09/18/2026
Operations first. AI second.
I’d look for the places where your business is losing momentum before recommending another tool, automation, or hire.
If I were your COO, these would be my first three priorities:
1. Where work is getting stuck
I’d trace the path of key work from start to finish and identify the handoffs, approvals, or missing information creating delays.
2. Who owns the decisions
If everyone is responsible, no one is accountable. I’d clarify who can decide, who needs to be consulted, and where decisions are waiting on the founder.
3. What is being repeated or dropped
Repeated questions, duplicated tasks, missed follow-ups, and unfinished handoffs are signals that the process lives in people’s heads instead of the business.
Only after those issues are clear would I look at implementing practical AI within better business processes.
The goal is not more activity. It’s a business that moves clearly without requiring the founder to touch everything.
Save this for your next operations review, and comment with your biggest bottleneck right now: stuck work, unclear decisions, or repeated and missed tasks?