AI is like teenage s*x.
Everyone talks about it, nobody really knows how to do it.
Everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so everyone claims they are doing it.
Let’s get real for a second.
Everybody on LinkedIn is suddenly an "AI operator".
↳ AI-powered this.
↳ AI-native that.
↳ AI-first everything.
But here’s the naked truth most folks don’t want to say out loud: 99% of companies talking AI aren’t building, they’re larping.
The cycle goes like this:
1/ Founder reads a TechCrunch headline.
2/ Slaps "AI" in the deck. Maybe adds ChatGPT to a Google Form.
3/ Posts a 47-tweet thread about “the AI revolution.”
4/ Claims their SaaS is now “AI-powered” because they called the OpenAI API once by accident.
Meanwhile, real AI practitioners are heads down, fighting obscure edge-cases, building stuff that would make your AWS bill cry.
The rest? Just faking it until the next buzzword.
Here’s the real test:
↳ Does your AI product print money or just burn investor cash?
↳ Are your end-users getting value — or just a fancier loading spinner?
↳ Would anyone miss your so-called “AI” if you ripped it out tomorrow?
At BuddiesHR, we approached AI without the parade:
We built actual automations.
We shipped them fast, with real users.
And no, we didn’t pretend to invent AGI in a WeWork phone booth.
Truth: Adding “AI” doesn’t make your business a rocket ship.
Serving customers does.
Stacking recurring revenue does.
Delivering actual results does.
Tech fads come and go.
“AI” is only scary until you realize most of what’s shipped is just hype dressed as code.
My advice?
Stop peacocking.
Stop bullsh*tting.
Get your hands dirty, solve a real problem, and only add AI if it amplifies value.
If everyone’s “doing AI,” why do so few have a single real user that cares?
Stay sharp. Stay skeptical. Ship what matters.
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👋 Hey, I'm J.Y!
I'm the co-founder of BuddiesHR, the #1 Employee Engagement Software that lives in Slack.
I post 1x a day about my journey and share what I've learned along the way.
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P.S. I'm writing a no-BS B2B SaaS playbook with everything I've learned. Want a free copy? Click “Visit my website” to sign up.