013 Field Notes
Useful ideas for people actually running the business.
Plain-language guidance for choosing a useful first project, understanding the risk, asking better vendor questions, and making sense of what the tools can really do. Start with the free one-page guide or the owner's hub.
Not sure where you stand? Take the 3-minute AI readiness scorecard.
Find your industry: plumbing, HVAC and electrical, roofing, remodeling, metal fabrication, wholesale distribution, insurance agencies, or see every industry.
Start with the business
Decide what the work should do before you learn every term.
A useful AI decision starts with a real point of friction: something people copy, chase, compare, retype, explain, or wait to find out. Then ask whether the best fix is AI, automation, a process change, or nothing at all.
Will this change a decision or move the work?
If the answer is no, it is probably a demonstration—not an operating improvement. Name the owner, the source, the action, the exception, and the proof before you buy the tool.
Start here
Make one good decision before learning every term.
Spot your AI champion
How to find the two people already using AI well inside your company, and what to write down before anyone builds.
For owners and boardsQuestions your board will ask about AI
The eight questions a board, buyer or lender asks about AI, each with a two-sentence answer an owner can give.
TeardownThe fee column was tax
One company's numbers, read line by line: what the fee column really was, and what a careful reader checks first.
TeardownBuilding a consent-aware operating funnel
How 013 Labs wired consent-aware analytics, lead intake, content controls and a tested catalog into one funnel, with no invented outcomes.
For owners and boardsWhat an AI-native legacy business actually looks like
Five checkable changes that separate an AI-native company from one that bought more software.
Choosing where to startPicking your first AI project
A practical filter for finding a bounded workflow with a visible owner and measurable result.
Choosing where to startWhich workflow should you measure for AI first?
A free 15-minute worksheet for comparing three AI workflow candidates and choosing what to measure first.
Seeing the opportunityAI can do more than answer questions
Where reading, comparing, drafting, routing, and exception-finding fit into ordinary work.
Choosing the mechanismAutomation, workflow, or agent?
A business-first explanation of when simple rules are enough and when adaptive tools may help.
Protect the business
Know what the tool sees, decides, and costs.
What happens to information you put into an AI tool?
The retention, training, logging, and contract questions to ask before sharing business data.
BuyingHow to evaluate an AI vendor’s claims
Move from polished demonstration to evidence, limits, ownership, security, and exit terms.
CostWhat will this actually cost to run?
Understand subscriptions, usage pricing, implementation effort, and the cost of oversight.
ControlWhat guardrails can—and cannot—do
Why permissions, review, monitoring, and rollback matter more than a single safety setting.
ReliabilityWhy AI sometimes makes things up
How to design work so unsupported answers are caught before they matter.
ToolsWhen free is enough—and when it is not
A decision guide for sensitive data, team controls, reliability, support, and integrations.
For owners of established companies
AI questions an owner, a board or a buyer will ask.
AI for owner-led companies
A free one-page AI guide and short articles for owners of established companies with no IT department: who owns AI, what to write down, what boards ask.
Free templateAI Board Briefing template: the agenda and ten questions
A one-page agenda for a board session on AI and the ten questions a board should ask, free to download.
Free checklistThe first 100 days after the deal: the one-page checklist
Days 1-30, 31-60 and 61-100 after an acquisition or private equity deal, a named owner for every action, and where AI fits, free to download.
Where to startHow to start using AI in your business: three decisions
The first step is not a tool. It is three decisions on one page, then one small piece of work with a named owner. A plain guide for owners.
After the dealPost-merger integration checklist
Year one, area by area: people, customers, money, systems, data and AI, with one named owner per line.
After the dealThe first 100 days after the deal: the one list nobody owns
A practical 100 day plan after an acquisition or private equity deal: the promise list, days 1-30, 31-60, 61-100, and where AI fits.
By industryHow can AI help my cleaning business?
Bid drafts, scopes, a first schedule and client messages. A person keeps pricing, people decisions and client promises.
By industryHow can AI help my construction business?
Daily reports, scope letters, document checks and chasing paperwork. A person keeps pricing, safety and every signature.
