This interview is part of an ongoing series exploring the real stories behind AI adoption. Rather than focusing on headlines, predictions, or fears, these conversations highlight how women are using AI in their careers, businesses, and personal lives—and what they're learning along the way.
Every founder has a different AI story.
Some use it to save time. Others use it to automate repetitive work. For Sherri Thompson, AI has become a way to move ideas into execution without the resources of a large team.
I spoke with Sherri, Founder and AI-Powered Product Developer at Viola's Babygirl's, LLC, about how she's using AI to develop products, accelerate research, create marketing content, and build applications that might otherwise have remained ideas. In our conversation, she shares why she sees AI as a collaborator rather than a replacement, the challenges that still require human judgment, and why curiosity has been her biggest advantage in navigating this rapidly evolving technology.
Meet the Interviewee
Sherri Thompson is the Founder and AI-Powered Product Developer at Viola's Babygirl's, LLC with a background spanning museums, photography, publicity, talent management, and entrepreneurship.
Interview
Before AI became widely adopted, how would you describe your work and daily responsibilities?
Before AI became widely adopted, I balanced a full-time museum career with my work as a photographer, publicist, talent agent, and entrepreneur. Much of my time was spent creating marketing materials, researching opportunities, writing outreach emails, managing projects, and coordinating promotions for artists and business ventures. I often had more ideas than time or resources, and many projects required skills or budgets that would normally involve hiring multiple specialists.
How does AI currently intersect with your work or personal life?
AI has become a daily part of both my professional and entrepreneurial life. As a solo founder, I use AI to help develop products, create marketing content, brainstorm solutions, review business strategies, and accelerate research. AI has helped me transform ideas into working products, including PlatformFit™, a content resizing platform, and SaveLifeVault™, a personal continuity and preparedness tool. Rather than replacing my creativity, AI has expanded what I can accomplish with limited resources.
What AI tools, if any, do you regularly use?
I regularly use ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Lovable, Replit, Canva AI, and other AI-powered creative and development tools. I use them for product development, content creation, coding assistance, marketing, brainstorming, image generation, business planning, and workflow optimization. Each tool serves a different purpose, but together they function like a virtual team that helps me move projects forward more efficiently.
Can you describe a specific moment when you realized AI was directly affecting your work, career, or personal life?
The moment I realized AI was directly affecting my work was when I began turning ideas into actual products instead of leaving them in notebooks. As a solo entrepreneur, I had many concepts but limited resources. Traditionally, building a software product would have required hiring developers, designers, and consultants. With AI-assisted tools, I was able to move from concept to working applications. One example was PlatformFit™, a platform that helps users resize content for multiple social media channels. Another was SaveLifeVault™, which was inspired by personal experiences involving phone failures, lost access to important information, and the realization that people need a simple way to organize critical life information. AI helped me bridge the gap between imagination and execution in a way that would have been difficult for me just a few years ago.
What was your initial reaction? And why?
My initial reaction was curiosity because I wanted to understand what AI could actually do beyond the headlines. I wasn't looking for a shortcut. I was interested in whether it could help me solve real problems and overcome barriers that often prevent small business owners from bringing ideas to life. The more I explored it, the more I realized AI could serve as a collaborative tool that expanded my capabilities rather than replacing my judgment, creativity, or experience.
What has been the biggest positive impact AI has had on your life or work?
The biggest positive impact has been the ability to move faster from idea to implementation. AI has allowed me to research, brainstorm, create content, evaluate business strategies, build prototypes, and solve technical problems at a pace that would have previously required a much larger team. As a woman entrepreneur balancing a full-time career and multiple business ventures, AI has helped me accomplish more while maintaining ownership of my vision and creative direction.
What has been the biggest challenge, frustration, or downside?
One of the biggest challenges is that AI can create the impression that building something is easy when, in reality, execution still requires significant effort. AI can generate ideas, code, and content, but it cannot replace testing, decision-making, legal considerations, customer feedback, relationship-building, or persistence. Another challenge is learning when to trust AI and when to verify its output. The technology is powerful, but responsible use requires critical thinking and human oversight.
