Smarter Growth with AI: Scaling SaaS, Apps, and Business Strategies

[00:00:00] Christopher Sherrick: Hey, beautiful people.

Welcome to the Warm-Blooded Founders podcast. I am speaking from Mexico City. I moved here two weeks ago. It has been difficult getting settled in, but day by day, we are making progress. It is really interesting. I was just talking backstage with our guest and with our producer about how, in periods of transition, we don’t always give ourselves grace,whether that’s inside of our business or in our personal life. And if you heard that sound, that is a,I believe it’s called a cohete,which is a firework used especially during the month of September, as well as a few other months.

Mexican Independence Day is this month, and throughout the whole month, they celebrate with very loud fireworks. They often scare the shit out of me during the day. But they are very, very historically important as they represent the sound of cannon fire, which was an incredibly important sensory association with Mexican liberation. And you might be hearing those throughout the show, so forgive me. But back to what I was saying before about grace, it’s been difficult settling in here.

 There have been a lot of discomforts. My executive assistant and I have a daily health check-in, and part of the reason why we established that foundation was because I have ADHD. Sometimes I can get overwhelmed with task-oriented things. Louise, great to have you! Thanks for coming. Having her to just go run through everything,

Have I taken my medications? Have I taken my supplements? This routine has been extended over time and has crossed over with some of my therapy, coaching, and personal development work. Interestingly enough, the topic that we have for this week is grace. We always end with a quote, and these quotes and the discussion topics allow me to reconnect with different values that are important to my foundation and important to what’s going on in my life.

And that discomfort, and the grace that I’m attempting to hold next to that discomfort,you know, it’s around my health as I settle here. It takes some time for your body to get used to the food. The water is not filtered out of the tap. We have that as a luxury in the States, and it’s something you don’t realize until you have to wash your produce down here. My finances,people don’t like to talk about finances.

I don’t like to talk about finances, but moving is not easy. There’s a lot going on. I have storage for my stuff in New York. I have family homes on the East Coast, and things are expensive. I run a couple of different teams, and business ebbs and flows, so we have to be able to plan and prepare for that.

 And I do so with my partner. Again, discomfort in communication: being down here, my,hey Nora, great to see you,my Spanish is a three or four out of ten. Funnily enough, Nora will tell you that’s true; Nora and I used to work together back in the day. And I find it really difficult to go out sometimes, and I’m filled with anxiety.

Not always. When I’m here in Latin America or South America on vacation, I find that that anxiety isn’t as present. But now that I’m here establishing routines, that communication barrier and the fear of not being able to communicate well is a challenge. However, in all of this, there has been a hidden gem: discomfort can create an immense amount of presence. Not always. When I’m here in Latin America, South America, on vacation, I find that that anxiety isn’t as present. But now that I’m here and I’m establishing routines, that communication and the fear of not being able to communicate well is a challenge. So all of these things, and especially that last one, there has been a hidden gem in all of this, which is that discomfort can create an immense amount of presence.

We typically have anxiety when we’re trying to remove ourselves from discomfort, but often discomfort gives us a signal or an opportunity to lean in. One of the opportunities I’ve had in working on my Spanish so far,and I’m sure in a

couple of months it’ll be much better than it is now,is that I’m finding I have to think very hard about what I am hearing and then what I am going to say back in Spanish.

Mostly, I don’t have the words, Nora, I don’t have the words in English most of the time either. But it creates a very intense sense of presence, and often I’m missing that presence. That’s what creates anxiety. That’s what can create mistakes, a lack of focus, and all these different things. So, with all that, it is a personal story sharing that discomfort can feel uncomfortable, but it is also an opportunity for us to lean in, create more presence, and do things in our lives that allow us to get more value out of the time and energy we invest, especially into things worth investing in, which are usually uncomfortable.

 So with all that said, welcome to the Warm-Blooded Founders show! If this is your first time here, where the name comes from is the opposite idea of how there used to be a celebration of cold-blooded CEOs, corporate transactional mindsets, and profits over people. This show is about a challenge that I swore at the beginning.

