From Aeronautical Engineering to AI: Meet Jay Magpantay

It’s not every day you meet a Navy veteran, aerospace engineer, sales pro, and AI entrepreneur rolled into one human.

That’s Jay.

Technically, Jay found me. He reached out on LinkedIn and invited me onto his podcast. It wasn’t a pitch. No “quick 15 minutes so I can tell you about our offer.” He simply said he interviews entrepreneurs and would love to hear my story.

Once we talked, I knew I had to flip the script and interview him.

Jay gives off big energy and calm focus at the same time. Half joking, he says, “I'm too blessed to be stressed.” He loves systems and lights up when he talks about helping businesses grow. Today, he runs Jumpify Labs, where he builds AI-powered systems that help companies (and yes, nonprofits) get more of the right clients, more predictably.

And he’s not thinking small.

Jay told me, emphatically, “I don’t want to help clients double their revenue. I want to 10x it.”

From the Navy to AI

Jay’s story doesn’t begin with AI. It starts with the military and space.

He served in the Navy, then became an aerospace engineer. It was great work, but he wasn’t fulfilled. What he enjoyed was the structure. It’s how his brain works: process + discipline + constant optimization = success.

In his words, the core leadership lesson he carried forward is being “process-oriented.”

If there’s a result you want, Jay’s instinct is to ask, “If we want this outcome, what daily steps do we need to take to make that outcome inevitable?”

“Inevitable” might not be his favorite word, but it fits. And you can feel the engineer in him when he talks about it. He doesn’t chase magic, that’s what designing systems is for.

Eventually, he realized he was more energized by people than by parts. So, he pivoted into sales, built a t-shirt printing business in his backyard, scaled it into a warehouse… and then discovered, there had to be a less manual, more leveraged way to grow.

That curiosity pulled him deeper into online marketing, systems, and eventually AI.

The 97% Strategy: Where AI Actually Wins

Jay wants to reframe how we think about “AI for growth.”

A lot of leaders think AI is a magic button that instantly spits out new customers. And of course some tried AI once, sent 20 messages, didn’t get results, and decided “AI doesn’t work.”

Jay understands AI is another tool in your toolbelt. With practice, structure, and process, the results can be impressive.

As we talked, Jay mentioned:“Only 1–3% of your market is ready to buy right now. Everyone is fighting over those individuals. Meanwhile, the other 97%—people who could be perfect in six months or a year—are ignored.”

AI helps you reach that 97%.

Used well, AI lets you do something most organizations never had the bandwidth for:

• Start hundreds or thousands of 1:1 conversations

• Nurture people over time

• Stay top of mind until they are ready

  
  

“If you’re in it for the long haul, AI works 100 out of 100 times,” he told me. “You just can’t expect it to work when your sample size is 20 people.”

He also leans heavily into early adopters, they’re ready and interested. When doing outreach:

• Aim for the early adopters

• Ignore the 20% who will never get on board

• Trust that the middle 60% will follow once they see the leaders moving

  
  

If you’ve read The Tipping Point or Crossing the Chasm, you’ll recognize the pattern. Jay has simply baked it into his AI outreach strategy.

Predictable Revenue, Not Random Leads

Jumpify Labs is still young — just a couple of months old when we spoke — but it’s built on a clear philosophy:

Start with the end in mind:If you want 10 clients a month, work backward into the inputs:

• How many outreach messages?

• How many first conversations?

• How many sales calls?

  
  

Then build the AI system that ensures those inputs happen every month.

Jay explained, “If 800 new conversations reliably lead to four clients, and you want ten, you don’t need a pep talk,  you need a bigger pipe: more high-quality outreach, more at-bats, more data.”

That’s the engineer again: reverse engineer the outcome, then “get addicted to the process.”

One example: a consultant who, within two weeks of launching their AI system, landed a $30,000 engagement plus a revenue share. Not bad for a solopreneur.

Jay’s own model reflects his 10x mindset:“We start projects with a setup phase — the heavy lifting. Finding ideal clients, building lists, designing messaging, wiring up the systems. There’s no retainer; instead, we do a small revenue share because we want partners, not clients.”

Where AI and Nonprofits Meet

Of course, I had to ask what this means for nonprofits.

His answer was simple:“AI can help you have mass one-to-one conversations at scale.”

You still need the human element, especially in philanthropy, but AI can:

• Find and enrich prospects

• Send personalized outreach that actually references something real

• Handle simple back-and-forth

• Book calls and create contact records

• Follow up before and after meetings

  
  

Imagine a development office that can:

• Reach out to hundreds of lapsed donors

• Stay in touch with mid-level donors who aren’t ready for a big jump yet

• Keep legacy and endowment prospects warm over months and years

  
  

All while your humans stay focused on the work only humans can do:building relationships, listening, asking good questions, and making thoughtful asks.

As Jay put it, when you shift your lens from “How do I get a new client?” to “How do I serve?” AI becomes a force multiplier, not a replacement.

Thailand, Medellín, and What’s Next

Years ago, Jay went to a marketing event in Thailand. Someone there said, “If you’re serious about this, move to Thailand. I’ll mentor you.”

Most people would say, “That’s interesting,” and go back to their job.

Jay booked a flight.

He spent years bouncing between Thailand and the U.S., learning, experimenting, and building. Eventually he returned stateside for family reasons and realized he still wanted the freedom of location-independent work, without the brutal time difference.

That’s how he ended up in Medellín, Colombia: U.S. hours, strong WiFi, and (bonus) he met his girlfriend there. For now, it’s home.

When I asked what’s next, his answer stretched beyond revenue:

“As I grow this business and eventually have more free time, I want to start a nonprofit.Maybe in Thailand or Colombia. Somewhere I can put dollars to work for good.”

Spoken like a guy who really is “too blessed to be stressed.”

If you’re a founder, CEO, or nonprofit leader still on the fence about AI, Jay would tell you this:

Don’t wait until you’re forced into it. Start learning now.Get addicted to a process that makes growth inevitable.

AI isn’t here to replace you. It’s here to free you up to do more of the work only you can do.

To learn more about Jay, check out his website: https://www.jumpifylabs.com/

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I help nonprofits raise more money through education, coaching, and strategic planning. I also lead high-impact professional development, coaching programs, and retreats for companies of all sizes. If you’re ready to strengthen your fundraising strategy, turn board members into advocates, or build a comprehensive legacy giving program, let’s talk.