Articles
What I learn with AI as my right hand
Field notes, methods and industry guides for CEOs who want their company to run without spending their days on it.
Overdue invoices from day 7: AI drafts, the CEO approves
A payment reminder drafted on day 7 and approved by the CEO goes out on time. How to set it up without straining client relationships.
Read the article →What's left for the CEO when AI does the rest
Cash, collections, checks, meetings, email, studies: what I handed to AI, what I kept, the limits, and where you should start.
Read the article →How I rebuilt ten years of accounts in a single day
Ten years of spreadsheets, 28,719 transactions, three banks: rebuilt in one day into weekly finance tracking. What it found, and how to do it.
Read the article →190 checks every night: what I no longer check myself
Every night, 4 diagnostics run about 190 checks and only anomalies come up. What to check first in your company, and the traps to avoid.
Read the article →An appointment-setting agent, built in a day
It runs every 15 minutes and books 60% of the meetings that come from a reply. Its net effect is still being measured.
Read the article →An AI agent to run our meetings
Nora prepares the agenda, runs the meeting and publishes the minutes. What that changes for following up on decisions.
Read the article →What did not work, and what I learned from it
A voice agent on hold, too many false alerts, checks nobody read. What these failures taught me about running AI in a company.
Read the article →Why AI costs us about 1% of revenue
Agents that only use AI when there is work, one model per task, a small server. And the right benchmark to judge that cost.
Read the article →An automated recruitment firm, built in six days
What build speed changes for a CEO, how to break a business down into tasks, and what has to stay in human hands.
Read the article →Trading and distribution: getting emailed orders into the ERP without retyping
Read orders sent by email, PDF or WhatsApp, enter them in the ERP with approval, answer stock and lead-time questions, follow up on what is pending.
Read the article →Real estate: qualifying enquiries and lining up viewings
Qualify enquiries, offer viewing slots, draft listings and viewing reports, chase incomplete files: what AI can take on for a brokerage.
Read the article →Law firms: what to automate and what stays with the lawyer
Intake, file preparation, first drafts, deadlines and time recording: what a law firm can hand to AI, and what must stay with the lawyer.
Read the article →Freight and logistics: answering quote requests in minutes
Quote requests, shipment tracking, delay alerts before the customer calls, carrier invoice checks: what AI can handle in freight and logistics.
Read the article →How to choose your company's first AI project
Repetitive, frequent, measurable, with accessible data and someone to approve it: five tests for picking your company's first AI project.
Read the article →Industrial companies: answering RFQs faster with AI
Reading an RFQ or a drawing, pulling prices and lead times, a draft quote approved by a person, supplier follow-up: where AI fits in quoting.
Read the article →Measuring the ROI of AI without inventing numbers
A baseline, two or three metrics, a second measurement: how to judge an AI project on facts rather than on estimated savings.
Read the article →Accounting and tax firms: what AI can take on today
Sorting documents, chasing missing receipts, first drafts, filing deadlines: what AI can already do in an accounting firm, and what stays human.
Read the article →Get your data ready before you hand anything to AI
Connect banks, CRM, invoices and email, clean what matters, decide who approves: the data work to do before handing any task to AI.
Read the article →AI in construction: where to start when you run a contracting company
Site reports from voice notes, payment applications, document chasing, tenders, subcontractors: where AI can help a contracting company.
Read the article →AI director, consultant or agency: who should you bring in?
Three ways to bring AI into a mid-sized company, compared on lead time, price certainty, who runs it and knowledge of the CEO's job.
Read the article →Automate before you talk about AI
At Oliverlist, automation tripled revenue per person before generative AI. Automate the predictable first, then bring in AI.
Read the article →30 minutes to see what can run without you
No commitment. You walk me through your week, I tell you what AI can take on, with a first estimate of the gain.
Or email me: thibault@vivasync.io