Blog

What we're thinking about.

Plain-language writing on AI for SMBs. No vendor speak. No 47-page strategy decks. Just the thinking behind how we work.

More writing

Operating model
September 22, 2026 · 9 min

You can't ship what you can't score

The worst AI failure I've watched wasn't a system going down. It was six weeks of quiet wrong. Here's the eval discipline that would have caught it.

Strategy
September 15, 2026 · 7 min

Buy, configure, or build: the only three AI decisions you have

Every AI decision collapses into three options. Most businesses default to buying because it feels safe — then wonder why nobody uses the thing.

Operating model
September 8, 2026 · 4 min

Who owns the agent?

The org chart question nobody asks before buying AI. If naming the person takes more than three seconds, you've found the thing that will break it.

Operating model
September 1, 2026 · 6 min

Definition of done for an AI agent

Most AI gets shipped when it demos well. That isn't done. Here's the gate we run internally, published in full, so you can ask every vendor you talk to for theirs.

Field notes
August 25, 2026 · 5 min

The missed-call problem: what trades businesses lose every week

A four-truck plumbing company misses calls all day and prices the loss at zero. Here's how to work out your own number, and why you shouldn't trust anyone else's.

Strategy
August 18, 2026 · 7 min

The two-week AI audit you can run without hiring anyone

You don't need a consultant to find your first AI use case. You need two weeks, a spreadsheet, and the discipline to write down what actually happens.

Operating model
May 12, 2026 · 6 min

Products, not projects: why your AI agent needs a product manager

Most AI systems get treated as one-time builds — and then quietly rot. Product thinking is what keeps them useful past month three.

Strategy
May 5, 2026 · 5 min

The AI decision gap: why SMBs are stuck and what to do about it

The first time an SMB owner asked me what to do about AI, I gave them a 20-minute answer built for a company ten times their size. They stared at me. Then they asked the real question.