3 - Business Briefs
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[00:00:00] T-Boss: Welcome back. Today we're spotlighting one of the lesser known GBA member perks, business briefs. They're short focused reads on a timely topic and best part free for GBA member firms.

[00:00:16] Ryan: Yeah, free. Isn't that your favorite four letter word? We'll touch on three of our favorite ones. And tell you why they're worth grabbing. No deep dives, just the need to know.

[00:00:27] T-Boss: All right. Brief one. Crystal Ball Workshop 2025, which focused on AI and automation. Okay, this one's personal. You and I both attended the Crystal Ball workshop. We were in the sessions and we got to see the vibe up close, so. The business brief highlights details from that, like Terracon was the host and there was a great lineup of subject matter experts who kept it real.

[00:00:59] Ryan: Yeah. [00:01:00] The Crystal Ball Workshop focused on AI as it related to our shrinking workforce, but what I love most was the people part. We talked through obstacles and solutions with peers, and this brief lays out several moves that leaders can make right now.

[00:01:14] All right. First, install some guardrails. Decide which apps your team can use, how your data is handled, and who signs off.

[00:01:23] T-Boss: Ooh, I have to jump in here 'cause one of my favorite quotes from the workshop, somebody said "your team is already using AI. Make sure they know how you want them to use it and how not to."

[00:01:37] Ryan: Good point. Good point. Build a culture of innovation. Encourage experimentation, and celebrate the wins. Consider diversifying your workforce to include data scientists, coders, or automation engineers. Several companies mentioned they're already doing this.

[00:01:53] Third data hygiene. Digitize your data, clean up project and lab [00:02:00] records, and pick a couple of standards so analytics isn't fighting junk, Needs to learn from good, clean files.

[00:02:05] If you are teaching your models internally.

[00:02:09] T-Boss: This business brief also touches on the pricing reality of our industry. If AI saves you hours, don't just shrink your fees, charge for the outcomes, or bundle the value. It also touches on culture how some people might feel about AI. Making sure your team members know it's there to help them, not replace them.

[00:02:33] Ryan: You seem like you know this one really well. Didn't you help write this one?

[00:02:38] T-Boss: Yes, Matt Van Rensler and I co-authored it.

[00:02:42] Of course, we got some cleanup help from the Resource Collaboration Committee, some big input from Joel Carson, and you know, Cassandra brought it all together. But yes, I did co-author this one.

[00:02:54] Ryan: Awesome.

[00:02:57] T-Boss: The next brief we'll talk about [00:03:00] is utilizing artificial intelligence. Is your firm adequately insured and are we actually covered? This one's kind of the grownup in the room. I feel like this must have been written by that super cool secret legal affairs committee, but I don't know. It didn't say in there who wrote it, so let's just pretend. Anyway, it walks you through five policies you should kind of sanity check and think through now that you might have some AI in your workflows. So we'll break down the five first. Cyber, it's good for breach and incident costs, but don't assume it covers funds transfer fraud, or social engineering.

[00:03:44] You may also need some endorsements. Then there's general liability. Watch the advertising injury language if AI accidentally pulls copyrighted material. Is that covered? That depends on the wording. [00:04:00] Next, professional liability. The key here is documented human review. If you rubber stamp your AI outputs and they fail, you can be in a lot of trouble. Another one that I hadn't thought about was directors and officers liability insurance. This is for board or executives, uh, exposure for poor oversight or AI washing, basically overstating capabilities. Hopefully none of you have that, but there's insurance if you need to be thinking about it. Employment practices liability insurance is another one.

[00:04:37] This is for HR. AI tools like screening and engagement and can trigger bias or privacy issues. You need to know the exclusions here.

[00:04:47] Ryan: All right. Quick disclaimer, we are not experts on this topic, so make sure you read the business brief, talk to your insurers for more information. That being said, here are two of my favorite takeaways from the brief.

[00:04:59] [00:05:00] Talk to your staff and clients about AI. Know what they're using AI for so you can make smart decisions on your level of coverage.

[00:05:07] Also sit down with your insurance broker and walk line by line through the exclusions and endorsements you have before you add the shiny tool. It's cheaper than learning the hard way.

[00:05:19] T-Boss: Exactly. The brief is simple, direct, and saves you from the "bot did it" as a claim story.

[00:05:28] All right. The last business brief that we're gonna highlight is a cool one that I know you used Ryan. It's Beyond gINT, a new era in geotechnical data management. So, all right, geotech folks. This is something that's been plaguing many of you.

[00:05:45] This brief helps you compare replacements without getting hypnotized by some flashy demo. It has a table with several different products and breaks down specific features of each.

[00:05:57] Ryan: And yes, it names actual players and weighs [00:06:00] them on a comprehensive list of features. Things like mobile app compatibility, DIGGS importing and exporting capabilities, soil exploration logging with photos, correlation of soil test results, and whether it can export to CAD.

[00:06:15] T-Boss: That was a whole lot of crazy words that aren't in my world of what I have to do at work, but I understand all of our goetechs would know. All of that as soon as they hear it. So, Ryan, I remember you telling me that you relied on this to help decide which program you were gonna go with, or at least which ones you were gonna vet. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

[00:06:39] Ryan: Absolutely. It was a bit overwhelming. We've used gINT as many have for a number of years, and there's a lot of new players in the market, so trying to figure out, you know, the best, maybe new way to do things versus how we've always done them and how we can get what we want and expect. And so it was nice to have sort of a starting point.

[00:06:58] We could focus on the [00:07:00] ones that appeared, based on this, to meet our needs, and then we could explore those individually with the different software companies to start experimenting and trying 'em out. So this was hugely helpful in helping us know what was available, what these could do, and, and kind of giving us a starting point for our own exploration.

[00:07:19] T-Boss: Well, there you have it. From insurance to Crystal Ball workshop and trends to what technology you need to be aware of right now and all the changes. Business briefs are there to help you. So to stay up to date on those, make sure you keep an eye on GBA's NewsLog. New issues of business briefs are always highlighted in the news log.

[00:07:42] Ryan: Yep. And a reminder, subscribe to the NewsLog and share it with your team members. See you next time.

[00:07:48] T-Boss: That's a wrap. Have a great one.