To say Ryan LaPensee is busy is an understatement.

Along with working as an adjunct instructor for Macomb, LaPensee is a passionate entrepreneur and investor in multiple businesses. And when he’s not at work, he and his wife are busy with their four children.  How does he do it?

“People ask how we do all of this, but I use AI (Artificial Intelligence) every day,” he said. “AI optimizes me to levels that I couldn’t have achieved before.”

As an example, LaPensee uses AI to write and respond to emails and create Excel spreadsheets.  He often uses AI as a tool to help with accounting, social media, presentations, marketing and much more.  

LaPensee will lead the “Integrating AI” introduction workshop where he will teach participants about the practical application of using AI in business and daily life.

“I’m passionate about demystifying AI for folks and helping them understand how it can help them personally and professionally,” he said.

LaPensee is the co-founder and CEO of PanOptic Quality Systems, a consulting firm that helps clients efficiently release software. In addition, he is the Chief Technology Officer at Copa AI, a firm that provides AI assistance for businesses.

Learn more about LaPensee and what he has planned for the upcoming workshop by reading below.

What is your background?

“I grew up in Canada where I was a baseball player. I had a scholarship to Wayne State (University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry) and I played baseball at Wayne. I was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.  I was fortunate to play professional baseball, and I signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks.  I played in the big leagues, and it was a dream come true.

When my baseball career ended, I got a job in software testing. I was a manual tester at a Fortune 500 company, and then I started working as an automation engineer. That’s where I learned how to make computers mimic human interaction.

I got a master’s degree from California State University in quality assurance. I went from automation engineer to leading teams and becoming a CTO at a startup. I saw the full life cycle of software development because I had that quality background.

While I was working in automation, AI had permeated into the start-up that I was at. So, I got to work with the data science teams with machine learning. That was eight years ago. 

I eventually started my own consulting firm where we specialize in automation and using AI for optimization.”

How were you selected to lead and workshop and what would you like participants to leave knowing?

“I gave a talk at (the) Velocity (Center, in Sterling Heights) a while ago. Some folks from Macomb were there and they approached me because they needed a curriculum put together (for the workshop). 

I’ve got so much content, and I want people to leave knowing how AI can help with their problems. For example, many people don’t like making Excel files. I don’t know how to use and create macros and other advanced functions in Excel. You can ask AI to do that.

On the flip side, you can use AI to help with something you’re good at. It will give you ideas you didn’t think of before. It’s powerful.”

What would you say to someone who is reluctant to use AI?

“I equate AI to a tool right now.  For example, go get a piece of paper and start doing multiplication. Now get to a point where there’s this giant number and then somebody hands you a calculator. You wouldn’t say to yourself that you’re not going to use a calculator. Or that a calculator is going to take your job.  AI is a tool, just like that calculator.

We should use AI as a tool to better ourselves as a race, whether it’s medicine, education or other things.  But it’s also good for the mundane, annoying things that I don’t want to do so I can get back to living my life.”