Symplicity Designs

We love getting messages like this one.

Michelle Ferris is the Executive Director of the Aberdeen Health Foundation. She almost didn't come to Matt's workshop. She wasn't sure she could commit a full day.

She came anyway. And what she described afterward wasn't new tools or tactics. It was a change in how she thinks about the processes inside her organization.

Most leaders don't need to learn more about AI. They need someone to show them what's relevant to their specific business and what to do first.

A reminder that our free one-hour AI session is this Thursday.

We're at capacity limits for the virtual room, so if you've been meaning to register and haven't yet, this week is it.

The session runs 4:15pm AT on May 21st. One hour, no cost, built specifically for business leaders who want to get clear on where to actually spend their time with AI right now.

Over 2300 people have been through our full-day version of this. The one thing they consistently say they wish they'd done sooner is figure out which part of their business to focus on first. That's what this hour is for.

Register here before spots fill: https://hubs.li/Q04fR4G20

A lot of business owners we work with aren't ignoring AI. They're just stuck.

They sit down with it, try a few things, don't get consistent results, and quietly go back to doing it the old way. Not because they don't see the value. Because they don't know which problem to point it at first.

We've been running AI workshops for business leaders since 2023. The feedback keeps landing in the same place. One participant from our April session said it well: "Strategy is about focusing on one priority, not trying to fix everything at once."

That's what changes things. Not finding more tools. Picking the right constraint in your business and going after that one first.

On May 21st we're running a one-hour version of this, virtual and free, starting at 4:15pm AT. If you've been meaning to get serious about where to actually focus with AI, this is a good place to start.

Link to register: https://hubs.li/Q04fR3Jd0

We've now run our AI in the Workplace sessions with close to 2300 business leaders across Atlantic Canada.

A few things people said after their sessions:

"The ROI of your time is infinite. Take it." — Samuel Reid

"This can and will make or break the growth of a SME business." — Matthew Johnson

"It will feel like drinking from a hose but lean in." — anonymous

"If you are overwhelmed with change and where we are going, this will give you tools to have control on your environment." — Madelaine Caissie

"Clear your schedule and go." — Amber Richards, who had already heard Matt speak twice before and still said that after round three.

The pattern we keep seeing: people come in skeptical or overwhelmed, leave with six pages of notes and a specific workflow they want to fix first.

On May 21st we're running a one-hour version. Virtual, free, 4:15pm AT. Same content condensed, same focus, built for business owners who want to get clear on where to actually spend their time with AI right now.

If you've been sitting on the fence about this, this is a low-risk way to find out if it's worth your time.
Save your spot: https://hubs.li/Q04fR50J0

Last week, our CEO Matt Symes stood in a room full of some of the most remarkable leaders Atlantic Canada has to offer and was named to Atlantic Business Magazine's Top 50 CEOs for the fifth consecutive year, earning him a place in the Hall of Fame.

Five times is the threshold. Matt hit it.

That room said something about this region. The talent, the grit, the quiet determination of leaders who keep building something worth building in Atlantic Canada. We don't take for granted what it means to be counted among them.

We're proud of Matt. But more than that, we're proud of what this recognition reflects: the clients who trusted us with their hardest problems, the team members who showed up every single day, and the community of leaders across this region who keep raising the bar for what's possible here.

What drives Matt hasn't changed since day one. Make the world a better place, one organization at a time. Every client engagement, every cohort, every conversation is in service of that.

Congratulations Matt. Thank you for leading our team by example, every single day.

A recent piece of feedback from our AI for sales program hit the nail on the head:

They said the most valuable change the program made to their business was “I have started asking more questions about our goals and assessing pain points”

That sounds simple. But for a lot of sales leaders, it actually isn't.

Most sales programs focus on CRM stages and outreach volume. What tends to get skipped is the harder work: slowing down enough to ask which accounts actually deserve more attention, what problems you're really solving, and what kind of customer you're trying to win more of.

Other people in the cohort said the program helped them take a closer look at their accounts, sharpen their focus, and spot where AI could actually close some of those gaps rather than just add more noise.

A lot of times, the thing that changes outcomes isn't a better tactic. It's asking a different question in the first place.

A lot of people come into AI training expecting one of two things:

Either: vague hype or something so technical it feels unusable.

That’s not how we run our AI days.

Here is what attendees actually said after a session:

⭐ “Very informative. Lots of information given, along with various scenarios to make it relevant.”

⭐ “Very impressed by the amount of information we received in an easy to digest way.”

⭐ “It gave me new ways to think about improving workflow efficiency and using AI more strategically in my daily tasks.”

⭐ “Exceeded my expectations.

This is what we care about.

Helping business leaders see where it actually fits: in onboarding, team meetings, coaching, key relationship management, content, research, and day-to-day decision making.

We've collected over 346 pieces of feedback from the last 3 months of AI full-day workshops we hosted across Atlantic Canada.

A common theme: You don't know what you don't know.

Thank you to all the business owners/leaders who have shown up and engaged.