My AI Board of Directors: The Four Tools I Use to Run a Video Production Company in New York

I'm writing this post on a bike in the middle of New York City. I'm talking into my headset, and when I stop I'll send a few pictures and tell it to pull the logos and links for the tools I mention. That's the point of this whole post. The way I run my business today didn't exist a few years ago.

I've run Transcendent Enterprise since 2004. We film events, livestreams, podcasts and corporate video for universities, nonprofits and companies. Right now four AI tools sit underneath almost everything we do. Here's how each one works for me.

How I use AI to run my company, and why this post isn't about money

I thought about calling this "How I make a certain number a month running my company with AI." I know money headlines get more clicks. But I don't like talking about money, and the number isn't what matters here. What matters is how the work gets done and how much of my head it frees up. So that's what I'm writing about.

Claude is the board of directors for my business

Claude is my brain. It's my strategist, my CFO, my operations person and my CMO. I think of it as the board of trustees for the company. Pretty much everything important runs through it first, from pricing a job to planning a proposal to deciding where the business goes next.

The tradeoff is cost. Claude uses a lot of credits. I accept that for the thinking work because the quality is where I want it.

I'm also watching Claude Duet. It's a research preview you message like a person, by typing or talking, and it works inside apps like Gmail, Google Calendar and Slack. Right now it's invite-only. I've heard it could be as strong as Grok Bot for getting things done. We'll see.

Grok Bot does the gritty work I used to put off

Grok Bot is new for me, about three weeks in. I call it Grokbot. This is the gritty, get-it-done part of the operation. I tell it to do something and it does it.

It's helping me manage my email a lot better and draft replies. It searches for things I need to buy at a good price and places orders. It writes social media copy, runs outreach and helps me build leads. I also have Grok Bot and Claude working together, so the strategy comes from one side and the execution happens on the other.

If you've never used it, here's the simple version. Grok Bot comes from xAI, the company that makes Grok. A regular chatbot answers questions. Grok Bot does tasks. It runs on its own computer in the cloud, so it keeps working after you close the app, and you can message it like a coworker, including in the chat inside the X app.

Getting started is basic:

1. Sign in with a Grok plan that includes Grok Bot.
2. Connect the accounts you want it to use, like your email.
3. Give your bot a name and a job, like "handle my inbox."
4. Text it a task in plain words, the same way you'd text an assistant.
5. Check what it plans to do and approve it before it sends, buys or deletes anything.

That last step matters. Let it do the legwork, but keep your hand on anything that goes out with your name on it.

ChatGPT is the day-to-day operations tool for the team

ChatGPT is the most operational tool for the company. It's what the team uses. We have it doing basic video editing, proposals, emails and leads.

The flow isn't as smooth as Grok Bot. The reason we keep it connected to the company is simple. You get more work out of ChatGPT at a lower cost. The quality might not match Claude on everything, but for a lot of daily work it's more than enough.

Using Claude, Grok and ChatGPT on the same project

There are times we use all three on the same project. One plans it, one handles the outreach and follow-up, and one helps the team produce the pieces. I wrote about something similar when I used ChatGPT, Grok and Claude to research my ballot. They don't always agree, and that's useful. You learn where each one is strong.

Higgsfield shows you how AI films are actually made

The fourth tool is Higgsfield, and for me it changed how I think about filmmaking. My advice to anyone in this business is to look at the AI film festivals and contests and see what people are producing. People are making feature films now. Higgsfield even opened up the prompts behind its own 95-minute AI feature so people could learn from it.

What I like about Higgsfield is that it shows you how. You watch the film, scroll to the bottom, and you can see the prompts and how they built everything out. Someone made that sitting at a computer, or walking on a treadmill desk. It's the same reason we keep AI animated video as part of what we offer. The tools are open to anyone willing to learn them.

Why I'm more excited about 2027 than I've been in years

The world went from writing letters to sending email. Now we have tools that can help you make almost anything happen in business, strategically, from your phone. I don't think there's an excuse anymore.

I'll be honest. For a while I had a mental block about learning new things. I understood what I wanted to do, but something always stopped me. I'm cracking that now. I feel like the curious 28-year-old who started this business, and I'm happy to be living in this time.

As I get older, I notice the natural pull to say "when I was young, we did it all." But every day is a gift, no matter how old you get. The world is always changing. You can believe it's changing for the worse or for the better, and that part is up to you. I have never been happier to live in the time we're in now, with tools like these in my hands.

I'm writing this hoping it pushes you to step up, get over whatever hurdle has been stopping you, and go get the success you want.

Business owners ask me these questions about using AI to run a company