Field notes on AI in business
Practical writing on AI, automation and the day-to-day work of running a business. From the team that builds and runs AI systems.
Healthcare
How AI Automates Prior Authorization Follow-Up When Payers Do Not Respond
Prior auth requests vanish into payer queues every day. AI follow-up systems track every pending request, escalate stalled ones, and keep revenue moving without staff chasing fax confirmations.
Basel IsmailApr 3, 2026
Construction
AI for Plumbing Estimation: Pipe Routing and Fixture Count Automation
How AI automates pipe routing calculations and fixture counting from construction plans, replacing hours of manual plumbing estimation with faster and more consistent takeoffs.
Basel IsmailApr 3, 2026
Ecommerce retail
Automated Return Reason Analysis: Identifying Product Quality Issues Before They Scale
Most ecommerce teams treat returns as a cost center. The smart ones treat return reasons as a real-time product quality surveillance system that catches problems before they become expensive.
Basel IsmailApr 3, 2026
Logistics transportation
Automated Oil Analysis Trending for Predictive Engine Maintenance
Oil analysis has always been a solid diagnostic tool for engine health, but most fleets only use it reactively. AI changes that by turning oil sample data into forward-looking maintenance predictions that catch problems weeks before they become breakdowns.
Basel IsmailApr 3, 2026
Company analysis
Why Marketplace Businesses Need Different Evaluation Frameworks
A marketplace without network effects is just an intermediary. Analyzing marketplace businesses requires frameworks built for two-sided dynamics, liquidity measurement, and non-linear economics.
Basel IsmailApr 3, 2026
Data security
Analyzing Companies in Regulated Industries
Regulation gets treated as a negative in most company analysis. But regulation also creates moats that are almost impossible to replicate through market competition alone.
Basel IsmailApr 3, 2026
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Automation
The Real Cost of Doing Nothing About Operational Inefficiency
Inefficiency compounds. Every month you delay addressing broken processes, the cost grows. Research shows organizations lose 20 to 30 percent of operational expenditure to waste.
Basel IsmailApr 3, 2026
AI agents
OpenClaw and Why Every Company Needs an Agent Strategy
A solo developer in Austria released an open-source AI agent framework that hit 250,000 GitHub stars in two months. Nvidia compared it to Linux. CrowdStrike called it a security disaster. Both sides are right, and the implications for enterprise AI strategy are significant.
Basel IsmailApr 3, 2026
Artificial intelligence
How AI Transformation Differs From Digital Transformation
Digital transformation moved paper to screens. AI transformation replaces entire workflows with autonomous systems. The distinction matters for every company planning its next move.
Basel IsmailApr 3, 2026
Automation
Which Business Processes Should You Automate First
The ideal first automation candidate is high volume, rules-based, standardized, error-prone under manual processing, and has a low exception rate. An effort-impact matrix helps you score and sequence candidates systematically.
Basel IsmailApr 3, 2026
Business intelligence
Building a Company Analysis Practice Inside Your Organization
A practical blueprint for building a systematic company analysis function inside your organization. Covers scope, templates, tools, team building, processes, and integration.
Basel IsmailApr 2, 2026
Automation
What Happens When You Actually Audit Every Process in a Company
When you actually catalog every process, role, and task in a company, the redundancies and waste are genuinely shocking. Here is what a thorough process audit looks like in practice.
Basel IsmailApr 2, 2026
1,319 articles