Insights
What we notice in the practice of AI at mid-sized organizations.
Three AI outages, one lesson about vendor risk
ChatGPT, Claude and Grok went down at the same time. That does not make AI riskier overnight, but it moves vendor risk from theoretical to observed.
Everyone has AI tools, nobody has an AI strategy
Twelve departments with twelve AI tools is not a strategy. What is missing is not the thirteenth tool, but one shared memory that all of them draw from.
An AI risk matrix for SMEs: impact against control
Not every AI risk deserves the same attention. A 2x2 of impact against control shows where to hedge, where to keep hygiene, and where the real work sits.
How much do you leave to AI agents? Two questions
Trusting agents more because the models are getting smarter is like unbuckling your seatbelt in a nicer car. Two questions decide it, and both are about the task.
Five AI risks SMEs actually need to manage
Vendor, economic, legal, strategic and implementation risk. Most AI risk is ordinary business risk in a robot suit, and an SME has no compliance department.
Would an AI crash actually hit your business?
AI lab valuations are unsustainable, so something will give. But a crash barely touches an SME with working use cases. Pricing risk is the thing to watch.
The AI bill, and the router that shrinks it
AI at scale gets expensive, especially with agents. A model router picks the cheapest model that will do per call. What it saves, and where the catches are.
What should my daughter study in the age of AI?
Four criteria for choosing a degree while AI eats the map: be interesting, judge well, own things, be accountable. And where that leaves medicine and coding.
Assistant, agent, harness: what an AI agent really is
Agents, harness, loop engineering, digital colleagues. Much of it is marketing. What an AI agent really is: a model, a set of tools and a control layer around it.
Be first, be smarter, or cheat: AI strategy for SMEs
In most industries SMEs are still pottering about with ChatGPT. First-mover advantage is still on the table in 2026, but being smart beats being the pioneer.
Five categories of AI project: do it now to pie in the sky
Everyone wants AI to take them to the moon, but the first win is on your desk. Five categories of AI project, and why the value is earned in categories 2 and 3.
The big consultancies are losing ground, and AI is why
David Linthicum argues that AI rewards execution, not vague strategy. That explains why small teams who build the thing are beating the big advisory firms.
The AI transformation RFP that assumed the hard part away
An RFP wanted agents rolled out, data flowing safely and compliance handled later. Ambition without technical realism is not transformation, it is unmanaged risk.
Down-to-earth AI advice for CEOs: introducing BrA1n & Co
No AI hype and no more tool lists, but down-to-earth advice and affordable solutions that work. Why Michael Blok and I started BrA1n & Co.
BrA1n: AI advisory and development for management teams
Most companies do not need more AI hype or another list of tools. They need common-sense advice and affordable solutions. That is why we are launching BrA1n.