Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Infinite Future. I'm Todd Thomas and today we're exploring the innovations shaping tomorrow's world. You're watching Now Media tv.
Welcome to Infinite Future. I'm Todd Thomas. On this show we explore the technologies, ideas and innovations shaping the world of tomorrow. From AI and energy to business sustainability and human progress.
Today's conversation is about the future of growth systems. Companies are not only competing on products anymore, they're competing on how well their data, marketing and automation work together.
That is where AI becomes more than a buzzword. It becomes part of the operating system for modern business.
My guest today is Jorge Fuentes Zapata, a marketing operations strategist, a HubSpot implementation specialist.
He is HubSpot certified trainer and an AI agent builder with Fuentes Zapata LLC.
Jorge has managed CRMs with more than 4 million contacts, overseen major paid media budgets, earned an exceptional record of HubSpot Academy certifications and built marketing focused AI agents and productivity tools. Jorge, welcome to Infinite Future.
[00:01:20] Speaker B: Thank you so much Todd. Thanks for inviting me and super excited to be here. And let's dive right in. This is going to be a fun conversation for sure.
[00:01:27] Speaker A: Yeah, let's dive right in. But honestly, I want to double click on your background real quick. I love it that you've got a bunch of your favorite books up there.
That's fantastic. Do you have a particular one up there that you've read recently that maybe the whole audience should read?
[00:01:43] Speaker B: Oh yeah, absolutely. Back there I got the 100 million dollar offers from Alex Hormozy, which is a pretty good book actually. It gets you to, to kind of know what you need to do to put in the reps, so to speak as well to kind of like get, get the word out there for whatever service you need to do and then also getting to do it right. So it's not only a great theoretical book, it's actually a very practical guide into, you know, sales, marketing and actually creating potent offers that get leads essentially right for sure and for sure clients. And so that is one of like my favorites for now.
That's one of the latest one that I've read. And back there I also have obviously they ask you answer from Marcus Sheridan, which is a whole nother level of seeing how, you know, we need to communicate with, with our audience for sure. And as far as creating content and then how we need to be kind of like an answers first question based type of content system is that we want to have to implement for sure. And so that is, those are my two favorites for now.
[00:02:47] Speaker A: Sure.
Fantastic. Well, I want to suggest another book for you to check out. My newest book called Starving for Innovation is coming out. It's available on Amazon right now for pre order and it's kind of what you just talked about there. It's not just theoretical, although it does have some history and some theory, but it really talks about kind of a practical guide of how to launch your own startup, build innovation and continuous learning into your company.
And it uses my company, Woodchuck. We kind of, we kind of open the kimono on Woodchuck and share some of our failures and some of our successes so you can, you can learn from our mistakes and also celebrate our successes with us at the same time. So, so check it out. It's starving for innovation, Amazon.com and next time we have you on for your return trip, I'll, I'll look for it on the shelf.
[00:03:38] Speaker B: Absolutely, Todd, for sure. I'll make sure to check it out and get my copy and also give you my feedback or my thoughts on it. For sure. Love it.
[00:03:45] Speaker A: That would be great. I'd love that. I'd love it. We can talk about that on the next, on the next show.
So now let's, let's jump right into it here. Now, Jorge, when you look at the future of marketing and business growth, what is changing the fastest right now?
[00:04:01] Speaker B: Sure thing, Todd. So what I'm seeing is that yes, every, both aspects of it are rapidly evolving. Right. Especially with the, you know, with the, within the upbringing of AI, so to speak. Right. Definitely. When we're talking about how marketing has changed, I think just from a couple months ago, it has drastically changed too. There's a lot more marketing technology, software out there than there used to be, let's say even just two years ago. So the, the whole landscape for marketing and what you, what you can actually do, the tools you can use to, you know, basically grow a business via marketing that has evolved substantially and, and very rapidly, I would say. But as far as business growth in general, since business is still an operational endeavor most of for sure. And when we're talking about the operation side of things, I'm talking about the people that have to be involved in business for sure. I would say that the fastest or the thing that has changed the fastest has been the workflow of humans in their day to day operations and how that has been affected, but I would say also assisted by AI for sure.
[00:05:11] Speaker A: Right.
[00:05:11] Speaker B: So at this moment in time, I'm thinking more on the side of not going by what's going to replace humans Right. Like if we're thinking about AI, we don't need to talk about replacement of pretty much anything but rather enhancement, enablement and you know, empowering individuals to do better work with better quality outputs with, with AI for sure. And so that is how I think we should be thinking about all of these rapid changes that are happening right now, for sure, Todd.
