app02 Wed, 01 Jul 2026 23:48:48 +0000 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) CX without the BS - Episodes Tagged with “Ai Replacing Jobs” https://cswithoutthebs.fireside.fm/tags/ai%20replacing%20jobs Wed, 01 Jul 2026 12:00:00 -0400 Most CX podcasts are built for Fortune 500 buyers with seven-figure budgets and dedicated transformation teams... This one isn't. CX Without the BS is for the technology advisors, IT leaders, and business owners working in the trenches of SMB and mid-market companies - the "forgotten 5000" who get pitched enterprise solutions they can't afford and ignored by vendors who don't think they're worth the support call. Host Brian Nichols brings real practitioner perspective from the unified communications and contact center space. No guru theater. No vendor hype. No recycled LinkedIn thought leadership dressed up as expertise. Just the actual conversations advisors and buyers need to be having... about why CX deployments fail, where vendors quietly cut corners, which product categories are oversold, and what questions you should be asking before you sign a three-year contract. Each episode pulls from real customer scenarios, market situations, and the framework laid out in Brian's book, The CX Compass. Some episodes are solo deep dives. Others bring in practitioners, advisors, and operators who can break down the mechanics of what actually works - and what's quietly broken behind the demo. If you're tired of buzzword bingo and ready for the version of CX nobody's willing to say out loud... you're in the right place. Subscribe, share it with an advisor or buyer who needs it, and let's cut through the noise together. en-us episodic Honest takes on customer experience and UCaaS for the SMB and mid-market buyers enterprise vendors forgot... hosted by Brian Nichols. Brian Nichols Most CX podcasts are built for Fortune 500 buyers with seven-figure budgets and dedicated transformation teams... This one isn't. CX Without the BS is for the technology advisors, IT leaders, and business owners working in the trenches of SMB and mid-market companies - the "forgotten 5000" who get pitched enterprise solutions they can't afford and ignored by vendors who don't think they're worth the support call. Host Brian Nichols brings real practitioner perspective from the unified communications and contact center space. No guru theater. No vendor hype. No recycled LinkedIn thought leadership dressed up as expertise. Just the actual conversations advisors and buyers need to be having... about why CX deployments fail, where vendors quietly cut corners, which product categories are oversold, and what questions you should be asking before you sign a three-year contract. Each episode pulls from real customer scenarios, market situations, and the framework laid out in Brian's book, The CX Compass. Some episodes are solo deep dives. Others bring in practitioners, advisors, and operators who can break down the mechanics of what actually works - and what's quietly broken behind the demo. If you're tired of buzzword bingo and ready for the version of CX nobody's willing to say out loud... you're in the right place. Subscribe, share it with an advisor or buyer who needs it, and let's cut through the noise together. yes CX podcast, customer experience, UCaaS, CCaaS, contact center, unified communications, technology advisors, channel partners, TSD, SMB technology, mid-market IT, vendor evaluation, CX strategy, customer service technology, Brian Nichols, CX Compass, business communications, cloud communications, customer engagement, sales enablement, B2B technology buying, IT decision makers, Telarus, agent experience, omnichannel Brian Nichols brian@briannicholsconsulting.com AI Costs More Than Your Employees | Uber Blew Its ENTIRE AI Budget in 4 Months https://cswithoutthebs.fireside.fm/aicostingmore 61b4a811-e44a-4aaf-a813-8f1dfd42c69d Wed, 01 Jul 2026 12:00:00 -0400 Brian Nichols full Brian Nichols The pitch was "fire your expensive people, the software's cheaper." Turns out the software isn't cheap... and it can't replace the human. So companies bought BOTH. 18:35 no <p>AI was sold to you as two promises: it replaces your people, and it saves you money. Both halves are falling apart at the same time - and this episode follows the receipts on both sides.