Many businesses avoid budgeting because it feels complex, time-consuming, or intimidating.

In this episode of Weeks Ahead AI, the team walks through how business owners can use AI to build a complete annual budget using historical financials, without starting from a blank spreadsheet.

Throughout the episode, the team highlights why Claude performed best for this specific task, particularly when it comes to financial analysis, spreadsheet structure, and handling assumptions, while still acknowledging that different AI models excel at different jobs.

In This Episode

• Why many businesses still avoid annual budgeting
• Using Claude AI to turn past P&Ls into a working budget
• Why some AI models perform better at financial analysis
• Applying growth assumptions and seasonality
• Reviewing and correcting AI-generated budgets
• Running hiring and growth scenarios in real time

Episode Timeline

00:00 – Why budgeting gets delayed or skipped
Common reasons business owners avoid the process.

03:00 – Why January is not too late
Using last year’s numbers to move forward.

06:30 – Uploading historical financials into AI
How much data you actually need.

09:00 – Choosing the right AI for the job
Why Claude stood out for financial modeling.

12:30 – Building a full annual budget
Revenue, expenses, and staffing generated automatically.

15:00 – Monthly views, seasonality, and assumptions
How AI applies real-world business patterns.

18:00 – Reviewing assumptions and fixing errors
Why human oversight still matters.

21:00 – Scenario planning
Testing hires, marketing spend, and growth decisions.

25:30 – Why AI budgeting works now
How recent improvements changed what is possible.

29:00 – Managing multiple AI tools
The downside of subscription sprawl.

32:00 – Final takeaways
How to apply this approach in your business.

Tools and Resources Mentioned

• Claude for financial modeling and spreadsheet work
• Wispr Flow for voice-to-text prompting
• Excel for reviewing and adjusting budgets

If you have been putting off building a budget, this episode shows how AI can help you get it done faster and with more clarity. Subscribe to Weeks Ahead AI for practical, real-world AI use cases.

Creating presentations used to take hours. Now you can talk for a few minutes, grab a transcript, and use Gamma to instantly build a clean, organized slide deck. In this episode of Weeks Ahead AI, Brad and Mitch walk through a real example in real time, showing how Gamma restructures messy conversations into a polished ten page presentation that can be exported to Google Slides, PowerPoint, Canva, or PDF.

They also explain practical tricks like using dashes to control slide grouping, how Gamma reorganizes content for clarity, and why this is one of the best low risk, high reward entry points for anyone using AI in their workflow.

In This Episode

• Live walkthrough of building a ten page deck in seconds with Gamma
• How transcripts from Plot or an iPhone recording can become presentations
• Why Gamma reorganizes your conversation into a clean narrative
• Exporting to PowerPoint, Google Slides, Canva, and PDF
• How to prepare board decks, proposals, and SOP slides in a fraction of the usual time
• Why presentation building is one of the easiest wins in AI adoption

Timestamps

00:00
Intro to Gamma and why Brad and Mitch use it for fast presentations

02:00
Turning a nine minute Relay Hub conversation into a ten page slide deck

04:50
How Gamma reorganizes raw conversation into a strong narrative flow

06:30
Key features like multimodal support, images, and customizable cards

08:15
Exporting the deck into Google Slides or PowerPoint for final edits

10:00
How to structure board decks by marking slide breaks in your transcript

12:45
Other AI tools like Lucidchart that use transcripts for diagrams and SOPs

14:30
Final thoughts and why this is a powerful time saver for any team

Links and Resources

Gamma: gamma.app
Plaud: Plaud Voice Recorder
Relay Hub Episode 

Try taking a short voice memo, transcribing it, and dropping it into Gamma. Watch it turn into a complete presentation in seconds. Share your results with us at weeksahead.ai.

Most blue collar small businesses already sit on a gold mine of data from sensors, machines, and equipment, but barely use it. In this episode of Weeks Ahead AI, Brad, Terry, and Mitch bring back Josh Knutson, founder of Lium AI, to explain how AI can turn messy physical data into clear decisions for manufacturers, plants, and operators who live in the real world, not in spreadsheets.

