Your AI Department

Strategic Intelligence

Insights for the
AI-Forward Executive

Implementation insights on AI strategy, ROI, and change management from the field.

Your Business Has Data. It Doesn't Have Memory.

February 12, 2026Matei Olaru

Your Business Has Data. It Doesn't Have Memory.

1A data warehouse isn't just tech infrastructure—it's giving your business institutional memory that compounds over time
2Most CEOs think digital data is ready for AI, but scattered data across disconnected systems creates blind spots that force manual workarounds
3The companies deploying AI successfully aren't more innovative—they have structured access to everything they've ever done

Stop Buying "AI Grease." Start Building Cogs.

February 10, 2026Matei Olaru

Stop Buying "AI Grease." Start Building Cogs.

1Most AI projects are "Grease" (10% faster humans) not "Cogs" (10x structural change) — and Grease actively makes future transformation harder
2The diagnostic: if a task follows the same steps every time, it's a Cog candidate; if it requires human judgment, Grease is appropriate
3Break work into trigger-action pairs and find where the output is identical every time — that's your buildable Cog list

10 AI Automations Your Competitors Deployed Last Quarter

February 3, 2026Matei Olaru

10 AI Automations Your Competitors Deployed Last Quarter

1"Grease" makes your team 10% faster. "Cogs" replace workflows entirely—running 24/7 without human prompting.
2Below: 10 autonomous AI automations already deployed at mid-market companies. If you're not building these, someone in your market is.
3You won't know until you feel competitors pulling ahead with response times, market awareness, and deals you lose without knowing why.

Why Your Best Employees Will Quietly Kill Your AI Project

January 27, 2026Matei Olaru

Why Your Best Employees Will Quietly Kill Your AI Project

1Employee fear, not technical failure, is the leading cause of AI project death—the org chart kills projects, not the technology
2Stop pitching "efficiency" (which sounds like layoffs) and start pitching "drudgery removal" (which sounds like relief)
3Find your "Shadow Users"—employees already secretly using AI—and let adoption spread peer-to-peer instead of top-down

Why 61% of CEOs Are Burning Cash on "Weak AI"

January 15, 2026Matei Olaru

Why 61% of CEOs Are Burning Cash on "Weak AI"

1AI is labor, not software—invest in it like a VP of Sales, not procure it like a tool
2AI projects fail because they skip the data readiness audit and move straight to use cases
3Run a Sandbox Audit today: clone, isolate, strip PII, and test if your AI can derive the same insights as your analysts