</p> <p>We start with the money. Uber burned through its entire 2026 AI budget in four months. Not because the tool failed... because it worked so well 5,000 engineers couldn't put it down. They even built leaderboards to gamify the spend. NVIDIA's own VP admitted compute now costs more than employees. A 2024 MIT study found AI is the cheaper option in only 23% of jobs. So why does every CEO keep insisting it saves money?</p> <p>Then we flip the coin to the customer side, with the true story of a grieving man named Jake, an Air Canada chatbot that lied to him about bereavement fares, and an airline that argued in court its own bot was a "separate legal entity responsible for its own actions." (They lost.) The data explains exactly why that backfires: 88% of customers prefer a human, 77% find chatbots frustrating, and 70% will switch brands after a single bad AI experience.</p> <p>This isn't an anti-AI rant. AI is real and it's useful. But there's a difference between a tool and a miracle - and the whole industry has been selling a miracle. The verdict: the future isn't AI replacing humans, it's humans who use AI out-working the ones who don't, on the dollars AND the experience.</p> <p>You'll also get the 5 questions every advisor should ask and every buyer should demand before signing an AI deal - the filter that keeps you from becoming Uber's budget or Air Canada's lawsuit.</p> <p>WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:</p> <p>-Why "usage-based" AI pricing quietly torches budgets (the Slow Boil)<br> -The real economics behind AI vs. human labor - and who's cheaper<br> -Why customers are organizing against bad AI, from "clanker" to data center revolts<br> -Exactly where AI belongs (back office) and where it doesn't (the front door)<br> -5 questions to cut through any AI sales pitch</p> <p>CHAPTERS:<br> 0:00 - Uber Blew Its Entire AI Budget in 4 Months<br> 1:52 - The Two Promises Nobody Can Keep<br> 3:00 - The Leaderboard That Bankrupted the Plan<br> 5:05 - Calling the BS: You Bought Both<br> 6:18 - The Receipts: Even NVIDIA Admits It<br> 8:20 - The Twist: They Never Wanted to Replace You<br> 9:48 - The Chatbot That Lied to a Grieving Man<br> 11:25 - Why Customers Are Done With Bad Bots<br> 13:30 - 5 Questions to Kill the AI Hype Pitch<br> 15:15 - Where AI Actually Belongs<br> 16:50 - Two Bots, One Mistake<br> 17:50 - Chip Has Some Questions</p> <p>📘 Get the playbook → The CX Compass: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/CX-Compass-Playbook-Prescribe-Confidence/dp/B0F5PC32SG" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.amazon.com/CX-Compass-Playbook-Prescribe-Confidence/dp/B0F5PC32SG</a><br> 🔗 Connect with Brian → <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannicholssales/" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannicholssales/</a> </p> CX Without the BS, Brian Nichols, customer experience, AI customer service, AI hype, AI costs, AI vs humans, UCaaS, CCaaS, contact center, AI chatbot, customer service AI, AI replacing jobs, Uber Claude Code, Uber AI budget, AI bubble, enterprise AI, AI ROI, Air Canada chatbot, chatbot fail, human vs AI, conversational AI, AI agents, AI infrastructure, data center backlash, future of work, AI in business, customer experience strategy, technology advisors, NVIDIA AI cost AI was sold to you as two promises: it replaces your people, and it saves you money. Both halves are falling apart at the same time - and this episode follows the receipts on both sides.

