Podcast Summary: Business, Bourbon & Cigars

Host: Scott Joseph
Episode: The Secret 5-Step System Smart Businesses Use to Predict Change
Release Date: August 28, 2025

Episode Overview

In this actionable solo episode, host Scott Joseph shares a detailed, no-fluff blueprint for building an AI-driven “change intelligence system.” Drawing from over 30 years of entrepreneurial experience and insight from his Me Plus Ultra mastermind group, Scott breaks down a practical five-step method for leveraging AI agents—not just to track trends, but to turn early signals into decisive business moves before competitors react. Listeners are promised a 30-60-90 day rollout plan and KPIs to gauge real impact. The approach is honest and pragmatic, designed for ambitious business leaders ready to disrupt, not be disrupted.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Traditional Data Isn’t Enough (00:56)

• Information overload: Businesses drown in data but miss out on change because they lack a system for action.
• The problem: “They didn’t lose because they were dumb. They lost because they had no mechanism to convert those... weak signals right into action. That’s the difference between reports and change intelligence.”
  — Scott Joseph [07:32]

Punch-in-the-Gut Example

• A mid-market firm noticed repeated customer requests for a new integration in support tickets and comments but didn’t act. Six months later, a competitor launched with that integration and “took a huge bite out of their best segment.”
  [06:13]

2. The AI-Driven Change Intelligence System Architecture (08:12)

Scott describes the system in detail, breaking down the six core and three advanced AI agents every business needs.

The 6 Core Agents:

• Market Pulse (Change Scout): Monitors external signals (competitor sites, review forums, job postings, agendas) and delivers “shift cards”—what changed, why it matters, how to act. [09:11]
• Voice of Customer (VOC): Analyzes CRM notes, call transcripts, support data, and feedback, ranking what buyers want, love, or what’s blocking them. Weekly, you get the “top five trend lines and raw quotes.”
  [11:07]
• Product & Experience Friction Agent: Reviews funnel analytics, surveys, cancellation reasons, delivering a “friction heat map” and simple keep/kill/fix priorities.
  [12:30]
• Pricing & Offer Agent: Tracks competitor pricing, promotions, your discounting behavior, serving a “price pressure index” and ideas for bundles or anchors.
  [13:44]
• Tech Radar Agent: Scans for tech changes and notifies you in plain language when to react—or ignore.
  [14:53]
• KPI Anomaly Agent: Monitors traffic, AOV, CAC, LTV; only pings when metrics go outside normal ranges, offering likely cause and impact. No noise, just insights.
  [15:40]

The 3 Advanced Agents:

• Experiment Orchestrator: Translates insights into test plans with hypotheses, metrics, templates—go live fast. [17:31]
• Meeting Briefing Agent: Compiles everything into a concise 10-minute summary and three-slide deck—no homework PDFs.
  [18:12]
• Postmortem Win/Loss Agent: Mines calls and CRM data to update talk tracks by competitor or segment, keeping learning current.
  [19:07]

3. Building the Operating System: Cadence & Guardrails (20:33)

• Automate daily signals, batch weekly briefings. (e.g., run the leadership briefing every Monday at 8am, limited to 10 minutes)

• Monthly & quarterly cycles:

  • Every two weeks: “Change council” picks 1-2 experiments to test.
  • Quarterly: “If we were starting a new business today to compete against ourselves, what would we do?”—using agent data to pre-read and frame.