In This Episode

• How a former therapist became a tech founder solving real world problems
• What it means to “ask your instruments” and talk to plant data in plain English
• Real use cases from astrophysics, oil and gas, satellites, and manufacturing
• How AI can boost throughput, quality, and food safety
• Why compute and power matter, and how smaller models change the future
• Practical steps for blue collar small businesses that want to start using AI

Timestamps

00:00 Why Josh is back and why physical world AI matters
02:10 From therapist to tech founder and the creation of Lium
04:40 Raising capital and building an AI startup around huge datasets
06:30 “Ask your instruments” explained in simple terms
07:45 Astrophysics example where months of work drop to 75 seconds
11:55 Oil, gas, and geothermal insights hidden in existing data
13:40 Why traditional AI tools choke on satellite and sensor data
15:55 Real world routing and decision making using weather and soil data
18:15 Why small and midsize manufacturers need this tech too
18:40 Extrusion and pet food manufacturing as a clear example
20:15 Point at your data, ask a question, get a recommendation
21:55 The future of autonomous agents tuning equipment in real time
25:55 Compute, power limitations, and the push for smaller models
29:25 Data centers, generators, and geothermal possibilities
31:00 CNBC predictions and where to learn more about Lium AI

Former psychotherapist turned tech founder Josh Knutson explains why every business should “use AI first.” He shares how tools like Claude and Lovable can replace $150K software builds, how to learn faster than ever, and how his new company Lium AI is transforming how humans interact with massive real-world data. From discovering a black hole in seconds to reshaping how we explore the physical world, this episode will change the way you think about time, money, and what’s possible with AI. 

Blog posts in 2025? Mitch reveals how he built a custom AI tool for Benchmark that automatically writes SEO-optimized, human-sounding blog posts complete with backlinks, metadata, and real-world data from his business. The guys debate whether blogs still matter, how long it really takes to see results, and what small business owners can learn from automating this process. They break down the two-day build that now produces full blogs in minutes and share how anyone can apply the same principles to their own business workflows. 

To see a live demo of the tool, check out our YouTube!

If you would like help building a blog post tool or another agent, hit us up on our website!

Brian Davis and Joe Craven from On-Site PC Services show how AI is transforming the IT world, from rewriting emails and auditing policies to improving visibility in AI search. They share how businesses can train AI agents to handle repetitive work, generate marketing content, and uncover compliance gaps before they become costly mistakes. Real stories, real tools, and what every business should be doing right now to stay ahead. 

Connect with our guests!

Brian Davis

Joe Craven

On-Site PC Services

Oshman Aviation president Scott Oshman went from not using AI at all just a few months ago to making it an essential part of his business. He shares how tools like ChatGPT now save him up to 70% of his time on underwriting, contracts, and market analysis, and how adopting AI has become his competitive edge. It’s not too late to start, but the clock’s ticking. 

www.oshmanaviation.com

Check out Scott's Appearance on Business Growth MasterClass

Ever wonder when a simple prompt isn’t enough? In this episode, Mitch shows how building AI agents can take your results from random to repeatable. He walks through a real example using Relay Hub, the product we’re building to help businesses create custom agents that deliver consistent, reliable answers every time. We break down the difference between prompts and agents, and show how even small teams can start automating real work without any coding. 

To see the product demo from this episode, check us out on YouTube!

To stay up to date on Relay Hub, check out our website!

Eagle Surveying president Mason Decker shows exactly how a service-based business can implement AI without any advanced tech expertise. He shares how he uses Plaud + ChatGPT to map his day, auto-build meeting action items, and manage daily to-dos, plus how he’s rolled out ChatGPT Enterprise, and built AI-assisted quoting tools. Practical, no-code examples any business owner can start using this week. If you are a business owner looking to use AI to make you a more effective leader, this episode is for you!

Mason Decker

Eagle Surveying

Wispr Flow

Plaud Note

 We introduce Relay Hub, a new AI platform we’ve been building to solve real business problems. Instead of working in silos, it lets teams share chats, align around company goals, and keep knowledge consistent across every department. We cover the problems it solves, key features like multi-model validation and secure data rooms, and how it can cut out wasted meetings and emails. 

To learn more or sign up for updates, visit weeksahead.ai.