Insights
From The Perch
Essays, stories and lessons on building with AI — for the small businesses shaping the future of their trade.
8 June 2026
Getting Out of My Own Way
I've been sitting on this for months. Not because I wasn't ready. Because I kept getting in my own way. Six weeks later, working 15-17 hour days, 7 days a week with my AI team — Guardian Dial is live.
Read article9 June 2026
The Surreal World
Something nobody tells you about building a SaaS product solo. It's surreal. I spend my days working with AI agents — planning sprints, testing integrations, debugging at midnight, celebrating small wins at 2am.
Read article10 June 2026
Skills That Gathered Dust
I approached this build the way I know best. Agile. Two-week sprints. Plan, build, test, iterate. What I didn't plan for was having to dust off developer skills that had gathered years of dust.
Read article11 June 2026
Scourge of Self-Promotion
I find self-promotion genuinely uncomfortable. Anyone who knows me will tell you that. I'll champion other people's work all day long. Ask me to talk about my own and I go quiet.
Read article12 June 2026
The Chat That Changed Everything
Six weeks ago, my sister said something that changed everything. I'd been overcomplicating a product I'd had on my mind for months. She cut through it in about four sentences.
Read article5 June 2026
AI By The Numbers
$2.5 trillion. That's what the world will spend on AI this year alone. More than the Apollo programme, the Manhattan Project, and the entire US interstate highway system combined.
Read article3 June 2026
Integration Day
Last week: connecting three separate tools into one workflow for a client who was losing approx. two hours a day switching between systems. Built it in an afternoon. AI-powered automation handles the handoffs. Data flows automatically. Not glamorous. Just efficient.
Read article1 June 2026
Premium Service
Premium AI consultancy covers more ground than most people expect. It's not one thing — it's the ability to move fluently across workflows, systems integration, marketing strategy and content production, and understand how they connect.
Read article28 May 2026
The Big Picture
The AI Investment Landscape: A Surprising Race. In 2024, the US invested $109 billion in private AI vs China's $9.3 billion — a 12-to-1 disparity. Yet the performance gap is just 2.7 percentage points.
Read article24 May 2026
LOOK UP!
The world right now is a lot to carry. Wars that feel closer than they should. Economic pressure that doesn't let up. And now — the looming question that nobody has a clean answer to — what happens to us when AI evolves to a point where most of what we do can be done without us?
Read article22 May 2026
The Game Changer
I've been working with AI for just under a year. The first few months were just scratching the surface. Six months ago that changed completely.
Read article15 May 2026
Working With AI
Most people are still trying to figure out what AI can do for them. I'm past that stage. Over the last year I've gone deeper into working with AI — not just using tools, but building workflows and developing a production process that combines AI capability with human creativity and craft.
Read article15 May 2026
Reality Check
I want to be straightforward about something because I think the AI conversation needs more transparency. AI is not magic. It's not all 10x productivity. Some of it is genuinely hard.
Read article8 May 2026
Separate Tracks
You're already using AI. Every day. Google. Email filters. Your phone's autocorrect. It's so seamless you don't even think of it as AI — it's just what works.
Read article1 May 2026
Beyond Tools
I've spent the last year helping small business owners navigate the AI conversation. They understand the tools exist. They know AI can help. But then they hit a wall.
Read article24 April 2026
Left Behind
Most small businesses will be 3 years behind their competitors by mid 2027. Not because they lack the budget. Not because they lack the talent. Because they didn't start using AI in 2025.
Read article20 April 2026
Change The Paradigm
I'm not the maker anymore. I'm the director. Most people are still trying to use AI as a faster version of themselves. The unlock is realising your role as a director of AI.
Read article17 April 2026
Myth-Busting
AI and the Job Market in 2025: Separating Fact from Fiction. There's been a buzz about AI causing massive job losses, but here's the real story.
Read article10 April 2026
The Quiet Build
I've been quiet on here for a few days. Not because nothing's happening — because everything is. There's a particular kind of work that doesn't show up in posts or announcements.
Read article3 April 2026
My Own Experience
Less than a year ago, I was using AI the way most people do — the occasional ChatGPT query, maybe a bit of help drafting an email. Useful, but nothing transformative.
Read article