Strategy8 min read
Stop the Bleeding First — Why AI Won't Save Broken Operations
In the Marines, they taught us four lifesaving steps — in order. Most AI consultants skip straight to step three. That's why their projects fail.
Read article →Insights
Practical AI for Real Operations
No buzzwords. No hype. Strategic insights on AI transformation from 40 years in the operational trenches.
Strategy10 min read
Why Connected Operations Platforms Move You to the Top of Your Valuation Band
Private equity pays 3–4x EBITDA for owner-dependent businesses running on disconnected SaaS. Build a connected AI operations platform and you can move to the top of your industry's multiple range — typically 1–2 additional EBITDA turns. Here's the honest math.
Read article →Architecture8 min read
The New Shiny Thing: Why Claude + MCP Isn't the Architecture Your Business Needs
A friend was excited about connecting Claude to Shopify via MCP — until we looked at the token bill. Every call loads massive tool definitions into the context window, and costs multiply fast when you stack business tools. There's a cleaner way to build AI automations.
Read article →Advisory9 min read
Why You Need a Former Sales Engineer on Your Vendor's "New AI Features" Call
I spent years as a sales engineer running vendor demos. I facilitate AI product development at MIT xPRO. When I sit in on your vendor calls, I know the playbook, I know what should be under the hood, and I know the questions that expose what the demo won't.
Read article →Strategy8 min read
The Real Cost of Developer-Built AI — Before and After the Price Correction
Your developer's custom AI agents look cheap at $500/month. But every question your employees ask triggers 4–8 API calls to someone else's infrastructure — and those rates are about to correct by 5–15x. Here's what the math actually looks like.
Read article →Strategy10 min read
A Coder's Gonna Code — Why AI Dev Tools Won't Fix Your Operations
The AI industry is obsessed with helping developers write more code. Nobody's asking whether you needed more code in the first place. This is an operations problem, not an engineering problem.
Read article →Strategy7 min read
The 90/33 Gap: Why Most AI Projects Fail
Ninety percent of executives say AI is a priority. Only a third report meaningful results. The gap isn't about technology — it's about how companies approach transformation.
Read article →ROI & Investment8 min read
ROI Calculator: What AI Actually Costs vs. What You'll Save
The real numbers behind AI transformation for mid-market businesses. Not the venture-backed version — the version that works for companies doing $5M–$100M in revenue.
Read article →Operations6 min read
5 Operations Bottlenecks AI Can Eliminate This Quarter
Practical, implementable AI solutions for the operational bottlenecks costing your business time and money right now. No theory — just results.
Read article →See Where AI Can Make the Biggest Impact
Our free AI Operations Readiness Assessment identifies your highest-ROI automation opportunities in under 5 minutes.