Has AI changed how you think about your skills, value, creativity, or professional identity?
Yes. AI has reinforced my belief that creativity, judgment, and problem-solving are uniquely human skills. Rather than diminishing my value, AI has highlighted the importance of vision, leadership, and the ability to connect ideas. It has also expanded my professional identity from entrepreneur and creative professional to product builder. AI can help generate possibilities, but people still provide direction, context, empathy, and purpose.
Have you ever felt pressure to learn or adapt to AI faster than you were comfortable with?
Yes. AI is evolving so quickly that it can sometimes feel like if you pause for too long, you'll fall behind. As a working professional and entrepreneur, I felt a responsibility to learn enough to understand its capabilities and limitations. At the same time, I've learned that it's not necessary to master every new tool. It's more important to understand how AI can help solve real problems and support meaningful goals.
Have you experienced any situations where AI created unfairness, bias, exclusion, or unexpected opportunities?
The most noticeable impact for me has been unexpected opportunity. AI has lowered barriers that traditionally prevented solo entrepreneurs and small business owners from pursuing ideas that once required large budgets and specialized teams. While concerns about bias and access remain important, I have personally experienced AI as a tool that has expanded opportunities and allowed me to participate in spaces that might otherwise have been out of reach.
Do you think AI has affected expectations at work?
Absolutely. AI has increased expectations around speed and productivity. Tasks that once took days can now be completed in hours, which can create pressure to produce more in less time. While this can be beneficial, organizations should be careful not to assume that faster output automatically means better outcomes. Human expertise, critical thinking, and quality control remain essential.
What is one thing about AI that most people misunderstand?
Many people believe AI replaces human intelligence, when in reality it is most effective when it complements human intelligence. AI can generate ideas, analyze information, and accelerate tasks, but it cannot replace lived experience, values, creativity, empathy, or accountability. The most successful use of AI comes from combining technology with human insight.
What advice would you give other women navigating AI's growing influence?
Don't wait until you feel like an expert before you begin exploring AI. Start with a problem you want to solve and learn how AI can help you solve it. Approach it with curiosity rather than fear. At the same time, maintain your own voice, judgment, and perspective. AI is a tool, but your experiences, ideas, and creativity are what make your contributions unique.
Are you more optimistic or more concerned about AI's future impact?
I am cautiously optimistic. AI has the potential to increase access to knowledge, expand opportunities, and help people bring ideas to life more efficiently than ever before. At the same time, responsible development and thoughtful oversight are essential. I believe the future will depend less on the technology itself and more on how people choose to use it.
Complete this sentence: "AI has changed my life by..."
"turning possibilities into action and helping me bring ideas to life that I might not have been able to pursue on my own."
Final Thoughts
One thing became clear from Sherri's responses: AI is changing who gets to build.
For a long time, turning an idea into a product often required technical expertise, funding, or access to a team. While those advantages still matter, AI is beginning to lower some of those barriers. Entrepreneurs like Sherri are proving that with the right vision and willingness to learn, it's now possible to move from concept to prototype far more quickly than before.
What I also appreciate about her perspective is the balance. She doesn't view AI as magic or as a replacement for human ability. Instead, she sees it as a collaborator—one that accelerates execution while leaving creativity, judgment, empathy, and leadership firmly in human hands.
It is clear from this interview series that AI isn't creating one universal experience. It's creating thousands of unique ones. For some women, it's reducing mental load. For others, it's helping them compete with larger organizations. And for entrepreneurs like Sherri, it's transforming ideas that once lived in notebooks into products that people can actually use.
Are you a woman using AI in your work, business, studies, or daily life? I'd love to hear your perspective. Every experience is different, and that's exactly why I'm running this series. If AI has changed how you work, create, learn, lead, or think about your future, share your story in the comments. I'm always looking for new voices and would be happy to interview you for a future edition of this series.
