Make Time: Human, Business & AI Capabilities for Small Business

Sam Hurley | 25eight
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For small business owners building the capabilities they need to thrive in an AI economy, Make Time is the podcast that helps you close the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Hosted by Samantha Hurley, CEO of 25eight, each episode delivers research-backed thinking on human potential, business capability, AI adoption, leadership development, and small business growth. Practical actions that transfer directly into how you build and lead a business on your own terms.

  1. Jul 22

    AI GIves You Time: But Only You Can Decide What To Use It For

    AI Can Save You Time, but It Cannot Decide What That Time Is For One of the biggest promises surrounding AI is that it will give us time back. It can draft the email, summarise the meeting, analyse information, update systems and complete in minutes what may previously have taken hours. But saving time is not the same as having more time. When technology removes one task, many of us simply replace it with another. We answer more messages, create more content, take on more clients, attend more meetings and increase the amount we expect ourselves to achieve. In this episode of Make Time, Sam Hurley explores why greater efficiency does not automatically create greater freedom, and why AI may make us even busier unless we consciously decide what we want the time it creates to be used for. Sam reflects on her own experience of building an AI-enabled business system designed to reduce her workload, only to find herself filling the newly created space with more work. She examines how busyness can become connected to identity, value and status, particularly for business owners who have no external limit on what counts as enough. Our workplaces often reward what is visible and easy to measure: hours worked, emails answered, meetings attended, reports produced, content published and tasks completed. But the work that creates the greatest value may be less visible. Preventing a problem may attract less recognition than fixing it. Designing a business that works without its owner may feel less validating than being constantly needed. Taking time to think carefully may look less productive than responding immediately. The episode also explores what previous time-saving technologies can teach us about AI. Washing machines reduced the effort involved in doing laundry, but expectations around cleanliness and washing frequency increased. Email made individual communication faster, but created an enormous new volume of communication. Smartphones gave us flexibility, while also allowing work to follow us everywhere. The recurring pattern is clear: technology creates capacity, but people, culture and expectations determine where that capacity goes. AI may reduce the time required to complete an individual task while our expectations consume that time across the wider system. The real opportunity is not simply to do the same work faster. It is to reconsider the work, the business and perhaps even the life we have built around it. Why saving time does not necessarily mean having more time How efficiency can lead to increased expectations and workloads Why business owners are particularly vulnerable to filling every available space How busyness can become tied to identity, value and status The difference between visible output and meaningful contribution What washing machines, email and smartphones can teach us about AI Why lower production costs often lead to greater demand and volume How AI can amplify both intentionality and overwork Why agency must be part of the conversation about AI adoption The questions to ask before filling the space AI creates How AI could support a more meaningful business and life Before deciding what to automate, ask: What am I actually trying to create? Is producing more genuinely the goal? What role do I want work to play in my life? What would enough look like for me? What would I do with more time if my value were not measured by how much I produced? AI can help us explore these questions, identify patterns and consider different possibilities. But it cannot decide what a meaningful life or successful business should look like for us. Subscribe to the Make Time podcast and the 25eight weekly newsletter for practical insights on leadership, decision-making, business capability and intentional AI adoption. For business owners ready to develop themselves and their business while building an AI-enabled business system, explore the Next Level Growth Program. https://www.25eight.co/next-level-growth-program

