Adair & Co

08/17/2026

Will people even be looking at your website in the near future? Depending on the kind of business you're in, AI agents may do most of the research before, and if, a human ever arrives.

08/11/2026

08/01/2026

What does practical AI adoption look like inside a university research lab? How is academia adapting to the use of AI?

In the latest episode of AI in the Wild, Adair sits down with Dr. Heath Blackmon, Associate Professor and Associate Head for Graduate Studies in the Department of Biology at Texas A&M University.

The conversation explores how AI is already being used in scientific research, graduate education, literature analysis, recommendation letters, and the everyday work of academia.

One of the clearest takeaways is also one of the most practical:

Onboarding AI is a lot like onboarding a new employee.

The more context it has about your work, goals, and responsibilities, the more useful it becomes.

They also discuss responsible use, hallucinations, verification, privacy, security, and what the future of AI may look like in universities and research labs.

AI in the Wild is a new Adair & Co. video series focused on how people are actually using AI in their work, beyond the headlines and hype.

https://youtu.be/o0CY-7teZz4

What does AI adoption actually look like inside a university resear...

07/26/2026

A few months ago, while attending a conference in Round Rock, I finally sat down and reorganized the way I was using AI.

I had reached the point where I was tired of repeating the same information, searching through old conversations and wasting time recreating work I had already done.

The solution was not a more complicated prompt.

It was a better system for organizing the context, instructions, projects and reusable information AI needed.

That system became the foundation for this week’s Practical AI for Business lesson:

Stop Repeating Yourself to AI: Context Is King

The video and companion newsletter cover:

✓ How to organize business context
✓ Where to save reusable prompts and instructions
✓ How projects and folders can reduce repeated work
✓ Practical safety considerations for business use
✓ A simple structure for making AI more consistent over time

The lesson also includes a downloadable AI Content Organization Blueprint to help you build your own system.

Watch the video or read the newsletter here:

Build a simple system once. Stop starting every conversation from scratch.

07/16/2026

Faster than a duck on a June bug.

That’s how quickly AI will show you the holes in your business once you slap it on top.

We’ve noticed that theme everywhere lately. SaaS companies are racing to release shiny new AI features, only to discover that bugs and poor design can make them useless. Businesses are excited to apply AI to their data, then hit the brakes when they realize just how messy that data really is. AI implementation projects are stopping to document processes and SOPs, only to find out everyone has been doing the same job differently for years.

Here’s the thing: AI didn’t create any of those problems. It just exposed them. It’s the X-ray machine, not the broken bone. 🩻

The silver lining is that companies willing to do the work won’t just end up with AI. They’ll end up with cleaner data, better software, documented processes, and stronger operations. Those are improvements that would have paid dividends even if AI had never shown up.

Turns out AI isn’t just helping businesses move faster. It’s finally giving them a reason to fix all the things they’ve been meaning to get around to “one of these days.”

Painful? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely, in our opinion.

07/06/2026

This is what modern AI consulting work actually looks like.

Today, I found myself using multiple AI tools across several real business workflows:

Video editing.

Client reporting.

Research.

Content development.

Internal process documentation.

And building a custom AI knowledge base to help a client’s team take, process, direct, and escalate calls more confidently from day one.

That’s where AI becomes practical for small businesses. It’s not about replacing people. It’s about giving teams better tools, reducing training time, improving consistency, and creating better customer experiences.

AI is moving from “interesting technology” to everyday business infrastructure.

And for businesses willing to rethink how work gets done, that’s a very exciting thing. 🚀

06/05/2026

Can we talk about the fake little pleasantry we keep stapling to the front of emails and messages?

“Hope you are doing well.”

I would like to formally nominate it for retirement. Possibly by firing squad. 🤠

Too much? Maybe. But hear me out.

Over the last few months, that phrase has started to rub me the wrong way. Seriously. Not because I’m against manners. I was raised right, y’all. But because most of the time, “hope you are doing well” does not actually mean “I hope you are doing well.”

It means, “I am performing concern before getting to the point.”

And listen, I’m not mad about getting to the point. 🫵 I love getting to the point. What bothers me is the costume. The little lace doily of fake warmth draped over a cold ask.

Because when someone actually wants to know how you are, they ask. They leave room for a real answer. They do not toss a pre-packaged pleasantry over the fence and keep walking. 🥀

Maybe this is a small thing, but small things are where authenticity either shows up or gets exposed.

So here’s my proposal: ask if you want to know. Skip it if you don’t. Both are more honest than pretending.

So, death to “hope you are doing well.”

Is it just me, or are we done pretending this phrase still has a pulse? 😂

06/04/2026

Small and mid-sized regulated businesses are in a strange AI gap right now.

They handle sensitive data like PII, ePHI, or PCI-subject information, so they could absolutely benefit from AI. But many of the safest options are still built, priced, or licensed for much larger organizations.

ChatGPT and Claude both have more isolated business and enterprise options, and I expect the SMB side of this to change quickly. But today, minimum license counts, budget, and configuration requirements can still be real barriers.

For HIPAA specifically, I’m following tools like Hathr and others pretty closely for my consulting clients. 🔐

For now, my advice for businesses with these constraints is simple:

Stay tuned, but don’t sit still.

Start using AI where the data is not sensitive. The “unsexy” stuff is where a lot of the time savings live anyway.

Things like:

📚 Institutional knowledge and internal procedures
📝 Drafting and refining policies
📌 Meeting notes and SOPs
📬 Email and calendar management
🤝 Lead or prospective client follow up
⏰ Follow up reminders and automation
💬 Client communication templates
🎓 Training materials
🗂️ Project organization

That may not sound as exciting as feeding an AI model all your regulated data, but it can still save hours every week. More importantly, it helps build the habits, workflows, and internal confidence businesses will need as privacy-safe AI options become more accessible.

AI strategy does not have to start with your most sensitive data.

In many cases, it probably shouldn’t. 💡

06/02/2026

Kill switch, anyone… 👀

This is exactly why AI safeguards matter.

Not long ago, a very smart friend gave me the honor of reviewing an AI toolset he was considering, and one of the things I appreciated most was how much thought had gone into situations like this.

Not the obvious use cases.

The unanticipated ones.

Because sometimes the biggest risk is not “AI gone rogue.” It’s a support workflow, permission gap, or helpful automation being used in a way no one expected.

AI can do incredible things for business.

But speed without safeguards can create problems just as quickly.

Build the tool. Use the AI. Automate the workflow.

But please, build in the kill switch. 🔐

The resolution comes after hackers tricked Meta's AI-powered chatbot into granting access to several high-profile accounts.

05/25/2026

Follow the white rabbit...🐰

With the dismal decline of good new movie releases, I find myself rewatching old favorites instead.

Most recently, one of my all-time favs: The Matrix.

And this line hit a little differently this time:

“We marveled at our own magnificence as we gave birth to AI…”

Now, I’m not taking it literally, but it is funny how prescient some movies can be.

Some days I do wonder if we’re headed for a mashup of The Matrix, Idiocracy, and Terminator. 🤖

Did I leave any good ones out?