We're back, folks. This is the more money show. Thanks again for joining on this one of the last weekends in July and what we call the dog days of summer. I am so pleased and honored to have as my next guest Bob Nardelli. Bob has been a regular on the show. He is back by popular demand because what he is like he ate a button what Bob Nardelli says people listen because he you know his bio. He was the CEO of Home Depot. He was the CEO of Chrysler. He was the number two guy to Jack Welch at GE. So, learned from the very very best. He's one of the smartest eye guys I know on business. Bob, thanks for joining.
Steve, thank you. You're always so kind with that introduction. It's great to be with you on Saturday afternoon.
Well, thanks again for joining and you've been all over the world. I've been trying to get in touch with you and every time I try to reach you you're here, there, or everywhere because you're still so involved in business. My first question for you, Bob, is I don't know if you're listening earlier, but I was talking about all the things that are going well in the economy. The fact that, you know, we're beating the pants off China for the last 15 years. Our stock market has gone up multiple times faster than theirs has. You know, the fact that we have more millionaires in this country than all the rest of the world combined. The fact that earnings for American companies have been really good this quarter. They're coming in at a jumbo size, which is good because we want our companies to make money so they can continue to hire and for the shareholders. And then the jobs numbers have been pretty good, too. A record low number of people have been laid off, which means, you know, that we actually have a shortage of workers today, not jobs. But yet, Bob, here's the conundrum. People are not happy. If you look at the polls, consumer sentiment is down, down, down. What do you think explains that?
Yeah. Well, Steve, I think you make a bunch of wonderful points there. I would say, you know, as we were talking, the economy is showing very resilient. It's very resilient as evidenced in the market. You know, if you look at the Dow and the performance there, I think the business leaders, the business leaders we have today have certainly, you know, demonstrated their ability, their adaptability, their agility. I remember at the start of the year there was, you know, kind of we're kind of paralyzed a little bit, tariffs, etc., etc., but well, it's you just as you said, I mean, look at the banks, right? It's just unbelievable performance. I think the speed of response is what's really driving these companies. You know, the earnings that you say are strong, people have got their heads down, but their antennas are up. They're up high because they need to be that. So, you can't wait for the end of the month or the quarter or the longer. You need to be at your business by the hour, you know, day, and you need to anticipate what might happen. Even with that, you know, you may get a surprise. I still think we've got a really strong economy and as long as people don't try to gamble, they're in good shape. The only fear and I have that to share with you and your audience is, you know, as you say, I am traveling the world. I just got back from the international air show over in London at Farnborough, and well, if you look at that attendance, you think, 'Oh my god, things are really great, for sure.' I mean, really, really great. But, supply chain is what concerns me a little bit. Particularly if you think about the heavy castings that are out there, some of the higher volume, you know, if you look at Boeing and Airbus are getting back to, you know, pre-pre-COVID levels. That's really good, but it's straining the supply chain. Many cases I'm seeing, you know, 60-70% performance to schedules with them. Well, at the other side, we've got to deliver, you know, 99.9% to our customers. So, that's the only thing I would keep an eye on, Steve.
So, the great points. One question I had for you because you're involved in so many companies. I know you're on the board of some of the major companies in America and are following what our great corporations are doing. How much are companies using AI? Because I've been, you know, I know people are a little bit afraid of AI. They're worried about what this means for their jobs and they worry about robotics. Will a robot take my job? And yet I always say this is happening. It's not a question of whether we're going to have AI and robotics. It's whether we're going to lead the way or will China. So, my question for you in the companies that you're involved in and that you're investing in, are they using AI and are they using it efficiently?
Yeah. The answer is absolutely. I'll give you an example. I've got a chairman of a company down in Dallas and we supply you know, Boeing, Airbus, etc. All of the OEM manufacturers. And I think there's a misconception out there what AI is, what it can do, and how it could be utilized. We have something like 15 or 16 AI agents that are very focused and well bounded so they don't get out of control. But in one case, you know, it took us four weeks to develop it and we saw a 13 to 15 million dollar savings. And the other place
So, they're just I want to make sure I understand. So, these AI applications are making the companies more efficient.
No question about it. I mean, when you think about 1.2 billion transactions and you have a lot of paper being shuffled, particularly when you serve government. And so, the ability to streamline that, number one. Number two, when we get these requests for quotes, a lot of it had been manual, Stephen. Right now, we've gone from a 14% conversion rate to a 43% conversion rate by just putting in some simple AI agents.
So, sorry about that interrupt, but what does that mean a conversion rate? What does that mean?