    AI GIves You Time: But Only You Can Decide What To Use It For

  2. Jul 16

    Why Clarity is Your Secret Weapon with AI

    You signed up for the AI tool everyone was talking about. You experimented with prompts, produced some useful outputs and felt that initial spark of possibility.Then, a few months later, you realised the business was still operating in much the same way. You still felt busy, the results were inconsistent and the promised productivity gains had not quite appeared.In this episode of Make Time, host Sam Hurley explores why adopting an AI tool does not automatically create meaningful change within a business.The problem may not be the tool, and it does not necessarily mean you are using AI incorrectly. More often, AI has been added to processes, habits and ways of working that were never designed to support it.AI does not fix the process underneath. It operates on top of it and inherits whatever is already there.Sam explains why successful AI adoption is primarily a leadership, capability and change-management challenge rather than a technical one. She explores the foundations that need to be in place before AI can consistently improve the way a business operates.These include having clarity about the outcome you want to create, understanding and documenting the process underneath, and ensuring that the people involved are supported to work differently.You will also learn why a messy or undocumented workflow can lead to fast but inconsistent results, why relying on one enthusiastic AI user limits business-wide value and how unclear expectations force AI tools to make assumptions about what good should look like.The clearer your processes, decisions, data and desired outcomes become, the more effectively both your people and your AI tools can operate.An unclear business can use AI to amplify its chaos. A clear business can use AI to amplify its capability.### In this episode:* Why useful AI outputs do not always translate into business results* The risks of bolting AI onto an existing process* Why AI adoption often stalls after the initial experimentation stage* The connection between AI adoption and organisational change* Why clarity about the problem must come before choosing the tool* How undocumented processes create inconsistent AI outputs* Why AI adoption is a leadership and capability challenge* How to identify the underlying capability gap affecting your results* Why people, processes and decision-making matter more than prompting alone* How business clarity allows AI to create greater value### Assess your business’s readiness for AIThe **Small Business Capability Snapshot** is a complimentary diagnostic designed to help you understand whether your business has the foundations needed to adopt AI effectively. https://capability-snapshor.25eight.coIt takes approximately eight minutes to complete, and you can return to your results at any time.The snapshot can help you identify whether your next priority should be improving your processes, data, decision-making, delegation or another foundational business capability.### Stay connectedSign up for the 25eight weekly newsletter for practical guidance on strengthening your business foundations, building capability and integrating AI intentionally. https://www.25eight.co/newsletter-signupBecause the clearer your business becomes, the more effectively AI can help you aim further and achieve more.

    Why Clarity is Your Secret Weapon with AI

  3. Jul 2

    The Fresh Start Effect: hat do you want from the next 12 months?

    It is the end of the financial year in Australia, which makes this a natural moment for business owners to pause, reflect and reset.In this short school holiday episode, Make Time host Sam Hurley explores the “fresh start effect” and why the beginning of a new financial year can create the motivation and mental space to ask bigger questions about what comes next.Sam invites small business owners to look back at the past 12 months, review what has worked, understand what needs strengthening, and most importantly, ask themselves what they really want from the year ahead.Because while AI can help you explore ideas, analyse information and open up new possibilities, it cannot decide what matters most to you.This episode is a prompt to think beyond constraints and imagine the best case scenario for your business, your work and your life over the next financial year.Whether you are looking for new customers, exploring overseas markets, rethinking your offer, navigating a tough market or simply trying to reconnect with the work that brings you joy, this is a timely reminder to pause before you push forward.In this episodeSam explores:Why the end of financial year is a powerful reflection point for business ownersHow the fresh start effect can support motivation and momentumThe importance of asking what you actually want before setting goalsWhy AI can help you explore possibilities but cannot define your direction for youHow small businesses can use technology to access capabilities that once felt out of reachWhy changing market conditions can also create space to rethink, refocus or repositionThe value of finding customers, markets and opportunities that recognise your worthKey reflection questionWhen you look ahead 12 months from now, what would the best case scenario look like for your business and your life?Listen if you areReviewing your business at the end of the financial yearFeeling ready for a reset but unsure where to focusWondering what AI could make possible for your businessConsidering a shift in your market, offer or directionWanting to reconnect with the kind of work you actually enjoyLooking for a simple but meaningful way to start the new financial yearChapter markers00:00 A quick school holiday episode00:20 The end of financial year as a reflection point00:45 Understanding the fresh start effect01:20 Looking back at what worked and what needs strengthening01:45 Asking what you really want from the next 12 months02:30 Imagining the best case scenario03:05 How AI is opening up new possibilities for small business03:50 Using the school holidays to pause and reflect04:20 Rethinking markets, customers and the work you enjoy05:10 Navigating tough conditions and finding new relevance05:45 Starting the new financial year with intentionIf you are ready to use the new financial year as a reset point, take some time this week to review where you have been, what you have learned, and what you want to build next.And if you are ready to grow with more clarity, confidence and capability, keep an eye out for the next cohort of 25eight’s Next Level Growth Program, sign up for our newsletter to be first to know - https://www.25eight.co/newsletter-signup

    The Fresh Start Effect: hat do you want from the next 12 months?

