In this episode of the AI Profit Leaders Podcast, host Chris Wiser sits down with Adam Walter, founder and president of Humanize IT, soon transitioning to Humanize AI.

Adam shares his journey from engineer and critical infrastructure security director to strategic advisor helping MSPs and business leaders move beyond “tickets and tools” and into real business conversations.

What started as a mission to help engineers have better conversations with clients has evolved into something much bigger: preparing companies for the AI acceleration wave that’s already here.

After initially believing he was ahead of the AI curve, Adam discovered he was significantly behind — and within just two months, pivoted his entire development cycle, redirected company reserves, and rebuilt his roadmap around AI integration.

This episode explores the difference between operational thinking and strategic thinking, why AI will massively augment high performers, and why companies ignoring this shift may not just stagnate. They may disappear.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn

• Why AI will augment great teams instead of replacing them
• The difference between operational IT and true strategic advisory
• Why many leaders think they’re ahead on AI — but aren’t
• The risk of ignoring AI adoption in competitive markets
• How “vibe coding” creates opportunity — and technical debt
• Why strategy must come before tools
• How listening to clients unlocks more growth than selling hardware

Key Takeaway

AI is not a technical trend.

It’s a business accelerator.

Leaders who adopt it strategically will multiply their capacity.
Those who ignore it will be outpaced by competitors who don’t.

Episode Highlights

• Adam’s shift from engineer to fractional CIO to AI strategist
• The “avalanche” metaphor — realizing how far behind he actually was
• Why AI turns a team of 10 into a team of 50
• The difference between fixing tickets and solving core problems
• The school internet story — doubling bandwidth solved 10 years of stagnation
• Vibe coding vs strategic development
• AI as augmentation for visionaries and implementers

Quote from the Episode

“AI is going to take your team of 10 and turn them into a team of 50 — while your competitors keep doing things the way they always have.”

— Adam Walter

Guest Spotlight

Adam Walter
Founder & President, Humanize IT (transitioning to Humanize AI)

Adam has over 20 years of experience in engineering, security, and IT leadership. Through Humanize IT, he helps MSPs and technology professionals move beyond technical jargon and into meaningful business strategy conversations. His current focus is helping organizations responsibly integrate AI to accelerate growth without sacrificing security or clarity.

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In this episode of the AI Profit Leaders Podcast, host Chris Wiser is joined by Crios Munnings, Founder and CEO of Deep Blue Risk, an IT, cybersecurity, and AI advisory firm based in San Antonio, Texas.

Crios walks through the real evolution of the IT industry. From reactive break-fix support, to managed services, to cybersecurity risk management. He also explains why AI now represents the next major inflection point for business leaders.

The conversation dives into a growing and dangerous reality: most companies are already using AI daily, but leadership has no visibility, no policy, and no strategy. Employees are deploying AI tools on personal devices, sensitive data is being exposed, and executives are rushing to “add AI” without understanding outcomes or risk.

Using real-world examples — including a $1.2M profit leak uncovered during a routine oil change — Crios explains how AI assessments, outcome-based strategy, and advisory leadership allow businesses to see what they’ve been missing all along.

This episode reframes AI as neither hype nor software, but a strategic lens that reveals inefficiencies, risk, and growth opportunities hiding in plain sight.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn

• Why most AI initiatives fail without leadership ownership
• How AI introduces new business risk when adopted without a strategy
• Why employees are already using AI — with or without permission
• How AI assessments expose profit leaks across sales, ops, and CX
• The shift from IT support to AI risk and strategy advisory
• Why AI must be outcome-based, not tool-driven
• How leaders can regain control before AI creates compliance, privacy, or financial damage

Key Takeaway

AI doesn’t just accelerate businesses —
It exposes what leadership has been ignoring.

Without a strategy, AI becomes a risk.
With strategy, AI becomes leverage.

Quote from the Episode

“AI isn’t a shiny tool you just throw into a business.
Without a strategy, it’s more dangerous than not using it at all.”

— Crios Munnings

Guest Spotlight

Crios Munnings
Founder & CEO, Deep Blue Risk
📍 San Antonio, Texas (serving clients nationwide)

Crios is an IT, cybersecurity, and AI advisory leader helping businesses shift from reactive support to proactive risk management and AI-driven strategy. His work focuses on assessments, outcome-based implementation, and helping leadership teams regain control of technology decisions.

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• 📘 Making Your First One Million Dollars With AI
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Most businesses don’t fail at AI because of technology.
They fail because of leadership.

In this episode, Lindsey Badillo is joined by Andrew Brackenbush, founder of Beefy Marketing, to unpack why chasing AI tools without a clear strategy creates overwhelm, wasted spend, and cultural breakdowns.

Andrew shares what he’s seeing inside real businesses adopting AI — from leadership resistance and “shadow AI” usage to the massive leverage unlocked when AI is aligned to vision, culture, and execution.

This conversation reframes AI from a shiny object into what it actually is:
a leadership accelerator that exposes broken processes, weak communication, and unclear strategy — for better or worse.

This episode is for founders and executives ready to stop experimenting and start leading with AI on purpose.

🎧 In This Episode, You’ll Learn

• Why AI strategy must come before AI tools to avoid wasted spend and confusion
• How leadership-driven AI adoption creates real competitive advantage
• The biggest mistakes companies make when they “implement AI” without clear outcomes
• Why AI should support employees, not replace them
• How to identify operational bottlenecks and profit leaks before automating
• What it really means to become an AI-first organization
• Why companies that delay AI strategy risk falling behind permanently
  
  
  

🔑 Key Takeaway

AI doesn’t fail businesses — poor leadership does.
The winners in the next economy will be the organizations that lead with strategy, clarity, and intent — and use AI to execute faster, not think for them.

Guest Spotlight

Andrew Brackenbush
Founder, Beefy Marketing

Andrew helps businesses integrate AI into marketing, operations, and leadership without overwhelming teams or losing brand trust. His advisory-first approach focuses on using AI to create leverage, efficiency, and long-term business freedom.

Notable Quotes

“AI doesn’t replace people — it replaces inefficiency.”

“If you’re just chasing tools, AI will actually make your business heavier.”

“Transparency around AI builds trust. Hiding it destroys it.”

Resources Mentioned

📘 Who Not How — Dan Sullivan
🧠 Custom GPTs & AI agents for internal operations
📈 Fractional AI advisory & strategy-first adoption models

Connect with the Guest

🔗 Website: https://beefymarketing.com
🔗 Personal Site: https://andrewbrackenbush.com

Connect with Us!

• 📘 Making Your First One Million Dollars With AI
  Available on Amazon
• Instagram: @theAIProfitMachine
• Free Facebook Community
• 🎙️ Subscribe to AI Profit Leaders for weekly strategy-first AI conversations