By industryAI for an architecture firm: three decisions
What the principal decides before a tool touches a client's drawings, a rendering or a fee proposal.
By industryAI for a metal fabrication shop: three decisions
What the owner decides before a tool touches a quote, a customer drawing or an inspection record.
By industryAI for a plastics manufacturer: three decisions
What the owner decides before a tool touches a quote, a tool design or a first-article record.
By industryAI for a property management company: three decisions
What the principal decides before a tool touches a lease, a tenant's file or an owner's report.
By industryAI for an engineering firm: three decisions
What the principal decides before a tool touches a client's drawings, a calculation package or a fee proposal.
By industryAI for a commercial printing company: three decisions
What the owner decides before a tool touches a quote, a proof released to press or a customer's mailing list.
Data and toolsIs ChatGPT safe for business use? An owner's check
What safe means in practice: which plan and terms, where the data goes, what never goes in, and who decides.
Data and toolsCan AI do bookkeeping for a small business?
What a tool can safely do in the books, what stays with a named person, and what your accountant will ask.
Getting startedAI for a small business with no IT department: a thirty-day plan
Week by week: what staff already use, the data rule, one boring task with a named owner, then keep or stop.
Getting startedCan AI answer my business phone?
After-hours calls, messages, hours and simple bookings. A person keeps emergencies, prices and promises.
Getting startedHow can AI help my sales team?
Call notes, follow-ups, quote drafts and a tidy list of open deals. A salesperson keeps the price and the promise.
Getting startedCan AI do performance reviews?
It can organize the year's notes and suggest structure. A manager writes the judgment, decides pay and has the talk.
Getting startedCan AI screen resumes?
It can sort and summarize the pile against criteria you write. A person checks every rejection and makes every hiring decision.
Getting startedCan AI do accounts payable?
It can read bills, match them to orders and flag oddities. A person approves, and a person releases every payment.
Getting startedCan AI do my invoicing?
A tool can draft invoices from job records and match them to the quote. A person keeps the price, the terms, the tax and the send.
Getting startedCan AI do my scheduling?
A tool can offer slots, fill the job board and draft the roster from your rules. A person decides priorities, promises and people.
Getting startedCan AI respond to my Google reviews?
A tool can sort reviews, draft replies in your voice and flag the ones that need a person. A person signs every public word.
Getting startedCan AI do my social media?
A tool can draft, schedule and resize posts in your voice. A person decides what the company says, checks every claim and holds the logins.
Getting startedCan AI do my SEO?
A tool can draft pages, propose titles and check the site for faults. A person decides what the company claims, which pages exist and holds the logins.
Getting startedCan AI write my standard operating procedures?
It can draft them from notes and recordings. The people who do the work must correct them, and one person must own each.
Getting startedCan AI analyze my financial statements?
It can read the numbers, compare periods and raise questions. A person checks the figures and owns the conclusions.
Getting startedCan AI take meeting notes for my business?
It can transcribe, summarise and list actions. A person checks the decisions, names and numbers before anyone acts.
Getting startedCan AI generate leads for my business?
It can research likely buyers and draft a first message. A person chooses who to contact and checks every claim before it is sent.
Getting startedCan AI do estimating for my business?
It can read drawings, pull quantities and draft from your past jobs. A person sets the price, margin, exclusions and promise.
Getting startedCan AI do production scheduling?
It can propose a schedule from orders, capacity and due dates and flag late jobs. A person decides priorities, overtime and what you promise.
Getting startedCan AI do quality inspection?
Cameras can flag defects, measure parts and spot drift, and keep the record. A person sets the reject line, decides on a suspect batch and signs the certificate.
Getting startedCan AI write RFP responses?
It can draft from your past answers, list every requirement and fit the format. A person decides to bid, sets the price, checks every fact and signs.
Getting startedCan AI onboard new employees?
It can run the checklist, answer routine questions from your own material and draft the welcome notes. A person welcomes the hire, owns the paperwork and decides what the person may do.
Getting startedCan AI analyze customer feedback?
It can sort comments into themes, count them and pull examples. A person decides what is true, what to fix and who answers the customer.
Getting startedCan AI forecast cash flow?