[00:05:44] Speaker A: So I appreciate that. And it's, it's more than just the rapid change in AI, but it's really multiple different systems. And I know that your work connects CRM systems, integrates that with paid media, analytics and AI. So how do all of those different pieces come together in a real growth engine?
[00:06:03] Speaker B: Oh absolutely Todd. And I would say that one of the main pain points I see across whether SMBs or larger corporations as well is that there's this lack of visibility into what might be actually happening across departments. Right. So, so that lack of visibility, that lack of transparency, it's what stagnating really great companies from achieving success. Right. And so what I usually help with or what I'm passionate about helping businesses with is connecting these different systems right. Into kind of like a unified growth system that talks to each other very well, that has that visibility that top management needs into the day to day activities that are moving basically the company along. Right. And helping it achieve goals for sure. And I would say that that' how those pieces come together overall in a growth engine. Right. A growth engine is like its sole purpose or mission is to help a business grow. But in order to grow we need to kind of like a lot of the time it's more of preparing for that growth. Right. And so that is what the installation of an engine involves so that you can now evolve from that more organized, let's say environment that we need to install for sure from the get go.
[00:07:19] Speaker A: Excellent.
What have you learned from managing large scale databases and advertising budgets that smaller companies often overlook?
[00:07:30] Speaker B: Oh absolutely Todd. And I would say that the, the very main thing that I see kind of like being a differentiator from how an SMB is running, let's say their marketing or their sales versus a larger enterprise with millions of contacts in their database, six to seven figures per year in ad spend and so on and so forth, it the tracking and visibility into things. For sure. Right. So for example, when we're talking about something as you know, as common when setting up an ad platform and a CRM, such as like conversion tracking. Right. Let's say a small business could just go, could do away with just a thank you page. Right. For People that submit a form, they land on a thank you page and then you just track anybody that lands there. Assuming that you can at least if you want to get a little bit more advanced, add a bit of, bit of, a bit of a piece of no index, no follow code, so that you can only track people that visit that website without it being indexed in search engines and so on and so forth. Assuming that piece is very simple for a small and medium sized business.
When you're getting into ad platforms for enterprise companies, larger corporations, mid sized companies as well, you can actually see that that tracking not only has to be thought of in the end conversion, right? Like people actually submitting a form or doing an inquiry, but also throughout the journey of the, of the ad campaign as well. Right. So they looked at or clicked on XYZ ad. They also visited this other page. They were gathering different signals from their entire web activity. And then that helps us with even knowing, you know, further enhancing our ideal customer profile within our, you know, CRM system or whichever system that we're utilizing so that we can follow up with them, send marketing email, nurture series and so on and so forth. So we're seeing how basically what I would say the main difference, the core is definitely that things don't need to get overly complex, but they need to be tracked and across the board, specifically for larger scale databases. For sure.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: I think a lot of leaders will have the tools that you're talking about, maybe all of the tools you're talking about, but they aren't necessarily coordinated or integrated.
So how do you help companies move from scattered tools to a more integrated marketing system?
[00:09:59] Speaker B: Oh yeah, absolutely, Todd. And where I actually start is, is with simplifying the complex. Right. So I would say that a lot of martech or marketing technology system simplification has to take place before actually doing more integrations or more of creating systems on top of other systems. Right. And so what I would say is that that's the very first place where I start is kind of like simplify what scatter tools were not really needing to use, at least for the moment, or at least tools that may not be kind of like, let's say, making sense for the goals that we're actually pursuing. Right. And so that's probably where I would start. And then once we got the right tools, the tools that align with the tactics that we're wanting to implement, and those tactics align with the goals that we have established for the company, then yes, then comes the actual B2B or B2C growth engine. Installation inside a company and that helps enable marketing, sales, customer service, and obviously the reporting side of it all. So that top management is happy with kind of like what is going on and has visibility across the board. For sure.
[00:11:14] Speaker A: Fantastic.
[00:11:16] Speaker B: Absolutely. For sure.
[00:11:20] Speaker A: Yeah. So we're going to take a quick break and when we come back, we're going to look at AI agents and automation as practical tools that can change how teams work and scale. You're not going to want to miss this. Stay with us. We'll be right back.
We'll be right back with more conversations at the edge of technology and transformation.
Stay tuned.
Every week on Infinite Future, we explore breakthrough innovation across every major frontier. We talk to AI architects, biotech pioneers, space entrepreneurs, clean energy disruptors, and the thinkers redesigning global systems. We don't just talk trends, we examine scalability, ethics, economic impact and real world implementation.
If you're building, investing in or leading the future, join me on Infinite Future only on NOW Media tv. Because the future isn't predicted, it's engineered.
