The Leadership Skill That Gets More Valuable as AI Takes Over
5/16/20261 hr 31 min
🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://homeservicefreedom.com/
The biggest myth in home service technology? That software solves problems. It doesn't. People do.
Tommy sits down with Richard Kohberger — the go-to ServiceTitan expert and founder of Blue Collar Nerd — for one of the most honest conversations about technology, leadership, and what it actually takes to build a great home service company in the AI era.In this episode you'll learn:
— Why most companies use ServiceTitan wrong
— and what it actually looks like when you use it right
— The truth about AI replacing CSRs and what to do about it before it happens to you
— Why adding more AI to your business means your people need MORE human attention, not less
— The four metrics every home service owner should know cold
— Why emotional intelligence is the most underrated skill in home service leadership
-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introduction
00:34 - Richard's Background and Blue Collar Nerd Origin
03:08 - Why Investors Are Rushing Into Home Service
06:02 - Advanced ServiceTitan Integrations
10:31 - When to Get on ServiceTitan
13:50 - AI-First Software and What's Coming
17:46 - Tommy's AI-Written Radio Ad Live
21:16 - Social Media vs Traditional Advertising
28:03 - The A1 Garage Model vs HVAC
32:28 - Which Industry Would Richard Build In?
36:12 - Tommy's 2017 Trifecta and Podcast Origin
38:49 - SOPs: SweetProcess vs Trainual
41:13 - AI Supporting People Not Replacing Them
44:41 - Technology Changing Leadership and Culture
47:52 - Longevity Science and Fasting
51:03 - Skills the Next Generation of Operators Needs
54:14 - EQ vs IQ in Leadership
58:42 - Rapid Fire: The Four Metrics Every Owner Must Know
1:09:08 - Die With Zero and Tommy's Philanthropy Plans
1:13:53 - Get Clear on Your WHY 1:17:35 - Is "I'm Doing It for My Family" Really True?
1:23:39 - Meditation, Facing Fears, and Final Thoughts
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsTommy Mello· Host0:00
What's the biggest tech myth in the trades?
Richard Kohberger· Guest0:02
That software solves problems. Humans still want to connect to other humans. It's important to still find ways to do that while not ignoring this important tool, because if you don't use this important tool, the people who are using this important tool are gonna run you over. There's a balance to be found here. The, the more that we introduce silicon as sort of brain replacements into these, into our companies, I do think that the humans are gonna need ex- extra special attention to make sure that they still feel valued. Maybe help them out a little bit and, and some day later, that will, that will pay you dividends, but don't do it for the dividends. Do it because that's another human being.
Tommy Mello· Host0:39
There's so many people that understand the trades, but they have no idea where technology's going. I think at A1 we're running 23 different softwares right now.
Richard Kohberger· Guest0:51
[laughs] Yeah, yeah.
Tommy Mello· Host0:53
Everything from the cameras in the trucks to make sure you're driving okay, to inventory, to automations, to email sequences, to... Uh, there, there's so many different software. So tell us what you're excited about, what got you to where you're at now, and, um, yeah, just the passion stuff.
Richard Kohberger· Guest1:13
I mean, now's a really exciting time to be somebody interested in technology. Um, I mean, I, I came up in the trades. Like you said, I, I went, worked at my dad's shop in the Atlanta area. And I worked in all sorts of roles there, right? So I was a technician for a while. I, I moved into the office. I mean,