#166: How Practical SaaS Founders Can Compete in the AI Economy - Vincent Serpico
Practical Founders Podcast
How Developers Should Approach AI Adoption
Greg asks how to address skeptical devs; Vincent stresses prompt and context engineering and managerial responsibility to get results.
Vincent Serpico, veteran CTO and founder of Founders Workshop, is on the front lines of the AI revolution in 2025, reshaping software development and business operations. With more than 30 years of experience building software apps, Vincent is now dedicating himself full-time to AI coaching and workshops for teams and companies to create high-leverage impact quickly.
Vincent shares how practical SaaS founders are leveraging agents, vibe coding, and tools like OpenAI's Agent Kit to multiply output without adding headcount. He sees the shift from SEO to GEO, the rise of ChatGPT apps, and why domain expertise is the ultimate competitive moat for SaaS founders navigating this new economy.
Now leading Serpico.ai, Vincent describes how entire applications can be built without writing code, using natural language and iterative management. He stresses that daily AI use, human-in-the-loop workflows, and focusing on domain-driven innovation will give practical founders the edge in this seismic shift.
Key Takeaways
- Agents As Labor – AI agents perform multi-step workflows like employees, delivering productivity gains with human-in-the-loop oversight.
- Domain Expertise Moat – Deep customer and industry knowledge matters more than raw coding speed in the AI economy.
- Vibe Coding Skills – Non-coders can now build apps with natural language prompts, managing AI like junior employees.
- Practical AI Adoption – Founders should start with small use cases, building workflows before tackling complex projects.
- Great Arbitrage Period – Founders who embrace AI now gain massive leverage over competitors who resist change.
This Interview Is Perfect For
- SaaS founders ready to apply AI beyond experiments
- Product leaders exploring AI-driven workflows
- Developers curious about vibe coding and agentic design
- Founders building lean, AI-powered teams
Quote from Vincent Serpico, founder of Serpico.ai
"If you're not an expert in something, AI will probably make you two to three times better than you currently are. But if you are an expert in something, AI will make you 10x better.
"If you're already a domain expert, using AI will make you 10x better. Those are the ones that you should be hiring and paying outpaced salaries to, and build your tiny team—domain experts who are great at AI.
"If I want to use AI in real estate, I could do it, but a guy who's been a real estate agent for 30 years will do much better if he understands AI skills like how to prompt and context engineer.
"So we'll see hiring domain experts and paying them outsized salaries because they're utilizing AI and producing five, six times more than they could without it."
Links
Podcast Sponsor – Cypress Growth CapitalThis podcast is sponsored by Cypress Growth Capital, an alternative to equity, royalty-based growth capital provides funding in exchange for a fixed percentage of your company's future monthly revenues. Learn more at https://www.cypressgrowthcapital.com/
The Practical Founders Podcast
Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel.
Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com.
Practical Founders CEO Peer Groups
Be part of a committed and confidential group of practical founders creating valuable software companies without big VC funding. A Practical Founders Peer Group is a committed and confidential group of founders/CEOs who want to help you succeed on your terms. Each Practical Founders Peer Group is personally curated and moderated by Greg Head.
The AI-powered Podcast Player
