Click through<\/a>\u00a0to watch the full panel discussion!\n<\/p>\nDouglas feels the technology has the potential to allow us \u201cto be more human.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re going to be able to leverage AI to do things that free you and be more human, which could be great for your service as well and for the mission \u2026 I think the winners are those who can leverage the technology and be outstanding on the human side. And I think the losers are either ones who don\u2019t leverage the technology or leverage it if they\u2019re not outstanding on the human side because that\u2019s our differentiator moving forward,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
[T]he intent is to make [employees\u2019] lives easier so that they are utilizing their time to the best of their ability.
\u2013 Judy Sailer, director of learning & development, Primepoint<\/p>\n
Free to decide<\/p>\n
Participants also weighed in on the pros and cons of free AI-powered platforms, like Copilot and ChatGPT, versus customized ones that can require significant investment for small businesses.\n<\/p>\n
Wakiyama said, \u201cWith the free versions, the terms and conditions are very one-sided in favor of the providers of those tools. There\u2019s virtually little, if any, recourse against them. And if a company puts its confidential information into ChatGPT, Claude or some other publicly available tool, whatever rights it had in that information, for example, trade secret rights, are probably lost.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had clients call me to say, \u2018Hey, we had an employee do this. They put this information into this tool. What should we do now?\u2019 Well, there really isn\u2019t a way to fix that. You can\u2019t extract, remove or force one of the providers to extract and remove trade secret material that may have been uploaded,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, that\u2019s a significant risk with these publicly available tools.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get what you pay for. There\u2019s no such thing as a free lunch. Free versions can be helpful but proceed with caution and use them in only appropriate ways. Now what\u2019s appropriate? That should be dictated by your policy. Every organization should have a policy, and it should set forth which tools are proof for use, under what circumstances and for which use cases, whether it\u2019s private or public,\u201d he explained.
\n![\"Artificial](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\")
The panelists said companies are experimenting with AI for summarizing lengthy documents, developing spreadsheets, giving a first look at job applications, conducting recruitment, completing background checks, handling social media accounts and better targeting marketing demographics. \u2013 DEPOSIT PHOTOS\n<\/p>\n
Wakiyama noted that the regulatory landscape regarding AI remains uncertain and expects it is \u201cgoing to be that way for a while until we have a Congress that decides it wants to focus on this.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s just going to continue to be a patchwork quilt of laws, statutes, regulations, industry specific regulations and case law. So then of course, contracts are really important. A lot of what a company can do to protect itself from legal risks can be addressed through effective contracting with the service providers \u2026 and with the parties that are providing the data,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
The next step<\/p>\n
With respect to developing a framework for AI use within a company, panelists said multiple stakeholders, such as legal, human resources, finance, marketing, sales, R&D and IT, should be involved in the process.\n<\/p>\n
Wakiyama said, \u201cThink about the main areas of the business that should be represented and have a voice in governance. A smaller organization may not have all those departments. It may be a smaller number of people that sit on the governance committee and that implement a charter or guiding set of principles for governance \u2026 but, I think it\u2019s important to have a legal voice in governance, whether it\u2019s an in-house attorney or an outside lawyer who\u2019s providing advice. Because all these decisions that a governance committee makes may have some legal implications.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Stout emphasized the importance of including the voice of \u201ca champion or a professional from the actual workforce that is doing the operations\u201d as a way to bring \u201cperspective as to what it [AI] can be used or what people are actually using it for.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
I think this is the biggest business revolution we\u2019ve ever seen \u2026 if we use AI to do all those redundant tasks, then the humans can focus more on the bigger scope of work.
\u2013 Eleanor Kubacki, founder, president and CEO, EFK Group<\/p>\n
Kubacki said, \u201cI think this is the biggest business revolution we\u2019ve ever seen \u2026 right now, at just the lowest implementation \u2013 and this is Microsoft\u2019s stats \u2013 we\u2019re seeing a 25% faster work coming out of staff, 40% higher quality of work and 64% better innovation. And that\u2019s because if we use AI to do all those redundant tasks, then the humans can focus more on the bigger scope of work.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Her firm invested in a customized platform to house everything from its knowledge to workflows to financials to performance.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cProductivity just at our agency alone has definitely been around 20%, 22% more efficient,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re doing is taking that more time per employee is rethinking how we use it. And for us in the creative field, we\u2019re going to be able to do more video, more content and more social. We\u2019re going to be able to do things at a bigger, more substantial level for our clients. So for us, the increase in productivity and the increase in having more time to do better, more thorough work is a winning combination. That\u2019s how we will predict success.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Pricetags<\/p>\n
According to Kubacki, a basic, off-the-shelf AI integration can typically be implemented in two to six weeks and costs about $5,000 to $30,000 annually.\n<\/p>\n
More customizable AI platforms generally take two to four months to deploy and cost $15,000 to $75,000 per year, while fully customized AI systems can require nine to 12 months to build and cost $75,000 to $200,000 or more for initial setup and first-year development, according to Kubacki.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you\u2019re building or deciding which pathway, realize you always have to be looking in the back to make sure that other and newer technology isn\u2019t catching up,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n
Kubacki shared, \u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of opportunity and I think this is just the beginning \u2026 If we embrace it and we do it ethically and we really work together to make sure that there are ethical guidelines and that our government protects all of our businesses, I think we\u2019re going to be okay. But at this point, I just look at it as the wild, wild west. It\u2019s fun, it\u2019s different, and there is a lot of success to me out there.\u201d
\nCosts for AI integration can run from $5,000 annually for off-the-shelf technology to $75,000 to $200,000 or more for initial setup and first-year development for fully customized AI systems, according to panelist Eleanor Kubacki, founder, president and CEO, EFK Group. \u00a0 DEPOSIT PHOTOS\n<\/p>\n
Douglas compared AI adoption to the shift to cloud computing. While many initially expected both technologies to significantly reduce costs, cloud computing ultimately proved valuable not because it was cheaper, but because it freed organizations to focus resources on higher-value work. He believes AI will follow a similar path. Rather than dramatically cutting labor costs, it may help businesses work differently and more efficiently, even as AI tools become more expensive over time, Douglas feels.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re kind of speaking in terms of how far can we push the boundaries of the triangle of speed, quality and cost. Does AI now for the first time enable us to have all three things at the same time?\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
[H]ow far can we push the boundaries of the triangle of speed, quality and cost. Does AI now for the first time enable us to have all three things at the same time?
