Welcome to the Vici Code where we unlock real stories of small business owners who've battled chaos, crushed doubt and conquered their challenges, faith, family and finances. No fluff, just raw, honest conversations that decode the path to victory one story at a time. All right, what is up? Thank you for joining us today as we explore another purpose driven journey, the AI operating system. Where we go from chaos to true traction. How to build a high performance AI operating system that uncovers hidden revenue and empowers teams to lead in the age of automation. Every day a new AI tool hits the market. Most founders feel behind before they even start. But what? But what if the goal wasn't to use more tools, but to build a better system? Our Guest today helps $20 million companies find 10 hours a week they didn't know they had. As the founder of True Traction, Devin Karpis has moved beyond the AI hype to help service based founders install the AI operating system. He's an expert at elevating company wide AI literacy and turning adoption headaches into into a competitive advantage. Devin and I met through a mutual friend and previous guest, Ryan Mueller. Shout out to Ryan. Devin is a strategist who specializes in turning the noise of modern technology into a streamlined engine for growth. He addresses the messy middle where founders often get stuck in the weeds of their own operation. His framework, the AI operating system, isn't just about software. It's about the leadership and human empowerment. Today we are exploring operational clarity. We're diving into how a system first approach to AI can uncover six figures in hidden revenue while making a business actually easier to run. As with all guests, we'll filter Devin's experience through our core pillars, faith, family, fitness and finance. Devin, what is up, my man? Welcome to the show. Thank you, Joe. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. Well, listen, you can't talk about systems without talking AI. Today we get to talk about both. But before that, let's talk about your breakthrough, your. Your messy middle. Right. You focus on companies in the 1 million to $20 million range. This is often where the chaos peaks because the founder can no longer touch everything. What was the specific breakthrough moment where you realize that more technology wasn't actually making these businesses harder to run than not easier? Well, it was something that actually happened to me in my previous business and when we were building an AI video company. Now AI as a leader of the business, I always looked at it as a tech initiative. So our development team was working on all the AI stuff. I'm non technical. Then ChatGPT came out in 2022 was my first interaction and I got overly excited with everything. I was like, I just saw so much opportunity, lower costs, more efficiency, speedier like lead times, etc. And I started just looking into every single tool and sending links to our production and tech team. And they eventually turned around after $5,000 a month in subscription fees and said, please stop, you're overwhelming us. We can't be expected to build our own system, learn new tools, they're coming out too quickly and half of them don't even do what they claim they're going to do. We, we've adopted two or three. We're wasting money, we're wasting time. I took a step back and I was like, maybe I'm looking at this wrong. This is my first interaction with AI. I've always looked at it as a tech initiative, but maybe I need to start looking at it as a leadership initiative. I started going deep, studying up, learning prompt engineering at the time and how to give proper context and manage my memory so that I could be getting the best responses from AI and looking at it from a strategic business lens lens. Because everything in business, if you have a good strategy, everything else can follow. And that was when I realized, hey, everyone's like looking and get, being overwhelmed by these tools. They're going a tool first approach. I'm not saying that tools are not important, but if you take a strategy first approach, the tools then sort of come to, to the surface of what, what will aid in that strategy. So I ended up having a crazy, crazy conversation at the time with Chat GPT. We ended up shifting the way our pricing model worked and we ended up landing our biggest client because of it. And that's when I saw the true power in this. At the same time, I don't know if you've ever heard of the Japanese concept of an icky guy. It's like sort of a Venn diagram of what you're good at, what you can earn, money, what brings you joy, etc. And where in the right, in the middle is what you should be doing with your life. I've been trying for so many years to figure that out and I just, I couldn't. I'd been servicing insurance companies almost my whole career and banks. And you know, the people on the ground that I'm dealing with, they're not benefiting from our amazing work and the people at the top don't even know my name. So I was like, how can I find purpose in this work I'm doing? And that was when I Made this decision to shift over to actually being on the ground floor with the founders, going through the same trenches that I've been in being an entrepreneur, and how can I help them, especially now when they are probably feeling the same overwhelm with AI and how to do that. So that was the shift where I shifted from, hey, this is actually a leadership strategy tool that can have like, real, real business impact. Yeah, I completely agree. Now, how do you distinguish between a shiny new tool and a functional piece of operating system? So it's a very, very good question that there's always going to be something new that comes out and everyone always wants to explore it. That is what actually causes the overwhelm. And it causes wasted time. And I find myself doing it as well, even though I'm in it. And I need to learn the tools and understand everything so that I can be