I recently had the privilege of attending ADIPEC 2024, and it was an exceptional experience in every way. Both our booth and the talks I delivered resonated strongly with the audience. This kind of industry exposure couldn’t have come at a better time, coinciding with the launch of our AI Advisor. There’s truly nothing better than engaging face-to-face with your market. Sharing space with some of the biggest names in our field was equally rewarding; it felt empowering to stand alongside them as equals, despite being a smaller company. Overall, our participation was undoubtedly a significant step forward.

The major buzzword, unsurprisingly, was AI. Witnessing the excitement surrounding this topic took me back to how our journey with AI began—how we started, the challenges we faced, and where we’ve ended up today.

As many of you may recall, AI and tools like ChatGPT were becoming global phenomena. Customers began asking if we “had AI” or whether we “used AI.” True to form, we listened carefully—listening to customers, after all, has always been one of our greatest strengths.

Our journey began with a hackathon, which served as a valuable starting point and got the ball rolling. However, we quickly realized that we needed a solution more closely aligned with real-world market needs. That’s when I decided to revisit our time-tested approach of working from first principles: identify the problem, break it down to its roots by asking “why” repeatedly, and then design a solution using the most effective tools available—in this case, AI and machine learning.  

This first-principles approach has guided us from the very beginning, from Wrench-Collab for manufacturing and Wrench-Enterprise for EPC to Wrench-SmartProject and its many variants. Even outside our core business—whether it’s my lake house project, hydroponic farming, or rainwater harvesting—we’ve always focused on solving tangible problems. All our innovations stem from original ideas, not adaptations of existing products. Of course, there were times when we realized similar solutions had been developed independently or even made it to market before ours. That’s inevitable in a fast-paced world. But it never deterred us.

The key is to focus on what you do, do it well, and keep at it. Consistency and perseverance are, in my opinion, the secrets to innovation.

With the AI Advisor, we started by thoroughly studying customer needs and real-world challenges. This understanding became the foundation for developing an AI-powered solution, and once we had clarity, the rest of the process naturally fell into place.

To those of you who are excited about AI but unsure of where to begin, I recommend the first-principles approach. Start by identifying a problem, fully understand its nuances, and then consider how AI can help solve it. Avoid starting with “How can I use this exciting new tool called AI?” Instead, allow the problem to guide your creativity and exploration of potential solutions.

And most importantly, don’t fear failure. As Elon Musk aptly said, “Failure is an option here; if things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.”