The authentic reality behind artificial intelligence

This year’s Tech Conference Keynote addressed AI’s growing momentum and how companies can take advantage of it.

By Kim Lux

AI is here and it’s making its mark on the world, let alone the green industry.

At this year’s Lawn & Landscape Technology Conference, Scott Klososky, founding partner of Future Point of View, gave the keynote address and warned attendees not to wait to embrace AI and technology.

“The technology is growing so quickly that we have a gap between the power it has and how fast people are learning about it,” Klososky says. “One of the things you should be focusing on is getting AI skills into your team members. Don’t be caught a year from now being flatfooted.”

Klososky’s presentation titled “Synthetic Intelligence: A Generational Opportunity with AI,” gave attendees a crash course in all things artificial intelligence — though Klososky points out he prefers another term — synthetic intelligence.

Klososky says synthetic intelligence is when it’s built into software or business operations and machine intelligence is when it’s built into a product — like an autonomous mower.

“We should get rid of the word artificial — it’s not fake intelligence, it’s just not human intelligence,” he says. “We are allowing machines to be able to think, learn and co-work with us in ways they never have in history — and it’s very important.”

Just like with any revolutionary technology, Klososky says AI will impact all areas of life until it becomes so popular and conventional that the hype around it begins to die down.

“AI is going to be straight up and to the right as far as its impact to the economy,” Klososky notes. “We won’t be talking about it as much anymore, but it will be assumed that things are intelligent… we just won’t be talking about it anymore.

Because this phenomenon will one day be so commonplace, Klososky told attendees to get on board with it now.

“I’ve watched a lot of things blossom,” he says. “When a new wave of technology blossoms, there will be winners and losers in terms of how people adapt to it.”

And to ensure they are not behind the competition, companies should start investing in AI and training employees on how to utilize it in their day-to-day roles, Klososky says.

“There’s a great opportunity now for some organizations to leapfrog others,” he adds. “That’s one thing I love about this technology small players are able to play. There’s a lot of power for not a lot of money.”

Klososky says one of the most cost-effective and easy to learn AI models for companies new to the technology is generative AI or synthetic experts. These include things like chatbots and GPTs (general-purpose technologies).

“This is trained AI that has knowledge that can communicate with a human,” he says. “I’m shocked when people are telling me they aren’t building GPTs in their company. You can do it for literally $20 a month.”

While this is the most common version of AI, Klososky notes it’s not even close to being the only form.

“Generative AI is not all we’ve got — that is a rookie mistake,” he says. “That is only one type of synthetic intelligence.”

Klososky explains that there are analytics engines to analyze data you’re feeding into it and that can help with proposals or accounting needs, while diagnostic engines can help you diagnose problems within your business or a process and help you avoid them. Additionally, predictive and prescriptive engines help you model for the future while also suggesting improvements.

After defining the various types of AI for attendees, Klososky shared a simple AI strategy for any company looking to better embrace the technology:

1. Build a two-year rolling roadmap to ensure you win with AI and review it at least every quarter
2. Know your AI goals
3. Break those goals down into dimensions that can be worked on
4. Establish resources to put behind AI

Klososky adds there’s a 5% rule that he feels all green industry companies should aim for when setting their AI goals. This includes:

• Pledge to gain 5% automation in each area of the business
• Have 5% better decision-making through AI driven analytics
• Have 5% more innovation and creative problem-solving
• Require 5% across the board improvement in people’s AI skills so they have more efficiency in what they’re doing.

Behind the bloom

Technology is behind Nasim Landscape’s rapid revenue growth. Here’s what they told Technology Conference attendees in Atlanta.

By Jimmy Miller

In just five years, Niwar Nassim and Christian Guerrero have grown Nasim Landscape’s revenue from $1.2 million to over $10 million — and they believe technology is behind the bloom.

Nassim (president) and Guerrero (business development manager) spoke for attendees at the 2024 Lawn & Landscape Technology Conference to explain how they’ve used technology to rapidly grow their Washington-based company. Whether it’s software or artificial intelligence, there’s a lot of existing tools that will help landscapers boost their bottom line.

Driving the growth

Nassim says picking the right software company makes all the difference in the world. After all, he says they struggled to use the first software they selected — it didn’t really help them scale the business.

