Welcome to Episode 3 of The AI Value Track — our brand-new podcast series helping you cut through the AI noise and actually use it in your business.

In this final episode of the series, Simon sits down with Ed Hogg (CEO, SolvedBy.AI) and James Bolle (Head of Data & Insights, ReThink Productivity) to tackle one of the biggest strategic questions leaders face:

👉 Should you build your own AI tools, or buy them off the shelf?

We keep it simple and explore:

• Build vs buy decisions tied to strategy and IP
• When generic problems justify off‑the‑shelf tools
• Niche bottlenecks and owning differentiated capability
• Real costs of talent, data architecture and compute
• Governance, scope control and reliability expectations
• Data quality, sourcing and security by design
• Measurable pilots, baselines and explainability
• EBITDA impact, inference costs and ROI discipline
• Ethics beyond bias, oversight and customer impact
• Partner contracts, IP protection and reuse limits
• Scaling blockers across finance, compliance, HR and IT
• Regulations to watch including EU AI Act and GDPR

If you’re thinking about making AI a real part of your business — not just a buzzword — this episode will help you make smarter, lower-risk decisions.

Tune in and learn how to get your AI projects off the ground — and keep them moving.

The Workforce Management Podcast is delivered to you by ShopWorks Workforce Solutions, provider of cloud-based Workforce Management Software, Time and Attendance Software, Employee Scheduling Software and Labour Demand Forecasting for the modern workforce manager.

Welcome back to The AI Value Track – a brand-new podcast series where we’re cutting through the hype and helping you actually use AI in your business.

In this second episode, Simon Hedaux (Co-Founder of ReThink Productivity) is joined by Ian Hogg (CEO, ShopWorks) and James Bolle (Head of Data & Insights, Rethink Productivity) to talk about something most people miss:

👉 You’re probably using AI every day – and you don’t even realise it.

We dig into the three types of AI tools most businesses are already using (or should be):

• Personal tools like ChatGPT (and how to use them properly)
• Embedded AI is already inside your email, CRM or video calls
• AI-native tools that are built to do the job of a person
  
  

We also explore:

• Personal LLMs as thinking partners and draft accelerators
• Embedded AI in email, slides, CRM, and meetings
• AI‑native tools mapped to roles like SDR and legal
• Agents that act: scrape, configure, reset, and schedule
• Quality, speed, and evidence versus laziness concerns
• Training, culture, and best‑case sharing for adoption
• Guardrails, verification, and human‑in‑the‑loop control
• Real‑world cases in support, retail, facilities, and QSR

If you're still thinking of AI as "that tool someone in marketing uses," this episode will open your eyes to what's already happening — and how to level up.

Tune in and see how much AI you’re already using — and what more you could be doing with it.

The Workforce Management Podcast is delivered to you by ShopWorks Workforce Solutions, provider of cloud-based Workforce Management Software, Time and Attendance Software, Employee Scheduling Software and Labour Demand Forecasting for the modern workforce manager.

Welcome to the first episode of our brand new podcast series: The AI Value Track.

In Episode 1, host Simon Hedaux (Co-Founder at ReThink Positivity) is joined by our very own, Ian Hogg (CEO at ShopWorks) and Ed Hogg (CEO at SolvedBy.AI) for a no-nonsense conversation about:

• Clear definition of AI and human‑in‑the‑loop
• Where AI adds value across knowledge work
• Culture over tech as the main blocker
• Data readiness and training data basics
• Governance to reduce shadow AI risks
• Leaders modelling tools and setting objectives
• Selecting first three use cases aligned to KPIs
• Measuring adherence to AI recommendations
• Balancing efficiency vs productivity for trust and ROI
• Practical rollout: owners, feedback loops, training

This isn’t about hype — it’s about making AI useful and accessible. If you’re just getting started or thinking “we should probably be doing something with AI”, this one’s for you.

The Workforce Management Podcast is delivered to you by ShopWorks Workforce Solutions, provider of cloud-based Workforce Management Software, Time and Attendance Software, Employee Scheduling Software and Labour Demand Forecasting for the modern workforce manager.