We start with the money. Uber burned through its entire 2026 AI budget in four months. Not because the tool failed... because it worked so well 5,000 engineers couldn't put it down. They even built leaderboards to gamify the spend. NVIDIA's own VP admitted compute now costs more than employees. A 2024 MIT study found AI is the cheaper option in only 23% of jobs. So why does every CEO keep insisting it saves money?

Then we flip the coin to the customer side, with the true story of a grieving man named Jake, an Air Canada chatbot that lied to him about bereavement fares, and an airline that argued in court its own bot was a "separate legal entity responsible for its own actions." (They lost.) The data explains exactly why that backfires: 88% of customers prefer a human, 77% find chatbots frustrating, and 70% will switch brands after a single bad AI experience.

This isn't an anti-AI rant. AI is real and it's useful. But there's a difference between a tool and a miracle - and the whole industry has been selling a miracle. The verdict: the future isn't AI replacing humans, it's humans who use AI out-working the ones who don't, on the dollars AND the experience.

You'll also get the 5 questions every advisor should ask and every buyer should demand before signing an AI deal - the filter that keeps you from becoming Uber's budget or Air Canada's lawsuit.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

-Why "usage-based" AI pricing quietly torches budgets (the Slow Boil)
-The real economics behind AI vs. human labor - and who's cheaper
-Why customers are organizing against bad AI, from "clanker" to data center revolts
-Exactly where AI belongs (back office) and where it doesn't (the front door)
-5 questions to cut through any AI sales pitch

CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Uber Blew Its Entire AI Budget in 4 Months
1:52 - The Two Promises Nobody Can Keep
3:00 - The Leaderboard That Bankrupted the Plan
5:05 - Calling the BS: You Bought Both
6:18 - The Receipts: Even NVIDIA Admits It
8:20 - The Twist: They Never Wanted to Replace You
9:48 - The Chatbot That Lied to a Grieving Man
11:25 - Why Customers Are Done With Bad Bots
13:30 - 5 Questions to Kill the AI Hype Pitch
15:15 - Where AI Actually Belongs
16:50 - Two Bots, One Mistake
17:50 - Chip Has Some Questions

📘 Get the playbook → The CX Compass: https://www.amazon.com/CX-Compass-Playbook-Prescribe-Confidence/dp/B0F5PC32SG
🔗 Connect with Brian → https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannicholssales/

]]> AI was sold to you as two promises: it replaces your people, and it saves you money. Both halves are falling apart at the same time - and this episode follows the receipts on both sides.

We start with the money. Uber burned through its entire 2026 AI budget in four months. Not because the tool failed... because it worked so well 5,000 engineers couldn't put it down. They even built leaderboards to gamify the spend. NVIDIA's own VP admitted compute now costs more than employees. A 2024 MIT study found AI is the cheaper option in only 23% of jobs. So why does every CEO keep insisting it saves money?

Then we flip the coin to the customer side, with the true story of a grieving man named Jake, an Air Canada chatbot that lied to him about bereavement fares, and an airline that argued in court its own bot was a "separate legal entity responsible for its own actions." (They lost.) The data explains exactly why that backfires: 88% of customers prefer a human, 77% find chatbots frustrating, and 70% will switch brands after a single bad AI experience.

This isn't an anti-AI rant. AI is real and it's useful. But there's a difference between a tool and a miracle - and the whole industry has been selling a miracle. The verdict: the future isn't AI replacing humans, it's humans who use AI out-working the ones who don't, on the dollars AND the experience.

You'll also get the 5 questions every advisor should ask and every buyer should demand before signing an AI deal - the filter that keeps you from becoming Uber's budget or Air Canada's lawsuit.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

-Why "usage-based" AI pricing quietly torches budgets (the Slow Boil)
-The real economics behind AI vs. human labor - and who's cheaper
-Why customers are organizing against bad AI, from "clanker" to data center revolts
-Exactly where AI belongs (back office) and where it doesn't (the front door)
-5 questions to cut through any AI sales pitch

CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Uber Blew Its Entire AI Budget in 4 Months
1:52 - The Two Promises Nobody Can Keep
3:00 - The Leaderboard That Bankrupted the Plan
5:05 - Calling the BS: You Bought Both
6:18 - The Receipts: Even NVIDIA Admits It
8:20 - The Twist: They Never Wanted to Replace You
9:48 - The Chatbot That Lied to a Grieving Man
11:25 - Why Customers Are Done With Bad Bots
13:30 - 5 Questions to Kill the AI Hype Pitch
15:15 - Where AI Actually Belongs
16:50 - Two Bots, One Mistake
17:50 - Chip Has Some Questions

📘 Get the playbook → The CX Compass: https://www.amazon.com/CX-Compass-Playbook-Prescribe-Confidence/dp/B0F5PC32SG
🔗 Connect with Brian → https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannicholssales/

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