Reports say the global market for Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly growing, with projections of it being a multi-trillion-dollar industry by 2030. And Todd Krise, who lives in Kentucky, knows why.

He started his own consulting firm, Mercenary Marketing AI, just six months ago and already has a waiting list of clients. He’s even writing a book about his research because he says AI technology shouldn’t be feared — it should be taken advantage of.

Working in advertising, Krise began using AI in 2017 with the tools available through Google and Meta advertising — digital ads on social media platforms targeted at specific users based on demographics, interests and behaviors.

“When I was with the last advertising agency, I had a huge book of clients and was doing 95-99% of all the work for each client myself. I wasn’t utilizing a lot of folks internally because of AI. I told my boss this is more like an agency-to-agency relationship — what I bring to the table allows you to use in-house people for other things.”

Krise said he asked what the agency’s future plans were for using AI. “I didn’t get a great answer, so I thought why am I not doing this all by myself. I can be a one-man team and use AI even further …”

So, he left the agency and started his own. He said he is more productive using ChatGPT, a conversational bot created by OpenAI designed to understand and create human-like text. He said if used correctly, it can optimize ad campaigns and provide ongoing interaction without needing a human eye.

But Krise also realizes that “AI is taking human jobs” is a strong sentiment.

“I talk to a ton of small-business owners, I tell them to take a look at your current staff and use AI as something that can increase their outputs. Don’t look at it as replacing your employees — I don’t think we’ll be there for many years …”

Joe Lopez was skeptical, he said. “I’m not a huge fan of AI, let me put it that way …” He and wife Lori Lopez own EXIT Realty Choice in Crestwood, and his head was turned about AI when Krise was a guest speaker for a chamber of commerce class the realty brokerage firm sponsors.

Now Lopez has him on retainer. “He comes in about once a week to look at our marketing goals — always has new stuff to throw at me.” He said they are beta-testing a new process Krise came up with using AI to immediately respond to leads using personalized avatars.

“If you wait just three minutes, three other agents have already contacted them …” he said. “It uses our voice and our face … So, it’s actually us, speaking to them immediately through an email, the same face and voice they will have in front of them later.”

And Lopez isn’t particularly worried about AI replacing humans. “I discussed this a lot with him — I don’t think AI will ever take away the human experience. That’s so important in the real estate world.” But he is all for using it to allow more multi-tasking, and said it definitely increases productivity.

Because AI is a rapidly evolving technology, federal agencies have noted difficulty in getting the full picture yet of its effects on jobs.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics cites there’s “a potential for disruption” in certain jobs that can be eliminated by AI. It also draws a parallel between past concerns, like an older University of Oxford study projecting that almost 50% of the country’s employment was at risk due to earlier computerization — but noted that the actual impact was much lower, and more jobs were eventually created than lost.

While the Department of Labor says AI can lead to job displacement that’s projected to possibly affect up to 30% of U.S. jobs by 2030, it also says AI is expected to create new jobs.

Krise said the successful companies aren’t the ones replacing people. They are the ones automating the mundane tasks so they can provide exceptional customer service, because they’re not focused on the back-end.

“Because I can use AI, I have very few remote relationships — or dreaded Zoom calls. Now I can go to Main Street in Crestwood or La Grange, talk to my clients over coffee about their business strategies.”

Krise said the MercinaryMarketing.ai community will not be fully launched until 2026, but there is an ongoing waiting list to sign up. It’s offered by subscription, and he said it’s for “people to realize they don’t have to go back to school and pay for an expensive degree or a (small business) loan to start a business or expand one.”

He said it’s a great tool for entrepreneurs, and allowed him to “educate myself more cost-effectively and to start a business without any investment.”

As far as where he sees his company going, Krise said, “By the end of next year, or 2027 at the latest, if coaching the community online is my job, then I’m doing something right. And I’d like to do even more for community support, even from a nonprofit standpoint.”

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