For entrepreneurs launching a new business, AI is increasingly becoming part of the daily workflow, helping with everything from strategic planning and content development to marketing and customer communications.
Calgary entrepreneur Darren Bondar is putting that approach into practice with MEDIUM, a watch and lifestyle brand he launched with a retail store that opened October 30 at CF Chinook Centre.
MEDIUM is built around stories of resilience and reinvention, with watches and accessories meant as reminders of the milestones people have experienced.
Bondar, whose career includes building multiple consumer product ventures such as Canada’s largest cannabis retail chain in 2021, has been involved in opening roughly 150 retail locations across Canada. But he says the process of developing a business today looks considerably different than it did just four years ago.
“AI gives me a way to challenge my thinking and develop a first draft quickly,” Bondar said. “My experience still informs the decisions, but the process of getting there has changed considerably.”
AI Becomes Part of the Small Business Toolkit
Bondar has made OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude central to building MEDIUM, using the AI platforms across brand strategy, product development, website creation, marketing, hiring, and day-to-day operations.
The tools help him brainstorm ideas, develop business plans, draft and refine content, and work through decisions. He also uses ChatGPT’s image generation to explore visual concepts.
Beyond AI, MEDIUM uses Shopify as its e-commerce platform, Shopify POS (point of sale system) to process purchases in its physical store, and Klaviyo for customer relationship management and marketing automation. Together, these technologies support the company’s online and in-store operations and its efforts to build stronger customer relationships.
For Bondar, the biggest advantage is the ability to develop ideas and materials independently before involving additional resources.
“I can take an idea much further before bringing in outside resources, and arrive with a more developed brief,” he said.
Ahead of the store opening, Bondar used AI to draft MEDIUM’s staff training guide, in-store product signage, and much of its website before his team reviewed and refined them.
His experience reflects a broader shift among small business owners.
An October 2026 Goldman Sachs survey of small business owners found that 86% of respondents use AI in their businesses, although only 15% have fully integrated the technology into their core operations like Bondar has.
Another finding highlights how applications are expanding beyond marketing and administrative tasks: 42% of AI users reported applying it to financial analysis and business planning, more than double the proportion in 2024.
The findings suggest that while AI adoption is becoming widespread among these entrepreneurs, many are still determining how to incorporate the technology into their everyday operations.
For small teams, the potential is significant. Tasks that previously required considerable time or outside expertise can increasingly be explored and developed internally.
Bondar has not formally measured MEDIUM’s time or cost savings from AI, however, and emphasizes that the business continues to require meaningful investments in inventory, staffing, and physical retail infrastructure.
Finding the Balance Between AI and Authenticity
Technology is also influencing how MEDIUM develops its marketing and customer experience.
Samantha Down, who leads the company’s marketing, says AI is helping the business approach content creation more efficiently, while making the human element of the work increasingly important.
“AI gives us a starting point for product descriptions, emails, and social content, but it’s our job to decide what fits the brand and feels authentic,” Down said. “It helps us explore more creative options quickly without losing the human judgment behind the final message.”
MEDIUM’s approach to customer engagement includes an online Story Builder, which guides visitors through questions about meaningful moments in their lives and helps them create a personal Story Board they can review and edit.
In the store, MEDIUM’s free Story Studio takes that idea offline: customers share a meaningful moment in a short guided conversation with a MEDIUM storyteller and leave with a portrait and a printed keepsake of their story.
For Bondar, technology should support the storytelling process without compromising its authenticity.
“Real customer stories need real experiences and permission to share them,” he said. “AI can help shape the words, but the story has to be the customer’s own.”
New Tools, New Skills
The experience illustrates how AI is changing not only the technologies available to smaller businesses, but also the skills needed to use them effectively.
Critical thinking, communication, editing, and customer understanding remain essential, even as AI makes it easier to develop content and explore business opportunities.
For entrepreneurs considering their own use of the technology, Bondar recommends starting with practical applications rather than pursuing AI for its own sake.
“Start with a real task you need help with,” he said. “Give the tool context, question the output, and refine it.”
For Bondar, the lesson from building MEDIUM is that AI does not eliminate the need for entrepreneurial experience or good judgment. Instead, it gives business owners and their teams new ways to apply those skills, work more efficiently, and bring ideas to market.
