Excel Columbus Inaugural Issue

Trivia Question❓

What’s the name of the index that tracks 30 major companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges and is often used as a barometer for the economy?

Answer at the bottom of the newsletter

AI DONE RIGHT:

Westerville IT engineer draws the line between human skill and automation

Don't use AI in your organization until you know the manual steps in your business that require human expertise and are critical to run, and what systems can run without you or a human touch, period. Imagine signing that new AI software contract and realizing that you're far deeper into a mess of overlapping software and tools that you have to learn and manage while also paying for them with almost no result. Leaders in Columbus rush to plug AI into their operations, hoping for instant leverage, but without a map of where your team already delivers peak value, AI can amplify the wrong work and keep you stuck in networking purgatory.

Matt Connell, CEO of Niten Technologies

Meet Matt Connell, founder of Niten Technologies. As a managed service provider, Matt partners with small and mid-sized businesses across Ohio to align technology directly with business goals, transforming IT from a reactive cost into a strategic growth engine. His team doesn't just "keep the lights on"; they design solutions that cut task times by 50–75%, secure data against the threats that take down 60% of SMBs within six months of a breach, and future-proof operations with tools like automation, cloud systems, and custom AI agents. He's helped retail clients slash customer service times from an hour to 20 minutes, boosting potential sales by 66%.

When I sat down with Matt, the conversation cut straight to the core of AI's role in modern organizations. He framed it as a strategic move, one that equips teams to troubleshoot, deploy, and shape automations that reclaim time and mental bandwidth. AI stirs debate, yet it continues advancing, pressing leaders to climb what Matt calls the Awareness Ladder, from total unfamiliarity to cautious experimentation, to confident fluency, to the realm of practitioners who lead the edge.

Those at the top scan the horizon for shifts, draft visions of what the future could demand, and press for principles that anchor those visions. Matt urged leaders to step into this new era without assumptions, ready to defend the values they champion.

He challenged clients to confront the more complex problem of integrating AI without surrendering critical human judgment. He urged them to lift irreplaceable tasks away from automation and target automation only where it strengthens the mission. Overreliance dulls mental sharpness and drains creativity. "When you outsource thinking, you lower your cognition and you get dumber," he said. "And it offloads your creativity."

Matt named this the Human–AI Boundary: judgment, ethics, and creative breakthroughs remain in human hands, while data processing, repetitive workflows, and pattern detection fall to machines. He described his process of brainstorming deeply, exploring source material, identifying points that require finesse, then bringing in AI to accelerate, not replace.

The lesson I took was how to tackle problems head-on before involving AI. In that sequence, AI amplifies rather than atrophies thought, just as Niten Technologies shapes technology to fit the business instead of forcing the company to bend to the tools.

Columbus Events Calendar: Aug 20 – Sept 1

Here’s your guide to what’s happening in Columbus over the next two weeks! From food festivals to live music, there’s something for everyone. Click the event name for more details.

August 22-24

Columbus Air Show at Rickenbacker International Airport