Leveraging AI and Systems for Business Growth: Insights from a Marine Vet Turned Tech Expert

In this episode of The Nathan Newberry Show, we dive deep into the world of business systems, AI implementation, and creating leverage through technology with Rob Stadnick, a marine veteran turned AI and systems expert.

Meta Description: Discover how implementing AI and proper business systems can transform your operations, track customer data effectively, and create leverage for sustainable growth.

From Marine to Tech Expert: Rob Stadnick's Journey

Rob Stadnick's path to becoming an AI and systems expert began with an early fascination with technology. As a teenager, he assembled computers from scratch and took every technology class available in high school. Despite having scholarship opportunities in tech, Rob joined the Marine Corps at 17, specializing in explosives.

After his military service, Rob leveraged his natural aptitude for technology while pursuing a business degree. When running his own gym, he encountered the limitations of existing software solutions:

"I started a gym and at the time there was not a lot of software programs available for gym management and stuff, so I was like I'll just build my own," Rob explains.

This hands-on approach led him to explore machine learning and AI applications, particularly in predicting membership churn patterns. His self-taught expertise culminated in a breakthrough moment at an insurance company where he built an AI-powered quoting system:

"I built this quoting system that cut their quoting time from three days down to like five minutes and actually could produce an instant quote because it would do the risk evaluation using AI in real time," Rob shares.

This innovation catapulted him into a leadership position and helped the company scale from $80 million to hundreds of millions in premium without proportional cost increases.

The Foundation of Business Growth: Data and Systems

According to Rob, data is the cornerstone of effective AI implementation and business growth. Many businesses fail to collect, organize, and utilize their data properly, creating barriers to scaling and optimization.

Tracking Customer Journey Data

Rob emphasizes the importance of tracking key data points throughout the customer journey:

1. Lead sources: Implementing UTM tags and Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to identify where your leads originate
2. Conversion tracking: Using embedded forms and tracking mechanisms to follow the customer from initial contact to sale
3. Fulfillment metrics: Monitoring delivery and satisfaction to prevent bottlenecks in scaling

"Every form you have should be on your website in a trackable fashion," Rob advises. "If you have booking links or get a quote or contact me... and you link off your website to Calendly, you can no longer track conversions as well because you've just sent all the traffic away from your website."

The solution? Embedding these tools directly into your site to maintain data continuity and gain insights into which channels generate the most valuable leads.

Creating Leverage Through Technology and Integration

Both Nathan and Rob discuss the challenges business owners face when trying to implement complex systems while managing day-to-day operations. This is where the concept of an "integrator" becomes crucial.

The Role of an Integrator

An integrator helps implement and connect various business systems, allowing owners to focus on their core expertise while ensuring technological efficiency. As Rob explains:

"We like to come alongside and help businesses do those integrations and hand people working tools... If you already have somebody in your business who is in marketing or who's in charge of the website... we can pull threads on these different experts who can do it in two hours and show you how to do it."

This creates leverage—where technology implementation multiplies the effectiveness of existing resources without proportional increases in cost or personnel.

The Value of Fulfillment Optimization

Rob highlights a critical but often overlooked area for technology implementation: fulfillment processes.

"If a customer has a bad experience with you, they're on average likely to tell 16 people about their poor experience. If they have a good experience with you, they're only likely to tell one or two."

Many businesses try to scale fulfillment by simply adding more staff—a costly approach that doesn't create leverage. Instead, implementing systems that automate and streamline fulfillment allows businesses to scale more efficiently and maintain quality.

Practical Applications of AI for Business Owners

For business owners wondering where to start with AI implementation, both Nathan and Rob offer practical advice and entry points.

Starting Small with AI

Nathan suggests beginning with everyday applications:

"I believe everybody needs to start using AI... open one up and use that instead of Google searches," he recommends, sharing how he recently used AI to quickly recall the name of a location in San Diego when conventional searches were taking longer.

Finding the Right AI Use Cases

Rob cautions about misplaced trust in AI while highlighting productive applications:

"What's mission critical and what is it not? If you didn't know the name of that restaurant and AI didn't tell you, is there any consequence? Probably not, and those are great use cases for AI right now."

He recommends using AI for:

• Data analysis and visualization from exported reports
• Building custom GPTs loaded with business data for querying and insights
• Technical problem-solving that previously required extensive research

For businesses with multiple systems, Rob suggests downloading data periodically and loading it into custom GPT models for easier querying and analysis—a "low hanging fruit" approach that doesn't require complex real-time data pipelines.

Conclusion: The Future of Business is Data-Driven

The conversation between Nathan and Rob highlights a crucial truth for modern business owners: systems, data, and AI aren't just nice-to-haves—they're essential components of sustainable growth and scalability.

By tracking customer journeys, implementing proper systems, and leveraging AI where appropriate, businesses of any size can create the leverage needed to scale without proportional increases in costs or personnel.

As Rob summarizes: "Optimizing your fulfillment and... creating leverage and you grow like the flywheel and you move it—all of a sudden it's there."

Whether you're just starting your AI journey or looking to optimize existing systems, the path forward involves collecting better data, implementing integrated systems, and finding the right technology partners to help bridge knowledge gaps.