David Zey has spent his career at the intersection of IT leadership, application development, and startup consulting. Today he's an Engineer in Residence at TitletownTech — the Green Bay Packers and Microsoft-backed innovation hub — where he's been running manufacturers and growing businesses through the Microsoft AI Co-innovation Lab in Milwaukee.

In this episode, Brandon and David get into the real-world AI use cases that are actually moving the needle for manufacturers — not "I made an email" ChatGPT stuff, but quoting automation, compliance acceleration, and capturing institutional knowledge before it walks out the door. They also dig into when you should hire inside versus bring in outside help, what Wisconsin's data center buildout means for the region's future, and why the rate of change is becoming a competitive advantage on its own.

This one goes deeper than most — from startup risk profiles to whether AI is making creative thought more disposable. Worth the full listen.

Topics covered:
• How David's consulting background across enterprise, SMB, and startups shaped Zeytech
• Why startups are "any other business compressed" — and what that means for technology decisions
• TitletownTech, the Microsoft AI Co-innovation Lab in Milwaukee, and what the 4-day prototype sprint actually looks like
• Real AI use cases in manufacturing: quoting automation, compliance routing, and knowledge capture
• The workforce knowledge problem — and how AI can act as an institutional memory system
• Build internal AI capability vs. bring in outside help: what David actually recommends
• Over 250 AI use cases reviewed in a year — what patterns keep showing up
• Fractional expertise, long-term partnerships, and why Zeytech's model is harder to market but more fulfilling
• Wisconsin as an emerging tech hub — data centers, corporate ecosystems, and what's coming
• The philosophical side: is AI making creative thought disposable?

Connect with David Zey:
Zeytech — https://www.zeytech.com
TitletownTech — https://titletowntech.com

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