Articles
Notes from the build
What we have learned shipping AI systems that have to work unattended. Opinionated, specific, and written from things that actually went into production.
AI Agents
What we build in this areaAI Agents vs Chatbots: The Difference That Actually Matters
The distinction is not conversational quality or model size. It is whether the system can take an action that changes something — and everything hard about agents follows from that.
- AI agents
- Architecture
- Tool use
Why AI Agents Fail in Production (And What Actually Fixes It)
The prototype worked. Six months later nothing has shipped. The failure is almost never the model — it is five specific engineering gaps, and they are all avoidable.
- AI agents
- Production
- Reliability
How to Evaluate an AI Agent Before You Trust It
You cannot ship what you cannot measure, and “it seemed good when I tried it” is not measurement. A practical method for testing non-deterministic systems.
- Evaluation
- AI agents
- Testing
Workflow Automation
What we build in this areaZapier, n8n, or Custom: How to Actually Choose
No-code automation is the right answer more often than agencies admit, and the wrong answer in five specific situations. Here is where the line falls.
- Automation
- No-code
- Architecture
Automating Document Processing With AI: A Practical Guide
Invoices, contracts, applications, claims. The architecture that works, the failure modes nobody warns you about, and how to know when it is ready.
- Document processing
- Automation
- OCR
The Spreadsheet Ceiling: Knowing When You Have Hit It
Spreadsheets are excellent software and most businesses run on them correctly. But there is a specific point where they start costing more than they save — here is how to recognise it.
- Internal tools
- Operations
- Build vs buy
Applications
What we build in this areaBuild vs Buy: When Custom Software Is Actually the Right Call
A framework for the decision, from a studio that gets paid to build — including the four situations where we tell people to buy instead.
- Build vs buy
- Strategy
- Internal tools
How to Scope an AI MVP That Actually Ships
Most AI MVPs fail on scope, not technology. The specific cuts that get a product in front of real users in weeks instead of quarters.
- MVP
- Product
- Scoping
Which Internal Tools Are Worth Building
Most internal tool ideas should be rejected. A test for the ones that are not, and the reason small focused tools beat platforms almost every time.
- Internal tools
- Prioritisation
- Operations
Rather talk than read?
If something here maps onto a problem you have, the fastest path is usually a conversation about your specifics.