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Thinking out loud about AI, product, and the messy middle of transformation

Lessons from 15+ AI engagements, two companies I co-founded, and 18 years of building products people actually use.

$1.2Mprojected annual ROI11 initiatives scored80M+ database rowsPhase 1 in 60 days
FeaturedAI Strategy

The $1.2M AI Roadmap: How We Audited a $150M+ Manufacturer and Found ROI They Didn’t Know Existed

Most companies think they need AI. Very few know where it will actually make money. Here’s the exact process I used to audit a piping manufacturer with 80M+ database rows and identify $1.2M–$2.5M in annual value across 11 initiatives — and how we shipped Phase 1 in 60 days.

Mar 202612 min read
51enterprise deploymentssame AIweeksyears
AI Strategy

51 Enterprise AI Deployments, One Finding: It Was Never About the Technology

Stanford’s Digital Economy Lab studied 51 enterprise AI implementations and found the same pattern in every failure. Same technology, wildly different outcomes. The variable wasn’t the model — it was the organization. Here’s what organizational readiness actually means and how to know if your company has it.

Apr 202612 min read
FAILS0-90d90-180d180d+
AI Strategy

Why Most AI Roadmaps Fail (And What to Do Instead)

The standard quarterly roadmap doesn’t work for AI products. Model capabilities shift faster than planning cycles. Here’s the framework I use instead — phased, ROI-scored, and designed to survive the chaos of a fast-moving AI landscape.

Mar 20268 min read
15%80%
Transformation

From 15% to 80% Adoption: How to Get 400 Employees to Actually Use AI

Shipping an AI hub is the easy part. Getting an entire company to change how they work is the hard part. Here’s the department-by-department rollout strategy that took us from pilot to company-wide adoption in 3 months.

Feb 202610 min read
PROTOTYPESHIP2 weeksvalidated
Product

Prototype Before You Build: The Philosophy That Saves My Clients Months

I’ve watched companies spend 6 months building AI features nobody wanted. My rule: if you can’t validate the concept with a working prototype in 2 weeks, you’re solving the wrong problem.

Feb 20266 min read
Gleantap$10K → $2MAI Leadership$3M+ ROICOVID pivot
Lessons Learned

What Co-founding Two SaaS Companies Taught Me About Leading AI Initiatives

I built Gleantap from $10K to $2M ARR and led a COVID pivot at Mastera that cut churn from 10% to 2%. Here’s how those founder scars make me a better AI leader — and what I’d do differently.

Jan 20269 min read
GOVERNANCEROLESDATAAUDIT
AI Strategy

The AI Governance Question Nobody Asks Until It’s Too Late

Your AI agent just accessed client data it shouldn’t have. Legal is asking questions. Here’s why AI governance needs to be designed at Phase 1, not bolted on at Phase 5 — and the framework I use for regulated environments.

Jan 20267 min read
23initiatives mappedSERVICERETENTIONMARKETING
Transformation

The E-commerce AI Playbook: 23 Initiatives, $520K in Value

How I mapped every AI opportunity for a DTC subscription brand — from customer service automation to predictive churn models — and built a roadmap their team could actually execute on.

Dec 202511 min read
AISuggestActDraftAutonomousTRUST LEVELS
Product

Building AI Agents That People Trust: A PM’s Perspective

The hardest part of shipping AI agents isn’t the model — it’s the trust gap. Users don’t know what the agent did, why it did it, or if they should believe it. Here’s how I design for trust.

Nov 20258 min read
Buildcustom AIvsBuy+ last mile4-FACTOR DECISION MATRIX
Lessons Learned

The Build vs. Buy Decision for AI: A Framework for C-Suite

Every executive asks: "Should we build our own AI or buy a tool?" The answer is almost always "it depends" — but here’s the decision matrix I use to give them a real answer in 30 minutes.

Oct 20257 min read
ROI FRAMEWORKTime SavingsCost AvoidanceRevenue+ Risk Reduction
AI Strategy

How to Measure AI ROI When Your CFO Doesn’t Believe in AI

You can’t sell AI transformation with vibes. You need numbers. Here’s the ROI model template I use across every engagement — from time savings to revenue attribution to cost avoidance.

Sep 20259 min read

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