How Tad Slaff Saved €20,000 Using AI

Tad Slaff is the founder of May, a company that helps startups and small businesses improve their performance reporting and marketing attribution.

With a background in data science, Tad led data teams at two large B2C companies before starting May.

His goal is to help smaller companies understand how their business is doing and where their customers are coming from.

How May Uses AI to Improve Insights

May uses AI in two key areas:

For customers: May uses AI to watch key metrics like sales, spending, and conversions. The AI spots important trends and translates them into simple language, making it easier for users to understand.

Tad explains, “We use AI to identify the most important metrics and explain them in natural language, so users can act on what matters most.”

May also allows users to ask specific questions, with AI creating SQL queries and explaining the results in an easy-to-read format.

For internal development: AI has also helped Tad build and improve May. Even though Tad isn’t a full-stack developer, AI has been a huge help in speeding up development.

“AI has been crucial in allowing me to build a full-stack, data-intensive app and improve it based on user feedback without needing a large team of developers,” Tad says.

Why Tad Started Using AI

Tad started using AI because it allows for flexibility and handles complex cases easily. “In the past, creating natural language responses meant using complex templates that were hard to maintain. With AI, we can handle it all with a single API call,” he explains.

Key Benefits from Using AI

AI has brought two major benefits to May:

• Improved user experience: “Users find it easier to understand insights when they’re in natural language instead of reading dense tables,” Tad says. AI also gives users the ability to ask specific questions, which adds a lot of value.

• Cost savings: By using AI instead of relying heavily on freelance developers, Tad estimates that he has saved between €15,000 and €20,000 in development costs.

AI Tools May Uses

May uses ChatGPT API and Claude UI to power its AI features, which help deliver quick and accurate insights for users.

Advice for Founders: Focus on the Customer’s Problem

Tad’s advice for founders is simple: focus on the problem your customer has and how you’re solving it.

“AI is just a tool to help solve the problem. Customers don’t care if you’re using AI - they just want the problem solved,” Tad explains.

He also advises being careful with how you use AI: “AI is great at giving answers, but you need to make sure you’re asking the right questions to get the best results.”

Avoiding Common Pitfalls

Tad warns that AI should not distract you from the core issue you’re solving for your customers.

“Unless you’re building a foundational AI model, AI should just be another tool in your toolkit,” he says.

It’s powerful, but it’s there to add value, not take over the main purpose of your business.

Looking Ahead: The Future of AI

Tad believes that in the near future, using AI will be as common as having a website. “We won’t even mention that we’re using AI anymore - it will just be assumed,” he predicts.

The companies that use AI the best to solve real customer problems will be the ones that lead the market.

That’s a wrap.

If you’d like to learn more or connect with Tad, you can find him at May or reach via LinkedIn or email [email protected]

Back next week, enjoy the rest of this one.

Paul

P.S. If you're using AI in your business and getting results, I'd love to hear about it. Hit reply and let's talk.