CHICAGO, August 7, 2026 — Realizing the full power of AI can require some significant changes in a user’s business approach, according to Sam Newman, a pro at helping food companies harness the technology’s potential. Take scheduling, for instance.
“We can't think in three- to five-year mindsets,” said Newman, director of enterprise accounts—site lead for Tastewise, an AI services provider that specializes in the food-away-from-home business. “We have to think in [terms of] six weeks, maybe six months at most. We have to say, ‘What can I do in the next six weeks?’”
Similarly, he told attendees of the Go2MarketEdge conference in San Jose, California, don’t fixate on a traditional strategic roadmap. AI is advancing so fast that the plan could be upended at any moment. "The map is no longer up to date, but I still know where I want to go,” said Newman. “How can I actually get there?”
A more appropriate tool, metaphorically speaking, would be a compass, he continued. The development path may change, but the direction remains the same.
The North Star, Newman asserted, is the very specific goal you’re hoping to achieve.
“If you don’t know the business goal you’re trying to achieve, then you’ve got bigger problems,” he quipped. “Insight is no longer the deliverable.”
He urged attendees to set “very, very" specific, concrete objectives in plotting their use of AI: “What actually is attainable for me in the next six weeks?”
“Our tech business works in two-week sprints,” he said of Tastewise’s approach to developing solutions for clients. “For those of you who've been to a hackathon, you buy a bunch of pizza, get some beer and say, ‘What can I launch in the next 24 hours?’”
And, Newman advised, If your sense of direction should give out, making you wish for a detailed road map to your goal, remember the oft-quoted line from the classic Disney movie, “Finding Nemo.” As one fish said to another as they tried to track down the finned star of the movie without a map: “Just keep swimming.”