From 1% Gains to Exponential Growth

How Incremental AI Automations Transform Businesses

Hey AI Productivity Explorer,

I am back with another helpful post for this week but first a quick announcement.

If you’re looking to build your next AI-driven custom solution, streamline your workflows, accelerate growth, and eliminate tedious manual work, at Solve with AI (company website), we now offer a full suite of tailored AI and Automation services:

• End-to-end workflow and business process automation with AI integration (Custom development for your industry and process)

• No code/low code AI Integrations

• Comprehensive AI Audits

• ROI based AI Roadmaps

• AI Transformation Strategy Workshops

• AI Compliance and Risk Management Solutions

• Multi-Channel AI Chatbots (Email, Chat, SMS, Social)

• Custom AI model setup

Everything we create is developed in-house, using industry-leading tools such as OpenAI, Zapier, Make.com, Pinecone, AWS/Google Cloud, and more.

Why we are different? Other AI development companies focus on copy-paste AI solutions with little or no strategy or understanding of your business. They also don’t have the expertise to convert AI to ROI.

With Solve with AI, you get the same in-depth AI expertise that is demonstrated in this Solve with AI newsletter and 30+ years of real-world business transformation in startups, mid-market, and Fortune 100.

Want to explore further? Visit our website to learn more, schedule a strategy call, and see real-world examples of our recent projects.

Now let’s talk about today’s topic.

If you have not heard of Dave Brailsford then let me tell you a short story.

When the British cycling team brought in Dave Brailsford as their performance director in the early 2000s, their record was beyond disappointing. No Tour de France wins in over a century, barely a medal in sight, and zero hope for improvement. They were, to put it bluntly, the laughingstock of competitive cycling.

Brailsford was not interested in major overhauls. Instead, he introduced an idea so deceptively simple that at first, it sounded trivial. He called it the “aggregation of marginal gains.” This meant focusing obsessively on improving every tiny detail just by 1%.

He redesigned bike seats for slightly better comfort, adjusted tire pressure by minuscule amounts, and even tested which pillows gave riders the best night’s sleep.

Individually, these tweaks seemed insignificant and almost pointless. Yet combined, these microscopic improvements began compounding. Within a few short years, the British cycling team wasn’t just competitive but they dominated. Multiple Tour de France titles, Olympic gold medals by the handful, and a legendary transformation that stunned the world.

What Brailsford intuitively understood and what most businesses today tragically overlook is the enormous power hidden inside incremental improvement.

You and I live in a culture obsessed with massive, overnight success amplified by social media. Every business is searching for the “one big thing” which may be the revolutionary app, the viral campaign, or the billion-dollar idea that will catapult them forward overnight.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: chasing radical change rarely delivers the sustainable results we’re after. It’s expensive, risky, and often overwhelming.

Meanwhile, the real transformation quietly unfolds behind the scenes, driven by tiny, consistent automation, and each small improvement is powered by tools you already have access to.

In this post, I’m going to reveal how incremental AI automation and tiny improvements made consistently can compound into exponential growth for your business without radical disruption or overwhelming investments.

Let’s dive in.

What’s converted in the rest of this post:

1. Incremental vs. Radical Automation: Why Slow and Steady Wins

2. The Compound Effect in Action: Real-World Success Stories

3. Discovering Your 1% Automation Opportunities (Google Sheet)

4. ChatGPT/Claude Prompt for 1% Inremental Automation

5. Tools of Trade: Implementing and Scaling Incremental Automations

6. Measuring, Optimizing, and Multiplying Your Gains

7. Conclusion: Your Next Step to Achieve Exponential Growth

Incremental vs. Radical Automation: Why Slow and Steady Wins

The temptation in today’s hyper-connected, tech-driven business world is to seek big, bold transformations.

We admire those massive Silicon Valley leaps such as Uber changing transportation overnight, Netflix annihilating Blockbuster, or AI-driven startups achieving billion-dollar valuations within months (case in point ChatGPT).

But to be honest, for every successful leap, thousands of businesses burn cash, overwhelm their teams, and create chaos chasing the next big thing.

That approach, radical automation attempting to automate everything at once, completely overhauling existing processes is appealing, seductive even, but it also comes with massive risks.

