Perspectives

Writing & Speaking

What building inside heavily regulated industries taught me about software, and where AI takes it next. Strong opinions, all of them earned the hard way.

The Essays
  • Built in a Morning

    I built my own booking app this morning, and I'm so excited about it!

  • AI Fatigue Is Real

    Keeping up with AI has become its own full-time job. Two things are keeping me in the race without burning out.

  • Ready Is a Moving Target

    Government tech taught me how to manage risk. A 5-year sprint to an IPO taught me how to actually ship.

  • The Best Time to Build Is Right Now

    AI can write the code. It can't tell you what's worth building.

  • The End of One-Size-Fits-All

    AI has broken the economics that made businesses bend to their software. The companies that notice first will pull ahead.

Recent Appearance
August 5, 2026 · Columbia, Missouri

AI Business Breakfast #9

Guest speaker. Real questions, practical AI, real results: the room brought its worst recurring tasks and we built fixes on the spot.

Me speaking at AI Business Breakfast #9, explaining a diagram of an AI chief of staff routing work across Gmail, Calendar and Messages, to a seated audience at the REDI Office in Columbia, Missouri.
Working through what an AI chief of staff actually is, and the one rule that makes it safe.
WhenAugust 5, 2026Delivered
WhereREDI Office500 E Walnut, Suite 103, Columbia, Missouri
FormatOne hourTalk, live demo, and build clinic
  • I built an AI chief of staff (you can too)A one-page brief that knows your calendar, your inbox, and your open loops. It triages messages, preps the day, drafts documents, and keeps track of what actually matters.
  • Three builds you can make this weekOne running live, then three no-code builds to start immediately, with the prompts and a 30-day plan to go with them.
  • Bring your worst taskThe recurring task each attendee hated most, fixed on the spot.
Get the 30-Day Plan → The handout from this talk. No code, about twenty minutes to set up.
Read the host's recap of the session → Tell me what you're building → Join the class waitlist →
Speaking

I speak from the builder's side of the table: what actually happened, what it cost, and what held up once real people used it. Current topics:

  • Building a channel from nothingTaking a relationship-driven business online for the first time, and making the channel stick.
  • AI in traditional industriesImage recognition, predicting breakdowns, and the difference between a demo and a system that actually runs the business.
  • The end of one-size-fits-all softwareWhy software built for one business is suddenly affordable, and what companies should do about it.
  • Lean before codeFixing the process before you automate it.

For podcast and panel invitations, write to hello@shannonowens.com. Topics, formats and how to book a talk →

Coming Next

The $100M Search ResultUpcoming

Launch, Watch, Fix: Letting the Sticking Points Draw the RoadmapUpcoming

Work With Me →