Latest / Small Biz Florida / Ep 422 | Hidden Costs, Smarter Savings: Putting AI to Work with Bill Kurtzner

Transcript

Ep 422 | Hidden Costs, Smarter Savings: Putting AI to Work with Bill Kurtzner · Small Biz Florida

• 0:00
  Welcome to Small Biz Florida, your go-to podcast for all things small business in the Sunshine State.
• 0:08
  This podcast is sponsored by Florida First Capital, your trusted partner for financing and support.
• 0:13
  Here, you'll discover the latest news, trends, and invaluable resources to help you grow and succeed.
• 0:19
  From startup strategies to scaling your business, we've got you covered.
• 0:23
  Join us as we explore the vibrant Florida small business ecosystem
• 0:27
  and connect you with the experts who can make a real difference.
• 0:31
  And now, please welcome your host, Tom Kindred,
• 0:34
  Regional Director of the Small Business Development Center at Indian River State College.
• 0:39
  This is Small Biz Florida, the podcast and broadcast that's all things business across the state of Florida.
• 0:46
  And if you've been tuning in lately, you know, Small Biz Florida is on the road again.
• 0:50
  We are attending, working, covering the 2026 Small Business Success Summit.
• 0:57
  All taking place here at the Sunseeker Resort in Charlotte Harbor, Florida.
• 1:01
  This whole event is brought to everyone by the Florida SBDC Network.
• 1:08
  The event is designed and deployed to bring small business owners, entrepreneurs together for training, workshops, breakout, keynote speakers.
• 1:19
  So it's been an incredible couple of days of gathering of small business owners and operators and entrepreneurs.
• 1:26
  The lobby is full of vendors, exhibitors who are bringing their products, tools, resources to assist and support small business owners.
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  So incredible gathering here in Charlotte Harbor, Florida.
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  We have one of those incredible resources.
• 1:45
  Very interesting.
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  I'm excited about this conversation.
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  We've got with us Bill Kurtzner, who is the co-founder and CEO of CostSavings.ai.
• 1:58
  Bill, welcome to Small Biz Florida.
• 2:00
  Tom, thanks so much.
• 2:02
  Absolutely.
• 2:02
  Pleasure to be here.
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  We had a little conversation a day or so ago about your organization, your technology.
• 2:11
  And you're one of those folks that I love to ask, where were you when I was in business, Bill?
• 2:19
  I love what you do.
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  So, but let's start as we always do, Bill.
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  A little bit of background, pathway to your current role as CEO of CostSavings.ai.
• 2:31
  Sure.
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  So, Tom, for the last 15 years, I've been managing partner and CEO at Util Auditors, which is a cost containment consulting firm.
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  During that time, we consulted some of the largest companies in the country, including into the Forbes and Fortune Top 20, on the identification of errors and inefficiencies, overbilling on utilities and other contracted services, basically a variety of operational spend.
• 2:57
  What we realized was, unfortunately, the contingent fee-based nature of what we do disallowed us to help the majority of SMBs, the companies that are getting nickel and dimed to death, that can really use the help.
• 3:10
  And so, we developed patented AI that we're deploying at CostSavings.com and CostSavings.ai to do exactly that, to help SMBs in the same way that we've helped enterprise-level companies over the last 15 years.
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  And let's just make sure everybody knows what an SMB is.
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  A small-medium business.
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  There you go.
• 3:27
  Okay.
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  So, I like this.
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  So, you worked with an organization that helped the big firms.
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  You guys saw the opportunity to help smaller organizations bring this very valuable resource technology to smaller businesses.
• 3:44
  Yeah, absolutely.
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  Just like larger businesses with many locations, single location operations can still get overcharged for things like waste removal, telecommunications, energy, a variety of operational spending.
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  And it happens for a number of different reasons.
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  And so, typically, what we would do as consultants is look through invoices, look through underlying contracts.
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  It gets pretty granular.
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  Regulatory guidelines, statutes, programs, benefits, incentives.
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  Identify things that companies aren't taking advantage of or they're not aware of and bring them to their attention.
• 4:18
  So, what we've done is we've trained a Genic AI, which we did obtain a patent for in January of 2024, to do exactly that and provide business owners with insight on where they may be overpaying for the things that they purchase.
• 4:32
  Wow.
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  Unbelievable.
• 4:35
  Talk to me about typical engagement.
• 4:39
  So, small business owner contacts you.
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  What does that engagement look like?
• 4:42
  Yeah.
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  So, what we've done is we've made the platform free to trial.
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  So, you're able to come in if you're a small business.
