Season 1 · Episode 69 · September 9, 2026 · 41 min
How AI Agents Can Model Your Business Before It Breaks (w/ Rich Welsh)
Show Notes
What if a digital twin could let you test a business decision before it disrupted your business? Once the preserve of robotics, manufacturing and supply chains, AI is helping digital twins become a practical way to model everyday business decisions, from whether your team can take on another client, what happens if a supplier fails, how a staff shortage affects a schedule, or where a production workflow is likely to bottleneck.
In this week's episode, Kyle is away so Jess is joined by Rich Welsh, President of SMPTE (the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) and Chairman of Volustor, to unpack what digital twins actually are and why AI is making them more accessible to smaller businesses.
AI can pull together information from the systems you already use, help turn your knowledge of a process into a working model, and spot patterns across schedules, customer behaviour, supplier data and workloads that a human team is unlikely to see in time.
They cover how to start with one process rather than trying to model the entire business, how AI agents can monitor what "normal" looks like and flag early warning signs, and how a digital twin can help you test a change before it costs you time, money, or customer trust.
Find Rich:
Support the Pod:
Wispr Flow - AI-powered voice dictation that works across every app on your desktop - https://ref.wisprflow.ai/early-adoptr
Granola - The best AI meeting notes! New users get 100% off for their first month - https://www.granola.ai?via=early-adoptr
Timestamps:
00:56 What Is an AI Digital Twin?
02:44 Welcome Rich Welsh
05:33 Defining an AI Digital Twin: From 3D Scans to Industrial Process Models
08:32 How AI Digital Twins Apply to Small Businesses, Not Just Supply Chains
11:26 Why Small Businesses Need an AI Digital Twin
13:46 Building an MVP with an AI Digital Twin: Lessons From Robotics and Space
15:04 The Flip Side: Building an AI Digital Twin of Your Ideal Customer
17:11 Using an AI Digital Twin to Predict How Your Team and Customers Will React
22:08 Walmart's AI Digital Twin and Why External Factors Need Real AI to Track
24:37 The AI Digital Twin That Predicted a Formula One Car Failure Before It Happened
31:46 Why a Hybrid Local and Cloud AI Model Wins on Cost
37:34 Digital Twins Everywhere by 2030
Resources:
- https://www.ciodive.com/news/Walmart-supply-chain-ai-digital-twin/825119/
- https://www.ceepla.com/en/insights/digital-twins-for-sme
- linkedin.com/pulse/digital-twins-budget-how-smes-can-compete-enterprise-varenas-mba-dtyvc
- https://iotdigitaltwinplm.com/agentic-digital-twins-ai-driven-industrial-analysis-2026/
- https://www.celonis.com/blog/revolutionizing-workflows-with-process-digital-twins
- google.com/url?q=https://www.aidoos.com/blog/Digital-Twins-for-Small-and-Medium-Businesses-A-Practical-Guide-for-CIOs-and-Business-Owners/&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1788814501342313&usg=AOvVaw08EY_URPU8n3OqSGWsk1KT
Get in Touch
TikTok: @early_adoptr
Instagram: @early_adoptr
YouTube: @early_adoptr
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/early-adoptr/
Get in touch with Early Adoptr: hello@earlyadoptr.ai
Follow Us on Socials & Resources:
IG: https://instagram.com/early_adoptr
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@early_adoptr
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@early_adoptr
Substack: https://substack.com/@earlyadoptrpod
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.