And we're back. I'm Todd Thomas and this is Infinite Future on NOW Media tv. Let's look ahead.
Welcome back to Infinite Future. Stay connected to this show and every NOW MEDIA favorite live or on demand anytime you like. You can Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming in English and in Spanish. Are you on the move? Prefer the podcast version. You can get the podcast version anytime you like at NowMedia TV or look for our shows on any platform where you like to get your podcast. We'd love to have you.
Also, a quick pitch for my new book that we mentioned in the first segment.
Starving for Innovation is now out. It is live on Amazon.com so visit Amazon.com, type in and search for Starving for Innovation and get your copy pre ordered today. If you're enjoying today's conversation, I think you'll enjoy that book. So thank you so much.
And now we are back with Jorge Fuentes Zapata. Thanks so much Jorge. We're so glad you're here with us today.
[00:13:30] Speaker B: Absolutely, Todd, thanks for having me and great to continue the conversation for sure. Happy to conversate with you for sure.
[00:13:37] Speaker A: So Jorge's background is in marketing operations, CRM, paid media and growth strategy. Now we're moving into one of the most important frontiers in business technology, which is AI agents. For many leaders, AI still feels abstract. But in the hands of someone who understands systems and customer journeys, AI can become a practical layer that supports productivity, personalization and better Decision making.
So Jorge, how do you define an AI agent in the context of marketing and business operations?
[00:14:11] Speaker B: Absolutely, Todd. So I would say that an AI agent in the simplest of terms is going to be an AI powered. Yes. Solution. Right. That is going to create, do a task for us that you know, we wouldn't otherwise be able to do with a simple automation or that might be taking, you know, a little bit of manual work and we just want to delegate that. Right. I would say that it is in its simplest terms that is how an AI agent is useful. And more specifically when talking about marketing and business operations in general, we want to make sure that anything that can't be automated in a simple way. Right.
Is then delegated to an AI agent. Because AI agents, what the difference is between them and just simple historical automation is that they can actually gather and execute tasks with context. The context is very important specifically when talking about AI agents. And that is how I at least in my business also implement and operate from, from that standpoint. Standpoint, for sure.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: So for companies that are, that are new to AI and specifically new to agentic AI, what are some of the tasks that they should start with first? What's, what's the low hanging fruit? What's a good way to get started?
[00:15:35] Speaker B: Absolutely, Todd. So the way that I usually. Well, the way I started, right. And which is what I would also recommend is imagine setting an assistant for yourself, right? That is the very first thing, right? We all regardless if you're an, if you're a business owner you would benefit a lot and you would see a great benefits from just having an assistant that could for example, run a daily 8am email recap of the things that you need to do today, the things that you gotta prioritize somebody to maybe look at your calendars and see where you could have spaces or blockers that you can put in there so that you can focus on deep work instead of maybe having, let's say meetings and so on and so forth, you want to have an assistant that is contextual on the work that you're doing on a day to day basis, but can also give you summaries of the things that you actually need to get done so that you can actually accomplish them. Right? So that's where I would say the low hanging fruit is there. It can be as simple as setting up ChatGPT plus account and then tying some connectors such as your Gmail, your Google Calendar, any other communications tool that you might be using, such as maybe Slack, et cetera and then from there The GPT can have context on, on, on the things that you need to do and the day to day operations for sure. Or your, or your workflow and then you can set up some recurring tasks for it to, to do for you. Right. Such as the email summary that we were talking about. So I would say those are the kind of like the, the low hanging fruit of beginning or getting started with AI agents for sure.
[00:17:15] Speaker A: Now is that something that you and your company do? Is that something, if a client wants to get started, can you walk them through those, those first steps?
[00:17:22] Speaker B: Absolutely, Todd. Yes, totally, totally and definitely. Not only can I do this for yes, obviously clients, but I've actually done that for my company and myself as an individual as well. Right. So it goes as far as not only being useful for business, but also at a personal level, you can actually organize your whole day kind of your life, let's say. Right on. Specifically on the things that the AI can get context on, for sure.
[00:17:49] Speaker A: Now I've heard some other AI experts that talk about the use of AI and that by simply automating existing tasks you get improvement, you get incremental improvement.
But that really, the way to really see substantial improvement is to rethink your entire workflow really from an agentic AI first mindset where there are potentially human steps that can be not just automated but completely eliminated to create a simpler workflow that is then automated.
Is this your experience and how do you walk clients through that?
[00:18:26] Speaker B: Exactly right. Tony and I would agree with that statement as well.
