The Dinosaur in the Room: Why I Built How To AI

It was a Tuesday morning in August when a remarkably successful business owner—someone who had built multiple profitable ventures from scratch, employed dozens of people, and had more business acumen in his little finger than most MBA graduates manage in their entire careers—looked at me across the table and said: ‘Magnus, I know you love AI. I am just a dinosaur. Everyone says it can save me time and money. I really just do not know where to start.’

A dinosaur. This man who had navigated economic downturns, pivoted business models, and mastered technologies from fax machines to CRM systems, genuinely believed he was too old, too busy, or too ‘non-technical’ to make sense of AI.

He was not alone. Not even close.

The Pattern I Could Not Ignore

Over the past 18 months, I have had this exact conversation with more than 50 small and medium business owners across the UK and Europe. The details changed—different industries, different company sizes, different levels of tech comfort—but the frustration was identical.

They knew AI was important. They knew their competitors were probably using it. They knew it could help.

But between knowing and doing sat an enormous, intimidating gap. One filled with:

• Breathless headlines about AI ‘revolutionising everything’
• Hundreds of expensive courses promising to turn them into prompt engineers
• Tools that seemed designed for Silicon Valley startups, not actual small businesses
• A distinct feeling that everyone else had figured this out whilst they were still trying to work out where to start

What struck me most was not their lack of awareness. These are intelligent, capable people who run successful businesses. The problem was not ignorance. The problem was overwhelm.

How I Became the Accidental AI Evangelist

I should probably admit something: I am not a software developer. I cannot code my way out of a paper bag. My background is in helping organisations work smarter—replacing outdated systems, streamlining processes, and occasionally persuading people that no, you really do not need to keep doing it that way just because ‘that is how we have always done it’.

For years, my consulting work followed a predictable pattern. A business would bring me in, I would analyse their workflows, identify inefficiencies, and recommend solutions. Sometimes that meant new software. Sometimes it meant reorganising teams. Sometimes it just meant stopping the weekly meeting that everyone hated and no one found useful.

Then, about two years ago, something shifted.

I started experimenting with AI tools in my own work. Not because I had some grand vision of the future, but because I was busy, working solo, and needed to get more done without hiring a team. What began as tentative curiosity became genuine astonishment.

A proposal that used to take me four hours? Done in 90 minutes, with better research. Client presentations that required extensive preparation? Created in a fraction of the time, leaving me energy for the actual strategic thinking. Those tedious administrative tasks that somehow consumed entire afternoons? Automated or delegated to my new digital colleague.

The time savings were significant. But what really caught my attention was something else: I was producing better work. More thorough. More creative. More considered.

When Consulting Met Reality

Here is the uncomfortable truth about consulting: you can only help the businesses you work with directly. I was spending weeks with individual clients, showing them how to implement AI tools specific to their needs. The results were transformative—they were getting hours back every week, improving quality, reducing stress.

But for every business I helped, there were hundreds more asking the same questions. Small business owners on LinkedIn sending messages: ‘How do I start?’ Entrepreneurs at networking events pulling me aside: ‘Which tool should I use?’ Friends texting: ‘Can you recommend a good AI course?’

I kept recommending courses. People kept not taking them.

Because here is what I realised: they did not want to become AI experts. They did not want credentials or certificates. They certainly did not want to spend £500 and 20 hours learning prompt engineering theory.

They wanted someone to show them, step by step, how to use AI to write better emails, create marketing content, analyse data, plan projects—the actual work they did every single day.

They needed implementation, not education. Tools, not theory. A consultant in their pocket, not another course gathering digital dust.

That is when it clicked: this needed to exist.

What How To AI Actually Is (Because I Refuse to Oversell This)

Let me be direct about what How To AI is not:

It is not a course. I do not have the patience to create modules and quizzes, and you do not have the time to take them.

It is not competing with ChatGPT or Claude or Canva. Those tools are brilliant. How To AI shows you how to actually use them for your specific business needs.

It is not going to turn you into a ‘prompt engineer’ or an ‘AI specialist’ or whatever job title LinkedIn invented this week. Frankly, you do not need to be.

What it is: a practical toolkit containing the exact workflows, templates, and step-by-step processes I have built for consulting clients over the past two years. The implementations that worked. The shortcuts that save hours. The approaches that produce results without requiring a computer science degree.

Think of it as the translation layer between ‘AI sounds interesting’ and ‘AI just saved me three hours this morning’.

Who This Is Actually For

How To AI is designed for business owners and operators who:

• Run teams of 1-50 people (though the principles scale)
• Wear multiple hats because that is what small business demands
• Are curious but intimidated by the AI hype machine
• Value their time more than they value complexity
• Want results this month, not expertise for its own sake
• Can smell marketing nonsense from a mile away and appreciate straight talk

If you have ever felt like the AI conversation was happening somewhere else, in a language you did not quite speak, amongst people who had time to watch three-hour tutorials—this is for you.

If you are tired of hearing about how AI is ‘game-changing’ and ‘revolutionary’ without anyone explaining what to actually do on Tuesday morning—this is for you.

If you suspect AI could help your business but you do not have 40 hours and £1,000 to find out—this is definitely for you.

What I Promise (and What I Will Not Promise)

I will not use jargon unless I explain it. I will not hype capabilities that do not exist. I will not tell you AI is going to replace your staff or revolutionise your entire business model or solve problems you do not actually have.

What I will do:

Show you practical applications that save real time.

Explain things clearly, as though we are talking over coffee rather than you reading a technical manual.

Share what works based on actual implementation, not theoretical possibilities.

Acknowledge when something is complex or limited or simply not worth the effort for your situation.

Treat you like the intelligent business owner you are, who happens to need guidance on this specific thing.

How To AI is not about turning you into a tech expert. It is about giving you back your time so you can focus on what you actually do well—running your business, serving your clients, building something worthwhile.

The Invitation

If you are a small business owner who has been watching the AI conversation from the sidelines, wondering when it will finally make sense for you—this is that moment.

You are not a dinosaur. You are just busy. And sensibly cautious about investing time in things that might not deliver.

How To AI exists because I kept meeting brilliant business owners who felt left behind by technology that should have been helping them. It exists because the gap between AI’s potential and most people’s implementation is enormous and unnecessary.

It exists because you should not need a consultant on retainer just to work out how to use the tools that could save you ten hours a week.

If you are ready, let us get started.

Because AI should not be intimidating.

And you are absolutely not a dinosaur.

Not on my watch.