Having spent decades in the field service industry, the Field Five team is excited to bring you a variety of voices, perspectives, and industries across the field service landscape throughout Season 1.
Welcome to Episode 10 of the Field Five podcast! In this episode, MSI Data's Alyce Peterson interviews LinkedIn Top Voice, Tim Goebel who has been using AI for over 10 years. He has worked in various industries such as manufacturing, medical, and military drones.
Tim also focuses on using AI for sales and marketing, customer service, and troubleshooting in various companies, and is always staying up to date on the latest advancements in the field. His advice for building a successful AI project is to ensure that the business problem, pipeline, and structure are all aligned.
Listen in in just about 5 min!
Alyce Peterson: Tim, thank you for joining us today. You’ve been in AI for quite some time. Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you got started?
Tim: I’ve been working in AI for over ten years now, across industries like manufacturing, medical technology, and even U.S. military drone systems. I started out in vision AI, which eventually led me into NLP (natural language processing). Today, my focus is on building AI agents — which has become a major topic in the industry. I’ve been collaborating with companies both in Wisconsin and beyond for about a year now on projects in that space.
Alyce: That’s quite a journey. What led you to start sharing your work more publicly?
Tim: Interestingly, I was laid off last year, and that became a turning point for me. I decided to start talking openly about the projects I’d been working on and what I was learning along the way. From there, it really took off — much more than I expected. I’m now part of a global AI event where leaders from around the world come together to discuss innovation and real-world applications of AI.
Alyce: You’ve been hands-on with AI for a decade. Looking ahead, what’s most exciting to you about where the technology is going?
Tim: What excites me most is the potential that still hasn’t been tapped. Having worked with tools across vision AI and NLP, I see a lot of opportunity in how models can be stacked — combining them to do far more than they can individually. When you understand how to layer models effectively, you can achieve incredible efficiency and outcomes.
For example, I’ve been helping a manufacturer in Green Bay that wanted to improve their sales and marketing operations. Once I understood their data and market regions, we built an AI agent that supports both sales and marketing functions simultaneously. A lot of businesses treat those areas separately, but in reality, they’re deeply connected. Integrating them through AI can create much greater impact.
Alyce: That’s a great example of practical innovation. What other projects have you found especially rewarding?
Tim: One that really stands out is with my current employer, VAS HVAC Products. They design and manufacture HVAC systems, and I developed an AI agent for troubleshooting.
I spent about three weeks in the field with our technicians and saw firsthand how often they were interrupted by customer calls while on-site. They were struggling to keep up, constantly shifting focus. To solve that, I built an AI agent that automatically replies to customer emails with solutions to common issues. For more complex problems, it can escalate the issue to a phone call.
This change has saved a tremendous amount of time and money. It’s allowed our technicians to focus on installations instead of constant troubleshooting, and it’s dramatically improved our customer response times.
Another exciting project involves computer vision for quality control. I’m currently working with a manufacturing company to use AI in detecting production defects. We created a system that identifies issues in real time and instantly notifies the right team — before the product ever leaves the production line. That kind of proactive problem-solving prevents waste and keeps operations running smoothly.
Alyce: You’ve clearly seen AI make a real difference in the field. How do you stay ahead in such a fast-moving space?
Tim: I’m constantly learning. I stay deeply connected to the AI community, read research papers, and test new tools all the time. The key is to never stop exploring — there’s always something new to understand or a better way to approach a challenge.
Alyce: That’s inspiring. Before we wrap up, any advice you’d share with others looking to build AI systems within their businesses?
Tim: Absolutely. If you’re developing an AI agent or any AI solution, the most important thing is alignment. Your structure, your data pipeline, and your business goals all need to line up from the start. Otherwise, your project is likely to fail — and that’s something I see happen far too often.
Technology can only enhance systems that are already working. It’s not a magic fix for underlying business problems. Address those first, then bring AI in to optimize and scale what’s already functioning well.
Alyce: That’s excellent advice. Thank you so much for sharing your experience and insights today, Tim.
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Alyce Peterson is Product Marketing Manager at Service Pro by MSI Data in Milwaukee serving the field service industry with over a decade of marketing expertise—from software, to startups to global Fortune 500s—to the field service industry. After serving on numerous volunteer boards, in 2025 she’s now Vice Chair of EGSA’s Membership Committee.