 You don’t really hear people swear much on LinkedIn. You’re not supposed to because we’re living in a clean, curated corporate environment. But the reality is that in life and business,especially for those entrepreneurs out there,those are not two separate things. We’re people. It is all life; emotions ebb and flow, and all of these things happen.

So this is an attempt at making content that is intentionally and explicitly human for those dealing with the rollercoaster of everyday business ownership, working inside innovative companies, investing in them, partnering, or whatever it is. And the idea of being warm-blooded for me changes based on the episode, but it’s all rooted in the same concepts. Today I’m showing up with vulnerability. The idea around vulnerability is that we can create trust through human connection, and that trust can often underpin business deals. It can help us better lead other people, and it simply allows us to be present and connect one-on-one with others where we have the opportunity to learn, share, and operate without an agenda.

On that note, I’m excited to be present and connect with our guest tonight. I’d like to welcome Ghazenfer Mansoor. Ghazenfer is the CEO of Technology Rivers, a software development firm specializing in AI-powered solutions, SaaS,

product development, and healthcare technology. Ghazenfer and his team help startups and service-based businesses streamline their operations, automate processes, and scale through smart, efficient software.

We’ll be talking about AI today. Primarily, Ghazenfer is also the author of Beyond the Download: How to Build Mobile Apps That People Love, Use, and Share. Every single day he shares insights on innovation, growth strategy, and building technology. Ghazenfer, great to have you on the show. Welcome!

[00:07:16] Ghazenfer Mansoor: Thanks Chris. Thanks for having me. ¡Hola! I think that’s about as much Spanish as I know, so, 

[00:07:22] Christopher Sherrick: Well, as we were just talking about before the show, English is not your native language, so we share an experience where normally in the States, or on LinkedIn, the business I do is primarily with native English speakers. 

So it is nice to have that empathy and connect with you in a way that I otherwise wouldn’t have without living in a place like Mexico right now. 

[00:07:50] Ghazenfer Mansoor: Absolutely. And I think now the world is changing because of technology. You can do a lot of those things,like now we see all the time, interacting with people who don’t know the language, now with Google Translate. And yes, I heard Apple is also introducing something where you talk in one language and then,

 [00:08:15] Christopher Sherrick: Yes, I saw that.

 [00:08:17] Ghazenfer Mansoor: So I think learning a new language will become much easier, or you won’t have to learn anymore because technology can solve the problem.

 [00:08:27] Christopher Sherrick: Yeah. You know, it’s not a topic I’ll spend too much time on, but it’s an interesting one because my partner is an art historian and she spends a lot of her time learning different languages,not just to be able to communicate with other people, but to show respect for the culture and history. That often allows connections and relationships to build, enabling her to access the works and materials she needs to move her contributions to her field forward.

 [00:08:56] Christopher Sherrick: So there is going to be this ability to communicate more, but there is more than just communication intent behind language, right? There is also respect, shared trust, and effort behind it.

 [00:09:16] Ghazenfer Mansoor: Yeah, absolutely. I’m totally with you. We have team members in six different countries, and I realized after working together for some time that there are big cultural differences, even though people know English.

All of the people we work with speak really good English. But digging deeper, you realize how they interact, respond, and deal with certain things. So knowing those cultures definitely makes a huge difference, and you connect with those people way more.

 [00:09:50] Christopher Sherrick: Absolutely. You noted backstage that you have a few folks on your team in the Philippines. I’ll share a quick story and then I promise I’ll move on,I’m feeling a little chatty tonight! Recently, my executive assistant, Nicole, shared that she was going to Thailand with her sister, where she was going to be the photographer for the trip.

 I believe her sister is engaged and soon to be wed, and she referred to the trip as a “prenup.” Of course, in American culture, you don’t talk about pre-wedding events as a “prenup” unless you are referring to the legal agreement. So she told me that she was going to be in and out of the office for a couple of days,which we planned for,because she was going for her sister’s prenup photo shoot.

