Client story · Home services
Golden Rule built one way to decide on new technology, and its frontline teams now help choose the tools.
Home services · Iowa, Nebraska, Utah · 100+ service vehicles
Golden Rule
How the team hears about a new tool
Before
“We’re implementing this, get on board”
After
“We’re piloting this. We need your help to determine if this is the right tool.”
Source: Derrick Dickey, Director of Technology and Data. No hard number yet.
At a glance
- Who
- Golden Rule, a plumbing, heating, cooling and electrical company with 27+ years in Central Iowa, now serving Des Moines, Omaha and Salt Lake City with a fleet of 100+ vehicles
- The win they wanted
- Less time debating technology, and change the team welcomes
- Result
- A written AI Objectives and AI Principles that guide every technology decision, and a pilot process that brings frontline employees into choosing tools. Leadership time spent debating tech has, in Derrick’s words, “drastically decreased.”
- Measured by
- Derrick’s account as Director of Technology and Data. No hard number yet.
Where they started
Golden Rule came in curious, not cautious. The leadership team was ready to use AI. What it didn’t have yet was a shared way to decide what to use and how to bring it in.
“I think we were all very eyes open and we’re not scared or afraid of what AI could do, but we didn’t really have a framework or a structure.”
Golden Rule’s owner, Mark, is always looking ahead. He hears about promising technology from fellow Nexstar members and podcasts, and the team moves fast to put it to work. That energy is a big part of how Golden Rule grew. As the company expanded into three metro areas, Derrick saw the next step: give all that ambition a process, so every new tool lands smoothly for the people using it.
“It was really important for us to become an organization where change is constant… but in a way that reduces pain.”
Golden Rule
What we did together
Set AI objectives and principles in week one: two short documents saying what Golden Rule will and won’t do with AI.
Mark and Derrick worked through the first assignment together, on the phone the night before it was due.
When we finished, it felt like so many barriers just disappeared… It was like the lights turned on.
Moved from rollouts to pilots: buy-in before anything goes company-wide.
New tools now start as a test, with frontline employees helping decide.
Built a way to vet technology: a process leadership now uses for all technology, not only AI.
A standard set of steps for evaluating any new tool.
One decision, before and after
| Before | After | |
|---|---|---|
| How a new tool arrives | A great idea comes in and the team rolls it out quickly | The idea is checked against the AI Objectives and Principles |
| How the team hears about it | “We’re implementing this, get on board” | “We’re piloting this. We need your help to determine if this is the right tool.” |
| How leadership decides | Long discussions about whether it’s the right tool | A structured way to vet and implement it |
| Who owns the call | Leadership | Leadership decides, with frontline employees testing and giving input |
What changed
For the frontline team, being asked in changed everything. Golden Rule’s technicians and staff now help make new tools work.
“We saw problem-solving kick in… employees engaged, their faces lit up, and they got involved in making it work. That’s been amazing.”
For leadership, the debates got shorter.
“We’ve taken the framework from the AI program and applied it to all technology. Now, instead of going in circles about, ‘Is this the right tool?’ we have a structured way to vet and implement new technology.”
What they kept
- AI Objectives and AI Principles, still the reference point for every decision.
They have set a North Star to what we’re going to do and what we’re not going to do.
- A pilot process that brings frontline employees into every new tool
- A vetting framework used for all technology, not only AI
- A clear next step.
Now after completing it, we’re in the place of, ‘Okay, it’s time to operationalize everything we’ve learned.’ The path to get there is more clear than it’s ever been.
Leaving the program with a structured governance system in place was a big surprise… and a massive benefit.”
Next step
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