Field Notes

Notes from the field.

Plain-language answers to what founders are actually asking about AI and their business.

Operator-first. Pricing-honest. Specific to what AI can and can't do for a small business in 2026. New notes go up as the practice generates them.

  1. No. 07·June 13, 2026·6 min read

    Claude Corps vs. hiring a fractional AI Operations consultant.

    Anthropic just launched a $150M fellowship to embed AI fellows inside nonprofits. Here is when that fits, when a paid fractional engagement fits, and how to tell which is yours.

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  2. No. 06·June 7, 2026·5 min read

    What I’m actually building, when I build.

    When clients hire AI Operations help, they think they’re buying a tool. The tool is the artifact. The pattern recognition is the product.

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  3. No. 05·June 4, 2026·6 min read

    Why your meeting recordings, your grant pipeline, and your photo library are the same kind of work.

    Three things in your operation that look unrelated. Same shape underneath. How to see it, and what to do once you do.

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  4. No. 04·May 21, 2026·7 min read

    The pattern I keep finding inside small business operations.

    Every operation has hidden work that piles up in the same shape. Someone is buried doing it by hand, or nobody is doing it because there was never time. Five common versions, and how to know if you have one.

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  5. No. 03·May 7, 2026·7 min read

    What “AI agents” actually means in your business.

    When someone says they want AI agents, the word is doing five different jobs at once. Here’s what those five are, and which ones fit your business.

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  6. No. 02·April 23, 2026·6 min read

    AI consultant vs AI agency vs productized vs fractional AI Operations.

    Four ways to bring AI help into your business. How to tell them apart, and which one fits the work you’re trying to do.

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  7. No. 01·April 9, 2026·6 min read

    What 'AI Operations' actually means.

    Founders keep asking. The term has no dictionary entry yet. Here is what I mean when I use it, what I do under that title, and what it isn’t.

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