“But why Sameer?” you may ask.

Well, radical automation typically involves complex technology, high upfront costs, and massive operational disruption. Employees struggle to adapt, teams get demoralized, and customers often experience frustrating lapses in service.

Even when successful, radical automation rarely scales smoothly.

The truth?

Most companies just aren’t equipped technologically, culturally, or financially to handle that level of radical disruption. They end up with half-built systems, lost productivity, and disillusioned teams.

I can say that because I have been involved in multi-billion dollar global projects in several Fortune 100 companies that ended up consuming double the time and investments.

Incremental automation, on the other hand, embraces simplicity and practicality. It’s about gradually automating small, repeatable processes in ways that seem minor at first, but quickly compound over time. These tiny, strategic improvements are low-risk, cost-effective, and easy to integrate into your existing operations.

At one of my startups, we focussed on transforming only the lead generation and qualification process instead of transforming the whole organization.

Imagine automating just one small task maybe be your team’s follow-up emails after customer inquiries. Individually, it might save you 5 or 10 minutes per customer.

I know it’s not groundbreaking.

But when you multiply those minutes across hundreds or thousands of interactions, over weeks and months. Suddenly, you’ve reclaimed hours each week. Now scale that across multiple processes in your business. Those small gains compound rapidly.

Incremental automation is like investing where slow and steady wins. Each improvement builds on the last, creating exponential momentum. And the best part? Your team barely feels the disruption. Each step feels manageable, achievable, and motivating, setting you up for long-term sustainable growth rather than a short-term gamble.

In my mind, it is a safer and calculated risk.

Real-World Success Stories

Let’s move beyond theory and dive into reality.

Take Airbnb, for example. Early on, Airbnb faced a major bottleneck with guest inquiries. Hosts were flooded with repetitive questions: “Where’s the Wi-Fi password?” “How do I check in?” “Can I arrive early?”

Manually answering each of these inquiries might’ve taken only a few minutes per message, but at scale, it consumed tens of thousands of valuable hours across their platform.

Rather than radically reinventing their entire customer support system overnight, Airbnb tackled the problem incrementally. They began introducing small automation such as pre-written, triggered replies that answered common questions instantly.

Simple? Sure.

Transformational? You bet.

These small automations quickly compounded. Hosts gained back precious time. Guest satisfaction soared, response times plummeted, and Airbnb boosted both operational efficiency and customer experience all without the stress of a large-scale overhaul.

Tiny automations, massive results.

Or consider Shopify, the SaaS powerhouse known for empowering small businesses. Shopify noticed their customer support reps spent countless hours each month handling routine questions about billing, shipping, and technical setups.

They began automating just these repetitive inquiries, directing users to helpful resources, pre-recorded tutorials, or even AI-driven chatbot conversations.

On day one, these automations saved only minutes per support rep. But fast-forward a few months, and the cumulative effect became transformative. Shopify reclaimed thousands of hours annually so their customer teams could now spend nurturing high-value client relationships instead of drowning in mundane, repetitive tasks.

Here’s the lesson these real-world successes teach us:

Incremental automations might seem insignificant individually. Saving two minutes here, five minutes there, or removing minor friction from a process feels trivial. Yet those tiny changes compound surprisingly fast.

Months later, you’ve gained hundreds or maybe thousands of productive hours back.

I used Airbnb and Shopify because you can relate to these examples quickly. On the personal side, I have gone through this process at Rackspace, IBM, Adobe, T-Mobile, Gold’s Gym, Alert Logic, Direct Energy, Object Rocket, and many more engagements.

There is no reason your business can’t replicate the same compounding success story one small automation at a time.

Discovering Your 1% Automation Opportunities (ChatGPT Prompt Included)

At this point, you’re probably thinking “Sameer, I get it and understand that incremental automations are powerful. But practically speaking, how do I identify these tiny but mighty opportunities in my own business?”

Fair enough. The theory is good, but action is what matters. So let’s get specific.

I’m going to share a straightforward three-step framework that’ll help you easily uncover your business’s most valuable incremental automation opportunities—your “1% wins.”

