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
Jack Weissenberger - Ciridae | How AI Cut a 3-Hour Workflow to 10 Minutes for a Home Restoration Company
Jack Weissenberger, Co-founder & CTO of Ciridae, shares how his team rebuilds core systems and deploys AI agents that remove bottlenecks across finance, operations, and project management. Ciridae works with private-equity-backed companies to identify the real constraints inside a business and replace slow, manual workflows with AI-native software built in days, not months. Jack’s perspective matters because he’s led AI teams at Apple and Salesforce-acquired 10X and now drives full-stack AI transformations in the middle market.
You’ll Learn
• How to identify high-leverage AI opportunities that sit behind the obvious pain point—like uncovering that insurance negotiations, not AR, were the true constraint in a restoration business.
• Why unscoped, natural-language workflows (invoice routing, proposal comparisons, nuanced judgment tasks) are often the best candidates for AI agents.
• How AI-native platforms shrink traditional timelines—enabling full-stack applications, including ERP components, to be rebuilt in days or weeks instead of quarters.
• The operational impact of linking AI automation directly to key financial levers: cycle time, DSO, throughput, and leadership bandwidth.
• Why data readiness—not model quality—is the silent blocker in most failed AI rollouts, and what companies must do before any automation can work.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:00 What Ciridae Does
02:48 Why the Middle Market Is Ripe for AI
03:44 Inside the Ciridae Platform
05:04 How Clients Engage & How Audits Work
07:03 Identifying Unscoped Problems for AI
08:44 Why AI Projects Fail
11:08 Rebuilding AI-Native Sources of Truth
12:39 How Fast Can You Rebuild an ERP?
14:13 Where Custom Software Is Heading
15:26 Why Finance & AP/AR Are Perfect for Automation
16:43 Why Home Services Companies Are a Strong Fit
18:29 What “Large Enough” Means for AI Transformation
19:02 Case Study: Uncovering the Real Bottleneck
20:21 Automating Insurance Rebuttals
21:31 Deploying a Production System in 48 Hours
22:42 How AI Cut a 3-Hour Workflow to 10 Minutes
24:18 How This Solution Could Double Enterprise Value
25:32 Staying Open-Minded in AI Audits
26:33 Data Readiness & Integrations
27:59 Who Should Reach Out to Ciridae
29:01 Practical First Steps for Leaders
Links
• Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2PXce31N3IY?si=5PCQaM6DcS9236aM
• Connect with Jack Weissenberger: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-weissenberger-9b8549144/
• Explore more interviews: https://www.justcurious.io/articles/how-ai-cut-a-3-hour-workflow-to-10-minutes-for-a-home-restoration-company
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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