S2. Ep38 - 5 AI Automation Mistakes That Could Cost Your Business (And How to Avoid Them)

AI and automation can transform a small business. Done badly, they can cost you money, expose your data, or land you in legal trouble. Noel shares the five pitfalls he sees most often, and the ones with the biggest impact on the businesses that fall into them. Buying the solution before you understand the problem (and why that "million pound AI funnel" on Instagram won't work for a business with 500 followers). Paying someone to build automations you don't actually own, so they all switch off the day you stop paying. Pasting sensitive information into tools without knowing where your data really goes, including the rise of AI note takers on calls. Setting up a chatbot and leaving it to decay, with the Air Canada court case as a reminder that whatever your chatbot says, your business said. And believing the hype, from fake Stripe dashboards to faked AI demos. Katie adds the view from the other side of the screen: why she holds back on calls full of note takers, and why she's never had an app idea approved by Noel (or by Claude). Plus Anthropic's Sonnet 5.5, released the day before OpenAI's Dev Day, Meta's new Muse agent and smart glasses, and the announcement of new courses coming to makeautomations.ai, starting with the planning process behind pitfall number one. Get access to Lucy's AI legal toolkit Click here to find out more *We loved Lucy’s AI Legal Tool kit so much we have become affiliates for it. When you click on our link we earn a small percentage at no additional cost to you.  Send us Fan Mail How to find us: We have a free LinkedIn group (AI Automations For Business), the group is open to all. Interested in learning WebMCP check out webmcp.academy Check out Clyde, our multi-agent AI platform that connects to 1000+ apps and lets you build powerful automations without the complexity. Join the free Clyde Skool community to learn how to get the most out of it, share workflows, and connect with other builders putting AI to work in their businesses. New for 2026, you can also find us on Substack, click here to subscribe and get all the latest news and updates from us. If you would like dedicated help with your automations or would like us to build them for you then you can find our agency at makeautomations.ai Or you can contact us via email at [email protected].