How Entrepreneurs Are Using AI to Scale Small Businesses (From Aviation Tech to Cookies

This episode of the AI Profit Machine podcast dives into how entrepreneurs are practically using AI to grow and scale their businesses.

We sit down with Marco Cano, a seasoned software product manager with nearly two decades of experience, who shares how he's transitioning from building AI systems in aviation to applying the same principles in his cookie business.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

•  How AI can automate manual sales and outreach processes 
•  Why the “discovery phase” is critical before building AI agents 
•  How enterprise AI experience (AWS, GCP) translates to small business growth 
•  The mindset shift entrepreneurs need to scale beyond just selling products 
•  Real insights from the ground at one of the world’s biggest tech and innovation events 

Whether you're a small business owner, tech professional, or curious about AI agents, this episode gives you a real-world look at how AI is being used beyond the hype.

Tune in to learn how to turn your expertise into scalable systems using AI.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Welcome back to the AI Profit Machine House podcast, live broadcast. We are here live at South by Southwest. I am our co-host, Lindsay Vadio, and I have Marco Kano here with us today. All right, Marco, I want to know as a franchise owner, as an entrepreneur, how are you using AI in your business right now?

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Yeah, so today I use AI, basically trying to automate all the manual processes that I have for outreach sales.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Ooh, what kind of stuff are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Right now I'm in the process of like the discovery phase. So basically, I'm trying to make sure that all the manual processes work in place before I decide to whether to go out and make an AI agent to replace that.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

That's advanced, Marco.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Who taught you how to build AI agents?

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Just by trade, I've by trade, I've I'm a software product manager, been doing software product management for the past 15, 18 years.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

And I have a background in aviation software where I use AI agents to actually use machine learning to basically train the models to identify maintenance issues before they would occur. So I get those AI agents, automate the processes for our for the aviation mechanics, and now I'm taking that experience and using it for my cookie business.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

Isn't it so crazy? Like what we can do now. If you have an idea for something, you can like plug it in Sak or whatever it is that you're using. What are you using for your agents?

SPEAKER_00 1:36

I'm sorry?

SPEAKER_01 1:37

What are you using for your agents?

SPEAKER_00 1:39

What do I use for the agents? Yeah, do you have it built yet, or you're still like figuring it out? Well, for the cookie business, I'm still trying to figure that out. Okay. But in the past, for the aviation software, we use AWS, GCP, okay. Those different types of services to build up.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

It's so funny. I just did a recording earlier with Chris, and he's like, I'm up until 4 a.m. building out agents. And I'm like, you know, then I have to take a 12-minute nap because I have to sleep, and it's so fun to just see how they're like it's growing so much, and there's so many different programs, there's so many different softwares that you can use.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

I think more than that, though, for a small business owner like yourself and you're Yeah, I mean what I'm trying to do right now is just get my experience and you know apply it to my small business, right? How can I be more efficient, right? Because we don't just sell cookies and ice cream, it's how do I actually scale that, right? Yeah. Like I'm taking my experience and trying to scale it, right? Yeah. So that's that's how I'm trying to apply it today.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

Yeah, that's awesome. What do you think about our event? What do you think about our event?

SPEAKER_00 2:37

I'm sorry, I cannot hear you.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

What do you think about our event?

SPEAKER_00 2:40

Oh, the event, it's great. I mean, the live music, obviously, right? A little loud, but no. In the back, it's great. A lot of people out there, great networking. Yeah. And we're gonna have the book signing soon. I'm looking forward to that as well. Yay! Um, but overall, yeah, the event's going really well.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

Yeah, awesome. Well, thank you for being here, Marco.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

Yeah, thanks for having me.