Read the full transcript of Shauna Sprague’s talk titled “What I Learned From Automating Everything” at TEDxNashville conference on Feb 24, 2025.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
The Evolution of Technology Acceptance
SHAUNA SPRAGUE: All right. Does everybody know what this is? No. It’s a cell phone, right? Did you know there was a time when people were fearful of and suspicious of this device?
But today, in my house, it was the number one requested gift for my middle school child. Not to talk, but to text, to take selfies and make fun little videos. It’s funny to think how today’s kids can’t wait to get their hands on one of these, and I spent years trying to stay as far away from it as I could. I mean, I didn’t like to talk on the phone. Still don’t. I didn’t like the idea of people being able to get in contact with me wherever I was. Still don’t.
And, well, I’m frugal and I don’t like to spend money. But then you know what happened?
Reluctant Adoption of Mobile Technology
Phones got email. And I was a traveling salesperson, so my livelihood revolved around getting in contact with customers. And my customers were getting mad because when you reached out to other people in an email, they got back to you in an hour, maybe even minutes. Not me. Nope. For me, you had to wait till the end of the day, till I got home and read all my emails and responded. So I was losing business.
So I caved, and I got myself a BlackBerry. Some of you all remember those. They were blue and silver, and they had this teeny, tiny keyboard, and if you held it like this with both hands, you could really crank out some messages with your thumbs. They were fancy. I was really excited about that. And then comes the smartphone. And, of course, again, I resisted because they were expensive. And, I mean, what was I going to do with an app anyway?
But when those things got GPS, I was in. As a traveling salesperson, I used to spend two hours a day on my computer printing maps off MapQuest for every destination. Some of you all have done that too, I see. All of a sudden, with my smartphone, I had turn-by-turn instructions that I didn’t have to not-so-safely read while I drove. So now I have apps too.
I mean, this thing was amazing. I mean, if you knew me at the time, I told you about my smartphone because it was awesome. Now, in hindsight, this is where my automation journey became an obsession.
I mean, seriously, two hours a day? Who wouldn’t want to save that kind of time?
That spark of wonder had been lit, and now, all of a sudden, I was looking at everything through a different lens. How could I automate that to save time? So it turns out I am not just frugal with money.
I am also frugal with my time. And you should be too. Now, I am not a technology expert.
My Background in Technology
Now, yes, I have spent the last 20 years working in Fortune 500 companies and IT departments in roles ranging from product management to program management to intelligent automation and analytics, but all of that revolves around strategy and the use of good tools, not coding and building complex systems. Now, don’t get me wrong.
I’m smart. But it is my drive to save time through automation that has been the key to my success.
I have simply learned how to identify needs and then find the right tools to automate and find efficiencies. Now, remember, automation is not just a business tool.
In today’s world, we can use AI to automate many of our personal tasks and responsibilities, but that’s not what we’re doing. You know, some of us are afraid we’re going to be dehumanized by technology, but mostly we’re afraid because we might fail. Working in large organizations has taught me just how much potential you can unlock when you embrace the possibility of failure. Today, I simply want to open your eyes to what’s possible. At the end of this talk, I hope you’ll take a chance. Maybe you’ll automate something, and maybe it’ll fail, but that’s okay. Just fail fast and keep going.
Automating Everything
Now, I have tried to automate everything, and I mean everything.
My events are planned a year in advance. My friends get automated birthday emails. My LinkedIn and social media posts go out automatically thanks to ChatGPT. My daughter’s school schedule gets loaded into my phone from a picture I take. Elf on the Shelf ideas, instructions, and a photo get sent to my inbox daily during the holidays. And when my daughter has a doctor’s appointment and has to leave school early, the school gets an automated email from me 24 hours in advance. Progress reports, performance reviews, new employee onboarding are all things that can be automated when you add a new line into a spreadsheet.
My life is in a Google Calendar, and if you are lucky enough to go on vacation with me, I’ve got you, whether you want me to or not. So by now, you’ve probably guessed that my to-do list is long and keeps growing, and I have yet to figure out how to add more hours in a day.
Side note, if any of you all have figured that out, I would love to talk. So I did the next best thing.
I automated like my life depended on it. Now, admittedly, I first had to give myself some grace, learn to disappoint the right people in my life, and say no sometimes, and accept my limits.
But then I started using Outlook email rules, and I started automating bill pay, and a myriad of other automations to make my life easier. But over time, I learned how to combine robotic process automation with generative AI, and that is where the real magic happens.
Understanding Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
So let’s talk a little bit about robotic process automation, or RPA.
Now, this may sound like I’m going to bring in an army of robots and take over everybody’s job.
