In this weeks episode, I sit down with Grayson LaFrenz and Chad Lohrli, two of the co-founders of Cadre AI, the San Diego-based AI strategy and integration firm helping mid-market companies turn AI hype into P&L impact. They get into why 99 out of 100 business leaders still can’t point to measurable ROI from AI, how Cadre’s pod model mirrors the playbook Grayson used to build Power Digital into a record-setting exit, and why change management - not technology - is the real bottleneck. The taco question made an appearance.
Key Topics
Why most companies have no real AI strategy
Grayson’s path from Power Digital’s PE exit to Cadre AI
Chad’s journey from hackathons and SDX to co-founding Cadre
How Cadre’s pod system verticalizes AI delivery
The maturity index that exposes C-suite blind spots
Why services businesses lose operating leverage at scale
Building reusable AI blocks across clients
Turning call recordings into an autonomous client intelligence system
Why change management is harder than the technology
