I recently spent most of a week in Las Vegas at the Laserfiche Empower 2025 Conference.  Empower is always packed with great insights into the Laserfiche product, what is new, and what is coming, and it also provides a broader IT perspective.  As you might expect, AI is fueling business process automation in a good way, so the conference this year was packed full of AI insights and thought-provoking discussions. 

I love learning, so anytime I get an extended time away from the normal at a conference, my mind is going and trying to grab as much new information as possible.  Learning is great, but the combination of classes, networking, and being away from the normal allows for some introspection and thought.

While many of these insights were not directly spoken at the conference, they were inspired by the classes, discussions with others, and my reflections during the event.

Here are a few of my conference-related thoughts and takeaways, specifically on AI:

1. AI Is not just coming; IT IS HERE. Many of us are at least partially engaged with what AI offers, but many are still “waiting to see what happens.” The reality is that AI is shortening the cycle to create, research, learn, analyze, report, and so much more. AI is accessible, ready, and valuable for everyone in a knowledge worker job. AI can provide value if any part of your job involves sitting behind a keyboard, generating content, strategizing, leading people, and almost anything other than general labor. It is worth learning and investing in it.

2. AI used correctly will AMPLIFY our work. The conference keynote stated that “AI is democratizing development”. This statement focuses on how AI aids non-developers in customizing workflows and digital processes without any real development background. However, AI can be applied in a broader sense. AI allows people to do things beyond their normal capabilities or time constraints.  Just yesterday, I spoke with someone who discovered that AI could supercharge their meeting preparation. This accelerated preparation allowed them to bring a different approach to the meeting than without AI.

3. AI is quickly becoming HOW WORK GETS DONE. It is tempting to think of AI as an add-on or an alternative way to do things. However, it is moving much more rapidly than that. For those who have adopted AI, the value becomes quickly apparent, and it transitions to the go-to way to get things done quickly. It becomes integral to the way we work every day.  Just today, I needed to create a new policy document to address a procedural item that one of our team members brought to us.  I made a policy with AI that was exactly on-target and addressed the needed concern in less than 10 minutes.  Writing this policy would have usually taken an hour or more and might not have happened because I didn’t have an hour to do it. AI becomes your default once you see how quickly it can aid in getting things done.

4. AI makes us SMARTER. The tendency is to think, “AI might just make us all dumb,” but the reality is that AI might just make us smarter. AI can achieve this in three ways: first, by handling the mundane tasks, allowing us to focus our thought capacity on the things that truly require a human brain; second, by helping us step out of our tunnel vision of daily tasks and consider the bigger picture, as it is not constrained by the same daily burdens we are; and third, by providing another point of view that helps us consider the perspectives of others.

5. AI does have some DANGERS. Just like anything new; there are some serious potential issues and misuse of AI. We have all seen people use it in a way that makes communication impersonal and mechanical. There are many ways to ensure that AI doesn’t overdo it; it is just a matter of learning how.  Prompt it to “keep a friendly tone” or “write this in my voice, similar to other samples of my writing.”  And even though it is tempting, don’t get lazy. Use the AI results as a springboard to accelerate what you do, but proof, customize, and personalize. Put the constant reminder in front of yourself to make it your own.

6. AI is like an OVEREAGER INTERN. I’ve often thought of prompting AI, much like coaching an intern. At the conference, someone formalized this and said to treat it like an overeager intern, which means explaining things in great detail to give context. It also means making sure AI has some sample of what you are looking for.  It may even mean giving it content you have created in the past.  For instance, if you want it to generate a new spreadsheet from some data you give it, you will get better results if you give it samples of work you have done before. AI will be a brilliant intern if you coach, teach, and give it as much guidance as possible. The way you prompt AI is crucial to achieving success.

7. AI + Human = SUPERPOWER. We sometimes try to detach AI as its entity, but the real strength of AI is when we learn how to use it as a tool.  It truly can make us better, faster, and more agile.

Focusing on tech and AI at the Empower conference for the week was a great learning time.  I’m excited about taking AI and Laserfiche solutions to our customers and using them to improve people’s lives by working better and smarter!