No complicated tech talk, no intimidating jargon but just simple, actionable steps you can do right now.

If you want to go deeper then I suggest reading my detailed Masterclass post on this topic.

Tool: I have created a simple Google sheet to help you with this exercise. You can access it here.

Step 1: Perform a Quick Automation Audit

This step is surprisingly simple, yet highly effective.

Set a timer for 15 minutes right now and brainstorm a quick list of repetitive tasks that you or your team perform frequently. Don’t overthink this; simply trust your instincts. If it feels repetitive or tedious, it belongs on the list.

Common examples to jog your memory:

• Sending follow-up emails to potential clients after a call

• Manually scheduling and rescheduling client meetings

• Creating invoices or payment reminders at the end of each month

• Entering customer data into spreadsheets or CRM platforms

• Handling recurring customer support inquiries (password resets, order updates, billing questions)

• Posting recurring social media updates or announcements

• Onboarding new clients or team members with the same welcome information each time

When I did this exercise recently, I realized my own business spent unnecessary hours manually scheduling podcast interviews for my AnalyticsToday podcast and sending confirmation emails. It seemed small until I realized it took me nearly two full days per month!

The key to this step is speed and simplicity: your goal is quantity, not perfection. Just capture every repetitive task that comes to mind quickly.

Step 2: Identify Your Biggest Bottlenecks

Now that you have your initial list, it’s time to uncover your automation “sweet spots” which are tasks that are not only repetitive but also cause noticeable friction or slow down your overall business productivity.

Take your initial list from the previous step and, for each task, ask yourself these three critical questions:

• Does this task frequently create delays in other areas?

For example, manually scheduling client meetings might delay your ability to close deals.

• Is this task prone to human error or inconsistency?

Manual data entry into spreadsheets or CRM tools often creates mistakes.

• Does this task consume a large amount of mental energy, causing frustration or stress among team members?

Constantly writing follow-up emails or responding repeatedly to common support questions can impact your team’s motivation and creativity.

When Shopify did this exercise, they found their biggest bottleneck was repetitive support questions, which drained their customer support team’s time and morale.

By incrementally automating answers to common questions, they immediately removed significant friction, freeing up thousands of employee hours annually.

Circle or highlight the tasks on your list that answer “yes” to at least one of the above questions these represent your highest-impact incremental automation opportunities.

Step 3: Prioritize by Impact and Simplicity

At this point, you probably have several promising automation candidates.

Great! But before diving in, let’s prioritize them to identify the quick wins you can implement immediately.

Rate each circled task using two simple criteria (scale of 1-5):

• Impact: How significantly would automating this task benefit your business in terms of time saved, stress reduced, or errors avoided?

(1 = Low impact, 5 = High impact)

• Simplicity: How easily can this task be automated with existing tools you already have or can easily acquire?

(1 = Difficult or complex, 5 = Easy or straightforward)

Here’s an example:

• Task: Scheduling client meetings via email

• Impact Score: 4 (Would significantly reduce wasted back-and-forth)

• Simplicity Score: 5 (Easy to automate with tools like Calendly)

• Task: Writing customized proposals

• Impact Score: 5 (Highly valuable, saves substantial hours)

• Simplicity Score: 2 (Complex, requires deeper personalization and workflow setup)

Prioritize tasks that score high in both impact and simplicity as these are your immediate incremental automation opportunities. They’ll deliver quick, tangible wins that build momentum, demonstrate clear ROI, and motivate your team to embrace further automation.

Putting it All Together: Your Immediate Action

Here’s exactly what you should do right after finishing this section:

• Take 15 minutes to create your initial list (Step 1).

• Spend another 15 minutes identifying your bottlenecks (Step 2).

• Finish by spending 10-15 minutes rating and prioritizing tasks by impact and simplicity (Step 3).

In under an hour, you’ll have a clear roadmap highlighting your best incremental automation opportunities. Remember, the goal isn’t perfection but it’s about finding simple improvements you can immediately implement.

The beauty of this approach is that each small improvement quickly compounds.

ChatGPT Prompt for 1% Inremental Automation

If you prefer to use ChatGPT or Claude instead of the Google sheet for this exercise then you can copy and paste this Mega Prompt.