experiencing everything it has to offer so that I can give the best experience to my clients. But to be honest with you, sometimes I go down such a rabbit hole and I'm wasting so much time. So what I've found, and especially now, we're moving into this agentic world from just chatting with AI to actually having IT work for you, but both have very important functions still. You still want to ideate with your chatbot, whether It's Claude or ChatGPT or Gemini, whatever you're using. Right. You want to think from a leadership perspective, have those strategic conversations and that leads to, oh, what tools should I be using to solve this problem? And then, oh, what should I be automating or building agents for? Because most people know they need it, but they don't even know where to start. So it always starts with that strategic layer, just having a conversation, letting it know the problems, letting it know your situation, giving context, context. Engineering is where it is, I. E. Just ensuring that the AI has, has the right context so that it knows how to help. Yeah, I mean, if you're using it, I think the average person probably uses it more as a Google search at this point, but business owners should be using it far more in depth, with much more detail, using reverse prompts, providing master prompts, stuff like that, to get the most out of it. And now you're. You're unpacking a whole other world of what it can do for you, as far as, you know, just giving you a response versus giving you an articulated strategic response that guides leadership in decision making, for sure. Absolutely. And then that leads into it actually doing the work, right? Absolutely. Speaking of that, let's get into the human element of AI. You talk about AI literacy across an entire team. Many employees fear AI will replace them. How do you as a leader frame the AI operating system as an empowering tool rather than a threat? What does the shift do for company culture? It's a very, very interesting one. And I've been on client calls where full teams have been like just leaning in and wanting to learn more. And then I've seen the other side of the coin where people are pushing back and are scared. It's a very hard one to navigate because in most cases we don't want to sort of mix things up too much inside of an organization with 20, 30, 40 staff members. So we always approach it very lightly. But it's about people understanding one this new world we're shifting into or we have shifted into and they need to shift their skill set. The skill today is communication, leadership and judgment. We are going to be the same way we've always done in business, managing people. If we've been managers or being managed now we need to level up. We're going to be managing agents and it's the same skill. As long as you know how to communicate, as long as you know what good looks like, what the output needs to be, then you can manage agents really well. And pointing agents at the correct thing, not just agents for agents sake, which I see a lot of. Sure. So it's about crossing that barrier where it's, listen, we are going to be teaching you a new skill that you are going to need whether it's at this job or another job or you starting your own business. This is vital in this day and age and it's grounded in core human skills, which is judgment, communication for sure. And like, it's interesting and I don't disagree. Communication's always been important though it's interesting that it's more important now with where we're going. And we're seeing a disconnect in communication ability with the younger generation. Because of technology, because of phones, because of social media, the younger generation is struggling with connecting and communicating. You know, what are your thoughts on, on, on how that younger generation can do a better job in training themselves into communicating? Because like you said, you got to communicate no matter, you know, whether is now or back, you know, 2,000 years ago, the people that could communicate the best, you know, always rise to the top. Now we have this weird paradox where we have this giant group of, of generation of people that are communicating less, but now it's needed even more. What are your thoughts on that? Well, it's, it's interesting. I think that generation is very familiar with communicating with technology or even with other humans through technology. Right? That's where they live. It's like on their phones. What we've lost is human to human. Hey, going out, going to the park. And it's very interesting. I've seen a lot of big names talking about that. There's. Because of how exponential the growth of AI is and the AI is going to be doing so much of the work and what have you, humans are going to turn the opposite way and go back to analog. Oh, let's go for a hike, let's go to the park. Let's meet for a coffee. And I'm hoping, obviously you and I have young kids. I'm hoping that that actually happens so that our kids can experience that childhood like, like we did. It's so funny. I think it was the last guest we had, we were talking about analog versus digital. I think it was Mark Mendez. He was an elite gu. We were literally using those exact words. And I think, you know, I'm 42. My generation is. Feels like it was like that last generation where we played outside until it got dark, you know, rub dirt in it, you know, and now, you know, we've got the generation that, you know, you got to, you got to pay them to go outside, you got to bribe them to go outside. And I do hope that. I think if you look at history and you look at trends and pattern recognition, things are cyclical and I hope we do make it back to that because I really do think that's a, an opportunity missed for that entire generation. And quite honestly, if I'm gonna be, if I'm really gonna say how I feel, you know, getting outside in nature, that is the best form and cheapest form of antidepressant. It doesn't get any better than that. Connecting