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Left to right: Katharine Campbell, Liz Morrison, and Kim Surko.Amir Hamja, Lauren Segal for BISolopreneur career and executive coaches told Business Insider AI is essential to their business.AI tools have helped them increase client engagement, work efficiency, and business growth.This article is part of "The AI-Powered Solopreneur," a series exploring how solo business owners use AI to drive growth.When it comes to career and executive coaching, some of the most important work happens in one-on-one sessions with the client. That's when breakthrough insights often emerge, motivation gains momentum, and coaches build an essential connection.Then comes the hard part: turning those words into actions.Transcribing conversations into meaningful action items for clients takes time and effort — something a team of assistants could easily handle. However, when you're the only person running your business, that time and effort leaves coaching solopreneurs with a difficult tradeoff: take notes during sessions and sacrifice presence, spend hours after each call transcribing insights from recordings, or leave follow-through entirely to clients.Kim Surko is the founder of Surko Coaching.Amir Hamja for BI"Trying to juggle it all on my own wasn't an option — it was just impossible to build a sustainable business," said Kim Surko, founder of leadership coaching business Surko Coaching, regarding how easy it was to feel overwhelmed by work that felt more administrative than transformational. "Leaning into AI was the most natural solution to help with all of that responsibility."Here's how three solopreneurs in leadership, business, and communications have used AI to help clients achieve more results in less time, expanding their capacity as coaches while increasing the value of the work they offer.From the "Aha" moment to immediate actionFor all three coaches, the biggest game changer has been using AI note-takers to distill long conversations into something more tangible.After getting client consent, "I record my coaching sessions and upload transcripts into ChatGPT. This allows me to rapidly transform nuanced insights from our conversations into concrete outputs clients can actually use — pitches, résumés, website copy, positioning statements, and more," said Katharine Campbell Hirst, founder of business coaching company KCH Coaching & Advisory. "What used to take weeks of agonizing refinement now takes minutes."Katharine Campbell Hirst is the founder of KCH Coaching & Advisory.Amir Hamja for BILiz Morrison, founder of communications coaching company LM Strategic Storytelling, appreciates how AI ensures that valuable sound bites from her coaching sessions don't get lost in hours of recordings that nobody has time to revisit. She's built custom projects in Claude to help her transform session transcripts into "Story Banks" in minutes — pulling out three to six narratives per session that clients can use immediately for interviews, networking, social media, and building their businesses.While this type of work was essential before AI, doing it as a solopreneur meant sacrificing time that could be spent supporting other clients. "I've saved almost an hour per client per day by relying on AI to take notes and summarize them for me," said Surko, who added that she nearly doubled her capacity for coaching clients with AI's support.Tracking and celebrating the small winsSurko has also used AI to help her clients appreciate the progress they're making, improving the feeling of momentum. "A lot of work with coaching is celebrating the small wins," she said.Using the project management tool Kanbanchi, supported by Gemini, Surko can quickly update to-do list boards that lay out all of the client's goals and achievements."Having that visual representation of the progress we're making shows the value of…

I made Dolly Parton's cornbread, and it was delicious.Anneta Konstantinides/Business InsiderI made Dolly Parton's easy cornbread for breakfast. The recipe has only three main ingredients and is ready in about 30 minutes.  Parton's recipe may be simple, but her cornbread is delicious and goes well with everything.On top of being a legendary musician and fashion icon, Dolly Parton is also a great chef.The country-music star has shared plenty of her cooking secrets with me, including her hack for making the fluffiest scrambled eggs and the unique ingredient she uses to elevate her mac and cheese.Parton also revealed what she loves whipping up in the kitchen for her goddaughter, Miley Cyrus."Miley and I both love Southern food like mashed potatoes, coleslaw, and a big ol' hunk of cornbread — making cornbread muffins or a big pan of it with the squares," Parton told me.I loved trying Parton's Taco Bell order. So when I stumbled on her cornbread recipe, I knew I had to give it a go.Parton's cornbread recipe began circulating online after it was featured in her first cookbook.Sebastian Smith"Dolly's Dixie Fixin's: Love, Laughter, and Lots of Good Food" was released in 2016. It features 125 