Notes from the field.
You don’t need to be technical to lead an AI rollout, but you do need someone to translate. That’s what this page is for. We write about the decisions, the tradeoffs, and the messy parts nobody else is talking about.
Why mid-market operators hire an AI operating partner instead of a consultant
Consultants leave a deck. Agencies sell you a tool. An AI operating partner stays embedded, owns the roadmap, and ships systems your team keeps. Here is how the model actually works.
Build vs. buy in 2026: a decision framework for AI tooling
There is a SaaS for everything. There is also a custom build for everything. Here is the matrix we use to decide which one a business actually needs, and the three conditions where the obvious answer flips.
What a one-page AI policy looks like for a mid-market company
You do not need a forty-page governance document. You need one page that answers what AI is allowed to touch, who decides, and what happens when something goes wrong. Here is the version we use.
How to evaluate an AI vendor in 2026 without getting fooled by the demo
Half of the AI vendors at any conference are a thin wrapper around the same underlying model. Some are excellent. Some are worse than nothing. Here are the five questions we run before recommending one.
Agent sprawl: the operational problem nobody is naming yet
Every department has its own AI tool. None of them talk to each other. None of them have a named owner. The bill is starting to add up. This is now the most common operational problem inside a mid-market business.
Where to put your AI dollars in 2026: a prioritization framework
Most operators have more AI ideas than budget. The interesting question is not which ones are good. It is which ones to do this quarter, which to defer, and which to deliberately not do yet.