Hello,

I've been sitting on a piece of data for a week, and I couldn't stop thinking about it.

PwC published it this month. Same job. Same company. Same title. One person uses AI properly. The other doesn't.

56% difference in pay.

When I first read it, I thought, that's wild. Then I sat with it longer, and something about it genuinely unsettled me.

That number is going to disappear.

Not because AI stops mattering. Because eventually everyone will know it. And the moment everyone knows it, the gap closes, exactly the way it did with email, with Excel, with Google.

Today, I want to show you why that matters more than the 56% itself. And what to actually do about it this week.

The premium isn't there because AI is complicated. It's there because most people haven't crossed the line yet.

That's it. That's the whole reason.

We've seen this exact pattern before. In the late 90s, knowing how to use email properly made you faster than everyone around you. Then everyone learned it, and the advantage disappeared. Excel. Google. Same story every time. There's always a short window where early movers get paid for it, then the window closes, and everyone else just catches up for free.

AI is on the same track. Compressed into 18 months instead of five years.

I left corporate finance after 15 years. Two years ago, I started using AI properly, not dabbling, actually building systems around my work. I now run three businesses simultaneously. Something I genuinely could not have done without it. Not because AI is magic, but because it gave me back enough hours to keep three things moving at once.

I save 8 hours every week. That's 35 extra working days a year without changing my hours or hiring anyone.

Two years ago, that made me faster than most people around me. Eighteen months from now, it will just make me normal.

The 56% doesn't go to the people who know the most about AI. It goes to the people who stopped waiting.

Here's what actually changed for me.

I'm not just using AI to move faster through my to-do list. I use it to plan my week in proper time blocks, something I used to do badly on my own or pay someone to help me structure. I use it as a business coach when I'm facing a decision I can't see clearly. I use it as a thinking partner when something isn't working, and I need someone to tell me the uncomfortable truth.

A good business coach costs anywhere from £300 to £1000 a month. A life coach is the same. A skilled EA who actually manages your time properly, another £2-3k a month minimum. Most small business owners and professionals can't justify all three. Many can't justify any of them.

I have all three. Every single day. For the cost of a ChatGPT subscription.

That's what the 56% is really measuring. Not who knows more about AI. Who has better support around them? Who makes clearer decisions faster? Who isn't drowning in their own thinking because they have somewhere to take it?

The people on the right side of that gap aren't more productive because they automated their meeting notes. They're more productive because they stopped being alone with their problems.

That's the delegation gap. And it has nothing to do with how technical you are.

Use case: You're stuck on a decision, a direction, or something in your business that isn't moving. You've been thinking about it alone for too long.

Copy and paste this:

"I want you to act as a senior business coach with 20 years of experience working with entrepreneurs and business professionals. I'm going to describe a situation I'm currently navigating. I need you to ask me three questions that will help me think more clearly about it, not give me the answer straight away, but help me get out of my own head first. Then, once I've answered, give me your honest assessment and one clear recommendation. Don't tell me what I want to hear. Here's my situation: [describe it]."

Why it works: Most people ask AI for answers. This prompt asks you to think with it first, exactly the way a good coach would. The three questions it asks back will often surface something you already knew but hadn't said out loud. That's where the real value is.

The 56% premium is real. But it won't be there forever.

The people earning it right now aren't just faster. They have better thinking, better decisions, and better support around them, every single day.

The window is open. It won't stay that way.

See you next Tuesday with more ways to use AI without losing your mind (or your credibility).

Orgesa Meli

P.S. If this saved you from a future hallucination disaster, forward it to someone who's using ChatGPT for proposals, reports, or client work. They'll thank you later. Subscribe to my community here.