recipes, including dishes that Parton loves whipping up on tour or at home. As true Dolly Parton fans know, the cookbook is no longer readily available. If you want a copy on Amazon, you'll have to fork over more than $150. Still, Parton's cornbread recipe has popped up on various websites, and the official Dollywood Facebook page also shared it in 2014. Parton wrote in her cookbook that when it comes to cornbread, she loves to keep things simple. "Coarse cornmeal, buttermilk, bacon drippings, and salt and pepper. Mixed together and baked in a slick black skillet. Served hot. Now that's my idea of real cornbread," she wrote. "There's nothin' you can't eat with a warm wedge of cornbread alongside it. That's why I always take two pieces and slather them with butter while they're still warm." I'm not much of a baker, but Parton's recipe sounded foolproof — even for me. There were still some challenges along the way, but the finished product was worth it. The first time I tried to make Parton's cornbread was kind of a disaster.Anneta Konstantinides/Business InsiderWhen I first found Parton's recipe online, I didn't think I needed to double-check the ingredients. So when I saw it called for two cups of cornmeal, I just bought the same box I had used to make Ina Garten's (very delicious) brown-butter skillet cornbread for Friendsgiving. When the cornbread came out of the oven, I knew I'd made a huge mistake.Anneta Konstantinides/Business InsiderWhen I first tasted the cornbread, I couldn't figure out what went wrong. It tasted pretty terrible, and I just knew there was no way I had done Parton's recipe justice. Thankfully, after a little more research, I stumbled on the original page from Parton's cookbook and found her actual ingredient list. Parton specified that her recipe requires self-rising cornmeal, and she recommended using Martha White cornmeal "because I like the texture." In retrospect, it seems obvious that the recipe would require self-rising cornmeal since Parton doesn't add any baking powder or eggs to her batter. But alas, this baking novice didn't catch it. The great thing about cooking, though, is you can always try again. So I found some Martha White cornmeal and went back to the kitchen.Parton's skillet cornbread just needs a few ingredients.Anneta Konstantinides/Business InsiderTo make Parton's cornbread, which has eight servings, you'll need: 2 cups of self-rising cornmeal (she recommends Martha White or White Lily) 1-1 ½ cups of buttermilk 2 teaspoons of bacon drippings, plus extra for the…

US President Donald Trump delivers a speech during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in DavosFabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump gave his 70-minute-long speech in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday.CEOs are already reacting to Trump's remarks in interviews and on social media.Greenland has been the topic drawing the most attention among business leaders.Business leaders such as Ken Griffin and Matthew Prince have already weighed in on President Donald Trump's highly anticipated speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.Trump said on Wednesday that he will not use force to get Greenland, but is "seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition" by the US.Trump's ongoing threats against Europe over his desire to take over Greenland have been dominating this year's Davos agenda.All eyes were on Trump during his 70-minute-long speech, with billionaire CEOs — including Apple's Tim Cook and Salesforce's Marc Benioff — alongside heads of state filling up Congress Hall to hear what he had to say.Here is how some of the world's biggest business leaders have reacted:Ken Griffin, CEO of CitadelFounder and CEO of Citadel Ken Griffin spoke at Davos on Wednesday.Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty ImagesSpeaking on CNBC's Squawk Box on Wednesday, Citadel's CEO and founder Ken Griffin said Trump had an "important message to deliver to a European audience that, bluntly, needs to do better. Europe's economic growth lags far behind America.""The commitment of the American people to defend our country runs deep. The commitment of the Europeans to defend their countries — if you look at surveys of the population — is not nearly as strong," he added.Griffin said he thought one of Trump's "important foundational statements he made with respect to the justification why the US needs unfettered access to Greenland" was whether Europe would be there for the US if there was another war.However, Griffin said that if the US does decide to "pursue this path", discussions "should take time and be thoughtfully laid out.""Investors around the world do not want to see an escalation of the stress in global trade that has played out over the last 12 months," the Citadel CEO added.Peter Schiff, chief economist at Euro Pacific Asset ManagementPeter Schiff is the chief economist of Euro Pacific Asset Management.Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images for London Blockchain ConferencePeter Schiff, the chief economist at Euro Pacific Asset Management, said it looked like "cooler heads prevailed at the White House.""So if the US can't buy Greenland instead of taking it by military force, Trump will just hold a grudge," Schiff, whose firm managed $1.4 billion last year, wrote on X."While that is a major improvement, it also means that if we do succeed in buying Greenland, we'll massively overpay."Schiff also warned on X that a housing "crash is coming.""Trump basically admitted there is a housing bubble in the US. He also admitted his main policy goal is to prevent it from popping," Schiff wrote."But once you recognize a bubble, the worst thing you can do is try to sustain it. The sooner it bursts, the less damage it will ultimately cause."Matthew Prince, CEO of CloudflareCloudflare CEO and cofounder Matthew PrinceKimberly White/Getty Images for WiredCloudflare's CEO appears to have commented on Trump's speech style."Last two times Trump spoke at Davos he stuck extremely close to the teleprompter. Not this time," Prince wrote on X.Read the original article on Business Insider

Finland's military was designed with threats from Russia in mind.Leon Neal/Getty ImagesFinland's president outlined the ways the country is ready for a Russian attack.He pointed to elements like civilian conscription and bunkers, which many NATO members don't have.He said Finland could defend itself without the US if needed but expects support to continue.On NATO's front line, Finland's president says his country is ready for a Russian attack, regardless of whether it has US support.Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Alexander Stubb said in response to a question of whether the Finnish military can effectively defend itself against a Russian attack: "Yes, we can."He pointed to Finland's mandatory conscription, which sets it apart from many other NATO members, and said that the country can mobilize 280,000 soldiers in a matter of weeks."We have the biggest artillery in Europe together with Poland. We have long-range missiles, land, sea, and air," he added. He joked that Finland did not procure these because it was worried about allies like neighboring Sweden: "We don't have this because we're worried about Stockholm."For Finland, a relatively new NATO ally, the key security concern has long been Russia, with which it shares a roughly 800-mile border. The two fought bitter wars during World War II, though they have not engaged in armed conflict for decades.Stubb also highlighted Finland's air power, including its 62 F-18s and its recent purchase of 64 F-35s. Those are US-made aircraft, manufactured by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, respectively. To keep the aircraft operational, a certain degree of US support is needed. The Finnish president said he was confident that it would continue.Speaking with the moderator at his Davos panel, he said: "Your next question is going to be, do they fly without Americans? No, they don't. But do we trust that they will continue to fly because it's in the interest of America to do so? Yes."Stubbs also said that Finland has the "biggest Arctic force in the alliance."Finland is one of NATO's newest allies. It joined in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and it is one of many European countries warning that Russia could ignite a wider war in Europe. These concerns have been strongest among front-line allies, with the Baltic nations regularly calling for greater efforts to strengthen defenses.Finland's military was built with Russia as a threat in mind, giving it an edge that some other allies don't have. It remains on guard. For instance, Stubb said Finland's power also comes from its focus on civilian preparations."I think we also have to understand that you fight wars on the battlefield, but you win them at home.""That's why we have civilian shelters for 4.4 million Fins. That's why we have a security of supply where we don't get into any kind of trouble with food shortages, energy shortages, or electricity grids." He described this as a "capability that a lot of European states need to do."Still, he was bullish on European capabilities. "Can Europe defend itself? My answer is unequivocally, yes," he said.He was also optimistic about NATO relations despite new tensions over the US pursuit of the Danish territory of Greenland.Asked if Europe needs the potential to defend itself against the US, he responded: "No. I mean, come on, let's not push the hypotheticals here. Let's get back to the reality of the situation and let's put it back into perspective."He also rejected the idea that NATO could dissolve over these tensions, saying, "I think actually we're in the process of creating a stronger NATO than we have seen since the end of the Cold War."Read the original article on Business Insider

IBM has unveiled GRAMMY IQ, a new fan engagement platform built with IBM watsonx that brings artificial intelligence directly into the Grammys digital ecosystem. As the Official AI and Cloud… The post IBM and Recording Academy Launch GRAMMY IQ to Power Interactive Fan Experiences appeared first on .