Andrew Simpson is the founder of Aether Automation, based in Duncan on Vancouver Island. He started Aether as the Island's Zoho partner and grew it into a 13-person team that builds business systems for manufacturers, contractors and professional-services firms in Canada and the US: CRM, quoting, order management, analytics and AI automation.

Andrew Simpson is the founder of Aether Automation, based in Duncan on Vancouver Island. He started Aether as the Island's Zoho partner and grew it into a 13-person team that builds business systems for manufacturers, contractors and professional-services firms in Canada and the US: CRM, quoting, order management, analytics and AI automation.

He also runs his own business on AI. An AI system built on his notes and CRM drafts his email replies and he approves them; he hasn't manually answered an email in nine months. He talks about what small businesses should automate first, how an owner can hand their inbox to AI without losing control, and where AI still needs a person.