In my role as CEO of Rekall Technologies, I’m always looking for ways to work smarter, communicate better, and make clearer decisions. Over time, ChatGPT has become a core part of how I operate day to day, not as something that replaces thinking, but something that sharpens it. The reason I wanted to write this is simple. In my experience, a lot of our clients and a lot of the businesses we support are either not using AI at all, not using it correctly, or they’re just intimidated by it and don’t know where to start. I wanted to give a real-world use case from my perspective as an owner, a manager, and someone who deals with business decisions every single day.
This article was built the same way I actually use ChatGPT, through real conversation, where I talk through ideas and shape them in real time. Everything here comes directly from my experience running the business alongside my wife and working with our team, not theory or something I read somewhere. I use it every day, and I rely on it heavily, probably 70 to 80 percent of the time depending on what I’m working on. The goal here is to show how AI can be used to support better thinking, improve communication, and help move things forward in a practical way. If you’re an owner, a manager, or someone responsible for communication, hiring, marketing, or decision-making, this is exactly how this tool fits into real work.
From Doing the Work to Directing It
The biggest shift for me has been moving from doing everything myself to directing the outcome. In the past, I was the one writing every email, building every piece of marketing, and organizing everything from scratch. Now, I focus more on the idea, the structure, and how I want the end result to feel, and then I guide ChatGPT to execute it. In my experience, coming up with the right direction is harder than doing the work itself, and that’s where this really helps. I look at it like a movie set, where I’m no longer the actor doing every scene, I’m the director guiding how everything comes together. That shift allows me to think more clearly and act faster without getting stuck in the details. It doesn’t remove effort, it just puts that effort in the right place.
Writing, Tone, and Everyday Communication
One of the biggest ways I use ChatGPT is for writing, especially when tone matters. Email is one of the easiest places for miscommunication, and I’ve seen how often messages come across harsher than intended. What I do is give ChatGPT context, explain the situation, and then work with it to shape the tone so it lands the right way. Sometimes I need something to sound more professional, sometimes more friendly, and sometimes more direct, and I can adjust that very quickly. I’m a strong writer, but it takes me time, and this cuts that time down to a fraction while still keeping control over the message. I use this for both client communication and internal communication with staff, and it makes a noticeable difference. If you care about how your message is received, this is one of the most practical uses.
Talking, Not Typing, and Thinking Out Loud
Another big part of how I use ChatGPT is that I talk to it instead of typing most of the time. I’m much more verbal than I am text-based, and speaking is just faster and more natural for me. I’ll literally explain a situation, talk through ideas, and work through responses in a back-and-forth conversation. This article itself was created that way, where I talked through everything and used ChatGPT to organize it. It feels less like using software and more like working with something that helps structure your thinking. That alone removes a lot of friction from getting ideas out of your head and into something usable. It turns what used to take a long time into something much more fluid.
Working Like a Real Collaboration
Another thing that stands out in my experience is that this doesn’t feel like working with software. It feels more like working with a secretary or an administrative assistant who can actually respond, challenge ideas, and help move things forward. I’m someone who works better in a group setting where everyone is aligned and focused on the same goal, and this setup gives me that environment on demand. I can talk through something, get feedback, adjust direction, and keep moving without losing momentum. It creates a sense of collaboration that’s hard to replicate with traditional tools. That dynamic is a big reason why I’ve been able to get so much value out of it.
Brainstorming, Decisions, and Real Use Cases
Another major way I use ChatGPT is as a sounding board, but it’s important to understand how that fits into how we actually operate as a business. Rekall is a family-run company, and I’m fortunate to have a strong group of people around me. I run ideas by my wife, who is my partner in the business, and I work closely with my team of directors. We have a process that works, and that’s always the foundation for how decisions get made.
That said, everyone is busy. There are times when my wife is tied up with the kids, when Jim is on a sales call, when Anthony is working with a client, or when Fred is deep into billing. In those moments, when I need to think something through and there’s no one immediately available, I can turn to ChatGPT and start working through it. Sometimes it’s for smaller issues where I don’t need to pull in the whole team, and other times it’s something I’ll use after I’ve already spoken to my “cabinet” to further refine my thinking.
In my experience, it’s not about replacing that process, it’s about supplementing it. I don’t use ChatGPT for every decision, and I wouldn’t want to. What it does is give me another layer of clarity when I need it, especially in between conversations or when I’m trying to move quickly. It helps me stay productive without slowing down the rest of the team, and it keeps ideas moving forward instead of sitting idle.
Documents, Agreements, and Saving Time
One of the most practical ways I use ChatGPT is with documents and agreements, but for me, it goes a little deeper than just saving time. I’ll be honest, I was never a strong reader growing up. Reading comprehension was always a challenge for me, and it wasn’t something I enjoyed, it felt like work every single time. I even see some of that in my daughter now, so I know it’s just how I’m wired. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, there was this big push to be well-rounded, like you had to be good at everything, and I never really agreed with that. In my experience, you have to lean into your strengths and find better ways to work around the things that slow you down.
