John Mackey sits down with Nick Sandberg, Director of IT at Hiller Companies, for a no-filter conversation about technology strategy in fire protection and life safety. No vendor pitches. No silver bullets. Just two operators who've lived inside FLS tech stacks for decades, comparing notes on what actually works — and what's coming next.

🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS • There is no silver-bullet platform — process before technology, every time • Only ~50% of US FLS contractors use technology beyond desktop QuickBooks • AI and agentic tools may disrupt the traditional SaaS moat within 1–2 years • "If your process is bad and you digitize it, you have a bad digital process — add AI and you have a bad AI digital process" • The technician is the brand, the customer is the purpose — technology serves the relationship

📊 FREE RESOURCES → Reply STACK to [email protected] for the FLS Tech Stack Readiness Scorecard + Tech Stack Guide → Read the companion blog: "Inside the FLS Tech Stack — Tools Changing the Game" at mackeygroupllc.com → Take the Build to Grow™ Readiness Survey: mackeygroupllc.com/leadership-scorecard

👤 ABOUT THE GUEST Nick Sandberg — Director of IT, Hiller Companies. Started as a fire extinguisher technician in 1999. Built Hiller's internal inspection platform from scratch. Rare combination of deep field experience and enterprise IT leadership.

👤 ABOUT THE HOST John Mackey — Founder & CEO, The Mackey Group. Strategic growth advisor to fire protection and life safety companies. Works with owners, CEOs, investors, and boards on growth strategy, operational discipline, and M&A readiness.

🤝 CONNECT John Mackey: mackeygroupllc.com | [email protected] | LinkedIn: /in/johnmackey Nick Sandberg: LinkedIn: /in/nicksandberg

This episode is part of the Build to Grow™ Mindset series — monthly strategic insight for FLS leaders across People, Process, Technology, and Reporting.

#FireProtection #LifeSafety #BuildToGrow #FLSTechStack #AIinFLS #BTGMindsetPodcast #TheMackeyGroup