Q: What's one piece of software advice every business owner should hear?

A: Stop thinking about software as an expense and start thinking about it as an investment in how your business operates.

If your employees are dealing with confusing workflows, inconsistent data, or a process that requires five workarounds just to get through the day, adding AI probably won't solve the underlying problem.

Running an unsupported SQL Server creates security risks, limits your support options, and can make future upgrades more complicated. The good news? With a little planning, you can get ahead of the problem before it becomes an emergency.

You can have the best developers in the world, the latest technology, and a generous budget. But if nobody is communicating, your software project can still go off the rails.

You're not just choosing someone to write code. You're choosing a partner who may have access to your business data, influence how your employees work, and become responsible for technology your business depends on every day.

Eventually, every SQL Server version reaches the end of its support lifecycle. And when that happens, the risks of staying put start to outweigh the convenience of doing nothing.

Your business data isn't just a pile of information. It may contain customer records, financial information, employee data, proprietary processes, and other information you have a responsibility to protect.

The tricky part is that if you're not a developer yourself, it can be difficult to evaluate the work.

Every software vendor seems to have an AI feature. Every business is being told it needs an AI strategy. And if you listen to enough marketing departments, it can sound like AI is the answer to just about every business problem.

It’s 2026. Businesses are being encouraged to adopt AI, add AI features, and develop an AI strategy. But before investing time and money into any new technology, there's a more important question to answer:

The same technology that can help businesses improve their cybersecurity can also give attackers new tools.

The key is understanding where AI can add value—and where traditional software is still the better tool.

If I were giving advice to someone just starting their career, here's what I'd tell them.

When people hear the word automation, they often worry about one thing: "Will this replace someone's job?"

No one wakes up one morning and discovers their database has suddenly become slow.

When people think about custom software, they often think about features: dashboards, reports, mobile apps, integrations, automation.

Every business has workarounds. At first, they seem harmless: “Just export it to Excel first.” “You have to refresh it twice.” “Only Sam knows how that part works.” Over time, these little adjustments become normal. That’s the problem.

If you’ve ever worked with a good software developer, you’ve probably noticed something: They ask a lot of questions.

No employee should be a single point of failure. Strong businesses build systems and processes that can survive turnover, growth, and change.

For a long time, technology decisions were treated as “IT problems.” Today, that’s no longer true.