According to Fast Company, United Franchise Group CEO Ray Titus has been pushing AI adoption across his franchise network and recently used ChatGPT to help decide whether to acquire a multilocation auto-service franchise. After asking the AI for pros, cons, and a final recommendation, Titus received a comprehensive analysis within five seconds that he described as “10 times better” than anything his human team had produced. The AI ultimately recommended acquiring the company with reasoning that demonstrated deep understanding of their business strategy. This experience led Titus to embrace Geoff Woods’ concept of AI as a “thought partner” rather than just a productivity tool, prompting him to recommend Woods’ book “The AI-Driven Leader” to other executives.
The seductive simplicity of AI decisions
Here’s the thing about getting a perfect analysis in five seconds—it feels amazing, but it’s dangerously seductive. When an AI gives you exactly what you want to hear with what appears to be flawless logic, the temptation is to just run with it. But we’re talking about a major acquisition here, not what to have for lunch. The CEO mentions the AI showed “high level of understanding of our business,” but how much context did it actually have? These systems are brilliant at pattern recognition and presenting convincing arguments, but they’re working with whatever data you’ve given them and whatever patterns they’ve scraped from the internet.
Where humans still matter
I’m not saying the AI was wrong—it probably made a solid case. But there’s a reason we have due diligence processes that take weeks or months. The cultural fit, the unspoken dynamics within the target company, the regulatory landmines that might not be obvious from public data—these are areas where human intuition and experience still dominate. The book Titus recommends apparently makes this point too, emphasizing that AI helps you make “well-informed decisions, but the decision is still yours.” That’s the crucial part that often gets lost in the excitement.
The gap between theory and implementation
Now, promoting AI to franchise owners sounds great in theory, but the implementation reality is often messy. These systems work beautifully in controlled demonstrations with carefully crafted prompts, but rolling them out across diverse franchise operations? That’s where you encounter resistance, misunderstanding, and the classic “garbage in, garbage out” problem. The technology itself is advancing rapidly, but organizational readiness and digital literacy often lag behind. Basically, having the tool is one thing—getting people to use it effectively is another challenge entirely.
From productivity to partnership
The shift from viewing AI as a productivity booster to a strategic partner is genuinely interesting though. When you stop asking “how can this save me time” and start asking “how can this improve my thinking,” you’re approaching the technology differently. The book Titus mentions seems to capture this evolution well—moving beyond writing better emails to elevating strategic thinking. But let’s be honest: most companies are still struggling with the email-writing phase. Jumping straight to AI as boardroom advisor requires a level of trust and sophistication that many organizations simply haven’t developed yet.
