263: The AI Shift No One Is Ready For w/ Callan Faulkner

Seth Williams reairs his March conversation with Callan Faulkner, founder of The Uncommon Business, an AI education company. Callan shares her journey from land investor to AI educator, explaining how she built automations into her business before discovering ChatGPT in July 2023, which transformed her understanding of what was possible.

The core theme is the shift from AI as a tool you query to AI as autonomous agents that perform work independently. Callan describes Claude's recent capabilities—specifically Claude's ability to train itself on skills, schedule automated tasks, and take actions across integrated apps like WordPress, Slack, and Google Drive. She explains that true AI agents represent a fundamental change: AI can now complete multi-step workflows without human intervention between steps, though humans remain responsible for oversight and decision-making.

Callan provides a detailed real-world example of managing a complex four-year Florida entitlement deal. She loaded all contracts, meeting transcripts, and documents into Claude Code, training it to function as a land-use attorney. During a call, when sellers raised a contract question, she consulted her AI instead of manually reviewing documents, receiving the answer in 15 seconds. She also uses Claude to generate high-impact questions she wouldn't have thought of independently, enabling her to gather critical information without holding all details in her own mind.

For land investors specifically, Callan recommends documenting expertise as AI skills. She uses the example of a Pahrump, Nevada real estate expert's knowledge about water rights. Rather than relying on that expert to train each team member repeatedly, their knowledge should be captured, extracted into Claude skills, and used to guide virtual assistants through processes step-by-step.

Seth shares his own implementation: a due diligence report system that generates satellite maps and analysis in minutes rather than an hour, built using concepts from Callan's teachings. He also describes deploying a sales AI assistant on Stride CRM's website that answers customer questions about product capabilities without requiring human support staff.

The conversation addresses concerns about over-reliance on AI. Callan emphasizes that while AI is excellent at aggregating data and presenting options, humans must retain critical thinking and decision-making authority. She describes shutting down her land business despite strong financial performance because her intuition signaled misalignment—a decision data wouldn't have supported but that proved correct.

Callan discusses workplace implications, explaining that employees shouldn't fear AI replacing them if they develop AI management skills. Her copywriter was repositioned from writing to training AI writers and analyzing strategy, advancing rather than eliminating his role. She emphasizes that her entire team must contribute automation ideas and achieve 50% task reduction through AI within 12 months as a performance requirement.

On scaling her business from land investing to AI education, Callan credits three factors: authentic passion for the subject matter (unlike her land investing motivation), hiring exceptional A-players at premium salaries (her leadership team justifies costs through exponential value creation), and obsessive customer success focus. She notes that most land investing programs teach only the transactional skill of investing, not how to build a hundred-million-dollar business, and recommends learning from high-level entrepreneurs.

The discussion touches on security and governance, with Callan recommending Claude (Anthropic) over ChatGPT due to superior data security practices. She advises against uploading sensitive data like Social Security numbers and notes that encryption key technology coming in 3-6 months will allow users to maintain sole data access even if subpoenaed.

Callan frames the AI shift as a spiritual awakening, arguing that as routine work becomes automated, human value concentrates in intuition, emotional intelligence, and nervous system regulation. She invests heavily in her own brain health and spiritual practice, positioning these as increasingly critical leadership competencies.