 And I thought, “Wow, what an interesting cultural difference that they go out and celebrate a legal agreement to keep their assets separate in case of divorce!” It turns out I got it all wrong. We had a huge laugh about it. But as much as understanding culture matters, you have to ask questions and communicate to truly understand different nuances of a culture.

That takes time. But it also creates these moments of levity and connection that you otherwise wouldn’t have. It’s something I’m very grateful for, both with her on my team and also being in Mexico right now.

 [00:11:29] Ghazenfer Mansoor: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

 [00:11:35] Christopher Sherrick: So, I like throwing a curveball at the beginning of each show. Before we get into the main topics, I talked about what being a warm-blooded founder means to me, how this show came about, and why it’s structured this way. We haven’t dived into AI yet; we’re starting with some informal conversation to get to know each other and allow people to get to know us, because that matters in business. It’s more than just transactional words. I would love to hear for the audience and for myself: what does being a warm-blooded founder mean to you?

 [00:12:11] Ghazenfer Mansoor: For me, being a warm-blooded founder means prioritizing trust and relationships, because trust and relationships outlast any playbook. Technology changes, AI will come and go, markets shift,all these things will come and go,but people remember how you show up, your integrity, and the balance you maintain when dealing with your family and your people, especially during tough times.  Those are the things that will be remembered. In the end, your reputation, your relationships, and how you make people feel are what last long term. Those are your real compound interests.

[00:13:00] Christopher Sherrick: Amazing. I love that answer, Ghazenfer. Thank you for sharing that. I love the idea of how you show up. We talked about intent when it comes to learning languages and understanding cultures.

In business, it is absolutely about how you show up. You own and operate Technology Rivers. I worked at an agency for a couple of years as a managing partner, and a lot of that role was showing up for clients when there were inevitably

problems in projects, as it’s impossible to scope everything perfectly.

Things go wrong, especially in innovation,you have to expect things to go wrong. It is less about making sure everything goes perfectly and more about whether you are showing up and remaining connected so that trust stays intact.

How you show up for your clients matters, especially nowadays as we move into a world transforming toward AI technologies.

We are talking about how we can systematize different processes, people, and operations. People start to get anxious during this conversation for a number of reasons. First, people worry about losing their jobs. Second, people worry about whether they’ll be able to keep up. We talk about showing up, right?

How are you working with different startups and companies to bring AI to the table and align it with real business outcomes,especially at early to mid-stage companies,while showing up with the intent that it is a partnership? Not just between entities, but also with the existing team, how they do things, and where they want to go. Where do you start, and what are the most practical uses of AI that you’ve seen?

 [00:14:53] Ghazenfer Mansoor: Even though I say AI is not just hype, we are seeing people wanting AI everywhere,sometimes without considering what it takes to make applications AI-enabled. The way we look at AI is that it’s a multiplier.

It increases productivity. We don’t look at it as a replacement. AI is not a replacement; it makes you more productive. Whatever you are doing, you can do ten times more. I have yet to meet a founder who says,

“We have enough people and we’re getting everything done that we wanted.”

No, they always have too many things on their plate and on their roadmap that they can’t complete. Now with AI, you can achieve a lot more, so productivity increases. That’s where AI makes a difference,leveraging it as a multiplier, using it smarter rather than just using it for the sake of it, and scaling without adding headcount, which increases costs. People are trying different tools, but we’re still in the early stages and everyone is learning. Over the next year or two, people will be testing new tools and technologies. So it is going to take some time.

 [00:16:49] Christopher Sherrick: You know, two decades after the SaaS boom, we live in a world with an infinite number of tools and systems to implement. On the last episode of this show, our guest talked about how one of the first things they do when systematizing pieces of their business is look at the process end-to-end to make sure it’s right, attempting to consolidate or eliminate unnecessary steps or tools. For those feeling anxiety about how fast AI is moving, it can become overwhelming very quickly.

Implementing AI poorly or without clear expectations can increase complexity, similar to the SaaS boom when people used every tool under the sun to solve problems when the tool wasn’t the issue. It might be the process, approach, or strategy that needs fixing. In your opinion, for the companies you’ve worked with and from a thought leadership perspective, how can AI help founders scale without increasing complexity?

