Field Notes
Practical AI & Web
for people who build things
No hype. No vendor pitches. Just what we've learned auditing, automating, and building for small businesses — written for owners and operators, not technologists.
Featured Reading
ROI Math: How to Value an Automation Before You Build It
Most businesses build automations and hope they pay off. The right ones do this in reverse... figure out the dollar value first, then build only the ones that pencil out. Here's the math.
What Happens to Customer Data When You Add AI to Your Business
If you're using Claude, ChatGPT, or any LLM API in customer-facing workflows, your data is going somewhere. Here's the plain-English version of where, what stays where, and what you should tell your customers.
What 'AI-Amplified Delivery' Actually Looks Like in Practice
Everyone says they use AI now. Here's the difference between using AI as a buzzword and using it to deliver work that traditionally would have taken three people a month.
Why Most SMBs Are Doing AI Backwards
The AI tools market is great at selling. It's terrible at telling you whether you actually need what you just bought. Here's the order to do it in instead.
Why Most AI Projects Fail... And What to Do Instead
The failure rate for AI implementation in small businesses is high. After seeing it firsthand, here's my honest diagnosis of what goes wrong and how to avoid it.
The Case for Starting with an Audit, Not a Tool
Everyone wants to jump straight to implementation. Here's why the businesses that start with an audit get better results... and why the ones that skip it usually end up starting over.
Building AI Systems That Actually Stick
Most AI implementations fail... not because the technology doesn't work, but because they were built without understanding how the business actually operates. Here's how to do it differently.
How We Reduced Estimate Turnaround from Two Days to Ten Minutes
A specialty contractor was losing jobs because estimates took too long. Here's the exact system we built to change that... and what it took to get there.
All Articles — 8 posts · showing 8
ROI Math: How to Value an Automation Before You Build It
Most businesses build automations and hope they pay off. The right ones do this in reverse... figure out the dollar value first, then build only the ones that pencil out. Here's the math.
What Happens to Customer Data When You Add AI to Your Business
If you're using Claude, ChatGPT, or any LLM API in customer-facing workflows, your data is going somewhere. Here's the plain-English version of where, what stays where, and what you should tell your customers.
What 'AI-Amplified Delivery' Actually Looks Like in Practice
Everyone says they use AI now. Here's the difference between using AI as a buzzword and using it to deliver work that traditionally would have taken three people a month.
Why Most SMBs Are Doing AI Backwards
The AI tools market is great at selling. It's terrible at telling you whether you actually need what you just bought. Here's the order to do it in instead.
Why Most AI Projects Fail... And What to Do Instead
The failure rate for AI implementation in small businesses is high. After seeing it firsthand, here's my honest diagnosis of what goes wrong and how to avoid it.
The Case for Starting with an Audit, Not a Tool
Everyone wants to jump straight to implementation. Here's why the businesses that start with an audit get better results... and why the ones that skip it usually end up starting over.
Building AI Systems That Actually Stick
Most AI implementations fail... not because the technology doesn't work, but because they were built without understanding how the business actually operates. Here's how to do it differently.
How We Reduced Estimate Turnaround from Two Days to Ten Minutes
A specialty contractor was losing jobs because estimates took too long. Here's the exact system we built to change that... and what it took to get there.
About the author
Written by
Ken Jackson.
Product manager in Austin, 20+ years shipping AI, fintech, and SaaS from zero to one. I build the AI products I manage.