The Leadership Skill That Gets More Valuable as AI Takes Over
The Home Service Expert Podcast
Tommy Mello
4.7 • 793 Ratings
🗓️ 16 May 2026
⏱️ 91 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://homeservicefreedom.com/
The biggest myth in home service technology? That software solves problems. It doesn't. People do.
Tommy sits down with Richard Kohberger — the go-to ServiceTitan expert and founder of Blue Collar Nerd — for one of the most honest conversations about technology, leadership, and what it actually takes to build a great home service company in the AI era.In this episode you'll learn:
— Why most companies use ServiceTitan wrong
— and what it actually looks like when you use it right
— The truth about AI replacing CSRs and what to do about it before it happens to you
— Why adding more AI to your business means your people need MORE human attention, not less
— The four metrics every home service owner should know cold
— Why emotional intelligence is the most underrated skill in home service leadership
-- 🕐 TIMESTAMPS 🕐 --
00:00 - Introduction
00:34 - Richard's Background and Blue Collar Nerd Origin
03:08 - Why Investors Are Rushing Into Home Service
06:02 - Advanced ServiceTitan Integrations
10:31 - When to Get on ServiceTitan
13:50 - AI-First Software and What's Coming
17:46 - Tommy's AI-Written Radio Ad Live
21:16 - Social Media vs Traditional Advertising
28:03 - The A1 Garage Model vs HVAC
32:28 - Which Industry Would Richard Build In?
36:12 - Tommy's 2017 Trifecta and Podcast Origin
38:49 - SOPs: SweetProcess vs Trainual
41:13 - AI Supporting People Not Replacing Them
44:41 - Technology Changing Leadership and Culture
47:52 - Longevity Science and Fasting
51:03 - Skills the Next Generation of Operators Needs
54:14 - EQ vs IQ in Leadership
58:42 - Rapid Fire: The Four Metrics Every Owner Must Know
1:09:08 - Die With Zero and Tommy's Philanthropy Plans
1:13:53 - Get Clear on Your WHY 1:17:35 - Is "I'm Doing It for My Family" Really True?
1:23:39 - Meditation, Facing Fears, and Final Thoughts
🚀 FREEDOM 2026 Get your Tickets Today! https://homeservicefreedom.com/
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | What's the biggest tech myth in the trades? |
| 0:03.0 | That software solves problems. |
| 0:05.0 | Humans still want to connect to other humans. |
| 0:07.0 | It's important to still find ways to do that while not ignoring this important tool, |
| 0:13.0 | because if you don't use this important tool, people who are using this important tool are going to run you over. |
| 0:17.0 | There's a balance to be found here. |
| 0:19.0 | The more that we introduce silicon as sort of |
| 0:22.6 | brain replacements into these, into our companies, I do think that the humans are going to need |
| 0:27.6 | extra special attention to make sure that they still feel valued. Maybe help them out a little bit |
| 0:33.6 | and someday later that will pay you dividends, but don't do it for the dividends do |
| 0:38.4 | it because that's another human being there's so many people that understand the trades but |
| 0:46.1 | they have no idea where technology is going i think at a one we're running 23 different |
| 0:50.8 | software is right now yeah yeah everything from the cameras and the trucks to make |
| 0:56.5 | sure you're driving okay, to inventory, to automations, to email sequences, to, there's so many |
| 1:04.6 | different software. So tell us what you're excited about, what got you to where you're at now, |
| 1:10.4 | and yeah, just the passion stuff. |
| 1:14.0 | I mean, now's a really exciting time to be somebody interested in technology. |
| 1:18.2 | I mean, I come up in the trades. |
| 1:19.8 | Like you said, I worked at my dad shop in the Atlanta area. |
| 1:23.8 | And I worked in all sorts of roles there, right? |
| 1:26.2 | So I was a technician for a while. |
| 1:28.3 | I moved into the office. |
... |
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