Insights
Advice, thoughts and opinions on software, AI, industry and the work behind it.
The variation you did on a handshake is the margin you gave away
The extra work you agreed to on site, the standby you copped waiting on access, the claim that got questioned: that's where civil margin leaks. Job systems exist to catch it while it's still recoverable.
In mining services, the record you keep is the product you sell
Your clients pay for the work and the proof of the work. When the proof is spread across field forms, drives and email, you tidy it up after every job and can't answer for it fast when it counts.
For a trucking company, the profit is hiding in small delays
A trucking company doesn't need to look like a tech company. The margin is bleeding out in small delays scattered across six systems that don't talk, and that's a data problem before it's an AI one.
In computer vision, a better light beats a better model
The model is the easy part. Whether a camera in a shed, a yard or a packing line can reliably see the thing is where these projects live or die, and it's a lighting problem more than an AI one.
Ask how you get your data out before you put any in
Every tool ties you to someone, and that's fine. Lock-in is the point where leaving costs so much you stop considering it. The exit questions are cheapest to ask while you're still a prospect.
The AI button in the corner is not the next generation of business apps
Most 'AI-powered' business apps grew a chat box because the market expected one. The useful ones put AI down inside the workflow, at the exact spots where the work currently grinds.
Your booking platform isn't the problem. The gaps between your systems are.
The booking platform usually works fine. What breaks in peak season is the retyping between it and everything else. Fix the gaps before you rip out the tool.
For a law or accounting firm, confidentiality is the product AI can leak
The work is documents, review and judgement, which AI eats through. But confidentiality is what clients pay for, and one paste into a public chatbot is one breach of it. Control the data first.
A forecast is not a decision, and most farm weather tools sell you the forecast
Nobody needs to pay for another weather screen. The value is a tool that connects the forecast to the spray window, the livestock move or the contract, and tells you what's now at risk.
How to measure AI and automation ROI without fooling yourself
Guess the minutes saved, times a salary, and any project looks like a triumph on a slide. A number you can defend starts before you build and counts the costs the pitch leaves out.
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