This is where ChatGPT has made a real difference for me. Instead of forcing myself to sit through 15 or 20 pages of a document and struggle through it, I can upload it and have a conversation about it. I can throw in a Word document, a PDF, or really almost any standard document type, and it will read it and work through it with me. I can ask questions, go back and forth, and actually understand what I’m reading in a way that works for me. The only place where I’ve seen some limitations is with Excel files, especially when there are multiple sheets, where it’s not always perfect. Even with that, it still gives me a strong starting point. It’s faster, but more importantly, I comprehend it better. I can focus on the parts that matter, make decisions, and move forward with confidence. In a business like ours where we deal with a lot of agreements, vendor contracts, and technical documents, that changes everything.
It turns something that used to feel like a chore into something that is actually manageable and even productive. I’m not avoiding the work, I’m just approaching it in a way that fits how I process information. That’s the real value. You have to understand how you work best and build around that. For me, this is one of the clearest examples of how the right tool can remove friction and make something difficult feel a lot more natural.
Custom GPTs and Repeatable Systems
Where this really becomes powerful is when you start creating custom GPTs for repeatable tasks. I’ve built GPTs where I’ve defined the rules, the structure, and the expectations, so I don’t have to re-explain things every time. For example, I created a GPT specifically for writing these Pulse articles, with exact formatting, paragraph length, and tone. I also built one that takes my sales call notes and organizes them into something my operations team can use for proposals. The first version is never perfect, but every time I use it, I refine it, and it gets better over time. That means the work I put in today improves the results tomorrow automatically. It creates consistency and saves time in a way that compounds.
Daily Operations and Personal Use
Beyond business, I use ChatGPT quite a bit in my personal life, and I’ll be honest about it because I think that’s where people can really relate. I’ve struggled with weight for most of my life, and as I’ve gotten older, things change, you become sensitive to different foods, and you start paying more attention to what you’re putting into your body. One thing that has helped me is using ChatGPT as a food diary. I’ll literally talk into my phone and tell it what I ate, and while it’s not always perfectly precise unless I get very detailed, it gives me a strong sense of awareness over time. I’ve done this for myself, and I’ve even done it for my daughter, because consistency and visibility are what matter most. The only real requirement is that you have to stay disciplined and keep using it regularly.
Another personal example is something a little different, but it shows how flexible this tool is. I come from a family that collects things, that was just part of growing up, especially spending time at flea markets in Brooklyn. One of the things I collect is retro video games from the 80s and 90s, and over time that adds up quickly. I’ve used ChatGPT to build and organize an inventory of everything I own so I don’t waste time buying duplicates. I can be standing in a store, talk into my phone, and ask if I already own a specific game, and it will tell me. It can even give me details about condition, whether it’s sealed, what version it is, and other specifics because I’ve already put that information in. It took time to set up, but now it saves me time every time I use it.
On top of that, I use it for general research, both personal and business-related. If there’s something I’m curious about, I just start a conversation and dig into it. It’s like talking to someone who knows a little bit about a lot of different things and can help guide you in the right direction. For me, a lot of these personal uses are actually enjoyable, and that’s part of why I stick with them. It doesn’t feel like work, it feels like something that fits naturally into how I already think and operate.
Using It the Right Way
The most important thing I’ve learned is that this only works well if you use it the right way. You have to give it information, context, and direction, because it’s not going to figure everything out on its own. A lot of people try it once, don’t explain enough, and then assume it doesn’t work well. In my experience, AI by itself is weak, but AI combined with a person who knows what they’re doing is extremely powerful. The better your input, the better the output, every single time. I also use the paid version because it gives me more advanced features, and for how often I use it, it’s worth it.
At the same time, it’s important to understand that it’s not perfect, and I’ve tested that myself. There have been times where I’ve asked it questions about things I already knew the answer to, just to see how it would respond, and it got things wrong. One example that stands out was when I uploaded a large Excel file with over 30 sheets and started asking detailed questions about specific tabs. The responses I was getting didn’t line up with what I knew was correct, and after digging into it, I realized the issue wasn’t the data, it was how the AI was interpreting the file. It wasn’t seeing separate sheets the way we do, it was treating everything more like one continuous dataset.
What really stood out to me was how it responded when I challenged it. Instead of immediately correcting itself, it tried to give me answers that sounded right. That’s something people need to understand. These systems are built to be helpful, and sometimes that means they try to give you an answer even when they’re not fully confident. If you’re not paying attention, that can lead you in the wrong direction and cost you time. I’ve experienced that firsthand, and it’s why I approach it the way I do now.
Because of that, I don’t rely on it to “figure things out” on its own, especially in situations where accuracy matters. I give it clear information, I keep it grounded in what I provide, and I use it to organize, refine, and accelerate what I already know or suspect. The moment you expect it to fill in gaps creatively without guidance is where things can go sideways. It’s a powerful tool, but it needs the right operator behind it.
The way I look at it is simple. This isn’t about handing work off, it’s about leveling up how you think and how you execute. If you use it passively, you’ll get average results and you’ll probably lose trust in it. If you use it actively, with intention and awareness, it becomes a serious advantage. In my experience, the difference isn’t the tool, it’s how you use it. And when you use it the right way, it doesn’t just make you faster, it makes you better.
