AI-Powered Business: A Game Changer for Entrepreneurs Artificial Intelligence (AI) is shaping the future by streamlining operations and enhancing productivity, offering entrepreneurs new opportunities to scale efficiently and stay competitive.

In this Entrepreneur UK interview, we speak with Tracey Shirtcliff - founder and CEO of SCOPEBetter, a company focused on optimising service delivery, who shares valuable insights on how AI is transforming service delivery and its impact on entrepreneurial success.

SCOPEBetter is all about optimising service delivery. How does AI play a role in your approach, and what do you see as the biggest benefit for entrepreneurs using AI to streamline their operations?
It's no secret that AI will be transformative, and I don't think there will be any area of business left untouched. Almost every day you see new AI tools or integrations, introducing limitless use cases. Right now, it's easy to get lost in the noise around AI – all the sensationalist headlines – but I think it's beyond that where AI will be truly beneficial. Sure, we could all be using AI to write sonnets, but it's largely in the more routine and procedural applications that we'll find the most advantages. AI is going to eliminate the mundane and speed up the monotonous. Think of recent things like the auto-transcription of meeting notes, turbocharged predictive text or AI-assisted workflows. They're cutting out hours and hours of time, allowing businesses and individuals to give more focus to other tasks.

On the flip side of that is AI's impact on billable hours – because if AI is doing time-consuming tasks for you, your billable hours will inevitably fall. At SCOPE Better, we want to make sure that professional services businesses are protected against that, which is why we recommend a change of pricing model. Deliverable-based pricing is 'AI-agnostic', which means that businesses can take advantage of AI's efficiencies without losing income.

Where do you see AI having the most disruptive potential for entrepreneurs, and how can they capitalize on it early?
I think there are two answers to this, depending on the size of the business. For early-stage and smaller companies, AI will allow small teams to achieve so much more, potentially reducing the need to outsource for fractional resources. It will assist in tasks that previously may have required specialist skills, such as Chat GPT writing code and Adobe automating Photoshop activity. Ultimately, this will reduce overheads and enable greater investment in the business, potentially supporting faster scaling and greater profit.

For later-stage and larger companies, there is a considerable potential to reduce the amount of unproductive time. AI tools are changing the way we work. CRM systems, for example, are allowing salespeople to drastically cut down on the time they spend on paperwork, reinvesting that time in actual selling. So, more than anything, I see AI as a productivity tool that will ultimately change the way we work – I think, probably, for the better.

Related: The Business Mindset

What's the biggest mistake entrepreneurs make when adopting AI, and how can they avoid it for long-term success?
In my view, the biggest mistake people are making right now is having unrealistic expectations, and believing that AI is a magic wand fix-all. It's a great tool, but like all tools, it has to be used correctly and have processes built around it. As things stand, there are a lot of so-called AI tools where AI is only at the surface level. Due diligence is needed to deal with this. I also think that AI is such a constantly evolving thing that you must be alert and stay on top of it. In the coming years, it's going to be very easy to be left behind. Businesses need to take steps to ensure that doesn't happen to them.

How can entrepreneurs transition from hourly billing to a deliverables-based model without losing client trust or service quality?
The simplest approach is to take your customers on the journey with you. AI gives you the perfect opportunity to start the conversation. The chances are that they will be open to change and interested in hearing what you have to say – they may even be on a similar journey of their own. So, start with the most friendly or least profitable client and go from there, adapting your approach according to their needs and attitudes. The most important thing, though, is to get the details right in-house and have confidence in your new offering before you take it to your clients.

As for the practical transition, it can't be a fast process. In most cases, businesses will benefit by involving all major stakeholders, bringing their experience and input together to ensure that their services truly reflect what the business offers and what their customers need. And from there, most businesses will benefit from bringing in an external consultant to get their prices right.

What's the best way for entrepreneurs to build trust with clients when AI is central to their service delivery?
As above – be open and honest about it. You don't want to be that person having to argue about whether and how much AI has been used post-fact. The more open and honest you are with your clients, the better. They'll respect you for it and trust you more. To make it work for you, you need to show them how AI works and the value it can add to your services.

What's the one action entrepreneurs should take today to future-proof their businesses in an AI-driven world?
For professional services companies, the best thing they can really do is start the transition away from time/effort-based pricing. No matter the business model, AI will eventually impact their income when hourly pricing is involved. For all companies in general, I'd recommend starting the process of upskilling your teams. There are ways that AI should and shouldn't be used – and not using it at all is as bad as using it inappropriately. So, make the most of the potential that AI offers, and train your teams on what AI can do, how they can use it, and when they shouldn't. Understanding AI's possibilities as well as its limitations can open up enormous potential. The problem is that this needs to be an ongoing process, because AI is far from reaching its zenith, and we're going to keep seeing developments for many years to come.

How do you envision AI transforming the entrepreneurial landscape in the next 5–10 years, and what should entrepreneurs be doing now to stay ahead of the curve?
Given the speed of change, it's impossible to imagine what 2035 will look like accurately. But I think we can be confident that AI will be a fundamental part of it, probably as second nature as smart-phones and email. Any entrepreneur worth their salt will be getting their nose stuck into articles, webinars, talks and events, keeping track of the AI pioneers and what they're working on now because the chances are that we'll all be using it in a few years. When you stay informed, you're not just picturing how your own business can change whenever the next big thing becomes present and relevant, you're staying ahead of the curve and giving your business the best chance it can have in an evolving and competitive landscape. And that's the best that any of us can do.