Chris Steiner on AI

Mr. Steiner, you're known as an entrepreneur in the fitness industry and recently published a book on artificial intelligence. What originally sparked your interest in AI, and how do you use it in your businesses today?
Everyone has access to ChatGPT these days. That’s true. But access isn't the same as ability. I like to compare it to a gym membership: Almost everyone has one, but only a handful actually train systematically and see results.
That's exactly what I lay out in the chapter »The 30-day challenge«: The difference isn't about who has the tool — it's about the discipline to use it every single day and weave it into your actual workflows. Most entrepreneurs try AI once, get briefly wowed, and then it gets shoved back in the drawer.
The competitive edge was never in the tool itself. It's in how fast you execute, how deep you integrate it, and whether you're willing to rip apart your own business model and rebuild it. Do that, and you're not just faster tomorrow — you're playing an entirely different game.

What myth about AI do you wish entrepreneurs would finally drop?

That AI can do everything. And that it replaces everything.
In the chapter »What AI can't do« I lay out the limits on purpose: trust, gut instinct in a sales conversation, real human relationships, entrepreneurial risk-taking — no machine can replicate that. AI is a lever, not a substitute for entrepreneurial thinking.
The second myth bugs me even more: that failing with AI means you're »just not AI-savvy.« In the chapter »Mistakes and losses are part of the game« I talk openly about my own setbacks. If you expect every AI project to work on the first try, you haven't understood entrepreneurship. Failure is baked in — with AI just like with any other business you build.

The AI market feels like a gold rush right now — new tools, ideas, and business models popping up constantly. Healthy innovation, or a red flag?
Both. And that's exactly how it should be.
A gold rush always brings noise — hangers-on, hype merchants, hot air. But it also produces the pioneers who end up staking the claims that actually last. Sam Altman put it well: 2025 brought agents that can do real cognitive work. 2026, he says, will bring systems capable of generating genuinely novel insights on their own. 2027 might bring robots handling real-world tasks. The pace is brutal — and that's exactly what's spooking entrepreneurs instead of firing them up.
The risk isn't the speed of the technology. The risk is entrepreneurs chasing every shiny new tool out of pure FOMO, with zero strategy, zero substance. Same story as any gold rush: the ones who actually got rich weren't digging — they were selling shovels. In other words: They had a system.

What skills do entrepreneurs actually need to make AI pay off — instead of just chasing every new trend? And what are the most common mistakes?
The number one skill isn't technical at all. It's the ability to prioritize. To ask: which problem in my business is bleeding the most time, money, or sanity — and where can AI actually move the needle?
The mistake I see over and over: People start with the tool, not the problem. They install five new AI apps, poke at them for two days, then wonder why nothing sticks. It's the same story as the investor-dinner scene in my book: at Pressmaster AI, it has never been about having the flashiest tool on the table — it was about solving the one problem that actually mattered in that room.
The second skill: patience with the process, impatience with execution. Sounds contradictory — it isn't. You have to learn to iterate with AI without bailing after the first stumble, but also without »testing« for six months while never actually shipping anything.

What role should education, upskilling, and AI literacy play in an environment moving this fast?
A crucial one. That's exactly why I built a TÜV-certified AI training program with Agent AI — because I'm convinced structured learning is the only way out of the buzzword chaos.
The problem is, most entrepreneurs are »learning« via TikTok clips. A slick prompt here, a viral tool there — no system behind any of it. Real AI literacy means understanding how it all connects: how do I rethink processes, how do I build workflows, how do I bring my team along with me?
Upskilling isn't optional anymore — it's mandatory, the way reading and writing were a hundred years ago. If you think you can skip it, you won't have a seat at the table in three years. Forget playing the game.

If a young founder came to you and said, »I know AI matters – but where do I even start?« – what would you tell them?
I'd hit them with the same question I ask myself at the start of every project: »What's the one bottleneck in your business that's costing you the most time or sanity right now?«
Then I'd say: Start exactly there. Do not use ten tools at once. One problem, one solution, one clear result. That's the whole core of the 30-Day Challenge in my book: thirty days, one focus, real execution instead of endless tinkering.
And then: Stick with it, even when it gets messy. Your first attempts won't be perfect. But if you start iterating and learning early, in a year you'll have an advantage nobody else can catch up with. AI isn't a sprint. It's a muscle – and you train it every single day.