keep learning and staying at the edge of where AI is leading us. The capabilities change fast.
The People Are Moving Faster
I have participants in this cohort who, three weeks ago, couldn't find the settings menu in the Claude app. Basic navigation was a struggle.
This week, one of them needed to analyze a CSV file, make some modifications, and output a new Excel file. She described what she wanted in plain English. Claude wrote Python code, executed it, and handed her the finished spreadsheet.
“Do you realize you just wrote Python?” I said pointing out that Claude had written and executed a series of Python scripts to implement her request.
"Wait," she said. "Was that... programming?"
Yes. She had just programmed. Without knowing Python. Without knowing she was programming.
She doesn't fully believe it yet. But she will as we go deeper into what's possible.
The Real Barrier Isn't What You Think
There are two stats I keep coming back to: 82% of the smallest firms believe "AI isn't applicable" to their business. Meanwhile, 91% of firms already using AI report revenue improvements.
That's because the smaller companies aren’t getting exposed to the full power of AI. They’re using ChatGPT for Google searches rather than Claude Code to build powerful agents that do actually work with and for them.
Most of what stops business owners from using AI is a UI problem. The tools feel unfamiliar or the interface is intimidating or you don't know where to start.
But here's what I've learned running these cohorts: AI rewards a bit of effort. Not a lot but just enough to get past the initial friction.
Every time you use these tools, they get easier. Not because the AI is learning about you (though that's coming), but because you're building intuition. You start to understand what to ask and how to ask it.
This week we worked on prompting and building a skill into Claude that captures a framework for more complex and productive prompts. It’s rewarding watching people start to get far better and more accurate outputs from the AI than they’ve ever received before.
The Unfair Advantage
The business owners who build this intuition in 2025 will compound that advantage for years. They'll automate tasks their competitors do manually. They'll move faster on decisions because they can analyze data in minutes instead of days. They'll try things that used to require hiring specialists.
And they'll do it without realizing they're "technical."
Just like my participant this week who created Python without knowing she was programming.
-Alan
If you are interested in joining our next cohort starting April 13th, sign up here. We’re offering a 28% discount to anyone who signs up before March 13th.