 [00:18:23] Ghazenfer Mansoor: I totally agree with what you said. People run into problems with AI because it isn’t going to fix things automatically.

AI just executes your workflow. You still need to clean up your data and map your workflows. In computing, we have the phrase GIGO: “Garbage In, Garbage Out.” That applies heavily to AI.

It actually shows up even faster in AI because you fail quickly when inputting poor data and not getting desired results. It’s essential to clean your data and map your processes. Yes. it actually, it shows up. It’s actually, it’s better in AI because in AI you are quickly failing as well because you try to put in things and you try to do things and you are not getting the results that you wanted. So it’s very important that you work on your data. You have to have those processes mapped.

You need data governance,defining who handles data and what your policies are. In regulated industries, data must be handled very carefully. People put all kinds of data into ChatGPT, which is used to train models. Initially, companies were reluctant to use it, but now many larger companies make AI usage mandatory, even for software development.

Previously there was reluctance, but now people understand it better, provided proper governance keeps sensitive data secure.

there was a reluctance. Now people are understanding, and then again, there are some things that are being handled at the governance level, how certain things do not go out of the head.

 There is a lot that can be done, but the most important parts are working on your data and mapping your workflows. We use a “blueprint process” where we analyze workflows deeply to locate bottlenecks and growth opportunities.

 You still have to look at existing systems, like integrations with your EMR or CRM. Without good data, your CRM won’t yield results whether you use HubSpot or Salesforce.

You often hear people say they need new tools for better sales, but you still need lead generation and clean data. It comes back to data and workflow mapping,that’s the bottom line.

 [00:21:10] Christopher Sherrick: It’s the same as it was with SaaS tools, right?

If a SaaS tool requires a lot of company data to be successful, that data needs to be clean. You need a process not just for updating it once, but for maintaining data integrity continuously. It’s about people, processes, and technology systems,it’s a mindset shift.

Think about franchises like McDonald’s. One reason they are so successful is their ability to replicate products, systems, and workflows in almost any geographic environment. What mindset shift is needed, in your opinion, to lead in an AI-first environment?

You mentioned taking care of data and mapping workflows. As entrepreneurs, we know that as a founder or CEO, you’re often running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Breaking down these systems can feel overwhelming very quickly.

Where does that mindset shift need to happen?

 [00:22:34] Ghazenfer Mansoor: To be AI-enabled, I talk a lot about 10x growth,how you grow 10x using AI and technology. That requires a shift in mindset. For example, if you run a service business,like a lawn mowing or cleaning company, let’s say it could be a lawn mowing, it could be a cleaning company, it could be any service business. You have choices. You can buy standard tools used by competitors and differentiate purely on service quality. Many competitors aren’t using these tools efficiently, so using them well gives you an edge.

Alternatively, you can build custom technology designed to scale, increasing efficiency and business value. When it comes to raising investment or selling the business, custom technology makes it much more valuable. Viewing technology as an investment rather than an expense is the required mindset shift. Consider homeownership: standard professional advice is often to buy a home rather than rent.

When renting, you are limited by constraints set by your landlord. I couldn’t build this bookshelf behind me if I were renting. When you buy a home, you own everything and have far more flexibility. Over time, you build equity. In the short term, buying requires upfront capital, but in the long run, it’s beneficial. Technology works similarly: licensing a tool is like renting, whereas building gives you ownership. It’s not about saving it. 

So in the long run, that’s beneficial In the short term, yes. That’s a, that’s the money that you have to bring in, whether it’s down payment, same goes in the technology. If you are licensing the tool, then it’s different. So if you are buying or if you are buying, that’s different. Building custom technology doesn’t mean replacing your CRM. It might mean building custom AI agents or automations. Determining what to build versus buy depends on your specific workflows, as every business has different needs and DNA.

