Right now, while your colleagues are still attending “Introduction to AI” webinars, a small group of action-takers are quietly building the businesses that will dominate tomorrow.

The harsh reality? The next 18 months will create two types of professionals: those who learned to lead with AI, and those who became an irrelevant statistic in the newspaper.

Most people are trapped in analysis paralysis – consuming endless content about AI’s potential or getting lost in complex automation tutorials that teach everything except how to start.

Here’s the battle-tested roadmap that takes you from AI-curious to AI business owner:

Step 1: The 4-Hour Work Day (1-2 months)

Mindset Needed: When Where can I start?

Stop waiting for permission. Stop asking your boss what you should automate.

Your Mission: Find one aspect of your current job that makes you want to bang your head against the wall. Then eliminate it with AI.

Start small. Low risk. No committees, no approval processes. Just you, the right AI stack, and a problem that needs solving. If you are unsure, get ChatGPT Plus and ask the hell out of it until it starts to cry or you have clarity on your next steps.

If you can achieve the ideal 4-hour workday, great. If not, no worries. Even if you get 2-4 hours back, you might have found a winner. And you might already be ahead of 90% of your colleagues who are still “learning about” AI in fear of that person who you will become in the next step.

The Real Win: You now have proof that you can make AI work in the real world.

Step 2: Internal Evangelist (2-4 months)

Mindset Need: What can save my job? What tools and systems that I leverage to proactively change the nature of my job?   

In uncertain times like these, managers waiting for instructions are useless. Become a leader who makes the first move.

Don’t wait for your CTO – you have already become one for yourself. Now, it’s time to scale for your team.

Your Mission: Look for teams in your project, department or company who are drowning in a similar type of work you just automated. Build a quick pilot proposal. Present it to the most open-minded stakeholder.

Don’t ask for big budget. Don’t promise radical changes. Ask for permission to prove your hypothesis with a team of people who are already warming the bench.

Even if it makes a small positive difference, you can double down on this and attract opportunities from unexpected quarters from within the company.

The Real Win: You’re no longer an employee who uses AI but an AI Consultant who is leading your company.

Step 3: External Consultant (3-4 months)

Mindset Need: Can I? What can I share which would be of value to others today?   

Now you have battle-tested experience and measurable results. Time to leverage that credibility where it counts.

Your mission: Document your AI transformation wins with specific numbers and share them on LinkedIn. Not motivational fluff about AI’s potential—tactical breakdowns showing exactly what you automated, how long it took, and what problems it solved.

Focus on attracting business owners and department heads who read your posts and think, “We’re drowning in exactly this type of work.” Share one detailed case study per week. Engage with comments from potential clients, not other AI enthusiasts.

That’s all you need. One interesting conversation can become your first paid consulting project.

The Real Win: You’ve proven you can solve AI problems for businesses outside your own company.

Step 4: Start You AI Business (3+ months)

Mindset Need: Can I? How soon can I get my first customer for my business even if it is for 1/4th the price?   

You’ve got clients asking for help. You’ve got more demand than time to deliver.

Here’s where most consultants stay stuck forever. Don’t be one of them.

Your mission: Every business needs two things: building and selling. Focus on selling—you’re the face and voice of your solutions.

For building, start smart: hire hungry computer science or engineering interns who have the technical skills and AI knowledge but lack real-world experience. They cost a fraction of senior developers but can execute your proven frameworks under your guidance.

Double down on your personal brand. Share more client success stories, more specific results, and more tactical insights. Build your reputation while your team builds the solutions.

The Real Win: You own an AI business that generates revenue without you personally coding, prompting, or troubleshooting every project.

BUT The Window Is Closing… 

The next 18 months will witness an explosion of AI innovations that will cause mass displacement of traditional jobs and business models.

The fence-sitters who are still “watching and wondering” will become a job-loss statistic.

The action-takers who start implementing today will become the business owners who thrive tomorrow.

Your Next Step: Open ChatGPT right now. Share everything you do and ask it to identify where you can do better. Don’t close your laptop until you have a way forward.

Save this post and start your journey today. If you feel stuck at any point in time, (find this email and) just hit me a reply. I will give my best thoughts on what you can do next.

Don’t underestimate yourself. Don’t count out anything.

Start today. Everything else builds on that.

Thanks,

Harish

P.S. – Share this blog with someone you want to discuss this plan with and brainstorm ideas on what you can do right from this weekend.