Map it, gate it, check it
My method for putting AI into a business finally has a name: Charted. Map the work, gate the risky parts, and keep checking the output after it ships.
Work
Two kinds of work sit on this page. The systems I run my own businesses on, and client engagements, which are newer. They are labeled separately so you can tell which is which.
what it looks like
One missed call, start to finish
A water heater call on a Tuesday night, step by step, in the order it happens.
tue 6:40pm
A call comes in while the crew is loading up. Nobody answers it.
tue 6:40pm, seconds later
The caller gets a text back in your shop name, asking what they need.
tue 6:43pm
They write back: water heater, no hot water. The agent offers two windows tomorrow and holds the one they pick.
tue 6:44pm
The job is on the schedule with the address, the problem, and the whole text thread attached.
wed 7:10am
You open your morning list and find a booked job you never touched, and you can read exactly how it got there.
systems i run my own businesses on
Vora
An AI CRM platform for service businesses: missed-call text-back, lead follow-up, campaigns, and scheduling in one system.
live
ChapterHQ
A management platform for clubs and nonprofits: members, dues, events, and an AI assistant that answers from the org’s own records.
live
Site assistant
The chat agent running live in the corner of this site, answering questions from my own content.
live
client work
Everything above is mine. Client engagements are the newer half of this practice, and one is in progress right now. Nothing on this page carries someone else's name yet. The named case study goes here when that engagement wraps and the client has approved what it says.
See how engagements are structured and what the founding-client offer includesopen source
Open source
Tooling I publish on GitHub.
how i build
How my own operation runs on AI, the tools I actually use, and where I still draw the line at a human.
How my own operation runs on AInotes
All notesYou can't automate a process you don't understand
Buying an AI tool before mapping the process it touches usually adds a step instead of removing one.
Where AI pays in a small service business (and where it doesn't)
Most small businesses don't need more AI, they need to stop leaking time in the same three or four places.
Start with the audit
Audits start at $750, fixed scope. Every engagement begins here. Two to three weeks inside your business, and you end up with a map, a scored shortlist, and one recommended pilot, whether or not you hire me to build it.
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