What is complex for one company might be simple for another. You can use off-the-shelf software for commodity tasks, but build proprietary solutions where you need a competitive advantage. Align your technology choices with your long-term business goals,whether that’s lifestyle flexibility, revenue growth, or creating a large impact. Go back to your core objectives.

 One of my favorite Steve Jobs quotes is: “Customers don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” People didn’t know they wanted an iPhone when they were happy with BlackBerries. Once you show people what’s possible, they buy into it. Building and owning technology works the same way; many people aren’t aware of what’s possible until they see it, own it. Many of them are not aware. 

[00:27:27] Christopher Sherrick: You made a really good point at the start: people are still learning what these tools are, how to use them, which ones will rise to the top, and where to invest. At our firm, Exigent Partners, we always start by asking founders: “What are your goals?”

How difficult is it from an agency perspective to work with people who don’t know their goals or values? That makes it hard to decide strategy,whether to buy or build.

 At Technology Rivers, you have to evaluate every situation based on what the business actually needs, which is why clients hire you to develop custom solutions. If off-the-shelf software could easily solve every custom business problem, service firms wouldn’t exist. When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, building upon it required many stakeholders. It was a foundational technology that pushed the world forward, just like AI is doing today.

Having a clear strategy is key. If you want to invest in something that scales toward your long-term goals, your strategy might involve running development sprints to test different AI tools across specific use cases to see which works best. Working with experts eases that process. And to your point, again, having that strategy very clear. I saw Nian, his comment, strategy is key. Couldn’t agree more.

 If you want to invest in something that’s going to scale long term towards your goals, and you might even decide that your strategy is, we’re gonna run 10 development sprints and we are going to attempt to try different AI tools in our stack for these five different use cases. And we’re going to find out at the end which one is best. So working with experts like you, of course, is going to ease that process. Now we’re moving towards this conversation of, and just,

[00:30:02] Christopher Sherrick: Hey Ghazenfer, can you still hear me? 

[00:30:05] Ghazenfer Mansoor: I can. I can hear you.

[00:30:08] Christopher Sherrick: Hello? 

[00:30:10] Ghazenfer Mansoor: I’m here.

[00:30:13] Ghazenfer Mansoor: Can you not hear me?

[00:30:15] Christopher Sherrick: Hello? Hello.

[00:30:23] Jessie Lizak: We have a little technical issue. Can you hear us? Chris? You did cut out a little bit.

[00:30:30] Ghazenfer Mansoor: Jesse, can you hear me?

[00:30:32] Jessie Lizak: I hear you. Do you hear me, Ghazenfer?

[00:30:34] Ghazenfer Mansoor: I can hear you. Okay,

[00:30:37] Christopher Sherrick: I can hear you. I believe my video might be cutting in and out. We’ll keep talking. This is the human aspect of live production; it’s not always going to be perfect. 

[00:30:52] Christopher Sherrick: It might

Moving from building technology to scaling strategy: you’ve spent a lot of time working with companies on SaaS products and mobile apps, seeing what works and what doesn’t. Having spent most of my career in product at startups, I speak this language, but let’s simplify it for our listeners. What is your framework for growing SaaS products and mobile apps effectively? Is it just about technology, or where do you start?

 [00:32:05] Ghazenfer Mansoor: It goes back to strategy: you need to identify the exact problem you are trying to solve. A common mistake is chasing features or vanity metrics like total downloads. It’s not about downloads; it’s about activation and retention. To retain users, you must keep them continuously engaged. Why do people open TikTok, Facebook, or LinkedIn every day? Because the content and experience keep them engaged. Whatever business you build, you must focus on acquiring, retaining, and engaging users effectively.

If you build an app and nobody uses it, it’s useless. That’s why I named my book Beyond the Download: How to Build Mobile Apps That People Love, Use, and Share. If users aren’t engaged, your app will just be forgotten on their phones. The same applies to SaaS, AI agents, or automations: you must solve a specific problem. We recommend starting small with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) developed in two to three months.

 [00:34:08] Ghazenfer Mansoor: Regardless of project size, we break work down into smaller soft launches. A smaller MVP allows you to get user feedback sooner.

