On The Business Leader’s Legacy Podcast, we dive deep into the minds of business owners, founders, and CEOs to uncover what truly drives them. Each episode explores where these leaders come from, how they’re navigating today’s challenges, and what trends are shaping their industries. It’s a real, behind-the-scenes look at leadership, innovation, and growth — and along the way, we explore where AI might play a role in helping businesses work smarter and scale faster.
Keep the Human in the Lead: Bill Kaplan on Knowledge and AI | The Business Leader’s Legacy Podcast
What happens to everything your people know when they walk out the door? Bill Kaplan has spent nearly three decades in knowledge management, and he says the hardest part is something AI cannot do yet: move what is in one person’s head into another’s. Hear why the human has to stay in the lead.
Bill Kaplan is the founder of Working Knowledge CSP and the author of Losing Your Mind: Capturing, Retaining, and Leveraging Organizational Knowledge. A retired U.S. Air Force veteran, he has helped public and private sector organizations avoid losing what they know.
What you’ll hear
Why AI makes good knowledge management matter even more, not less
Why you need a human in the lead, not just in the loop
What AI still cannot do: pull knowledge out of one person’s head and pass it to another
Why messy data can give you a wrong answer that sounds convincing
Why you have to meet people where they are, not where you want them to be
Why a strategy comes before the tools, and how to start building one
Timestamps
1:03 Bill’s story: from the Air Force to knowledge management
4:15 What keeps him passionate: watching change happen
7:08 AI and knowledge management: keep the human in the lead
12:10 What AI still can’t do: capture what’s in people’s heads
14:35 Why you need a strategy before you invest in tools
19:15 Giving back through knowledge management mentoring
22:39 Legacy: knowledge at the point of execution
Connect with Bill Kaplan
Website: https://www.workingknowledge-csp.com (https://www.workingknowledge-csp.com)
About Chris
Chris Bruner is the CEO and Founder of Simple AI Solutions, based in El Cajon, CA. He helps small and mid-sized businesses bring in more clients and spend less time on busywork using AI plus human systems. His background is in healthcare operations and process improvement, with an MBA, an MS in Management, and a Six Sigma Green Belt.
About the show
The Business Leader’s Legacy Podcast goes behind the scenes with business leaders to uncover their vision, strategies, and the challenges they’ve faced along the way.
Connect with Chris
Website: https://www.simpleaisolutions.org (https://www.simpleaisolutions.org)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisbrunersimpleaisolutions/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisbrunersimpleaisolutions/)
Podcast LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-business-leaders-legacy-podcast/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-business-leaders-legacy-podcast/)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@The-Business-Leaders-Legacy (https://www.youtube.com/@The-Business-Leaders-Legacy)
If this one hit home, subscribe and share it with a leader who wants their organization to use what it knows.
#KnowledgeManagement #AIinBusiness #OrganizationalKnowledge #HumanInTheLead
20 Oct 2026
Build a Firm That Outlasts You: David Martin on Legacy | The Business Leader’s Legacy Podcast
What happens to a business built on relationships when its founder is ready to step back? David Martin has worked in brand strategy since the mid-1980s, and he is now building a firm that can last beyond him. Hear how he keeps his expertise fresh and why he wants a legacy that goes beyond ego.
David Martin is the founder and president of Catalyst Branding. He spent more than a decade as president and CEO of Interbrand North America, where he helped build deeper, long-term client partnerships instead of one-off projects.
What you’ll hear
Why expertise has a shelf life, and how to keep yours fresh in a fast-changing business
How a virtual network of senior partners helps a small firm move fast and keep fees fair
How to build your next-generation network when your best relationships are retiring
How to use AI as a learning tool by checking one LLM against the others, and why professional judgment still sets leaders apart
How to use a tough year to capture your best thinking and plan a firm that outlasts its founder
Connect with David Martin
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-john-martin-csuite-advisory (https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-john-martin-csuite-advisory)
Website: https://catalystbranding.com (https://catalystbranding.com)
About Chris
Chris Bruner is the CEO and Founder of Simple AI Solutions, based in El Cajon, CA. He helps small and mid-sized businesses bring in more clients and spend less time on busywork using AI plus human systems. His background is in healthcare operations and process improvement, with an MBA, an MS in Management, and a Six Sigma Green Belt.
About the show
The Business Leader’s Legacy Podcast goes behind the scenes with business leaders to uncover their vision, strategies, and the challenges they’ve faced along the way.
Connect with Chris
Website: https://www.simpleaisolutions.org (https://www.simpleaisolutions.org)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisbrunersimpleaisolutions/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisbrunersimpleaisolutions/)
Podcast LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-business-leaders-legacy-podcast/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-business-leaders-legacy-podcast/)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@The-Business-Leaders-Legacy (https://www.youtube.com/@The-Business-Leaders-Legacy)
If this one hit home, subscribe and share it with a leader who is thinking about what comes next.
#BrandStrategy #BusinessLegacy #SuccessionPlanning #SmallBusinessLeadership
15 Oct 2026
Sales Systems That Last: Keith Bradt on Fractional Sales | The Business Leader’s Legacy Podcast
A new sales hire brings in a burst of business, then it flattens out around month eight. Keith Bradt has watched that happen for 20 years, and he built his firm to fix the sales process behind it.
Keith is the Owner and Sales Development Director of Kallan Sales Development in East Rochester, New York. He started out in applications and design engineering, moved up through technical sales and sales leadership, and now helps engineering-based manufacturers and founder-led businesses build sales systems that keep working after he walks away.
What you’ll hear:
Why a new sales hire’s book of business usually plateaus within six to eight months
Why your sales reps are the last people who should be cold calling
How to pick AI and sales tools when a new one shows up every week, starting with knowing your own sales process
Why an engineer had to rethink how he sells his own fractional sales business, and why strategic partners now matter more than knocking on doors
How flipping your messaging from services to problems helps buyers see the result
What it means to leave a client’s team better than you found it
Connect with Keith:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithbradt (https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithbradt)
Website: https://kallansalesdev.com (https://kallansalesdev.com)
About Chris:
Chris Bruner is the CEO and Founder of Simple AI Solutions, based in El Cajon, CA. He helps small and mid-sized businesses bring in more clients and spend less time on busywork using AI plus human systems. His background is in healthcare operations and process improvement, with an MBA, an MS in Management, and a Six Sigma Green Belt.
About the show:
The Business Leader’s Legacy Podcast goes behind the scenes with business leaders to uncover their vision, strategies, and the challenges they’ve faced along the way.
Connect with Chris:
Website: https://www.simpleaisolutions.org (https://www.simpleaisolutions.org)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisbrunersimpleaisolutions/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisbrunersimpleaisolutions/)
Podcast on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-business-leaders-legacy-podcast/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-business-leaders-legacy-podcast/)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@The-Business-Leaders-Legacy (https://www.youtube.com/@The-Business-Leaders-Legacy)
Timestamps:
0:57 From engineer to sales leader, and why Keith started Kallan
4:51 Why he’d rather help a team execute than hand out advice
9:47 Your highest-dollar asset doing the lowest-value work
11:39 Process first, then the AI tool
13:08 What’s working: fractional sales operations
14:57 “Do as I say, not as I do”: selling his own business
18:57 Staying small on purpose and flipping his message
23:57 The legacy Keith wants to leave
If this one helped, subscribe and share it with a founder who’s still carrying the sales load alone.
#SalesProcess #FractionalSales #ManufacturingSales #SalesOperations #FounderLed
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