“If you have the right platform, implement it correctly and execute it correctly, you eliminate a lot of your overhead,” he says. “That was pretty big for us.”

Scheduling has been one of the biggest features that’s made the company profitable. 65% of its clients are commercial maintenance accounts. The team also does snow removal for many of those same clients. Using automations within their software has helped them save “thousands and thousands of dollars,” though Nasim recommends appointing someone within the company to double-check its work or make changes as needed. Automations might not know which yards have trouble areas or dogs that like to get loose when landscapers open the gate.

“It’s automated, but it still needs that human touch because there are so many variables involved,” he says.

Other critical tools have been smart irrigation systems. 85% of the company’s commercial irrigation properties converted to the smart irrigation management, which saves time. Temperatures can go from 75 degrees to over 100 in a span of just three days.

Meanwhile, as the company has grown, it needed to hire more employees. Keeping the right employees around sometimes means better tracking of what they’re doing out in the field. GPS tools helped them pinpoint an employee who was driving wildly on the freeways and blowing past stop signs, all in company vehicles with their names plastered on the sides.

“Without this tool, we wouldn’t have been able to find that,” Guerrero says.

Guerrero says technology accountability is important. He recommends checking out all the different tools that are out there, though he adds a word of caution.

“It doesn’t matter how many tools you have out there,” he says. “If you throw it at people and they’re not the right person for the job, they’re not going to get the results.”

A key reminder

This is the side of growth that Nasim and Guerrero believe isn’t discussed widely enough. It’s amazing to see that bottom line grow, but it’s also really tough to manage.

“There’s consequences for growth,” Nasim says. “You need to really manage that. Strategize it.”

Here’s what Nasim did: As other big players in their market struggled, his company scooped up more of the market share quickly. That rapid ascension meant they needed to hire more employees, and often, Nasim says he hired folks who just had good-looking resumes that started to hear more about them because they were making a buzz around town. That means even employees in some really key positions weren’t evaluated correctly for their fit.

“It seemed like the right fit at the time, but as we continued to grow, we started to realize a resume is not always going to translate into a solid hire,” Nasim says. “We’ve had some really, really tough realities that’ve hit us.”

The company has since “pumped the brakes” enough to recognize these growth pains. They’re currently looking for an employee in leadership who can keep the whole company accountable. The challenge will be how they can find employees willing to keep up with the demand to sustain their growth. Plus, it’s about finding the employees who can leverage technology the best.

“It’s tough to talk about,” Nasim says. “It’s not all rosy. There’s consequences for sure.” L&L

In the market for some M&A

M&A activity in the green industry is only continuing to increase. Panelists share their advice on preparing for a deal and handling common post-sale conflicts.

By Kim Lux

It seems as though there’s no end in sight for private equity’s heavy interest in the green industry. More and more, mergers and acquisitions are announced daily and companies seem to be eager to cash in on their value.

Because it’s such a hot topic, this year’s Lawn & Landscape Top 100 Executive Summit featured a panel where some of the major players in the industry’s M&A game gave their advice to companies looking to sell and buy.

Panelists included: Robbie Blair, vice president of M&A and corporate development with Yardnique; Stephanie Blanco, SVP/ head of integration with Mariani Premier Group; Brad Cox, senior vice president of operations at LMC Landscape Partners; and Patrick Quinlan, director of mergers & acquisitions with Schill Grounds Management.

All four panelists agree that the market is ripe with M&A activity, and they don’t see that changing anytime soon.

Heating up

“I do think it is highly active,” Quinlan says. “Both buyers and sellers have become more sophisticated in terms of M&A. A few years ago, there was hesitation… but the market has significantly warmed up to that.”

Blair says that originally, private equity’s involvement in the industry was with a handful of companies that were all relatively the same. But nowadays, companies of all sizes and service offerings are receiving offers.

“A lot of buyers and sellers are starting to really know their strengths and weaknesses,” Blair says. “I’m seeing a lot of diverse sellers. They look very different in terms of their revenue mix and customer bases… it’s a very competitive market right now.”

Blanco adds that originally, she felt the spike in M&A activity would slow down once the “COVID Boom” most companies experienced subsided.

“In the residential side we saw a sugar high right after COVID,” Blanco say, adding that it caused a catalyst in activity for the residential portion of the market.

