Op-Ed: What AI Has Taught Me About Running a Business

Op-Ed: What AI Has Taught Me About Running a Business

By Ryan Beck, Founder, BECK Digital

Ten years ago, I started BECK Digital to help businesses build better websites.

At the time, success meant responsive design, mobile optimization, search engine rankings, and creating a professional digital presence. Businesses needed websites that looked great and functioned strategically.

Today, artificial intelligence can generate layouts, write code, create images, draft content, recommend user experiences, identify accessibility issues, analyze user behavior, and build a functional website. All within a matter of minutes.

It’s understandable to see that as a threat to companies like mine.

I see it as a reminder that every business eventually reaches a point where it must rethink how it creates value.

Over the past several years, we've intentionally challenged ourselves to evolve before our clients asked us to. We've tested AI throughout our business, from research and content strategy to user experience planning, website architecture, technical documentation, analytics, coding assistance, quality assurance, and rapid prototyping.

The more I've learned about AI, the more I've realized the lessons I’ve learned are really transferable to others. These are five lessons that I believe apply to every business owner, regardless of industry.

1. Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Every meaningful opportunity I've experienced as a business owner started with uncertainty.

AI is no different.

You don't need to become an expert overnight. But you do need to be willing to experiment, ask questions, learn, and potentially make changes.

The businesses that benefit most from AI won't be the ones that waited until everything was figured out.

They'll be the ones willing to step outside their comfort zone long before they had all the answers.

2. What Got You Here Won't Get You Where You're Going

This may be the biggest lesson I've learned as AI impacted my industry.

The strategies and expertise that helped me build my business over ten years won't be the ones that define our next ten.

That's not us making mistakes; I’d say it’s every business owner's responsibility.

Ask yourself one simple question: If I were starting this company today, knowing what I know about AI, would I build it the same way?

If the answer is no, then the next question becomes even more important: What's stopping me from starting that evolution today?

3. Use AI to Create Value

Too many conversations about AI begin with replacing people. I think they should begin with removing friction.

At BECK, we've embraced AI to accelerate research, organize information, analyze websites, generate first drafts, review code, identify accessibility improvements, summarize meetings, prototype design concepts, and streamline repetitive production work.

The result isn't us using fewer people to perform these tasks.

It's about finding capacity to do the work that matters most: strategic thinking, creativity, collaboration, client relationships, and solving problems that don't have obvious answers.

AI has made our team more valuable — not less.

4. Your Website Now Has Two Audiences

Now this one is specific to our industry, but it’s transferable to any business with a website. And this is the shift I believe many business owners haven't fully recognized.

For years, we designed websites for people and optimized them for search engines.

Today, we also design them for GEN AI search.

Increasingly, potential customers ask ChatGPT, Claude, Google's AI Overviews, and other AI platforms for recommendations before they ever visit a website.

Those systems don't just look at how attractive your website is.

They evaluate how clearly you communicate your expertise, whether your information is logically organized, whether you answer real customer questions, whether your content demonstrates authority, and whether your site is accessible, well-structured, and trustworthy.

The websites that succeed over the next decade won't simply look better.

They'll communicate better, teach, answer questions, and become trusted sources that both people and AI can understand with confidence.

5. The Next Generation Will Build Something We Can Barely Imagine

One of the things I enjoy most about our industry is talking with students who are preparing for careers in web design, development, marketing, and digital strategy.

What they're learning today is dramatically different from what was critical to understand when I started Beck 10 years ago.

They're studying artificial intelligence, user experience research, accessibility, data analytics, design systems, cloud technologies, and human-centered design. They're learning how to collaborate with AI — not compete against it.

The next generation won't simply build better websites. They'll build entirely new digital experiences.

Artificial intelligence will continue to change the way we build businesses, serve customers, and create value. New tools will emerge. Entire industries will adapt. The pace of change won't slow down.

What won't change is the importance of curiosity, leadership, and the willingness to rethink what success looks like.

If there's one lesson I've learned over the past decade, it's this: Technology doesn't determine the future of your business. Your willingness to embrace it, and evolve because of it, does.

Ryan Beck is the co-founder of BECK Digital and a web development veteran with over two decades of experience building digital solutions. His journey began in 1998 as a developer in Chicago, leading him to co-found his first digital agency in 2002. Over the next 14 years, he scaled that agency to a 45-person team before a successful acquisition. Today, at BECK Digital, Ryan focuses on his original passion: crafting expert-level web solutions and digital strategies. Beck Digital is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. To learn more, visit www.beckdigital.com.