Ashland business believed to be first in town to use AI in day-to-day operations [Video]

Within a year of Brett and Kate Lofing starting Howdy Owl in the garage of their home in Ashland in 2015, they had to switch locations to a warehouse in Lincoln because of how much the custom wall decor business grew.

But when Etsy, Howdy Owl’s main retail platform, changed its advertising strategy in 2021, its sales plummeted.

The Lofings now run Howdy Owl on their own, having just moved operations from Lincoln back to Ashland. With a downsize in personnel comes many challenges. One of them, Brett Lofing said, is customer service.

“In this world today that we’re in, everybody wants answers,” he said. “This can be the person that is searching at 3 a.m. for something online, and they’re ready to purchase, but they got a question. Well, I’m not up at 3 a.m. answering emails.”

That’s where Brown Bacon AI comes in.

The tech company is collaborating with Howdy Owl in what is believed …