with each other in nature. It doesn't get any better than that, Dev. Absolutely. So Firstly, I'm also 42, so I feel you on that, like last generation. And I could not agree more. It's like you want your kids to wake up and not sit in front of a TV or an iPad while eating breakfast and actually just get outside, put their feet in the grass and have sunshine in their face, you know? Yeah, I did. I had the conversation with my 15 year old the other day and like he missed the bus happened. Sometimes I bring him, I come up and I'm ready to bring him and he's just sitting there at the island on his phone. And I just kind of snapped. I was like, what are you doing? Like, it's just, do you understand the addictive quality? You're under a spell, right? Like you get up and he's just automatically right on the phone. You can't, he's making breakfast on the phone, he's doing this on the phone. It's just constant and it's like, it's not good, it's not good. And you know, I, I, I, he's still young. I mean, grown adults have serious problems with it, you know, so how can we expect our children to have a responsible control over it? But it's just something that always comes up and it's constant. So yeah, I digress. We can get into that more on another episode or maybe even after. But let's get into finance and the 10 hour gift that you offer your clients. In the finance pillar, time is the ultimate currency. Your promise is to give founders 10 plus hours back per week. If a CEO actually takes that gift of time, where should they be reinvesting it to see the highest ROI in their personal and professional life? Very, very good question. And this is the, the thing that is coming to the surface now from research, to be honest with you, I see it in myself. So I'm trying to coach these founders around this, is that every gap that opens up gets filled up with something else. If you're a founder and you're a business owner, that's just how it goes. So I try and use the AI to guide one. We know we need stuff exactly like talking about it, about our kids. We've got to be working out, we've got to be out in the sun, whether it's riding a bike or running at the gym, meditating, whatever that is. Okay? We need to be working on ourselves because that is the best time spent and that enhances our business, that grows our mental capacity, mindset and finances. But if we're just using AI to open up time and we're not actually using that time effectively and we're just filling it with more and more and more stuff and time wasted stuff, it's a problem, right? So I always turn to AI to help me through these problems and I'm looking at, okay, how can I use AI to one, prioritize that. I'm focusing the time I do have and the time that's not being saved on the right stuff, using AI to save on the rest of time. And then how do I fill those gaps for me? I know how to fill, pull them up, I know what Fills my cup. But most people need to discover that. And funnily enough, AI is actually great at helping you discover that. Yeah, that's very true. Now back to True Traction. How does true traction change the valuation of a company when it comes time for an exit? Okay, so our systems basically help founders build foundational skills, tools and agents that can help them grow without adding headcount. That is the promise of AI. But if you don't know what you're doing, how you're going to unlock that promise. It's about systems. It's always been about systems. Before AI, if you've ever run on something like Eos, it's systems that will help you grow your business. And if you're growing, you can't live without them. Now the beautiful thing is we have AI. How do we apply those systems to AI? How do we apply AI to those systems? That is what True Traction does. Now, because AI is a little bit different to a regular system whereby it can help you scale without headcount. That is what my program unlocks. I love that. Yeah, absolutely. Let's jump into fitness and family. Now we look at fitness and family as non negotiables, do we not? They should be. With the extra time your system creates, how do you personally maintain your edge? So there's non negotiables in my day. 4am, I wake up, I do a 20 minute breath work. I have done this for the past 10 years. Wim Hof. It's on a YouTube video. Put it in while I'm laying in bed. What it does, it does two things. One, just breathing and breath work is for me at least one of the best things for my nervous system, for my mindset going into the day. So great way to start the day. But it also gives me the first 20 minutes of the day without me looking at a screen, checking my email or anything. Because that's what I'm waking up to do. Then I try and some days I can, some days I can't. And I'm not upset with myself when I can't. But I try and do a 50 minute Joe Dispenza meditation. I'm very into Joe Dispenza. I can tell you the story, literally changed my life. But I do a meditation thereafter. So the breath work leading into the meditation, I then get everything ready for my kids from doing their breakfast, packing their lunches, making sure everything's set for the day and while they're eating, workout. I bought myself a tonal so I'm able to do 20 minute workout. And I feel that those 20 minutes is more than what I was doing an hour at the gym. Just because I'm not switching machines and not waiting for anything. I'm just in it and it's fast paced and it's amazing. And literally that I believe starting the day like that is a non negotiable is no other work stuff can get in the way then. And especially in the past, I would say three months with this whole like uprise of agents, I've been able to buy back a hell of a lot more of my own town. And I fetch my kids from school and I just try and spend like meaningful time with them. Not where I'm doing something else or looking at my phone. Even if it's just 10 minutes building a puzzle with my, my young daughter or just having a chat with my older daughter. It is those moments