AI Adoption

The AI market is high-entropy: vocabulary shifts monthly, demos collapse in production, and vendors overstate capabilities by roughly two levels. Organizations need clarity before they need implementation.

I help executives and decision-makers navigate AI adoption—not by building systems, but by producing the strategic clarity that makes good decisions possible.

What I Do Here

Translation. I sit between technical complexity and executive decision-making. My background in physics and practical experience across AI implementation lets me evaluate claims, test assumptions, and surface with something actionable: a frame, a recommendation, an honest assessment of what’s real versus aspirational.

Pattern recognition. I’ve developed frameworks that cut through the noise—the Autonomy Spectrum (Levels 0-5) for understanding what “agent” actually means, Real Options thinking for valuing pilots under uncertainty, and the High Entropy Markets lens for navigating domains where categories won’t hold still.

Calibrated honesty. I tell you what I see, including the uncomfortable parts. Human-in-the-loop isn’t failure—it’s design. Full autonomy isn’t the goal—appropriate autonomy is. Most AI strategies fail before implementation begins, and fixing that requires clearer thinking, not better technology.

Where I help

You’re evaluating an AI vendor and can’t assess the technical claims. I conduct due diligence—going deep on the technology, separating what’s real from what’s roadmap, and translating findings into terms you can take to your board.

You need an AI strategy but the landscape is confusing. I help you figure out what AI means for your specific situation—where the leverage is, what to try first, and how to avoid the pilot graveyard where 95% of AI initiatives end up.

You have an AI pilot and don’t know whether to continue, pivot, or kill it. I apply real options thinking to value pilots properly—treating them as options to learn, not just projects to measure against ROI projections that were guesses anyway.

Resources

My AI Agent Primer is a comprehensive field guide to the agent landscape—covering market reality, technical barriers, economic uncertainty, and decision frameworks. It’s been used by executives to prepare for board conversations and by teams to cut through vendor noise.

I’ve written extensively on AI adoption, including:

Let’s talk about your AI situation.