\u2013 Paul Douglas, partner, Eisner Advisory Group LLC<\/p>\n
Stout added, \u201cTo me, the efficiency is what gets business leaders interested. But without a quality outcome that it\u2019s for all for nothing \u2014 you might be faster at doing the same thing badly. If it introduces unreliable work, then it\u2019s not something that any efficiency is worth sacrificing.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
If [AI] introduces unreliable work, then it\u2019s not something that any efficiency is worth sacrificing.
\u2013 Christopher Stout, partner, Rosenberg Rich Baker Berman PA in Somerset<\/p>\n
Mind the machines<\/p>\n
Participants also highlighted cybersecurity issues that companies should be aware of as they implement more AI usage into operations.\n<\/p>\n
Wakiyama said, \u201cI think it\u2019s only going to get worse because we know the bad actors are leveraging AI to their benefit right now. And it\u2019s becoming more difficult to harden systems effectively because AI it\u2019s like any tool and it can be weaponized. And it\u2019s being weaponized with deepfakes and phishing \u2026 And I get calls from clients after these incidents happen. So, we\u2019re helping with incident response.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cCompanies that are investing in AI and adopting AI need to be, at the same time, giving appropriate attention to their cybersecurity posture internally with their experts and planning for those data incidents that will occur,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
Companies that are investing in AI and adopting AI need to be \u2026 giving appropriate attention to their cybersecurity posture internally \u2026
\u2013 Peter Wakiyama, AI, privacy and cybersecurity lead, Flaster Greenberg PC<\/p>\n
Panelists also said employee training is a critical part of AI adoption because many cybersecurity and operational issues stem from human error rather than sophisticated attacks. They emphasized that businesses should pair AI policies and governance frameworks with ongoing employee education to help prevent mistakes and misuse.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cMake sure your managers know how AI works in that organization, where AI is used and where it is not,\u201d Sailer said. \u201cValidate AI outputs and coach your staff. If we\u2019re not on top of our staff and we\u2019re not giving them the latest and greatest of what is actually going on in our building, there will be consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The basics: Experts urged businesses to develop AI strategies before adopting tools Panelists highlighted cybersecurity, legal and data…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,3741,25,4032,35850,313,545,66809,66810,66811,223,66812,66813,66814,2435],"class_list":["post-134559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-ai-strategy","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-business-leadership","tag-business-technology","tag-cybersecurity","tag-digital-transformation","tag-efk-group","tag-eisner-advisory-group-llc","tag-flaster-greenberg","tag-generative-ai","tag-njbiz-panel-discussion","tag-primepoint","tag-rosenberg-rich-baker-berman-pa","tag-workforce-development"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"NJBIZ](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AI-panel-July-2026_web.jpg\"\/)
Clockwise from top left: Moderated by BridgeTower Media Content Lead Ben Jacobs, the July 29 NJBIZ Artificial Intelligence Panel Discussion included panelists Judy Sailer, director of learning and development, Primepoint; Paul Douglas, partner, Eisner Advisory Group LLC; Peter Wakiyama, IP & technology shareholder, AI, privacy & cybersecurity practice lead, Flaster Greenberg PC; Christopher Stout, partner, Rosenberg Rich Baker Berman PA; and Eleanor Kubacki, founder, president and CEO, EFK Group. \u2013 NJBIZ\n<\/p>\n![\"Artificial](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Generative-AI-stock-art.jpg\"\/)
The panelists said companies are experimenting with AI for summarizing lengthy documents, developing spreadsheets, giving a first look at job applications, conducting recruitment, completing background checks, handling social media accounts and better targeting marketing demographics. \u2013 DEPOSIT PHOTOS\n<\/p>\n![\"AI](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AI-stock-image.jpg\"\/)
Costs for AI integration can run from $5,000 annually for off-the-shelf technology to $75,000 to $200,000 or more for initial setup and first-year development for fully customized AI systems, according to panelist Eleanor Kubacki, founder, president and CEO, EFK Group. \u00a0 DEPOSIT PHOTOS\n<\/p>\n