10-05-2024 – Chicago: Chicago is famous for its food, and that's what first drew University of Chicago student Wes Kim into the restaurant world. A casual visit to a local farmer's market showed him a side of the industry most diners never see, where he found the opportunity to make the operations more efficient with technology.
Seeing the Supply Chain Up Close
Initially, Wes Kim didn't plan on becoming an engineer. He just loved eating out. But after befriending a local mushroom distributor whom he met at the farmer's market, he saw daily bottlenecks up close: hundreds of email orders from restaurants copied into invoices by hand and inventory tracked on a whiteboard. ChatGPT had just launched, and Wes realized he could help.
Meeting every week at the warehouse, he wrote a simple tool that automated order intake. It saved hours each day and showed Wes how much small businesses can gain from basic software.
Getting Personal: Immersion in the Process
Rather than sitting behind a laptop and hypothesizing solutions without any experience, Wes immersed himself in the work. He harvested mushrooms, packed orders, and rode in delivery trucks to restaurants. The process wasn't glamorous, but it wasn't meant to be.
"You can't solve problems from the outside looking in. If you want to build for an industry you don't know, you have to fully immerse yourself in it," he said. It taught him that the most pressing needs often lie beneath surface-level frustrations, and solving them requires trust, time, and hands-on work.
From Skepticism to Professional Work
Still, many traditional industries weren't easily persuaded by new tech. The words "automation" and "AI" often triggered resistance. Things changed when he stopped trying to convince everyone and instead found the right person.
"The breakthrough came when we realized we needed to find the early adopters—people who were genuinely frustrated with their current processes and open to trying something new," he recalled. After finding one client who was willing to give him a chance, word of Wes's ingenious solutions spread quickly.
Today, Wes is applying the same mindset in a very different industry—healthcare. At Arrow, he helps automate the administrative chaos of claim denials, a major pain point that costs providers a significant amount of time and money. He believes the real power of AI lies in helping to remove friction from someone's day. His systems reduce overhead costs, improve accuracy and security, and give his clients more time to focus on delivering quality patient care, rather than spending time on paperwork.
Creating Equity Through Tech
Beyond being a creator, Wes is an advocate. He views technology as a tool that should be accessible to every business owner, not just those with substantial financial resources and influence. "Technology is unevenly distributed—the flashy sectors get all the funding and attention while traditional industries get left behind. This creates a negative cycle where these businesses become less efficient and fall further behind," he said.
Wes Kim plans to continue working in the "unsexy" industries that continue to be ignored. It isn't about visibility or power. Sometimes, real change can start with something as small as a mushroom. His work proves that modern solutions don't have to come in sleek packages to be life-changing.
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