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  Even larger companies can sign up for free and assess what the potential and value is and what it is that we've built.
• 4:58
  So, the first thing that we did, there's kind of three components of enterprise-level solutions that we've kind of downgraded or downscaled using the technology.
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  The first is a cost savings GPO.
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  So, through the GPO, they're going to have access to purchase supplies, things like office supplies and other things, at a drastically discounted rate, which would typically be available to companies with large aggregate purchasing power.
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  And because of the level of effort it takes for a GPO to sign a small business, it's typically, unfortunately, not available to the smaller businesses.
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  We've integrated our platform with 40 different ERP and accounting systems.
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  Everything from QuickBooks, which many SMBs utilize, to Microsoft Dynamics, SAP Concur, Acumatica, Sage, Oracle, et cetera, all of the majors.
• 5:49
  And then we integrate with over three dozen vendors directly from Amazon Business Services and Office Depot to Staples and many more.
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  So, they can come in and they can connect those accounts.
• 6:00
  The technology will assess for them in a matter of minutes what the available savings is and give them a line item by line item breakdown every product that they purchase to show them exactly how much they can save on that purchasing.
• 6:13
  And a potential client can just do that on their own.
• 6:18
  They can go in and begin to leverage and use your technology.
• 6:22
  Yes, sir.
• 6:23
  There's no cost to use that feature and function at all.
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  Our AI is cost pilot AI.
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  So, for things that they may not find in a GPO, like an electricity invoice, a waste removal invoice, telecommunications invoice, they can upload one of those into the AI.
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  We give them three per month on the free version so they can go in and upload a couple and see what the feedback is.
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  And it'll tell them how and where there may be opportunity.
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  But instead of them having to understand what the AI is saying, it'll draft an email for them automatically that they can send to their vendor or supplier pointing out the things that the AI identified.
• 7:02
  So, your business model is membership.
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  A small business joins as a member.
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  It is a member.
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  And they get so many services per month.
• 7:13
  Correct.
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  So, the third component that we've downscaled is a corporate discount platform that we make available to all the businesses' employees.
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  So, the savings extend beyond the business to the employee level.
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  As a retention tool, unfortunately, large corporates have buying power so they can offer these types of discount platforms to their corporate employees.
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  Most SMBs just simply don't have the ability to do that.
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  So, we make that available to businesses of all sizes.
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  The original trial version, I'm sorry, gives you up to 10 employees that you can invite.
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  The next version up is $99 a month.
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  So, it's very affordable.
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  Up to 100 employees.
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  And then we have enterprise pricing beyond that.
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  I'm assuming, obviously, with technology, you're able to gather some data, some research, some analytics.
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  Have you seen some sort of trend?
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  Is there a number out there that you could talk about?
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  The average savings that you're seeing across a small business?
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  Have you got enough data to kind of talk about those numbers?
• 8:20
  Sure.
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  I can generally talk about wholesale pricing that we have access to through our GPO versus what most SMBs will be paying at discounted retail.
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  So, for example, if a company is spending, let's say, even just $5,000 a year at Staples for their regular operating and office supplies and those sort of things, on average, we're going to save them 15% to 30% on those same exact products and purchases.
• 8:43
  Wow.
• 8:44
  Yeah.
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  The challenge for GPOs is that their margin is typically 2%.
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  So, on $5,000 in annual spend, you're talking about $100 a year.
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  It's diminishing returns.
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  It just doesn't make sense.
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  Right.
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  So, the only way to offer that same discount to small businesses is to automate that process.
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  And that's what we've done.
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  Nice.
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  How does one begin the process?
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  Just go to the website?
• 9:10
  That's it.
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  Go to the website.
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  Click on sign up at cost savings dot com.
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  And they'll walk you right through the process of provisioning your account initially.
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  You can select the zero cost plan.
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  Go in.
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  Assess and see what the value looks like.
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  Put in a complicated bill or put in a contract into our AI and see the feedback that you get.
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  It'll help you on things like future contract renewals to help negotiate better pricing in the future.
• 9:36
  Wow.
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  It'll provide all sorts of insight on the billing itself.
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  So, it's not just the expense side.
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  It's also revenue side.
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  It will also take a look at your pricing, your business pricing.
• 9:49
  Yeah.
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  So, it'll look at your contracted pricing for services.
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  And then it'll benchmark that pricing based on what you previously negotiated.
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  So, if you didn't work out a great deal, it'll tell you that.
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  And it'll tell you how to better position yourself so that your pricing is more in line with what the market dictates for like-type businesses.
