Why Connecting Your Existing AI Tools Beats Buying New Ones

Most small businesses are making the same AI mistake: they keep buying new tools instead of connecting the ones they already have. That's the central argument from Gene Marks, technology consultant, Forbes columnist, and author of the newly released The AI Business Playbook, in a recent interview on ASBN's Business Trends Today.

Marks has spent the last two to three years writing almost exclusively about AI for Forbes and consulting with small and mid-sized businesses on implementation. His conclusion: the noise is overwhelming, the failures are widespread, and the path forward is simpler than most people think.

The MIT Data Point That Changes the Conversation

Marks points to a recent MIT study finding that 95% of generative AI pilot projects fail to deliver substantial ROI — a figure that should give any business owner pause before chasing the next tool launch.

"Let the big guys make their mistakes so they can toss away their money," he said. "And then once they figure out how AI is really working at all, different things will trickle down to us as well."

Key Takeaways

• Connect before you buy. Marks says the #1 move for SMBs is linking existing chatbots — Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini — directly to the business data they already have in their CRM, accounting systems, and cloud files.
• You may already have what you need. Microsoft Office users have Copilot built in. Marks recommends spending a few hundred dollars on LinkedIn-sourced AI training to actually unlock it.
• 95% of enterprise AI pilots fail. That's the MIT benchmark Marks uses to frame why SMBs should watch and learn from large corporations rather than replicate their spending patterns.
• AI eliminates some roles and creates new ones. The businesses winning with AI aren't reducing headcount — they're doing more with the same team, which improves profitability.

The takeaway Marks says he wants every reader to leave with: "You've got to connect your chatbots into your data."

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