  4. Jun 25

    Are You Adopting AI In The Wrong Order?

    A lot of AI advice skips the most important part: the order you do things in. In this episode of Make Time, Sam Hurley makes the case that when AI is brought in to fix a business rather than enhance it, it simply amplifies what was already wrong, which is part of why we're starting to see a sea of loud, mediocre businesses all producing the same confident-looking output. The fix isn't a better tool. It's a better sequence.The anchor idea comes from Erik Brynjolfsson's work at Stanford's Digital Economy Lab: AI is a multiplier of the capability already present in a business, not a substitute for it. If your data is clean, your processes are documented and your team knows how decisions get made, AI makes all of that faster and sharper. If your data is fragmented and your processes live in someone's head, AI makes that faster too. As Sam puts it, bring AI into a messy business and you've deployed intelligence on top of chaos: the problems don't disappear, they accelerate, and they get harder to spot because they're now wrapped in the authority of an AI-generated output.So what's the right sequence? Drawing on Deloitte's 2026 State of AI in the Enterprise survey, Sam notes that high-performing organisations don't use fundamentally different tools. They differ on three things: clarity of AI strategy, redesigning how they operate to support AI, and shared leadership engagement rather than one person owning it. Translated for a small business, that becomes three stages. Sam shares two alumni examples, including an Industry Growth Program participant who built the systems first and AI third, and reached 40% year-on-year growth before the end of the program. If you've already jumped to stage three, don't see it as a failure. It's a learning, and the right move now is to go back and build the foundations so the technology can finally pay off.Key takeawaysAI is a multiplier of existing capability, not a substitute (Brynjolfsson). It amplifies what's already there, good or bad.Bring AI in to "fix" a business and you deploy intelligence on top of chaos, making the chaos faster and more authoritative.The order matters: foundations first, then workflow, then AI augmentation.Stage 1 (foundations): clean data, documented processes, explicit decision-making. A targeted check on two or three areas, not perfection.Stage 2 (workflow): decide where AI creates the most leverage, and let the tool fit your business. Two or three well-chosen applications beat ten tools.Stage 3 (augmentation): with clean data, a clear workflow and the right tool, results compound. High performers differ on strategy, operating redesign and shared leadership, not on the tools (Deloitte 2026).If you've already jumped to stage three, that's a learning, not a failure. Go back and build the foundations.Subscribe to the Make Time newsletter for one practical capability idea each week: https://www.25eight.co/newsletter-sign-upTo find your own stage in the sequence, the Small Business Capability Gap diagnostic takes about eight minutes and surfaces the gaps most likely limiting how much value you can capture from AI right now. Complimentary, log in for your results anytime, no email flood: https://capability-gap.25eight.coIf you want help building your foundations and using AI intentionally, the Next Level Growth Program and Industry Growth Program are built for that. If your foundations are already solid and you're ready to build deliberate AI capability, Lead with AI (beginner, intermediate and advanced tracks) is designed for exactly that stage.Chapters00:00 Understanding AI's role in business06:23 The importance of sequence in AI implementation11:46 Building foundations for AI success14:28 AI augmentation: enhancing human capabilities18:03 Real-world success stories with AI19:55 Where to start

    Are You Adopting AI In The Wrong Order?