• 10:07
  Does it also reach out into the stratosphere and kind of look at, to your point, benchmarking looks at the industry that you're engaged in and kind of looks at benchmarks?
• 10:19
  Yeah.
• 10:19
  So, it takes into consideration both publicly available data, like your geographic location, for example, and particularly things that may apply to your operations.
• 10:30
  As an example, if you're a new manufacturer of products in the state of New York or in the state of Florida, manufacturers can be considered sales tax exempt.
• 10:40
  And that includes things like electricity.
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  So, it'll look at your location on your billing invoice, identify you're in Florida, look up your business operation, realize you're in manufacturing, and make a recommendation that you get yourself exempt for that.
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  That'll let you see.
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  So, you have a gazillion users already.
• 10:54
  Not quite.
• 10:56
  We're getting there.
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  Hopefully, we'll partner here with the SBDC to get this in front of all the SMBs that you serve.
• 11:02
  Wow.
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  I mean, what's the downside for a small business owner?
• 11:06
  There really isn't one.
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  And I think the most fascinating part about it, Tom, is everybody knows that they need to be using AI in some capacity.
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  They're not sure where to start.
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  Unlike AIs that deliver or promise soft cost savings, like taking over your marketing tasks or sales development, we're delivering measurable, finite, hard cost savings for the business.
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  It's a good place to start.
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  And the best part is it's fully productized, which I think is what really needs to happen right now with AI.
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  You ask a GPT or cloud for some information.
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  It comes back in chatbot form, which is not necessarily easily digestible or useful.
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  But when it's all put into a dashboard, which is something familiar, when it's got real calls to action telling you what to do next, that's what's useful and helpful for businesses.
• 11:55
  Absolutely.
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  How does someone find you and find cost savings?
• 12:01
  I guess it's cost savings dot com.
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  Yeah.
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  Cost savings dot com or cost savings dot AI.
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  We operate both.
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  They point to the same place.
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  But I can be reached personally.
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  Bill at cost savings dot com.
• 12:14
  Our agentic AI's name is dollar bill.
• 12:18
  Is that the name?
• 12:19
  Yep.
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  And so I can be reached at bill at cost savings dot com and you can find us at cost savings dot com.
• 12:25
  OK.
• 12:26
  Where are you actually located?
• 12:27
  Clearwater, Florida.
• 12:29
  Wow.
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  OK, so you're right here.
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  Right here.
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  Yeah.
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  Not not too far.
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  About an hour and a half north.
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  Yeah, that's it.
• 12:34
  Bill, that really is pretty incredible.
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  And I think you make a great point.
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  I mean, this this is a very tangible way to use AI instead of just using it to write your, you know, your next radio spot.
• 12:53
  Right.
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  You're actually using it to make some some serious, valuable, important business decisions.
• 13:00
  Yeah.
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  It's easy when you can realize the savings to understand, OK, this is something that I should pay for.
• 13:07
  The value exceeds the cost.
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  And that's that's an easy decision to make as a business owner.
• 13:12
  All right.
• 13:13
  Very nice.
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  It is Bill Kurtzner, who serves as the co-founder and CEO of cost savings dot AI or cost savings dot com.
• 13:23
  Bill, thank you for your time.
• 13:25
  Thank you for sharing this information.
• 13:27
  This is what our little podcast platform is all about, is trying to make sure that we are helping create awareness and highlight tools and resources like yours to help small business owners.
• 13:39
  Absolutely.
• 13:40
  Love it.
• 13:40
  Thank you so much, Tom.
• 13:41
  Thank you.
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  Really appreciate it, sir.
• 13:42
  Yep.
• 13:43
  This is Small Biz Florida.
• 13:47
  This is the 2026 Small Business Success Summit, all taking place at the Sunseeker Resort in Charlotte Harbor.
• 13:54
  The conversation, the discussion, the workshops, the trainings are all about small business and entrepreneurship.
• 14:00
  Stay tuned.
• 14:02
  A whole lot more to come from Charlotte Harbor.
• 14:04
  This is Small Biz Florida.
• 14:06
  That's all for this episode of Small Biz Florida.
• 14:09
  We hope you found valuable insights and inspiration to fuel your entrepreneurial journey.
• 14:14
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• 14:21
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• 14:22
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• 14:24
  So follow us for exclusive content and connect with fellow Florida small business owners.
• 14:29
  And for even more resources and support, visit our website at floridasbdc.org forward slash podcast.
• 14:37
  That's floridasbdc.org forward slash podcast.
• 14:41
  Until then, keep innovating and keep growing.
• 14:44
  Thanks for listening.
• 14:45
  We'll see you next time.