We're thinking about how processes can be simplified with AI and parts of that process could also be delegated. I would go as far as saying that any process that requires some form of accountability, that still requires a human in the loop for that whole process to take place or be implemented. Right. But I can help with a distribution of the workload for let's say instead of 100% being done by human, you could have the agent help you with 30% and you do 70% of that. Right. So I would say that that's kind of the mindset moving forward for sure. It's not so much as AI actually replacing a whole role. Right. Because that might be hard to achieve, especially if accountability is required.
And today as things stand, you still need accountability for a lot of things in business for sure. But I would say that if you think about AI agents being part of a process and how that distribution of that process is being set, then yes, it can really power that workflow on a day to day basis for absolutely any individual in the organization. It could be not only top management, but even just employees. Employees can actually leverage AI and the agentic workflow of it in a very good way for sure.
[00:19:55] Speaker A: I'm glad you brought up human oversight and accountability because I think that's a, that's a huge part of getting agentic AI. Right. And I think also the part that, that scares a lot of people and I think we've all seen examples in the news where people did not have guardrails set up properly and I kind of got loose and caused some problems.
So as, as you're working with new clients, how do you help them identify where can things be purely automated and turned over to AI and where should those guardrails be? And what are kind of the, what are the rules of thumb that say, yes, this is where you need human oversight and human decision making?
[00:20:34] Speaker B: Absolutely, Todd. It all starts with the.
Those sensitive areas that require somebody with specific access types, let's call it specific permission sets. Those are the things we need to consider when implementing or integrating AI with our company systems. Right. So that's where I would start. Right. Like the cybersecurity aspect of it all is still super relevant, at least from the get go. That's, that's the very first thing we have to have in mind, so to speak, before implementing anything with the AI.
But assuming that all of that, you know, we get past that and we're good to go with, with that portion of it all, I would say that the next step is anything that is a repetitive task, anything that is a repetitive plus requires context type of task as well. Those tasks that are recurring, that might be a little menial in that sense. Right. And that could that sometimes actually divert your focus from what you're actually having to do on a day to day basis. One of those on my end, for example, would be things like time tracking.
[00:21:39] Speaker A: Right.
[00:21:39] Speaker B: Let's say that clocking in, clocking out, doing the time tracking for specific work that I'm doing specifically in the context of marketing and marketing agencies, for sure, time tracking is something, it's a necessary evil, let's call it right, for sure. And automating that or being able to aid being aided by AI on that front is very useful for sure. So I would say that anything that we find either repetitive, repetitive, but requires some type of context from another tool, that's also important. And yes, as I was just mentioning as well, anything that might be diverting our actual focus from our actual job, those are the types of tasks that are good candidates for being delegated to AI, if not in full, at least partially for sure.
[00:22:33] Speaker A: So we've talked with other experts in AI, in a gentic AI from the software development world and from the finance world.
And a lot of times the conversation comes around to the same area of, you know, turning over repetitive or menial tasks to the AI and really using human beings when it's time for oversight and, and decision making or higher level strategy.
So I think that's, you know, that seems to be applicable across multiple segments. So in, in your world of CRMs and really driving a growth engine, do you see this as a way to really, again, a force multiplier, to get more and better work out of your existing team?
[00:23:15] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely, Todd. And, and not only let's say that the, the output is faster, but it also can be of higher quality, if not at least equal quality, as, as the humans would produce. But I also want to mention that in, in my particular case, the mindset goes further than just saying, you know, this person did this work with AI, it's more so that at some point the person was managing the AI and instructing it to produce better output. Right. So those are kind of like the different ways to look at it. Right. It's not so much that I'm replacing the work that I used to do with AI, it's more that I'm actually managing an AI agent or managing the AI in order to produce the same quality, at least of output or even greater quality at a faster pace. For sure. Right. So when talking about efficiency, I would say that that's how businesses need to approach AI. It's not really a people replacer or even kind of like, you know, a tool to identify what parts of some, you know, of tasks on a day to day basis need to actually be replaced is more so that how they can actually be, you know, done faster with more efficiency and with greater quality as well, for sure.
[00:24:36] Speaker A: So if we have leaders right now that are watching this show and they're thinking, you know, this sounds really interesting and they want to make the decision with confidence that they should, you know, give you a call and engage your team to help them implement some of these new technologies into their company, where should they look? What, what should be the metrics they can look at internally right now to determine if they're ready and if this is something that can bring value to their business?