Don’t worry, it is not nearly that dramatic. Okay, so here’s the deal. It’s like having a team of tiny little elf helpers doing all the mundane tasks that we don’t really want to do. It’s like having a super efficient assistant who never gets tired, never makes a mistake, and can work 24-7 without a coffee break. These tools truly are amazing. They can handle everything from entering customer CRM data to generating leads to answering the phone. In its simplest form, RPA tools are workflow processing automation systems that allow you to combine multiple tools and processes to create an if-this-happens-then-do-that scenario.
For example, my daughter’s school calendar, it gets loaded into my system automatically. School hands me a sheet of paper with all the major events for the year and every date, time I need to be. I take a picture of it with my phone. I load that into ChatGPT, and I tell ChatGPT to turn that into a spreadsheet. Then I tell my RPA tool, for every line in that spreadsheet, create a calendar event and add it to my calendar. Voila, an entire year of events loaded into my calendar in a matter of minutes. And that used to take me well over an hour. Pretty awesome, huh? Now every event, every dress-up day, every half day, I have yet to miss one, and my daughter thinks I have a superpower.
I’ll take that. Now you may have guessed that this is my new smartphone.
I’m super excited about it, and I can’t wait to tell everybody about it. And if you see me at a party, I am going to nerd out on you and tell you about my RPA tools. It’s just fair warning.
Learning from Automation Failures
Now, not all automations work perfectly the first time.
In fact, most require some adjustments, and that’s okay. That’s all part of the process. Take my automated birthday emails. The concept was simple. I create a spreadsheet, name, email address, birthday, and some fun facts. The RPA tool goes out there daily and says, okay, if today’s date matches your birthday, it generates a conversation with ChatGPT and automatically sends you an email based on the fun facts I wrote about you. Perfect.
Simple, right? You know what I forgot? Leap year. Yeah. Every four years, February has an extra day, and wouldn’t you know it, I had a friend who was born on February 29th. So, February 28th rolls around on a non-leap year, and I see our friends wishing our friend a happy birthday, and I think, great, they got an email from me this morning, check.
Good. The next day, I hear on the radio about the upcoming leap year and how that extra day sometimes causes confusion, and it dawns on me, oh no, my system does not account for leap year. So, I call my friend, I apologize.
I go back into the RPA tool and tell it, if you are born on February 29th, then you get a birthday email on February 28th on non-leap years. My system failed. We fixed it. Everybody survived, and we moved on.
Embracing AI Without Fear
Now, right about now, I hope the wheels are turning in your head and you’re thinking about something that you might be able to automate with AI, or maybe you’re at least just a little bit less scared of it.
So, let’s dive into that. So, there’s a lot of talk about how AI is going to change our world in ways we can’t even predict, and I do think that’s true, but there’s no reason to be afraid of it.
Here’s the thing. AI is a tool, just like any other. It’s here to help us. It’s here to make our lives easier. It’s here to free us up so that we can spend time doing things that really matter. The way I see it, AI may not take your job, but someone using AI might. AI might not take your job, but someone using it might. Think about that. So, give AI a chance.
By embracing automation, we create new levels of productivity and creativity. We create a safety net around our automated systems that give us the freedom to grow, to learn, and to do amazing things. My favorite part about AI is it allows me to be the person I want to be. I’m still the friend who remembers birthdays, the mom who knows about Team Jersey Day at school, and the leader who’s there for her team, but I do it all with less stress and more joy.
Now, you may be saying, that’s great for you, but I’m not a technology wizard.
Well, neither am I. And that’s the beauty of AI, especially in the world we live in right now. You don’t have to be a genius. You just have to take the first step. Start small. Automate one thing and see how it feels. And then keep going. I sound a little bit like a drug dealer. Just try one. See how it feels.
Overcoming Fear of Failure
Now, let’s not forget the most important part about this talk.
Not letting fear of change and failure hold you back. My fear was the driving force behind my need to automate. I was so afraid of dropping the ball, of not living up to my own expectations, that I turned to technology for help. And it worked. More than that, it taught me a valuable lesson. That change is not a bad thing. And failure is not the end. They are just steps in the process. By creating an automated system, we give ourselves a safety net that will handle the predictable task and allow us to have courage to tackle the unpredictable ones. That courage is crucial because it’s going to propel us forward, even in the face of uncertainty.
Now, in our journey, we will fail sometimes. There will be times when our automated systems will not work as planned. Or we may underestimate the complexity of a task. But that’s okay.
Each time, we’re going to learn something new. We’ll learn how to build better systems, how to anticipate problems, and how to bounce back stronger and faster. Failure will become less daunting because we accept it as part of the process. So here’s my challenge to you.
Embrace AI, automation, and change, not just as tools, but as a mindset. Use it to free yourself from the mundane so that you can have the freedom and ability to learn, to grow, to try, and to fail. Accept that failure is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of growth. In the end, it’s not about being perfect. It’s about being the best versions of ourselves every day. It’s about having the resilience to face a challenge and the courage to learn from it. AI is your ally in this journey. Use it to free yourself from the routine so that you can focus on the extraordinary.