Founders often think their product idea is perfect, but you need real user validation. The sooner you launch to users, the faster you get a feedback loop.

That feedback loop helps you adapt. Often, founders start with one idea and pivot based on customer requests. Achieving product-market fit is key. At our company, we guide clients through our blueprint process.

blueprint process. We identify target use cases, map user flows, and define the core functionality. If you build another generic CRM, it’s hard to gain traction against incumbents like Salesforce or Pipedrive.

CRM, no matter how unique you are, you are less likely to get traction because there are so many people starting comparing with Salesforce, Pipedrive, all these different tools.

But if you focus on a specific missing feature, like a specialized Chrome extension, you can acquire users solving that exact pain point, and then expand features over time.

 As you build incrementally, your product takes shape naturally. We don’t ask clients for huge upfront commitments; we start small, test, and expand iteratively. Small businesses can implement automations step by step. Early wins build team confidence, and employees start seeing technology as a helper rather than a threat.  Automations boost efficiency and reduce errors in payroll, log notes, or treatment plans, allowing teams to focus on core tasks. As long as technology saves time and helps people work more efficiently, it adds tremendous value.

 [00:37:33] Christopher Sherrick: It’s an interesting comparison to look at SaaS MVPs,we use a lot of acronyms in tech! For those who don’t know, SaaS stands for Software as a Service,subscription software charged monthly that continuously delivers value. MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product. It’s important to explain these terms so everyone can follow along.

Having spent my career in product launching zero-to-one and one-to-ten initiatives, I know balancing commercial demands with engineering capability requires a unique skill set.

You have to translate sales and marketing needs into technical and user experience requirements. If you haven’t managed that process before, it can be challenging.

The final output is a detailed breakdown of user stories and features designed to solve customer problems throughout their day. Identifying core AI use cases and systematizing them is just like scoping an MVP: you evaluate the cost and potential value of automating specific processes. Sales teams often want every feature, technical teams want different features, and product leaders must dissect which unsolved use cases offer the highest ROI. Technical founders face their own unique challenges in this process. I’d love to hear your take on that side of the coin, 

Ghazenfer,We talked a bit about the commercial side, right? Features, I’ve worked in product long enough to know that technical founders run into issues, but they’re different issues. I’d love to talk, I’d love to hear your take on that side of the coin. And I know you’re a technical guy, so I’m not coming at you with this. 

[00:41:09] Ghazenfer Mansoor: Coming from a tech background, I know developers love building custom solutions for everything,like custom chat systems,rather than using existing tools. Over time, as you interact directly with clients and move into consulting roles, you shift your focus from writing code to solving business problems. My biggest lesson came from my own startup before Technology Rivers,a recruitment software company. For the first version, we built a heavy Java backend loaded with features, assuming users would come. We spent a year building features, launched the product, and nobody came.

We went back to the drawing board, conducted UX research, and defined our target audience. In recruitment, there are many sub-segments: internal hiring teams, staffing agencies, and consulting firms. After refining our target use cases and product design, we started acquiring customers. That costly mistake taught me product management lessons that became the foundation for Technology Rivers.

It was a hard lesson in time and money, but it shaped how I run my business today. Non-technical founders often make the same mistake by constantly pushing for more features.

 [00:43:52] Christopher Sherrick: life

 [00:43:53] Ghazenfer Mansoor: That cost me a lot of time and money when I learned about product development, but I couldn’t run this business the way I’m running now, had I not gone through that exercise, because now we see the same mistake happening. Even if the tech, the founders are not technical, they’re pushing for features every day.

Clients often come to us asking for specific technical solutions rather than explaining their underlying problems. We conducted a discovery to uncover their actual needs.And then we realized they actually meant something totally different many times. And that’s natural. Like, so tomorrow somebody may say, oh, very

[00:44:40] Jessie Lizak: standard.

