Episode 697 Using AI In Your Agency With Ryan Waterbury
Show Highlights
In this episode of The SDM Show, host Rob Cairns is joined by recurring co-host Ryan Waterbury (One Dog Solutions) to cut through the hype around “vibe coding” and explore how digital agencies are actually leveraging AI today. Rob and Ryan dive into real-world agency workflows, the economics of closed vs. open-weight AI models, hardware considerations for running local AI, and emerging concerns around data privacy and regulation.
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Show Notes
Episode Highlights
- Beyond Vibe Coding & Gimmicks: Why practical agency applications—like meeting summaries, audio transcription, document synthesis, and automated client workflows—far outweigh simple code generation or meme creation.
- Local AI & Hardware Specs: Ryan breaks down running models locally using Apple Silicon and Unified Memory versus dedicated GPU setups, balancing inference speeds and power efficiency.
- The Economics of AI: A look at the rising cost of proprietary subscription tiers (OpenAI, Anthropic) compared to rapidly improving open-weight and international models (such as Qwen and DeepSeek).
- Workflow Automation & Agent Tooling: How CLI tools, editor harnesses, and workspace integrations (Gemini in Google Workspace, Claude Cowork) are evolving from simple chat windows into multi-step agent workflows.
- Privacy & Emerging Regulations: Discussion on data custody, North American vs. EU regulatory approaches, and why agencies must carefully choose their AI stack based on client confidentiality and compliance needs.
- Teaser for Next Month: Rob and Ryan preview their upcoming dedicated session focusing specifically on developer workflows, IDE integrations, and AI coding tools.
Key Takeaways
- Focus on Real Productivity: Generative AI delivers the highest agency ROI when applied to administrative, synthesis, and research bottlenecks rather than just raw code generation.
- Standardize Your Stack: Hopping between every new model adds friction. Pick a reliable frontier or open-weight model, learn its nuances, and integrate it deeply into your standard operating procedures.
- Hardware & Local Deployment: Local LLMs have become viable for day-to-day agency work, providing privacy and predictable operating costs without expensive per-seat API subscriptions.
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