  5. Jun 18

    Three important decisions your need to make now about AI in your business

    Governance isn't the most exciting word, and for a busy owner it usually sits well below customers, suppliers and staff. But in this episode of Make Time, Sam Hurley makes the case that a small amount of clarity about how AI is used in your business now saves a disproportionate amount of trouble later. EY's AI Sentiment Index found that 68% of Australian computer-based workers had used AI in the past month, while only 35% had received any training or guidance. A lot of AI use is already happening, much of it without anyone deciding what the tools are for, who is accountable, or what data they can touch.Sam's frame is refreshingly small. Drawing on a 2025 G7 governance toolkit built for small businesses deploying everyday AI tools, she translates three core challenges into three plain decisions any owner can make in an afternoon. First, what data does this AI touch? Write down what each tool can access, what it does with that data, and where it's stored. The act of writing it down makes invisible choices visible. Second, what workflow does it sit in? An AI output isn't accountable when it's wrong, so a person has to be. Decide who reviews AI work before it goes anywhere and what standard it has to meet. At the early stage that person is probably you, but naming it turns a habit into a decision. Third, what are your boundaries? A short, practical list of what you won't use AI for, and why, such as keeping confidential client information out of public models. She's clear that this doesn't need a compliance team. A single shared note or a spreadsheet reviewed quarterly is enough at this stage. The value is in the act of deciding. The episode then walks through what skipping these decisions looks like in practice: confidential data pasted into a public tool, a generic AI proposal that damages a client relationship, and the increasingly common moment when a partner in government, defence, financial services or health asks for your AI use policy and you have no clear answer. Deloitte's 2026 research makes the point: durable AI capability comes from clarity of strategy and deliberate design decided before scale, not from which tools you own. Get the foundations right early, Sam argues, and AI compounds your capability rather than building a problem in the background you'll have to stop and undo. Key takeaways Governance sounds dull, but skipping it lets AI build habits, data flows and precedents that are costly to undo later. EY's AI Sentiment Index: 68% of Australian computer-based workers used AI in the past month, but only 35% had any training or guidance. Three decisions cover it: what data the AI touches, what workflow it sits in (who reviews outputs), and what boundaries you set (what AI won't do). A single shared note or spreadsheet, reviewed quarterly, is enough governance for most small businesses at this stage (G7 toolkit, 2025). Without these decisions: confidential data leaks into public tools, generic AI output reaches clients, and you can't answer a partner's "what's your AI policy?", now a real factor in some procurement. Deloitte 2026: durable AI capability comes from clarity of strategy and deliberate design, decided before scale, not which tools you have. The practical move is a two-hour task now, not a next-quarter project: write down your answers to the three decisions and set a reminder to review in three months. Subscribe to the 25eight's newsletter: https://www.25eight.co/newsletter-sign-up?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=newsletter-signup&utm_content=2727742762&utm_term=committed-early-builder AI for Small Business Video Series & Templates Free resource https://www.25eight.co/introduction-to-ai-for-small-business?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=C5&utm_content=2727742762&utm_term=committed-early-builder

