Tools That Drive Real Business Results and the Importance of Safe AI Brand expert, author, and AI strategist, Phil Pallen, explains the factors businesses need to consider during this AI boom and how tools like Adobe Express are essential for both creativity and commercial safety.

The artificial intelligence (AI) boom has prompted businesses to adopt AI tools that promise efficiency, creativity, and competitive advantages. But smart business owners know artificial intelligence isn't just about making strategic, results-driven decisions, it's also about ensuring compliance and safety.

Brand and AI strategist Phil Pallen understands firsthand how AI can help small businesses create, market, and elevate themselves in a way that wasn't possible just a few years ago. As an author, speaker, and consultant who has worked with hundreds of BIZ Experiencess and companies worldwide, he has helped countless businesses and solopreneurs identify real-world AI applications that can positively impact their operations.

If you ask Pallen, one of AI's most valuable applications is automating time-consuming design tasks. Instead of spending hours manually re-sizing assets for different platforms, AI-powered tools like Adobe Express enable businesses to click a button and generate endless variations of what you're looking for in seconds. It's also easy to create new visual elements, erase unwanted objects, and fill in empty spaces. And the result is seamless.

"AI doesn't just re-crop the image, it intelligently refills the space without losing focus on that beautiful thing that the photographer captured initially," Pallen explains.

This new technology allows SMB owners to spend less time on mundane edits and more on creativity and strategy to grow their business. "AI has transformed how I approach design work," Pallen shares. "Now, I spend more time crafting ideas and perfecting creative strategies rather than getting stuck in tedious editing tasks." With Adobe Express, he can quickly experiment with different design elements, refine visuals, and iterate on marketing assets faster, allowing him to focus on big-picture thinking and brand storytelling.

While these tools offer significant advantages, they can present problems if they aren't safe for business use. Here, Pallen discusses what factors companies need to consider, including commercially safe AI, and how tools like Adobe Express allow businesses to fuel that creativity and growth without putting their brands at risk.

Recognizing AI's role and limitations

While AI is a powerful assistant, Pallen is clear on its role, particularly in writing. "Don't outsource core writing to AI," he explains. "It may give you a great place to start, but you'll need to spend time personalizing the information if you really want to capture your distinct voice and sound professional."

For example, Pallen uses AI-powered text tools in Adobe Express to kickstart his copywriting. "If I'm working on titles, headlines, or paragraphs for brochures and proposals, that tool gives me a great head start and then I can make edits," he explains. The ability to quickly generate multiple headline versions or refine messaging allows him to test different approaches before finalizing copy, ultimately leading to stronger, more impactful content that aligns with his brand's voice.

The importance of commercially safe AI

As AI becomes more embedded in operations, businesses need to consider the impacts of using these tools because not all AI models are built with the same ethical commercial safety standards. Pallen emphasizes the importance of understanding how the models behind creative apps are trained. "I'm not a trademark or an IP attorney, but protecting creativity or someone's intellectual property is very much a part of my world," he says.

Features in Adobe Express are powered by Adobe Firefly (Adobe's generative creative models), which enables businesses and other creators to generate images, design assets, and videos using a few quick prompts. Firefly is trained on data that Adobe has the right to use, including a dataset of licensed content—primarily Adobe Stock images—along with openly licensed content and public domain content where copyright has expired. This helps ensure that images generated with Firefly are commercially safe.

For business owners and creators, this distinction matters. "I appreciate that Adobe Firefly is commercially safe," Pallen acknowledges. "That's a very different conversation than using other AI tools that may not offer that guarantee." Pallen needs his clients to have peace of mind about the marketing materials he creates. When AI-generated visuals are legally compliant, businesses can design confidently without worrying about potential copyright or intellectual property risks.

Questions every business should ask before selecting AI tools

AI tools should integrate smoothly into creative workflows while ensuring ethical and legal compliance. Before investing in AI tools, Pallen says companies can make informed decisions by asking the right questions:

• Is the AI tool commercially safe and trained on licensed data?

• Does it align with my business needs?

• Does the vendor train their models on my personal or business data?

• Will it simplify processes without adding complexity?

"These are the questions that separate the AI tools that genuinely add value from those that could pose risks," Pallen explains. He stresses that selecting the right AI tools is about long-term trust, security, and efficiency. By considering these factors, businesses can integrate AI in a way that enhances their brand while protecting their creative integrity.

Why Adobe Express stands out

In many ways, AI is reshaping business workflows by making creativity more accessible while ensuring brand safety. Small-business owners can focus on what matters most by leveraging technology that enhances efficiency and protects intellectual property. Pallen reflects on this shift. "I've made a living from creativity for 15 years, and I can tell you I have never felt this creative," he says. Adobe Express makes it easy for business professionals to create high-quality marketing and social content, sales decks, HR collateral, and more.

With AI-powered tools like Adobe Express, businesses can create confidently while protecting their brand identity. As Pallen says, the real power lies in how business leaders harness these tools to fuel creativity and growth.

Click here to learn more about Adobe Express and the benefits of commercially safe branding and marketing to drive your business forward.