Why Speed Beats Complexity in 2026

Juliana Yorio

Alright, Simon, let’s just jump straight in—because that’s basically the point of today’s episode, right? Speed. Like, we’re living in a world now where if you don’t reply to a prospect almost instantly, you might as well not exist. People’s expectations around response times are... honestly, they’re wild compared to even three years ago.

Simon Carver

Yeah, it feels a little bit like the old pizza ad—“thirty minutes or it’s free,” except now it’s “thirty seconds or good luck.” I mean, when the competition is automating first responses with AI tools in, what, under twenty seconds sometimes?

Juliana Yorio

Exactly. I was working with this real estate group—big team, very old-school. They had great agents, super sharp, but their whole follow-up system was emails that might take a couple hours, sometimes longer. We helped them switch so the second a lead came in, AI shot out an SMS in under twenty seconds. Their deal flow jumped by, I kid you not, thirty percent. Just that one shift.

Simon Carver

That’s such a huge lift for basically... changing nothing except the speed of that first touch. It’s kind of hilarious—there’s nothing fancy about an automated text, right? But it’s what everyone actually wants: immediate acknowledgment that, “Hey, we see you, we’re on it.”

Juliana Yorio

It’s almost always about speed over sparkle. And it’s not just new leads—a lot of businesses are sticking to old tools without realizing the churn it’s causing. We had one Prosprus client—this moment really stuck with me—she was convinced her churn problem was “bad fit” customers. We ditched her emails for instant voice callbacks, and her churn just... got cut in half. It wasn’t the customer, it was them waiting, getting cold feet, or going with someone faster.

Simon Carver

That’s so true. It reminds me of something you said in the last episode. Like, fix the bottleneck, not the—what was it, not the surface, but like, nudge the thing that’s actually slowing everything down, not just throw tech at the problem hoping it’ll go away.

Juliana Yorio

Right, and that leads right into this next big trap I keep seeing everywhere: overengineering.

Juliana Yorio

Let’s talk about the mess people get themselves into with these big, complicated setups. It always starts with the best intentions—someone gets excited about “AI everything,” so they bolt on chatbots, decision trees, sixteen integrations, and suddenly no one on the team even knows what’s happening anymore.

Simon Carver

Oh yeah, it’s like the software version of—uh—putting twelve remote controls on your coffee table. I actually know this guy who runs a little e-commerce shop, and he went big with a super advanced chatbot system. Looked amazing in the demo, but then, in practice, customers couldn’t get a simple answer. Meanwhile, his competitor just fired off a plain SMS—“Hey, you forgot something in your cart”—and their conversions went up. His? They tanked. All this tech and less business.

Juliana Yorio

That’s the story, over and over. I did a founder roundtable last month and someone said, “The more layers you add, the more ways you give yourself to miss a sale.” I think that sums it up. Every hand-off, every extra step, is a spot to lose a lead, not win one.

Simon Carver

And teams end up spending half their time troubleshooting the tools, not talking to actual customers. It’s such a momentum killer. I guess it’s tempting—everyone wants that “next-gen” badge, but, uh, if you can’t follow up quickly, it’s just extra weight.

Juliana Yorio

Yeah, and it’s so easy to fall into that “maybe if we just add this one more smart tool” mindset. But really, it’s speed and simplicity that close deals—not some overengineered Rube Goldberg machine. That’s probably the one thing I wish more founders would actually internalize, because so much money falls through the cracks when you’re chasing complexity instead of execution.

Simon Carver

Let’s dig into where, like, the real wins are showing up—because when speed and simple AI collide, the results are honestly incredible.

Simon Carver

We’ve talked real estate, e-com, but let’s highlight a few other spots—like legal, healthcare, auto dealers—where that “immediate touch” actually lands more business, not just “feels” better.

Juliana Yorio

Totally. Legal firms, for example, are seeing big lifts from voice AI follow-ups—just a quick, “Thanks for reaching out, we’ll call you within the hour” kind of thing. Healthcare is doing the same with appointment reminders. But the biggest jumps I’ve seen lately? Automotive. We worked with a dealership that swapped their usual email-only follow-ups for automated AI voice calls. Their appointment rate jumped by forty percent. That’s—well, I was almost skeptical, honestly. But the numbers don’t lie.

Simon Carver

That’s wild. Forty percent! Just by making sure someone hears from you instantly, not in, like, twelve hours after they already walked onto five other lots. And it’s, again, simple, right? Not fifteen touchpoints—just the right one, right on time.

Juliana Yorio

Exactly. And you know, we had a Prosprus client—a mid-size service company—who gave up this sorta monstrous CRM, with all these dashboards they never used, for a streamlined AI+SMS thing. Their ops efficiency basically doubled in two quarters. It’s not “more AI” that makes you win. It’s using just enough tech to move really, really fast.

Simon Carver

I think that’s my main takeaway, honestly. Don’t be hypnotized by the shiniest tools—pick the ones that get you from point A to point B the fastest. Speed is the unlock; complexity is the sinkhole.

Juliana Yorio

Exactly. And that’s what we want for everyone listening—keep asking yourself, “How do I make my business faster, not just flashier?” Alright, Simon, good talk. This was fun.

Simon Carver

As always, Juliana. Great insights. Can’t wait for the next one. See you soon.

Juliana Yorio

Thanks Simon, thanks everyone for tuning in. We’ll be back with more real-world AI wins—no hype, just what actually works. Take care!