 [00:44:41] Ghazenfer Mansoor: For example, a client might ask for an AI agent because it sounds like the right solution. Our job is to challenge those assumptions and clarify what they’re trying to achieve.Digging deeper usually reveals a simpler solution. When we started Technology Rivers, our motto was “Build once, the right way.” As you dig in, you realize most of the time it’s a totally different thing that they’re trying to do. So, so solving, so that lesson learned was from my own straw. So when we started this business, we wanted to, we had this tagline that, okay, build wants the right way.

Many founders have limited capital. Often, clients come to us after spending a year working with developers without launching a working product.

 [00:45:25] Ghazenfer Mansoor: So if you have a little money. You build an MVP or any product, realize many times people are coming after a year, oh, we’re working with this group. Or whether they hired a developer or company for a year and it’s still not working, it’s still not launched many times. I mean, it’s, it’s the right product because that’s exactly you told them.

A client once told me, “We asked for yellow, they did yellow. We asked for red, they did red. But nobody guided us on what we actually needed.” Strategic guidance is vital during development. Our past product experience helps us guide founders effectively.

 [00:46:35] Christopher Sherrick: No, it’s okay. I’ll, I’ll take us back there for one. I highly respect your consultative approach with clients. I share the value of not recommending work that costs money without delivering real value. Helping founders narrow their MVP scope is essential,early capital should be spent solving the core problem, not just building features.

 Achieving your product vision takes multiple iterations and market feedback loops.

iterations with feedback from the market. You are establishing a product vision that you believe is going to change the world in a certain way. Your vision is your North Star. As a founder of a venture-backed health tech startup, I see how options for capital deployment and software execution are evolving health tech companies. Things are all now changing when it comes to what your options are. You deploy capital to hit milestone outcomes,whether that’s reaching profitability or preparing for your next funding round. Whether it is continuing to raise or getting to the point where you’ve achieved enough product market fit based on your goals for the business, that, hey, I’ll survive on the revenue of this business alone. No one is pushing me to grow exponentially. Or if you are taking the jet fuel approach, we are ready to go after our next round because that capital is gonna get us to that next stage.

Right now, my startup doesn’t require deep custom tech development, so I don’t need a full-time CTO. I can partner with an agency to build our product requirements. The speed and options available today are vastly different than in the past.  AI-driven development significantly accelerates time-to-market and reduces iteration costs. Some engineers feel threatened by AI, but smart software engineers embrace it as a tool to solve user stories faster.

Engineers take user requirements,like automating financial operations, and select the best technology stack to solve the problem. AI-driven development speeds up that iteration process. How has this shifted your agency model over the last few years?

 [00:50:45] Ghazenfer Mansoor: We adopted AI-driven development several months ago, and it changed a lot. We still do custom development and build AI-powered solutions, but AI enhances our productivity significantly. AI acts as a 10x multiplier for team productivity. For instance, we can generate unit tests and refactor code much faster now. And then AI is helping us in many ways. So, for example, the same thing that I talked about a while ago, AI is, increasing your productivity. It’s 10 x your productivity, it’s a multiplier. So how we are doing it, so we use different tools. So for example, now we can quickly write the test cases for the application.

Tasks that used to take developers and testers days can now be done in hours. Before meeting with prospective clients, we can build a proof-of-concept (POC) in just a few hours using tools like Replit, Lovable, UX Pilot, or Bolt.

So wide coding comes in. For example, we get a lead and even before we get a meeting with the lead, many times we create a POC in just a few hours. Because whether it’s using a rep light or lovable, UX pilot bolt, there are so many different tools that we use. So creating a quick prototype to get customer feedback. Rapid prototyping saves time and provides immediate feedback. Using tools like Builder.io, we can convert Figma designs directly into usable code.

Work that used to take months now takes weeks. We set quarterly goals for our team to leverage AI for 10x productivity, and we budget funds for employees to try new tools. So we meet once a week, the whole company, we have a goal for each quarter. We talked about it. Here are my goals and here are the tasks that I need to do in order to achieve that. We have money allocated for every employee of the company. They can buy any tool, but they need to show productivity. So obviously all that is passed to the customer because if you are doing things faster, now you’re doing it much cheaper. Faster development directly benefits clients through lower costs and faster delivery. Even non-developers on our team can now assist with technical workflows using AI tools more than in the past. So, and yeah, so non-developers can do really even a lot of that development related or AI related work, and that’s increasing everybody’s productivity.

