We already had Slick: structured processes that worked. And when you have a solid foundation, the temptation is natural — take every block and layer AI on top. Opportunity management, sales management, software analysis, architecture, project management, task assignment for developers, coding. For each one, one or more agents.
The plan looked solid. It was chaos.
Every agent produced output. The outputs became documents. The documents multiplied. People were spending more time managing what AI produced than actually working. We’d built a text machine, not a work machine.
We went back to the drawing board.
One thing I understood in that step back: if it went this way with structured processes in place, those without them are worse off. AI doesn’t create processes that aren’t there. It amplifies what exists. For better and for worse.
We started again, one block at a time. Understanding where AI genuinely adds value — not where it seems obvious that it should. Stabilise it. Then move to the next.
The leap felt like the brave choice. Going back was braver.