Piggyback Ride to Manhattan
Why “Just Using AI” Isn’t Enough (And What Actually Works)
Picture this. You're in Philly. You need to get to New York by the end of the day.
What are your options? Car, bus, train, plane. Take your pick. The point is: you have options, and you know what they are. How about walking? Probably not. Not because walking is impossible, but because you're aware of the tools that exist to get the job done as efficiently as possible. So you reach for the right one.
Simple enough. Now let's make it more interesting.
Say I introduce you to Matt.
Matt is your new personal assistant. Extremely bright. Hardworking. Eager to help in any way possible. Same objective: get from Philly to New York.
What changes?
Not much. You're still taking a car, a train, something with an engine. But Matt changes how you use the tools. Maybe you have him go buy the train ticket while you finish a call. Or better yet, maybe Matt drives while you get some work done in the backseat. Catch up on emails. Take a nap. Arrive fresh.
That's actually pretty great.
But what you probably wouldn't do: ask Matt for a 100-mile piggyback ride to Manhattan.
Sounds ridiculous. Because it is. But it's only ridiculous because you're already familiar with better ways of getting the job done. You know what tools are available, so you know which one to reach for. You'd never waste Matt's talent, and your time, asking him to carry you when a perfectly good vehicle is sitting in the driveway.
We're now in a moment where the biggest names in AI are standing on stages telling business owners: "You now have a personal assistant." And that's true. AI has given every business something that used to be reserved for the C-suite. A brilliant, tireless, always-available assistant. That's real. It's not hype.
But that's not the end of the story.
Thing is, they're handing you Matt and forgetting to mention the car.
What is the biggest mistake businesses make with AI?
They treat AI like a standalone solution instead of part of a system. They rely on it to write, analyze, and decide, but don’t connect it to the tools, data, and workflows needed to actually get results.
So what happens? Business owners take their shiny new assistant and ask him to do everything. Write this email. Answer these customer questions. Analyze this spreadsheet. Run my business. All Matt, all the time. No infrastructure. No tools. No systems.
And then they wonder why they're not moving any faster.
A chatbot alone is not a strategy. It's Matt standing in your driveway, hands in his pockets, waiting for a car that never shows up.
The assistant is only as effective as the system around them.
Matt can't drive if there's no car. He can't buy the ticket if he doesn't have access to your card. He can't handle your calendar if he's not connected to it. The intelligence is there. The willingness is there. But without the right tools, the right systems, and someone who understands how to plug them all together, Matt is just a very capable person standing in a parking lot.
What does AI actually replace or improve in a business?
AI doesn’t just replace manual work. It gives businesses the ability to write and run code, which has historically been the most powerful way to automate and scale operations. This allows AI to move from generating ideas to executing real work across systems.
For decades, code was the most powerful vehicle in the world and almost nobody could drive it. Now, AI can. It can write it, run it, and use it to do things that would have taken us hours. That changes everything.
But only if you know to ask for it.
Most people don't have a clear picture of what code can actually accomplish, so they don't know when to reach for it. They hand Matt a 50,000-row spreadsheet and ask him to make sense of it by reading every single line. That's the code equivalent of a piggyback ride to Brooklyn. It'll work, sort of, eventually, and not well.
The right move? Give Matt the ability to run a program over the file (Python, Javascript, Bash, etc.). Done in seconds. Accurate. Scalable.
Same destination. Completely different vehicle.
How should businesses actually use AI in practice?
The most effective approach is to connect AI to existing systems like CRMs, databases, and internal tools. Instead of asking AI to help with tasks, businesses should design workflows where AI can take action within those systems.
Same thing shows up everywhere in a business.
A lot of teams ask AI to "help respond to leads." The better move is to connect it to your CRM, define the rules, and let it actually send the follow-ups.
Same assistant. Different setup. Completely different result.
This is why "just use AI" isn't enough. Knowing that Matt is capable is one thing. Knowing what tools to hand him, and when, is something else entirely.
How do you know if you’re using AI the right way?
Use a simple framework to evaluate every AI initiative:
1. What's the destination? What outcome are you actually trying to reach? Not "use more AI." A real business result. Faster response times. More leads followed up on. Fewer hours spent on repetitive work. Get specific. Matt needs a destination before he can drive.
2. What's the vehicle? Which tool or system actually gets you there? Sometimes it's AI. Sometimes it's automation. Sometimes it's software you already have but aren't using well. Don't skip this step. A lot of businesses reach for the assistant when what they actually need is a better car.
3. What's AI's role? Where does AI fit within all of this, and what does it need to do its job? What systems does it need access to? What knowledge does it need to function? What does "done" look like? Get that clear before you hand over the keys.
Run every AI decision through those three questions and you'll stop wasting time asking Matt for piggyback rides. You'll start actually getting somewhere.
At Siah Labs, this is exactly what we do. We understand the tools that exist, where AI fits within them, and how to set your system up to actually win. Not just Matt standing in your driveway looking eager. Matt in the driver's seat, destination locked in, while you get some work done in the back.
If you want to figure out what that looks like for your business, let's talk.