How UT Exec Ed students developed a new business in 90 minutes...

Hi everyone,

The past couple weeks have been a total blast! I’ve been back in the classroom teaching AI to UT’s Exec Ed exchange program with two schools: ESCP and IPADE.

It’s been an incredibly fun experience, partially because it's allowed me to return to my academic roots (back before I ticked off my PhD advisors by choosing tech over an ivory tower) and also because it's allowed me to see how today's top MBAs are thinking about AI.

From Zero to Prototype in 90 Minutes

We did something special with the ESCP cohort. They started with Mellie Price, who used the Blue Ocean Strategy to help them conceptualize a brand-new product. Then, I stepped in for the AI workshop.

We ran them through a handful of tools to ideate, do deep research, crunch data, and build a slick pitch deck for VCs. They even "vibe coded" a working prototype of their product.

A process that usually takes 6 months and $100K was condensed into 1.5 hours and about $100 in SaaS fees. That’s not a typo. It’s mind-blowing for the people in the room, and it’s the exact kind of "Intelligence Revolution" I talk about in my book.

AI Shark Tank: The Ultimate Reality Check

The best part, though, is the "Shark Tank" moment. Once they have their concept, we run it through our panel of AI judges to help them refine their ideas before the final presentation (to human judges) on Friday. These aren't just chatbots saying "good job"—they give quick, brutal, and thoughtful feedback on where the product is poised for success and exactly where it’s going to fail. Click the image below to see an example.

It’s fun to watch, but it proves a point I make in Future Proof: most people use LLMs to write emails or ask for fitness advice. They aren't using AI as a thought partner, a brainstorming companion, or an adversarial client who can help them harden their ideas. That is a massive miss.

Join Me: The UT AI Masterclass

I often get asked by friends how they can join one of these workshops if their company hasn't booked me for a keynote or a workshop.

Good news: I’m partnering with UT Austin to deliver an AI Masterclass the week of May 18-22nd. I’ll be collaborating with other faculty to get leaders up the learning curve fast. Teaching this through UT allows us to credentialize the experience and bring in experts who speak from years of deep niche expertise.

If you’re interested in learning more, reach out or click on this link. I’m incredibly excited to deliver this content to a broader audience and provide an opportunity for everyone to uplevel their AI knowledge and skills!

Best,

Dr. Michael “House” Housman

When you take a superpowerful tool and make it so simple that anyone can use it...well, anyone does. And what do people do with a tool that can solve global problems, automate knowledge work, and reason across massive datasets?

They use it to write Tinder bios. Or birthday poems. Or generate recipe ideas for chicken thighs. (Okay, I’ve done some wildly simple things like this, too.)

It’s like handing someone the keys to a Ferrari and watching them use it as a phone charger. Yes, it can do that, but you’re missing the entire point.

Stats vary, but even with 900 million weekly users, only 34% of people have ever used ChatGPT, and 20% have still never heard of it! You would think we’re further along on that journey, but in August 2024—almost two years after ChatGPT’s release—just over 9% of people considered themselves daily users. The vast majority of people have still only used it once or twice—or never at all.

And those who use it regularly stick to content generation: social media posts, blog drafts, marketing copy. It’s a decent tool for that, but again, it’s like using a laptop just to play Solitaire. You’re scratching the surface of something way deeper.

AI is more than a writing assistant. It’s a strategist. A thought partner. A tireless teammate who can analyze, ideate, and iterate at a level no human can match. It can help you test ideas, evaluate markets, build business models, or streamline operations...if you know how to ask.