It can build and refresh the forecast from your records. A person owns the assumptions and the bank call.
Getting startedCan AI research my competitors?
It can gather and organize what is public about them. A person checks the facts, judges what matters and stays inside the rules.
Getting startedCan AI do my admin work?
It can draft routine messages, sort and file documents, fill in forms and keep reminder lists. A person approves what goes out, what moves money and every deadline that matters.
Getting startedCan AI be my assistant?
It can draft, summarise, prepare and remind from a written way of working. It cannot decide, promise, sign, pay or hold the logins, and a person reads every draft before it leaves.
Getting startedCan AI work with my spreadsheets?
It can write and explain formulas, clean and combine data and build a first version. A person checks the logic, the totals and who depends on the file.
Getting startedCan AI track and manage my business expenses?
It can read receipts, sort spend and flag odd charges. A person sets the policy, approves the spend and checks the totals.
By industryHow can AI help my plumbing, HVAC or electrical business?
It can sort calls, draft quotes and prepare paperwork. A licensed person keeps the diagnosis, the safety call and the sign-off.
By industryHow can AI help my pest control or lawn care business?
It can sort requests, draft estimates and plan reminders. A licensed person keeps the treatment decision, the safety call and the records.
By industryHow can AI help my roofing company?
It can sort leads, draft estimates and tidy job paperwork. A person keeps the roof inspection, the safety call and the price.
By industryHow can AI help my wholesale distribution business?
It can read orders, draft quotes and answer status calls. A person keeps the price, the credit call and substitutions.
By industryHow can AI help my insurance agency?
It can sort the service inbox, draft letters and answer routine calls. A licensed person keeps coverage advice and sign-off.
By industryHow can AI help my mortgage brokerage?
It can chase documents, sort file emails and draft borrower updates. A licensed person keeps advice and sign-off.
By industryHow can AI help my travel agency?
It can draft itineraries, sort supplier emails and write traveler updates. A person keeps advice, prices and refund calls.
By industryHow can AI help my remodeling company?
It can draft estimates, track change orders and write homeowner updates. A person keeps scope, price and safety.
By industryHow can AI help my gym?
It can answer routine questions, draft member messages and tidy the schedule. A person keeps safety, billing and cancellation calls.
Selling the companyHow do I make my business run without me?
Write down the decisions only you make, name an owner for each, keep a short list, then let tools carry the routine.
Getting startedWho owns AI in a company?
One named person with a written scope, usually someone already using the tools. The owner keeps three decisions.
Getting startedDo I need an AI strategy?
Most companies of fifty to five hundred people need five decisions on one page, not a document: what not to build, who owns it, the first test, the data rule, and how the board hears.
Selling the companyCan AI tell me what my business is worth?
A calculator gives a rough range. A buyer pays for evidence: clean records, less owner dependence, secure customers.
Getting startedCan AI help promote my business?
It can draft posts, emails and ads from your own material. You check every claim, and never fake reviews.
Getting startedCan AI run my business?
No, but it can run more of the routine: drafting, sorting, chasing, checking. You keep the decisions.
Getting startedCan AI make a website for my business?
It can build a draft in an afternoon. You check every claim, price and photo, and test the contact path.
Getting startedCan AI help me write a business plan?
It can draft sections and list the hard questions. The numbers, the strategy and every promise stay yours.
Getting startedCan AI do my small business taxes?
It can sort receipts, find what is missing and prepare questions. Your accountant files, and you sign.
Getting startedCan AI do my payroll?
It can check timesheets, compare pay runs and explain a payslip. A named person decides pay and approves every run.
Getting startedCan AI help with purchasing and suppliers?
It can draft requests, line up quotes and chase late orders. A person picks the supplier and approves the spend.
Getting startedCan AI write my employee handbook?
It can draft the plain parts and tidy what you have. Your counsel and you keep the rules and the promises.
Data and toolsShould I let AI read my contracts?
Yes for the first pass and the summary. A person checks it against the page, and your lawyer gives the verdict.
Getting startedCan AI help me collect late payments?
Let it draft reminders and sort the list. A person keeps the tone, the call, every dispute and any payment plan.