    Three important decisions your need to make now about AI in your business

  6. Jun 11

    Why knowing isn't the same as doing and how this impacts business

    If you've read the books, taken the courses, attended the workshops and filled notebooks with good intentions, but your business looks much the same, this episode is for you. Sam makes the case up front: that gap isn't a reflection of your intelligence, your work ethic or your commitment. It's structural. The information age sold us the idea that knowing something is the same as being able to do it, and no amount of extra input closes that gap on its own. What actually changes things is the conditions for learning to transfer into your situation. Researchers call the space between what you know and what you do the knowing-doing gap, and the evidence points somewhere uncomfortable but freeing: the problem usually isn't the quality of the course or your follow-through. It's that the place you learned is disconnected from the place you have to apply it. Sam walks through the four conditions that reliably make learning stick. Most development products deliver one or two of these. Remove any one and the odds of real change drop; remove two and they shift firmly against you. The episode also names the situations you might recognise: the self-paced course a crisis displaced, the workshop whose energy faded by day ten, the consultant's correct-but-unimplementable report, the coach whose help never quite became your own repeatable skill. None of them failed because you didn't try. They failed because the four conditions weren't all there.If any of that sounds familiar, the suggestion is simple: get clear on where you actually are before your next course. Key takeaways ✅ Knowing isn't the same as being able. More information won't close that gap on its own. ✅ The knowing-doing gap is mostly about conditions, not the quality of the knowledge or your willpower (Beer, Finnström & Schrader, HBR 2016). ✅ Feedback speed and specificity is one of the strongest drivers of how fast capability builds (Bloom, 1984). ✅ Four conditions make learning transfer: context alignment, structured application, targeted feedback, and social accountability. Most programs deliver only one or two. ✅ When all four are present, owners can see measurable shifts in business metrics in roughly 8 to 12 weeks, not years. ✅ Start by understanding where you are: the Small Business Capability Gap diagnostic, about eight minutes, no commitment. Chapters00:00 The Learning Gap in Business 02:44 Understanding the Conditions for Effective Learning 05:34 The Importance of Feedback and Application 08:08 Four Key Conditions for Learning Transfer 10:41 Real-World Applications and Challenges 13:04 Building Capability in a Changing Environment 15:29 Conclusion and Next Steps Find your Small Business Capability Gap: https://www.25eight.co/the-small-business-capability-gap?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=H5&utm_content=2718704757&utm_term=relief If you're ready for a structured, supported environment with all four conditions built in: Next Level Growth Program: for small growing businesses wanting to stabilise sales or build the systems to scale. Industry Growth Program: for established businesses looking to expand or transition into new markets. Lead with AI: beginner, intermediate and advanced tracks, if building AI capability matters to you. The aim of every program is not to give you more information. It's to build the conditions that turn what you already know into how your business actually runs. Keywords: small business · business capability · capability building · learning transfer · business growth · business owner development · knowing-doing gap · structured learning · accountability why business courses don't work · why training doesn't stick · knowing-doing gap in business · the four conditions for learning transfer · learning transfer in business · why workshops don't change your business · building capability vs gathering knowledge

    Why knowing isn't the same as doing and how this impacts business

  7. Jun 4

    What you can't outsource - and why it explains the delegation gap

    Most business owners who hit a ceiling with delegation aren't failing at delegation. They're running into a structural problem: a capability layer underneath delegation that only the business owner can hold. In this episode of Make Time, Sam Hurley breaks down what that layer is, what the research says about why it can't be delegated, and why AI strategy has made the problem impossible to ignore. THE FOUR THINGS ONLY THE BUSINESS OWNER CAN DO 1. Strategic direction. Not the strategic plan document — the lived clarity about what the business is for, who it serves, and what it refuses to do. Senior teams can refine and stress-test it. They can't author it. 2. Cultural tone. How the business feels when decisions are being made under pressure. Whether disagreements are safe. Whether the truth-teller in the room gets rewarded or sidelined. It isn't usually documented — it's modelled by the business owner on hard days and then copied. 3. Trust architecture. Who gets authority for what. How decisions escalate. Who owns the call when two senior people disagree. The architecture can be designed collaboratively. Only the business owner can enforce it consistently across the cases where it's painful. 4. AI strategy. The clearest current case. You can outsource AI deployment. You can't outsource AI strategy. When you try, the team adopts tools fast and the business loses its shape. McKinsey's State of AI data shows the pattern at scale: most organisations are adopting AI; most are not capturing the value they expected. The gap isn't the tool. RESEARCH REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE Chris Argyris, "Teaching Smart People How to Learn," Harvard Business Review (1991) — on defensive reasoning in competent senior teams and what stops knowledge translating into actionBrinkerhoff's Success Case Method — why only around 30% of training outcomes survive the return to the workplace, and what the business owner does that determines whether they doDeci & Ryan, Self-Determination Theory (2008) — motivation degrades when people are asked to deliver outcomes they have no authority to setMcKinsey State of AI — the value realisation gap in AI adoption TAKE THE CAPABILITY GAP DIAGNOSTIC A complimentary tool that reads your capability across the four layers covered in this episode. Not a lead generation tool — a genuinely useful starting point for business owners and the coaches who work with them. https://www.25eight.co/the-small-business-capability-gap?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=H7&utm_content=2709214057&utm_term=aspiration ABOUT MAKE TIME Hosted by Sam Hurley, Founder of 25eight — a certified B Corp building capability for SMEs and the coaches who work with them. Each episode covers one capability idea: specific, evidence-based, and immediately applicable. www.25eight.co

