Field Notes

Short principles behind how I work. One idea per page. Start anywhere.

Start here

What this is and how to use it.

AI is not the strategy

It's a tool inside the strategy. Most people get this backwards.

The founder should not be the operating system

If every decision needs you, you don't have a system. You have a queue.

Human-led, AI-powered

A human sets direction. AI does the lifting. A human owns the result.

Process before automation

Automate a mess and you get a faster mess.

Do less, better

Most businesses are busy. Few are focused.

Your system prompt is not a business system

A clever prompt is not the same as a working operation.

Shadow AI is the new shadow IT

Your team is already using AI. The question is whether you know how.

If you can't check it, don't automate it

Trust comes from being able to verify, not from hope.

The 10/80/10 rule

Ten percent direction, eighty percent execution, ten percent judgement.

Small businesses need practical AI, not theatre

You don't need a lab. You need one slow job done faster.

Tools don't fix unclear work

If the work is fuzzy, a new tool just adds a new place to be fuzzy.

AI can write the words. It can't give you a point of view

The model fills the page. You still have to mean something.

Build the rhythm before you build the robot

A habit that runs by hand is ready to automate. A wish is not.

Useful beats impressive

Nobody pays for the demo. They pay for the result.

Actual intelligence beats artificial output

AI is only worth having when it sharpens real thinking, not when it replaces it.

Cognitive surrender is the real risk

The risk isn't using AI. It's letting it think until nobody remembers why.

Make the customer the hero

Marketing should make the buyer feel capable, not the supplier look clever.

The human control layer is the product

Everyone has the model. The judgement wrapped around it is the product.

A business brain beats a chatbot

Context, workflow and memory turn a clever tool into something that runs work.

Retained insight beats one-off output

If the work doesn't make the system better next time, it's just disposable.

The first automation should be boring

Start with repeatable admin pain, not the flashy demo.

Your dashboard is not a decision

Data needs an owner and an action, or it's just decoration.

The work has to survive a Friday

A system that only works when you're at your desk isn't a system.

Top draw is not polished slop

Quality means useful, specific and trusted. Not shiny and overproduced.