[00:25:01] Speaker B: Oh yeah, absolutely Todd. So one would be definitely what in practice is the day to day activities of their employees. Right. Let's say, and when talking specifically about Marketing and sales, maybe let's look at what a rep is actually doing on a day to day basis and how parts of that specific day to day workflow that he or she has can be compacted into steps, an sop. Right. And then from there decide where AI could fit into the picture. Maybe it can fit into the whole picture. Maybe 90% of it, 80% of it. We won't know until we actually dissect what's actually going on on the practical level, so to speak, on a day to day basis. But I would say that's where business leaders need to start thinking about the implementation of AI. Right? It's not so much as let's just get that implementation in place and then have our people get accustomed to it. I would say no, I think the human should precede the implementation of AI and the day to day workflow that the actual employees have should be more important than just trying to get them to use AI. And then from there, once you extrapolate that whole process, I would say that that is when AI becomes even more useful, more relevant to the people that are actually in the trenches doing the work for sure.
[00:26:22] Speaker A: Jorge, this is great stuff. Really practical and real world advice. I really appreciate that.
Next we'll connect AI and automation to a bigger leadership question. How organizations can prepare people, processes and strategy for technology that keeps changing. We'll be right back. You don't want to miss this next segment. We'll be right back with more conversations at the edge of technology and transformation.
Stay tuned. Every week on Infinite Future, we explore breakthrough innovation across every major frontier. We talk to AI architects, biotech pioneers, space entrepreneurs, clean energy disruptors, and the thinkers redesigning global systems. We don't just talk trends. We examine scalability, ethics, economic impact and real world implementation.
If you're building, investing in or leading the future, join me on Infinite Future only on NOW Media tv. Because the future isn't predicted, it's engineered.
And we're back. I'm Todd Thomas and this is Infinite Future on NOW Media tv. Let's look ahead.
Welcome back.
Technology transformation is never just technical.
It changes workflows, decision making and the relationship between people and systems.
Jorge Fuentes Zapata's experience across agencies, global companies, HubSpot implementation and digital advertising gives him a grounded view of what transformation actually requires. In this segment, we'll explore how leaders can make better choices as AI, automation and custom platforms evolve.
So Jorge, what separates organizations that adapt well to new technology from those that stay stuck?
[00:28:16] Speaker B: Absolutely, Todd. So I guess, well, in my View those companies that have an actual plan for how they're going to be implementing AI, those are the ones that can get ahead even faster or that should actually go the way of doing that. Right. I think a lot of companies right now are wanting to be AI first, AI focused, AI powered. Right. Just because it's kind of like the new thing right now or it's the roadmap, the general roadmap at the moment at least. But I do think that those organizations that actually take the time to dissect, as we were mentioning in the last segment, for sure, that workflow that happens in their day to day activities from different departments, from different department employees as well, those are the companies that are going to get ahead for sure because they're going to be able to see. Well, actually AI fits this way into the picture, not in the way that I was maybe thinking about it. Right. All of, all of those blind spots that sometimes management has on how things are actually working, on how people are actually following the SOPs. Right. If there are SOPs, assuming there are. Right.
Those are important. Those are actually sometimes very pivotal in the sense of like if we do not consider or take those into consideration when implementing AI. AI is only going to magnify the mess instead of actually helping us get to where we want to go for sure.
[00:29:44] Speaker A: So how should leaders think about and even maybe improve their data quality before they can realistically expect AI to deliver results?
[00:29:55] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely, Todd. And, and I would say that it starts with whatever we don't fix right now before we go full AI on things. Right. And, and talking about a database or a CRM. Right. If you got data quality or data integrity issues within your portal at the moment, those are only going to be magnified with AI though. The AI is not going to be able to, to do any better than what's already in there. The context is actually going to be brought up from there. Right. So there's a lot.
[00:30:24] Speaker A: Sorry, I got to jump in there. That's a really important thing that you just said there. Right. AI is not going to solve your bad data problems, it's going to magnify your bad data problems. I think that's really important and I think a lot of people think, oh, we'll get AI, it'll solve it all. But it all is reliant on that data. So yeah, I think that's a really important statement. So I appreciate you saying that. Sorry to interrupt you, but I just, I want to magnify that because that's an important piece.
[00:30:49] Speaker B: Totally. That's pretty fundamental. Right. And any business that overlooks that, that side of it. Right. Especially when thinking about CRMs databases and the contact segmentation that needs to take place so that we can scale our marketing efforts, our personalization efforts or sales efforts even, I would say those would be.
Those businesses can be left behind by AI in the sense of like, AI is just not going to work for them because it's only going to scale the mess, so to speak. Right. Instead of actually helping them achieve anything meaningful with it. For sure.
[00:31:24] Speaker A: Yeah. I.
I often bring up data hygiene and I talk about it a lot. And my wife and my kids, my friends are like, oh, you are such a nerd. I'm like, well, maybe, but data hygiene is so fundamental. And it's like, do you want to know why Woodchuck's algorithms are so accurate? Well, because we are. We are crazy about data hygiene.
