With AI at Our Fingertips... Have We Forgotten the Fundamentals of Building a Business?

Something happened the other day that I haven't stopped thinking about.

Recently, I was speaking at an event about something I talk about often: the systems required to actually run and grow a business.

During the conversation, I referenced Michael E. Gerber, author of The E-Myth Revisited and one of the most influential voices on building businesses around systems rather than around the business owner.

I received blank faces in response. Nobody even knew who I was talking about.

Later, I referenced Stephen R. Covey, whose work on effectiveness, leadership, priorities, and execution has influenced generations of business leaders.

Again. Nothing.

It honestly shocked me.

These are two legendary names in the business world. Their books and frameworks have helped entrepreneurs and leaders think differently about how businesses operate.

So what does it mean when a room full of business owners doesn’t recognize either name?

So I drove home thinking...

What changed?

Have these ideas become outdated?

Or have we just become so consumed with AI, apps, automations, prompts, agents, and whatever launches this week that we've stopped talking about the fundamentals?

Here’s what I believe - I don't think Gerber or Covey is outdated.

I think the way we apply their ideas has changed.

Twenty years ago, systems looked one way.

Today they look completely different.

Technology that can do things we couldn't even imagine back then.

But here's the part I keep coming back to.

Technology doesn't replace business fundamentals. It builds on them.

If you don't have a process, AI isn't going to magically create one.

If your business depends on people remembering what to do next, AI isn't fixing that.

The technology is new. The need for good systems isn't.

Maybe that's why I spend so much time talking about AI and business systems in the same conversation.

Because I don't think they're separate conversations.

I think AI is one of the greatest accelerators we've ever had.

But it accelerates what already exists.

Build the foundation first.

Then use AI to make it stronger.

Old-school principles. New-school execution.

That feels like the future to me.

Because technology is going to keep changing.

There will always be another platform.

Another AI model.

Another tool everyone says you have to have.

But, good business fundamentals won't.