
Are there any areas of your business you should keep strictly under your control and oversight?
At AICodex, we’re passionate advocates of using AI to assist with many aspects of your business. We believe AI can be a true Partner in Progress for business owners and side-hustlers. However, there are certain domains that a business owner should fully rely on themself for. Because AI can’t do it and shouldn’t be doing it. These points are based on our research and understanding of AI’s current capabilities and limitations.
In this article
AI Can’t Do But Entrepreneur Can – One
Strategic Decision-Making

This is the single most crucial business function that should not be delegated to AI. While AI can provide valuable data analysis and insights that can feed into the thinking, the final strategic decisions that shape the direction of a business should always involve human judgment.
Small business owners bring unique perspectives, intuition, and understanding of their market and target audiences that AI cannot replicate. This contextual knowledge is crucial for making strategic decisions that align with the business’s unique position and challenges.
Strategic decision making is such a crucial aspect of the business that we wouldn’t recommend hiring external consultants or tools to handle it. This must always remain under the tight handle and control of the owner. Many small business owners can fall into the tempting trap of delegating more and more to AI. It is critical to keep the core of your business within your control. What could that look like?
Long-term Vision
AI excels at analysing data and identifying patterns, but it lacks the ability to envision a long-term future for the business. A small business owner’s vision, ambition, and personal goals play a significant role in shaping the company’s direction – elements that AI cannot replicate.
Ethical and Value-based Decisions
Strategic decisions often involve ethical considerations and alignment with the business’s core values. AI can’t fully comprehend or weigh these subjective factors that are integral to a small business’s identity and reputation.
Risk Tolerance and Intuition
Every business owner has a different level of risk tolerance, which significantly influences strategic decisions. AI can calculate probabilities but can’t account for an owner’s gut feeling or willingness to take calculated risks based on experience, intention and instinct.
Adaptation to Unforeseen Circumstances
Small businesses often need to pivot quickly in response to unexpected events or opportunities. While AI can process new data, it can’t match a human’s ability to rapidly adapt strategies based on sudden changes in the business environment.
Ultimately, the consequences of strategic decisions fall on the business owner. Delegating this responsibility entirely to AI removes the crucial element of human accountability and the learning that comes from both successes and failures.
AI can be an invaluable tool in supporting business strategy and decision-making. It can provide data analysis, market insights, predictive modelling, and scenario planning. The key is to use AI as a powerful assistant in the strategic process, enhancing the business owner’s decision-making capabilities rather than replacing them.
AI Can’t Do But Entrepreneur Can – Two
Building and Maintaining Customer Relationships

AI can help manage customer interactions and provide data on customer behaviour very easily. but it shouldn’t replace the human touch in building and nurturing relationships. Personal connections, empathy, and understanding nuanced customer needs are vital for small businesses and are areas where human interaction excels.
Customers also expect that conversation. Most small business owners spend a large amount of time meeting partners, new customers and existing buyers. The intel that can be gathered through these interactions is priceless on a very human level. Humans strive on trust and connection, which only another human can offer.
AI Can’t Do But Entrepreneur Can – Three
Creative Problem-Solving

While AI can assist in generating ideas and identifying patterns, the truly innovative and creative solutions come from human imagination and the ability to think outside the box. Small business owners should rely on their creativity and industry knowledge to develop unique solutions and innovations that set their business apart. This innovation will be foolproof and AI-proof for sustained business success.
These areas require human intuition, emotional intelligence, ethical considerations, and contextual understanding that AI, in its current state, cannot fully replicate.
While AI can be an excellent tool to support these functions, it should not be the sole decision-maker or executor in these crucial aspects of running a small business.