We are really particular. So we have immaculate data and that drives really accurate algorithms.
[00:31:51] Speaker B: Exactly right, Todd. I would say that the system is only as good as the data you feed into it.
The outcomes that you're going to achieve with that data are also going to be just as good as the data itself and the integrity of that data. Right. So, yeah, data continues to be fundamental, especially the integrity and hygiene portion of it. Right. And in order to scale and actually implement AI in a way that magnifies the good side of the company or the workflow, so to speak. Yes, that indeed is where it becomes even more important today than even before, let's say the pre ChatGPT era, way back when, in 2022, for sure.
And yes, I would definitely agree with that statement.
[00:32:39] Speaker A: And I also, I want to clarify one more thing. I know I threw the nerd statement out there, and I want to clarify, in my world, that's a big compliment.
Data nerds, particularly data nerds, is a huge compliment in my book. Nerds rule the world. Right. And in particular, in today's world, with all the technology we're talking about, as you said, you know, the data is the foundation of all of it.
So, yeah, more power to the data nerds.
[00:33:06] Speaker B: Absolutely. Thought. I always say it's never been a better time to be a nerd than right now. For sure. Like, it definitely is. Sure, sure.
[00:33:13] Speaker A: I think that's absolutely true.
So what are some other mistakes that companies will make, particularly around, you know, potentially buying tools, even buying AI tools before they have a clear strategy?
[00:33:26] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely, Todd. And it all comes down to those blind spots that we were talking about. Right. I think those are Some huge mistakes that companies are making, right. And even not only when acquiring new tools, right. Also when thinking about cutting, you know, their, their budget because you know, they want to replace HubSpot with a vibe coded option that they can do for I don't know how much amount, you know, a one time purchase of maybe lovable replit. And while all of these, these vibe coding tools are great, right. So by the way, when I mean vibe coding, definitely coding with AI, right? Something that almost anybody could do. I'm actually a fan of Vive coding for sure. But with systems as sensitive or as important as CRMs, right, databases, those are things that the pros, like HubSpot, Salesforce, you name it, Microsoft Dynamics, et cetera, they already have a journey in a lot of different areas that we're not seeing when we're just looking at the interface, right.
So for example, when talking about compliance risk, when talking about cybersecurity risk, when talking about the legal side of actually storing people's data there, the gdpr, all of these different laws that we have to comply with, that is when by coding a CRM solution on your own becomes a little bit of a scary endeavor and for sure something that is not worth pursuing.
So that is pretty much how I would say thought that businesses need to think about when adapting to new tools or trying to get new tools and implementing AI with that, they definitely need to get clarity on the strategy that they're going to apply moving forward. And they're going to be at a disadvantage if they're going to want to just cut costs for the sake of cutting costs, especially with SaaS or software in general that is actually doing something useful for them for sure.
[00:35:23] Speaker A: So Jorge, in your personal approach, how does ongoing learning and experimentation keep you current?
[00:35:32] Speaker B: Absolutely, Todd. I would say that just like I said, it's never been a better time to be a nerd than right now. I, I also think that it's never been a better time to be a lifelong learner than right now because things are changing just so quickly. Like even from a month ago, there are some updates that, you know, ChatGPT, Claude have made in the case of a CRM like HubSpot. You know, I'm a, let's say a CRM specialist, CRM consultant, but I gotta be, you know, on top of what HubSpot is releasing on a monthly basis and they actually release weekly updates to their platforms, weekly betas, right to their software that I sometimes get questions asked on, right. By clients and I need to be looking into those as well. Right. So I guess the, the learning, learning portion of a career is now extending to the whole journey of it rather than just, let's say at the beginning I'm getting my degree, getting a couple certifications here and there, and then I can go into this company and, and work there forever. That's not really how we have to think about things anymore because AI is also being knowledgeable on all of these things. But technology and even the way that customers are purchasing out there by now, specifically when talking about marketing initiatives, those are changing very rapidly. And what worked maybe even just two years ago might be having issues right now or it may have evolved in ways that we need to continue to learn about for sure.
[00:37:07] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that's absolutely true.
Just example of Woodchuck. You know, Woodchuck is still a fairly new startup. We launched three years ago and we launched as a native AI company. We were using AI image recognition and generative AI from the get go and now we're three years in and we're redoing the whole platform. Agentic AI has changed everything. So we just, we just recently took the entire team through an agentic AI intensive and now we are re architecting and redesigning the entire platform from an agentic AI first vantage and it's making some real improvements. So you know, even, you know, if you are in technology and you're specifically in AI, things are changing so fast and staying abreast of the latest technology and making sure your team stays abreast of the latest technologies and the latest tools can have such an impact on the value that you can bring both to your internal teams, but probably more importantly to your clients and to stay ahead of your competitors. Because if you're not embracing these new agentic AI tools, well, your competitors are. So you'd better be ready.