    What you can't outsource - and why it explains the delegation gap

  8. May 28

    Feeling behind with AI? Why capability matters more than speed

    Make Time host, Sam Hurley, explores the pressure many small business owners are feeling right now: the sense that everyone else is moving faster with AI, while you are still trying to run the business, serve customers, manage the team, make decisions, and keep up.At the centre of this episode is a simple but important reassurance:You are not behind.Drawing on recent AI adoption research from Deloitte and McKinsey, as well as the long-standing idea of the “Knowing Doing Gap”, Sam explains why using AI is not the same as benefiting from AI. Many businesses are adopting tools quickly, but not necessarily seeing better outcomes.The reason, Sam argues, is not a lack of tools. It is a capability gap.This episode introduces the idea of the Capability Era, a moment where the businesses most likely to benefit from AI are not necessarily the fastest adopters, but the ones building stronger human, leadership, business, digital and AI capability underneath the tools.Sam explores why speed can be useful, but speed without capability often creates more complexity, more noise, and more confusion. A business can have multiple AI subscriptions and still lack the clarity, decision rhythm, customer understanding, team alignment, or operating system needed to make those tools valuable.You do not need to chase every AI tool. You need to understand what is worth amplifying.Find your capability gapIf you would like a clearer picture of your strengths and where your business may benefit from deeper capability, the complimentary 25eight Small Business Capability Gap Index was built for exactly that.https://capability-gap.25eight.coChapters00:00 The Reality of Running a BusinessSam opens with the real experience of running a small business, where AI can feel like one more fire to manage rather than a clear opportunity.02:14 AI Adoption and the Value Realisation GapWhy AI adoption is increasing quickly, but many organisations are still not seeing the outcomes they expected.06:28 The Capability Era: Building for the FutureSam introduces the Capability Era and explains why underlying capability may now matter more than speed of adoption.09:06 The Importance of Capability Over SpeedA look at why fast AI adoption without clarity, systems, and capability can create complexity rather than progress.11:10 Framing Your Business JourneyWhy seeing yourself as “falling behind” can be exhausting, and why the more useful identity is that of a builder.15:47 Identifying Your Strengths and Moving ForwardSam closes by helping business owners think about what they already know, what makes them different, and where AI could meaningfully amplify their strengths.Key topicsWhy running a business can already feel overwhelming before AI is added to the mixWhy AI adoption is not the same as AI capabilityThe difference between speed of adoption and depth of capabilityWhy many businesses are experiencing a value realisation gap with AIHow the Knowing Doing Gap applies to AI adoptionWhat the Capability Era means for small business ownersWhy capability can become a more durable advantage than speedHow AI can create complexity when the underlying business is unclearWhy comparison to other business owners can be misleadingThe role of self-efficacy in business growth and implementationWhy tools do not replace strategy, clarity, or customer understandingHow to identify what is worth amplifying in your businessKeywordsAI in business, AI for small business, AI adoption, AI capability, AI strategy, artificial intelligence for small business, business capability, capability gap, Capability Era, small business growth, business leadership, business strategy, digital capability, leadership capability, AI readiness, value realisation gap, Knowing Doing Gap, self-efficacy, business systems, working smarter, business owner burnout, entrepreneurship, future of work, AI tools, small business marketing

    Feeling behind with AI? Why capability matters more than speed
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For small business owners building the capabilities they need to thrive in an AI economy, Make Time is the podcast that helps you close the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Hosted by Samantha Hurley, CEO of 25eight, each episode delivers research-backed thinking on human potential, business capability, AI adoption, leadership development, and small business growth. Practical actions that transfer directly into how you build and lead a business on your own terms.

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