How to Avoid Toy AI and Build Real Business Value | ft. Dr. Lisa Palmer

Still trusting your CRM, ERP, or sales tools to tell you the truth about your business?

Here’s the problem: Most of your systems are just fancy filing cabinets. They don’t help your team perform, they just track what’s already happened.

If you’re tired of chasing reports, dealing with bad data, and running a sales org on broken systems, book a strategy call with The Sales Machine. We'll show you how to finally get visibility, accountability, and real performance:

👉www.thesalesmachine.com

Now to the good part...

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Lisa Palmer, AI strategist and truth-teller for tech execs.

She’s worked with Microsoft, Gartner, and Fortune 500 companies to build AI systems that actually work—not just impress VCs or look pretty in pitch decks. And today, she’s dropping gold on everything from data chaos to why your CRM isn’t cutting it anymore.

We talk about:

• Why most business systems are lying to you
• The real reason AI fails in companies (hint: mindset)
• Why “Toy AI’s” are killing innovation
• How to apply Show AI, Don’t Tell It in your business
• What the future of sales teams looks like with agentic AI
• And why empathy is still your greatest sales advantage, even in an AI-powered world

Whether you're a founder, sales leader, or innovator trying to future-proof your business, this episode is your wake-up call.

Key Takeaways:

• You need AI that drives performance, not dashboards collecting dust.
• Don’t build a toy. Build a system.
• Empathy and AI must work together, especially in sales.
• Mindset, not tools, is what separates leaders from laggards.

If your sales systems are lying to you…or worse, doing nothing for performance, it’s time to stop the madness.

👉 Book a strategy call with The Sales Machine today: www.thesalesmachine.com

Let’s upgrade your tools, your team, and your results.

Chapters

(02:50) - The Role of AI in Blue Collar Work

(08:59) - Empathy in Sales and AI

(14:55) - Show AI, Don't Tell It

(17:49) - Avoiding Toy AI

(21:00) - The Future of SaaS and Agentic AI

(23:59) - Driving Performance with AI

(37:11) - Empathy in Sales and AI Integration

(40:49) - Data Chaos and the Role of AI

(45:54) - Prototyping with AI: The Future of Development

(51:38) - The Changing Landscape of Jobs in AI

Connect with Lisa Palmer

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/palmerlisac/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/palmerlisac/

X: https://x.com/palmerlisac

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ai.drlisa

Website: https://www.drlisa.ai/

Connect with John Rankins

Website: https://thesalesmachine.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSalesMachineOfficial

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/thesalesmachine_official/

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/thesalesmachineofficial/

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@JohnRankinsOfficial