Jorge. This is a fantastic conversation. We're going to take one more break and then we'll be right back. So everybody stay with us. We're going to get some more gems from Jorge in our final segment. We'll be right back. We'll be right back with more conversations at the edge of technology and transformation.
Stay tuned.
Every week on Infinite Future, we explore breakthrough innovation across every major frontier. We talk to AI architects, biotech pioneers, space entrepreneurs, clean energy disruptors, and the thinkers redesigning global systems. We don't just talk trends, we examine scalability, ethics, economic impact and real world implementation.
If you're building, investing in or leading the future, join me on Infinite Future only on NOW Media tv. Because the future isn't predicted, it's engineered.
And we're back. I'm Todd Thomas and this is Infinite Future on NOW Media tv. Let's look ahead.
Welcome back. We've been talking about CRM systems, paid media.
We've been talking a lot about AI agents and automation and leadership through technological change. And now we really want to bring it home in this, in this final segment here, we're going to bring the conversation down to action. The future belongs to organizations that can combine intelligent systems with clear strategy and human judgment. Jorge's work through Fuentes Zapata shows how technology can be translated into systems that help businesses grow with more focus, more speed and more accountability. So Jorge, for a business leader who feels overwhelmed by AI, where should they begin?
[00:40:05] Speaker B: Absolutely, Todd. And, and on the, you know, to kind of simplify what I was mentioning at the beginning as well, they don't need to be overly knowledgeable about AI, how AI agents work. All of that doesn't need to be, you know, known from the get go.
But I would say they could even start with just a ChatGPT plus subscription, right. And then connecting that, that you know, ChatGPT itself to their, you know, their relevant tools. Right. So let's say Gmail, Google Calendar, if they use Outlook, maybe you know, the Outlook email, Outlook Calendar, just anywhere that they're managing their communications, at least at a high level. Right. Anything that isn't yet sensitive. Right. Like a CR or like a project management tool. Just the general communications that they can start tying to GPT, that can go a long way for them. Right. Because the AI is going to be able to have context on their day to day workflow, the things that they need to accomplish on that day, their prioritization of items that they need to follow up with. And I think they should be focusing on overall just like enhancing their current workflow being getting an assistant for that workflow, a contextual one at that, for sure, rather than trying to like just revamp the whole company with AI at the moment I think they would benefit a lot from just setting up that individual, you know, one to one contextual AI assistant that can help them do their job better at the moment, for sure.
[00:41:44] Speaker A: Sorry. How can entrepreneurs use AI and automation without losing authenticity and without losing human creativity?
[00:41:57] Speaker B: Absolutely, Todd, and you'll be surprised on, on my end, I've seen how the opposite of, of, of that is taking place at large scale right now. Right. So for example, I recently, I'm getting very recently some cold outreach emails from companies trying to sell me an AI SDR Right. So a sales development representative, that is an AI sdr. It literally says, you know, replace your whole sales team with, with these agents. Right. And that is very not human. Right. On my end, you know, I know that that was somebody that didn't even see what they were writing to me. Right. The, the messaging, you know, they, they have no context on who I am. I never gave them obviously the, the consent to, to get that. Right. But they're, since they're trying to do outreach, they're trying to get me to, they're trying to sell me something, which is fine. And so, but, but, but the overall is that the messaging didn't resonate with me because I, I'm not on the hunt for that. I'm also, you know, somebody that doesn't want to replace humans at the moment with an AI agent. Right. So, so when you start kind of dissecting where things are going at the moment, a lot of companies are not using AI in the best of ways, I would say. Right. They're definitely going the way of just having AI do all of the jobs that they can get their hands on and then them just stepping aside. And I think that's probably not a great future in which we want to be in because the human element is still going to be important. We still need accountability. Somebody has to approve purchases, somebody has to actually transact with others. The trust has to still be built around a human to human relationship across the board, especially in business. So that's never going away. And I think that that is how leaders need to think about when trying to implement AI or replace, let's say, humans with AI.
Just kind of what we mentioned as well during the last segment. For sure.
The process side of it all is what actually can be dissected into different pieces and then a percentage of that can be delegated to AI.
The rest needs human in the loop and so on and so forth. But we definitely need to think about it that way. It's more so a collaboration that will be needing to do with AI rather than it actually replacing us or fully getting us uninterested in doing actual meaningful work. For sure.
