Shark Branding Solutions’ ‘Hackathon’ Was An Amazing Way To Dive Into AI

Obviously, AI (Artificial Intelligence) is the wave of the future, but if you’re old school like me, it’s probably been hard for you to embrace.

However, although I still find errors when I use Google AI to do research for stories, I am now a lot more interested in the other ways that AI can help my business — thanks to the husband-&-wife team of Josh and Michelle Stanaland of Shark Branding Solutions.

In addition to Michelle and Josh, the Shark Branding Solutions team includes chief operating officer Tiffany Fancher (at left in photo, with Michelle and Josh), “who makes sure everything runs smoothly,” Michelle said. “We couldn’t do this without her.”

Michelle, Shark Branding’s CEO, invited the Neighborhood News team to the company’s first-ever in-person “Hackathon” on May 26 (at Philena Worthington’s Worthington Agency, a AAA insurance office at 35366 Pure Water Way, Zephyrhills) — which wasn’t at all what it sounded like, at least not to me.

Josh, the company’s chief technology officer, created a simulation of the websites of each of the six businesses who attended the Hackathon. Each website was outfitted with an AI “employee” (“not a ChatBot,” Michelle emphasized) who served as each company’s receptionist.

In other words, when you logged onto your own simulated website, your AI receptionist (ours was named Nora) popped up to answer any and all questions about your business that someone visiting your website might have.

“I don’t know about you,” Michelle said, “but as a business owner, I love creating websites and helping companies build their brands. I don’t like having to answer the phone. But, I also know that I have lost potential clients because I didn’t answer the phone or get back to the person soon enough.

“If you hire a receptionist, which can cost you $40,000 a year, you have to train them, hope they will handle your customers as you would and that they will be reliable. Your AI receptionist is ‘trained’ by being programmed with all of the info about your business and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

She added, however, “That the goal is not to replace your employees, but to allow your entire team to avoid having to handle those customer inquiries so they can each do their actual jobs.”

At any rate, the idea of the Hackathon was for each of us to hack, or basically break, our own AI receptionist.

But, guess what? Without ever having to be trained by myself or Jannah, Nora answered every possible question anyone visiting our website could possibly ask — including about our editorial content, and especially, about advertising in the Neighborhood News.

In other words, Josh and Michelle, who have not yet rolled out their AI receptionist “package” to the public, are onto something big. And, you should definitely give them a call — and please tell them I sent you.

For Shark Branding Solutions, call (727) 269-7009 or visit SharkBrandingSolutions.com. For the Worthington Agency, call (813) 454-7388. — GN, photos by Charmaine GeorgeÂ