"AI Without the Overwhelm: Outsized Results for Small Business."

PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION: AI Without the Overwhelm: Outsized Results for Small Business."

Small businesses don’t need big teams or big budgets to move fast anymore—and taking advantage of AI isn’t something to fear. In a world where the tools change weekly and the advice is loud, this session gives you a simple way to move forward without guessing. You don’t have to be “an AI person” to benefit, and you don’t need to overhaul your business overnight. The real unlock is a simple, repeatable way to start small, learn fast, and build confidence as you go.

We’ll begin with the mindset shift and the practical basics: how to avoid the traps that cause most teams to stall (overwhelm, uncertainty, and tool chaos), how to choose smart first use-cases, and how to guide adoption inside your company with curiosity instead of anxiety. Then we’ll make it real.

In the live demo portion, you’ll watch AI compress hours into minutes—reinventing a website, creating viral social marketing videos, and generating compelling content on the spot—while showing how to sanity-check outputs, decide what’s “good enough,” and turn ideas into clear next steps your team can actually execute. You’ll leave with a low-risk starting playbook and genuine excitement about what’s now possible for your business.

PRESENTER: Rob Patterson | Co-founder, Cirqa

Rob Patterson is the co-founder of CIRQA, a Traverse City–based AI company pioneering Verified Intelligence—AI that improves your questions, routes tasks to the best model automatically, and shows clear confidence scoring so you know when to trust an answer and when to verify.

CIRQA builds AI-native products that help high-stakes professionals and teams move faster, reduce “model fatigue,” and make decisions with calibrated trust—turning messy uncertainty into clear next steps.

Rob has been the VP of Emerging Products at SiriusXM, for nearly twenty years, where he helped transform the company into a next-generation tech platform—launching AI-powered personalization, shaping new in-car experiences, and driving innovation across entertainment and connected technologies.

Known for making advanced tech practical (and usable), Rob speaks to leaders who want real leverage from AI: better questions, better decisions, and fewer expensive mistakes.

FEATURED BOOK: The AI-Driven Leader

The AI-Driven Leader argues that modern leaders can regain clarity and focus by using AI as a strategic partner rather than just a productivity tool. Geoff Woods explains how AI can cut through information overload, challenge assumptions, and help leaders make faster, smarter decisions that keep them ahead in a rapidly changing business landscape.

The book offers a simple, practical framework for bringing AI into everyday leadership. Through examples and ready-to-use prompts, Woods shows how leaders can reduce operational noise, prioritize what truly matters, elevate team performance, and shift from constant reactive work to intentional, high-impact leadership.

SCHEDULE

11:00am - Doors Open // Sponsor Expo // Networking

11:15-11:45 - Lunch, Open Networking Continues

11:45-12:50 - Welcome, Featured Presentation

12:50-1PM - Q & A and Wrap-up

NOTE: No Refunds on orders, but you can make attendee substitutions if you create an Eventbrite account.

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