[00:44:21] Speaker A: So Jorge, what trends in AI HubSpot or marketing operations are you most excited about that you're watching the most closely right now?
[00:44:31] Speaker B: Oh yes, for sure, Todd. I would say that the unification of those systems is quite interesting.
You know, at some point, you know, during my day to day, sometimes all I have to do is open a new chat window with ChatGPT or an LLM. And then since it has HubSpot integrated my Gmail, Google Calendar, any other go to market platform like Apollo, etc.
I can actually have it do stuff on it or get me context on those systems without me having to open any of them or log into any of them. Right. So that's what I find pretty exciting about it, that it has empowered my own workflow and definitely my clients workflow as well for sure. So I would say that's where, you know, those are the trends that I'm watching even more closely. How the integration of AI, AI agents into actual operational workflows that call these traditional software systems like a CRM, a project management tool, communications tool, et cetera. That is pretty much where the excitement lies, at least for me for sure, in the foreseeable future.
[00:45:39] Speaker A: Yeah, I can see from your face that's true. You are excited about that.
What do you want viewers to remember about building smarter growth systems?
Sure, sure.
[00:45:53] Speaker B: Think Todd. I would say that it all starts with simplicity, right. I would say that simplifying the complex is the way to go for, for smarter growth, at least in the beginning.
I think that there's no need to overly complicate things when it comes to thinking about a CRM, when it comes to thinking about installing or actually implementing an ad platform that connects to your CRM or even when, when doing reporting or analytics on the campaigns that we're running for, for you know, when it, when it comes to marketing or sales, etc. I think that simplifying things is the way to go and that is how, you know, the simplification of things, the unification of those things as well, especially in a, in a unified CRM system. Let's say that will give us leeway in order to, to actually grow the way we want to and then that actually becomes our growth engine and we can continue to fuel it for the foreseeable future. And that is, yeah, I would say that is where the, the nitty gritty is, so to speak for sure.
[00:46:56] Speaker A: Do you have a success story that you're most proud of that you could share with us or some work that you've done?
[00:47:03] Speaker B: Oh well, yeah, absolutely Todd. So definitely one of my success stories. Well actually I've helped an accounting firm in the US specifically and they're actually based out of New York where we have different systems implemented for them. One is a go to market tool which is called Apollo in this case. That's where they do their sequencing for doing call outreach to a specific ICP or ideal customer profile. And then from there, whenever they actually get replies. Those contacts get pushed to their CRM, to their HubSpot and they can actually follow up from there. Right. So we got a go to market tool that gets them acquires new clients for them via cold outreach, then they land in the CRM and they can start actually getting in touch with them or nurturing them via marketing emails or email marketing series. And then those we can actually track whenever they actually become a client of them, how many of them came from that specific effort. And I would say that that's a great growth engine that we've installed for them because since they also run LinkedIn ads, right, the people coming from LinkedIn ads also land in the CRM and they actually have visibility into what's working. Right. So whether the go to market tool is driving revenue as well as LinkedIn and how much of that is closing as deals in HubSpot, I would say that's one of the biggest case studies that I have how a growth engine that is fueled by a go to market tool, an ad platform and a CRM can actually be do great work for any company.
Any, any company such as even just an accounting firm for sure.
[00:48:39] Speaker A: Jorge, for viewers that want to follow you and your work or get in touch with your company, Fuentes Zapata llc, where can they find you? Where can they find your company?
[00:48:48] Speaker B: Absolutely does. So if anybody wants to connect on LinkedIn there is Jorge Fuentes Zapara and also my website is fuentesapada Co and I also got my Twitter or X handle which is at Jafuente Zapara and then on YouTube I post a lot of content as well. So YouTube.com jorgelbertofuente Zapara altogether and that's pretty much it. That's where we can get in touch for sure.
[00:49:15] Speaker A: Fantastic. Thank you so much and thank you for sharing with us. Really such a practical, real world and still forward looking view of AI and marketing operations.
I think you've really given some practical advice on future scalability of business systems.
[00:49:33] Speaker B: Totally. Thank you so much Todd. Absolutely happy to have been here as well. Thanks for the interview and definitely yeah, looking forward to our next conversation at some point. Absolutely love talking to you. Love it.
[00:49:45] Speaker A: So for our audience, today's conversation is a reminder that AI creates the most value when it is connected to strategy, clean data, strong systems and real human judgment. The future is not simply automated, it is designed with human beings at the center of that system.
I'm Todd Thomas. Thank you for watching Infinite Future.
Stay connected for more conversations about technology, ideas and innovations. Building a smarter and more abundant future. We'll see you next week.