that has brought out a level of gratitude with me, my wife and my kids that I, I cannot explain. It's unbelievable. Talk about filling your cup, right? Exactly. And I attribute that to AI because before AI, my mornings were not always like that. They were, they were chaotic, they were like, let me get into this day. But now I know I've got things under control because of the systems I've built. Speaking of systems, does having a predictable system at work allow you to be more present for your family or your faith? So let me tell you my experience with this. Yes, it should. And systems are great and it allows for a lot, but it's a conscious, it's a conscious decision you have to make. It doesn't matter. You can have the best systems in the world, but if you're constantly on your phone looking at emails or checking things or stressing out or what have you, you're never ever going to make that time and make the time valuable. It's a decision where you're like, okay, now I'm taking this time, I need to spend time, this is more important than anything, having a talk with my daughter, finding out what happened in her day, you know. Yeah, yeah. No one's, no one's been on their deathbed wishing they spent more time, you know, on emails or, you know, all these other, you know, they want more time with the people that they love. So what's the point of AI in these systems if you're not buying back time to do the things that fill your cup, that, that give you the memories and give your, your offspring the memories, you know, God willing you have them, you know, so, yeah, I'm right there with you. Devin Absolutely. For the founder who feels like they are drowning in the noise right now, what is the first step toward finding clarity? Where can our listeners connect with you and the true traction. So I'm on TikTok Instagram. Devon Carpus LinkedIn is probably the best place to just connect with me, send me a message or I'm sure you can share my webinar link with, with your viewers. I'm hosting a webinar on the 9th of April Thursday. It's a two hour free masterclass. It's not like a regular webinar. We're not just going through slides. It's going to be a full install of part of my systems. The people who have done it before have come off it telling me that they've, that they didn't even know this stuff was possible or should be done. So I'm trying to give so much value. I love that. All right, we're, we're getting close to the end. I just want to recap some key takeaways. So why operations matter more than tools? There's a lot of tools. If you're not using the right tools, are you actually getting the right job done? Right. You know, let's break it down simply. You know, if you're carpenter, you got lots of tools. If you're not using the right tools, are you actually getting it done? That's how we compare all these AI tools to how we're actually using them in operations and using the right tool. Some people have a lot of tools that they don't even use. Right? That's, that's kind of the age in AI that we're in right now. But I think it's important to know what each tool does so that you know that it does, does apply to you or it doesn't. That applies to this challenge that you're trying to solve or it doesn't. So there's a lot of tools out there, but you really got to have a reign on understanding of your own operations to understand what's the right tool. And then the importance of team wide AI literacy. If you're not getting out ahead of this and having these conversations with your teams, you are very likely to run into some issues with your team thinking that they're replaceable. You got to have these conversations, start them early because ultimately you can be anti AI. But the reality is is it's not going anywhere. The Internet didn't go anywhere and this isn't going anywhere. And this is exactly where we're at in the lifelong, in the in the life cycle of AI is we're right at the dot com boom. There's a lot of stuff, some good, some bad, some irrelevant. There will be a consolidation period. But right now is the time to become literate yourself in AI and help your team, you know, feel comfortable that, you know, their job's secure or that I can help them do their job better. And then the third takeaway, there's massive financial upside of a streamlined operating system. If you've listened to our show, it seems like it's always about operating systems. It's about leadership. It's about, you know, really streamlining things and making it more efficient. So what? So you can buy back your time and spend more time filling your cup and, and, and really fulfilling your purpose, fulfilling your why in life. And for me and Devin, that's clearly, you know, our family, our spouses, our children, and that's, that's where we hang our hat on Dev. Thank you so much for showing us that AI is a leadership lever, not just a tech brand. As Devin had mentioned, there is going to be a link in the show notes. You're going to find his Instagram account, his TikTok account, his LinkedIn account, also a link to his True Traction AI operating system. And now that I'm thinking about Devin, when this show airs, that April time is actually going to be passed. So what we'll do is we'll make sure that we update that link as we get closer to the release. We're looking at a June 1 release of this episode. So always going to be. There's always going to be more, of course, y and what we'll do in the meantime is we'll announce that in, you know, a real and a story just to let people know that, that the opportunity is available. But thank you so much for, for jumping in with us. Everyone else, thank you for joining us. Stay disciplined, stay automated and keep leading with purpose. We'll see you on the next episode of the Vici Vici Code. Thank you. Thanks for tuning in to the Vici co. Where the underdogs rise and the numbers finally make sense. If today's story hit home, share it. And remember, faith fuels a fight and your comeback is already in progress.