Blair says there’s no slowdown in sight.

“I think the green industry is in a healthy market right now; frankly I’m not sure how much more active it could get,” Blair says. “I expect it to stay like this for a while.”

Quinlan says that things will only get more competitive — which will benefit the best companies.

“There’s going to be a large number of deals that get done over the next few years,” Quinlan says. “Deals will get more competitive, and more scrutiny will happen in the due diligence process… The cream will rise to the top.” Cox says that while private equity money will be around for the long haul, he is concerned that too much involvement could have a negative impact.

“M&A in the landscape industry is here to stay,” he says. “They like the buzzword of recurring revenue, so some of them are almost looking to go overboard in the industry.”

Red and green flags to find

When it comes to finding a good fit — whether that’s a private equity partner to back you or a company you’re looking to acquire — there are some benefits and concerns everyone should keep an eye out for.

Blanco says when Mariani is aiming to acquire companies, they start by easily checking off two boxes.

“You want stability in terms of your labor source and to make sure the company is as profitable as we believe it to be,” Blanco says. “Those are the two big hurdles we tackle sooner rather than later.”

Cox agrees that a good labor supply is a huge green flag for acquiring a company.

“Labor supply is a good point to look at,” he adds.

“If the majority is H-2B, and you don’t get that one year — it’s hard.”

Cox adds that a company’s brand recognition can also be a good determining factor.

“Look for someone with a great existing brand,” he says.

Going hand-in-hand with branding is culture — Blair says that’s one thing that can’t be taught, so it’s important a good culture is in place before any sale.

“We look for companies with really great culture,” Blair says. “We can get in there and find ways to improve labor statistics and strategies, but we need to make sure it’s a well-cultured business.”

Quinlan acknowledges that when Schill Grounds Management is looking at companies to acquire, one of the first things they do is compare services and revenue mix.

“For us, it’s all about the right fit and we define fit by revenue mix,” Quinlan says. “The revenue mix needs to align with Schill’s existing strategy.”

Blair notes that knowing your numbers and being completely accountable and transparent are some of the biggest things to help make a deal happen swiftly and effortlessly.

“If you can tell a potential buyer the number that you’ll hit in the next 12 months, you can start to negotiate and get some additional value,” Blair says.

In terms of “red flags” or things that might seem like they’d cause hesitancies in the buying process, Blair says recognize those before going to the negotiating table and be ready to tackle those problems head-on.

“Every company has its weaknesses,” Blair says. “Go in with a plan around those weaknesses and be upfront about them.”

Blanco adds that no company is perfect or has nothing to hide.

“Even some of the best companies have a few ‘holy cows’ that are difficult to change,” Blanco adds.

Change is inevitable

And speaking of change — implementing change effectively can be the biggest hurdle for newly acquired companies.

“Change management is probably the biggest pain point we deal with,” Quinlan says. “What’s hard to do is make sure you’re growing the business post-closing and improve on the business.”

Cox suggests finding someone within the company to be the point person for future changes post-sale. “You need a change champion in the business,” Cox says. “Someone who wants to learn the new software, someone who wants to see things improve.

Find someone in that organization that people trust — someone who has been there for a while. Find that person and explain the situation to them… If they get on board, the people will follow.”

Blanco adds that these discussions should begin even before the sale is finalized if at all possible, as the sellers will be the best ones at identifying who will embrace change and who will hinder it.

“Sellers know best who those people are likely to be, and we start having those conversations early on,” Blanco says.

Blair adds that the more transparent you are with the staff, the more you’ll get them on board.

“We communicate with sellers about how we’re going to announce the change to the team,” Blair says. “We bring our full team and open up the floor to any questions.” Ideally, the seller will be staying onboard post-sale to help transition any changes, Quinlan says.

He adds it’s the way Schill Grounds Management prefers to handle acquisitions.

“We like to see an ownership group with a plan,” he says. “We’ve retained quite a few of the former owners we’ve partnered with and having them remain involved in the business increases the likelihood of success.”

In all, there’s numerous things that go into buying another company or selling your own. The panelists all say that time and due diligence will always lead to the best deals.

“You never know when you’re going to sell but you need to always be prepared to sell,” Cox says.

The authors are associate editors with Lawn & Landscape.