[00:54:15] Christopher Sherrick: The efficiency gains from AI-driven development are remarkable. What key lessons have you learned over the past 6 to 12 months that you wish you knew when starting? What do you wish you knew? For those out there who haven’t started integration with AI driven development or want to, what do you wish you knew at the beginning of that process that you’ve learned in the last six to 12 months?

 [00:54:54] Ghazenfer Mansoor: I wish I had adopted these AI workflows even sooner, because you can achieve results so much faster. 

[00:55:02] Christopher Sherrick: yeah.

[00:55:02] Ghazenfer Mansoor: Than before. Because in a traditional

[00:55:05] Christopher Sherrick: So it’s about overcoming initial hesitation and getting hands-on with the tools.

[00:55:07] Ghazenfer Mansoor: Exactly. Instead of writing code entirely from scratch, developers co-create with AI, optimizing code quality and test coverage. A major part of our agency work is fixing broken projects from other teams. One of the things that I probably have mentioned earlier, like a big amount of our work, is fixing broken projects. So as I was talking about learning the mistake that we made ourselves and as we started working with other customers, we. This is common where people come and because of the existing problem, and there’s a, there’s a big list of reasons why, it’s not always developers fault.

Project failures happen due to misaligned strategy rather than just developer or founder errors. AI won’t fix poor product strategy; knowing what to build remains the critical element. Effective prompt engineering and clear communication are essential. Product managers and architects who articulate problems clearly will create the most value.

How important is prompting if you know, how do you articulate things? So if the developer cannot articulate, obviously you’re not gonna get the right output. So solutioning people, the product people, all those are gonna create those differentiators. So it’s about how we hire people, how we, who we hire, and how we address certain things. So our approach of the project from start to end has changed.

[00:57:18] Christopher Sherrick: We’ll need another episode to dive into hiring and team structure! To wrap up today’s show: what is one actionable step founders should take to modernize their tech stack with AI? And I’ve soaked in all this incredible knowledge that you’ve shared. Where should founders start if they want to modernize their tech stack with ai? Is it. Strategy that you talked about, what you want to build, or is there something else?

 [00:57:55] Ghazenfer Mansoor: Start by auditing where you and your team spend the most time. Pick one small internal or product use case and automate it. Achieving an early win builds momentum. So it does not always have to be just solving that product problem. But yeah, audit your time, start with one process, automate that, and then with one small win, you will get more excited and you will have momentum. If you fail the first one, you gonna just step back, oh, it’s not the right thing for me.

[00:58:53] Christopher Sherrick: Start small and fail small. Experiment with AI capabilities first before making massive financial investments in software development.

 Ghazenfer, thank you so much for joining us. Where can listeners find out more about you and Technology Rivers?

 [00:59:37] Ghazenfer Mansoor: You can connect with me on LinkedIn under Ghazenfer Mansoor. Our company website is technologyrivers.com. My personal site is ghazenfer.com, and you can also check out my podcast, Lessons from the Leap.

 [01:00:09] Christopher Sherrick: It was a pleasure having you, Ghazenfer. Thank you! I’ll wrap up the episode and join you backstage.

 [01:00:16] Ghazenfer Mansoor: Thanks. Thank you for having me.

 [01:00:18] Christopher Sherrick: Thank you all for tuning in to today’s episode of Warm-Blooded Founders. We appreciate your questions and comments, and our team will follow up in the comments section. If you’re a founder exploring how to step back from day-to-day operations to focus on scaling or preparing for an exit, check out Exigent Partners. We help founders navigate scaling challenges with hands-on advisory support. very unique background, specifically brought together to help founders get over these challenges associated with scale.

Visit our website at xig.co or connect with us on LinkedIn. Thank you for being part of our community!

I’m your host, Chris Sherrick.

Stay warm-blooded, and we’ll see you next time!