Just Curious: Applied AI for Value Creation
Just Curious helps investors and operators turn AI from buzzword to bottom line. Through sharp case studies and practical insights from the world's leading applied AI experts, we explore how to use AI to grow revenue, expand margins, build better products, and create value.
Just Curious: Applied AI for Value Creation
Chris Taylor - Fractional AI | 84% Cost Savings & 30-Second Turnarounds: The PE Playbook for Production-Grade AI
Chris Taylor, Co-founder & CEO of Fractional AI, explains how private equity–backed companies are using applied AI to drive measurable operational impact—not experiments. Drawing from deep experience building AI-native services and deploying production systems across dozens of portcos, Chris breaks down how incumbents can move fast, automate real workflows, and turn AI into cost savings, productivity, and defensibility.
You’ll Learn:
- How to identify the workflows where AI can actually deliver value—not wishful “AI ideas.”
- Why incumbents, not AI-first startups, are often best positioned to win with generative AI.
- How to evaluate feasibility, scope, and ROI so projects move quickly from idea to production.
- Why PE-owned companies are ideal AI adopters and how to navigate partnership with SMEs and engineering.
- How one portco achieved an 84% cost reduction by automating product-taxonomy mapping with an AI-first workflow.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:32 What Fractional AI does
04:29 How companies identify real AI opportunities
06:37 Why PE-backed companies adopt AI differently
09:15 Partnering with SMEs and engineers
11:50 Common misconceptions and early mistakes
20:35 Case study: automating product-taxonomy mapping
26:30 Deployment and internal reaction
29:03 Cost savings and impact
31:02 What AI means in PE diligence
34:41 First 30-day steps for CEOs
36:54 Who Fractional AI works best with
Links:
- Explore more interviews and Chris Taylor's expert profile: https://www.justcurious.io/experts/chris-taylor
- Connect with Chris Taylor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorcd/
- Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/sVb3QmqucEg
Just Curious helps the world’s leading operators and investors cut through a noisy AI market and find the right partners — from strategy and assessments to full-stack AI development. Our network of applied AI experts spans generative and agentic AI, workflow automation, and custom software powered by AI, helping teams turn curiosity into measurable value.
Explore more interviews and connect with experts at https://www.justcurious.io
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