The Blog
Straight answers about AI and automation for small businesses. The same stuff I teach in my classes, written down. No hype, no jargon, and I'll tell you when automation isn't worth it.
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The soup kitchen build: fitting tools to real workflows
I went on food pickup runs before writing any code, built a tool I was proud of, and it still hasn't earned its place. That's the lesson.
Read itI built my parents an AI system they don't use
A five-agent AI system that worked exactly as designed, and still failed. What it taught me about when automation actually sticks.
Read itRelationships are your head start, not your finish line
Wyoming businesses hold an advantage the big competitors can't buy. It's also not permanent, and that's the uncomfortable part.
Read itWhat AI actually costs a small business
The honest price sheet for getting started with AI, and the simple math for knowing whether any of it is worth it.
Read itAI will not save a broken process
The reality check I open every class with, plus the question that beats "should I fire everyone and replace them with AI?"
Read itThe split-chat trick: make your AI subscription go further
Hitting your AI usage limit by lunch? One habit change nearly doubles what you get from the same subscription.
Read itKnow when NOT to automate
An automation guy telling you not to automate? Yes. The most profitable question I ask clients is which tasks should stay human.
Read itPrivate or powerful. Rarely both.
Where your data actually goes when you use AI, and the one honest tradeoff that answers most privacy questions.
Read itOne login now opens the whole house
AI connectors are genuinely great, and they quietly turn one password into the key to everything. Two boring habits fix it.
Read itScrape, Fake, Deliver: how AI phishing actually works
AI scams follow a three-step routine, and your old smoke detector for spotting them is dead. Here's what still works.
Read itSmall isn't safe. Small is cheap.
The most dangerous sentence in small business security is "I'm too small to matter." Here's the actual math attackers use.
Read itSecure from what?
Everyone asks if AI is secure. Almost nobody can say what they're afraid of. Naming the monster is most of the work.
Read itIs AI good or bad? Wrong question.
The question every business owner asks me first, and why it's the wrong one to start with.
Read itEvery question in the room was about security
I taught two classes on AI for Wyoming small businesses. By the end of the first one, almost every question was about the same thing.
Read itNew contract with CLA Architecture
IronForge is now working with Chet Lockard, AIA and the CLA Architecture team to bring AI into their daily operations.
Read itThe LCBA Luncheon is a wrap
I taught a sold-out room about AI in modern business for the Laramie Chamber Business Alliance. Here's how it went.
Read itA new contract with L&H Industrial, and the story behind the shirt
Announcing a new contract with L&H Industrial, and the story of a website I built that wasn't good enough, so I rebuilt it for free.
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