• No over-alerting:

  • “No drip alerts for each key number. Set a green zone—ping only if it jumps 20%+ for a week.”
    [23:50]
  • Only treat something as a trend “when you see it in at least two places or a meaningful chunk of conversations.” [24:22]

• Accountability:
  Each recommended action “needs an owner to approve or reject it, with a reason—so the AI learns your preferences.”
  [25:17]

4. Rolling Out the System (26:21)

The 30-60-90 Day Plan:

• Week 1:

  • Assign an owner and sponsor.
  • Connect basic data sources (CRM, support, web analytics, call recordings).
  • Turn on three agents: market pulse, VOC, anomaly detection.
  • Simple alerts, one-page exec update.
    [27:44]

• Weeks 2–4:

  • Add friction and briefing agents.
  • Hold a tight, 25-minute “change council”—one experiment per meeting.
  • Run 2 quick tests (offer/pricing + experience).
  • Track on a board: observe, frame, test, go.
    [28:13]

• Weeks 5–8:

  • Layer in tech radar and pricing/offer agents.
  • Expand updates to include product, marketing, client success.
  • Introduce company-wide change notes and “kill switches”—don’t let weak tests drag.
    [29:12]

• Weeks 9–12:

  • Activate experiment orchestrator and win/loss agents.
  • Make “what changed” a fixture in every meeting.
  • Retire at least one outdated process publicly.
  • Rotate ownership, keep roles clear, and legal/security involved without blocking speed.
    [30:30]

5. Measuring Success: The Scoreboard (32:03)

• Key targets:
  • Move from “signal to decision in five business days or less.”
  • Two real tests/month per core product or segment.
  • Most insights result in a decision or at least a watchlist item—“not a shrug.”
• Tangible outcomes:
  • Hearing about competitor moves before sales does.
  • Win rate up, time to fix down, discounts reduced, revenue up in 90 days—or adjust the system.
  • “If those aren’t moving, fix the system.”
    [34:10]
• No orphan insights: Every insight gets “an owner and a date—even the watch list.”
  “If it runs longer than two pages, you’re hoarding, not leading.”
  — Scott Joseph [35:07]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On why most businesses lose to faster competitors:
  “They didn’t lose because they were dumb. They lost because they had no mechanism to convert those... weak signals right into action.” [07:32]

• On AI’s role:
  “AI makes it practical. It organizes the signals you already have, turns them into clear actions and runs in the background, you know, so you can stay ahead of the market and your competitors.” [38:54]

• Encouragement to take action:
  “If you’re hearing all this and thinking, yeah, this is too much, remember why you watched or you listened to this episode. You want to transform fast and lead, not react.” [36:27]

• Keeping change real:
  “No orphan insights. Everything gets an owner and a date. Even the watch list. The brief ends with three decisions. You know, you gotta make them, share the wins fast and the autopsies even faster. Celebrate your adapters. Remove all those anchors we talked about in the last episode.” [35:41]

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-----------------------------------------------|------------| | Why data doesn’t equal change | 00:56 | | Gut-punch company story | 06:13 | | Six core AI agents explained | 09:11–15:40| | Advanced agents for scale | 17:31–19:07| | System cadence and “change council” | 20:33 | | Guardrails: alerts, accountability | 23:50–25:17| | 30/60/90-day rollout plan | 26:21–30:30| | Scorecard and measuring system impact | 32:03–35:41| | Making change intelligence a must-have | 36:27–38:54|

Episode Tone

Scott Joseph’s approach is frank, practical, and rooted in direct entrepreneurial experience. He emphasizes simplicity, accountability, and speed. The language is conversational, accessible, sometimes humorous, and always geared toward ambitious business leaders serious about actionable change.

Why Listen/Key Takeaways

• Get a ready-to-deploy blueprint for AI-powered business agility—no fluff, just steps.
• Learn which signals to watch, how to structure your change intelligence system, and how to know it’s working.
• Avoid being blindsided by competitors or market shifts—move from insight to action.
• Build a company culture focused on rapid, informed experimentation—and root out legacy processes.
• Useful for strategic leaders, operators, and anyone in charge of innovation or market positioning.

Final Notes

Scott invites listeners to the upcoming Business, Bourbon & Cigars Leadership Retreat, featuring hands-on sessions on AI and automation with expert Ethan King. Visit meplusultra.com/BBC50 for a special discount.

Memorable closer:
“If you don’t build this, some of your competitors are going to, you know, and that’s how you get disrupted instead of doing the disrupting. And by that time it might be too late.” [39:15]