Getting startedCan AI help me write quotes and proposals?
It can draft from your own past quotes and templates. A person keeps the price, the terms and every promise.
Getting startedShould I hire someone for AI or train my staff?
Usually not a new hire first. Find who already uses the tools, give them a scope and time, and know when a hire does make sense.
Getting startedCan AI replace an employee?
Usually not a whole one. Which tasks a tool can take over, what a person must keep, and five checks before you leave a role unfilled.
Getting startedIs AI actually saving my business money?
Cost per task, the checking time nobody counts, seats nobody uses, and a quarterly keep, change or cut review.
Lenders and buyersWhat should I ask my accountant about AI?
The questions to bring to your CPA, why each matters, and what a good and a worrying answer sound like.
Lenders and buyersWill my business insurance ask about AI?
What an insurer or broker is really asking at renewal, what to have ready, and why you never guess on a questionnaire.
Lenders and buyersWhat should I tell my bank about AI?
Who checks the numbers before they reach the bank, payment and bank-detail controls, and when to tell your lender first.
Lenders and buyersAI and an SBA loan: what to have on paper
A lender may ask how you use AI when you borrow to buy a building or expand. The one page to have ready, and what never to promise.
Getting startedWhat should I automate first in my small business?
Rules or AI, five common candidates, a five-question score you can do on paper, and a two-week trial.
Getting startedHow do I train my employees to use AI?
Start with the people already using it, train on your own tasks, and teach the data rule and the checking habit first.
Getting startedCan AI answer customer emails for my small business?
Let it draft and sort; a person sends. What a person always keeps, and how to start safely in one inbox.
Getting startedDo I need an AI policy for my small business?
Yes, and one page is enough: what goes on it, who will ask to see it, and how to roll it out in a week.
Getting startedWhat is shadow AI?
The AI your people already use that nobody approved or wrote down: why it happens, the three real risks, how to find it in a week without a witch hunt, and the three lines that end it.
Getting startedWhat is an AI agent for a business?
Software allowed to take steps on its own between your instructions: where it earns its place, what it must never do alone, and what to ask a vendor who says the word.
Getting startedWhat is human in the loop?
A named person checks what a tool produced before it counts. Where that person belongs in a company, where they do not, and the three ways the loop fails: the rubber stamp, the hidden loop and the loop nobody can leave.
Selling the companyDoes AI make my business worth more when I sell?
What a buyer asks about AI and data, why "we use AI" adds nothing on its own, and what to have ready.
Getting startedHow much does AI cost for a small business?
The five kinds of spend, from a per-user plan to a custom build, and the hidden costs owners miss.
By industryAI for a food manufacturer: three decisions first
Who owns it, what never leaves the building, and why a person signs every label, release and price.
By industryCan AI forecast inventory for a small distributor?
What forecasting can do with your own sales history, the data you need first, and why a person still approves every order.
After the dealWhere AI fits in post-merger integration, and where it does not
Where AI helps in the first 100 days after a deal, where it is a distraction, the questions diligence will ask, and who in the company should own it.
Who owns AIFractional chief AI officer: what it does and when to hire
What a fractional chief AI officer does, what it should never do, three signs you need one, and five questions to ask before you hire.
For PE portfolio companiesAI readiness for a PE portfolio company: the ten questions
An AI readiness assessment for a mid-market company is ten plain questions about people, data rules and reporting, with what good answers look like.
Choosing helpHow to choose an AI strategy consultant for a mid-market company
The right AI strategy consultant sells a written plan with named owners, not a platform. Seven questions to ask before you sign, and the red flags.
Choosing helpWhat does an AI consultant do?
A good one listens first, writes down what not to build, names who inside owns it, dates the first test and leaves a plan the board can read in twenty minutes.
PlanningAn AI roadmap for a mid-sized company: what belongs on it
A useful AI roadmap for a mid-sized company is two pages, not a deck. Here is what goes on each page, what to leave out, and a fill-in outline.
The 013 promise
No daily AI theater.
We publish when there is a useful operating lesson, a concrete workflow, a meaningful tool change, or a decision an owner can make. Technical detail earns its place only when it changes that decision.