Start with one real job.
Pick a task with a named owner, clear inputs and a result you can see, such as quote follow-up or supplier invoice coding.
I help UK business owners make AI pay
Find the right job. Prove it pays.
Then build on what worked.
Six beliefs behind every AI job I advise on
You run the business, and you've been told you need AI. You've already paid for a CRM, a portal or a dashboard nobody opens, so you can't afford a second expensive experiment. I start with one real job, prove it pays, and let that result earn the next.
Reformat Labs is the AI consultancy I run, and it builds the jobs I advise on. What I learn there, I write about here: what's worth trying, what to leave alone, and what it takes to make one job stick.
Read about my approachMake it work before you scale it.
Agree what good looks like, test it on real work with the people who do the job, and fix what breaks. Expect weeks, not days.
Let the first job earn the next.
Set the measure before you start. Move on to the second job only when the first one has hit it.
Choose the easiest useful win.
The best first job is simple enough to launch in weeks, important enough that someone notices, and easy to measure.
Keep ownership close to the work.
The people who do the job shape it and keep improving it. Your IT partner keeps it safe, but running the job stays with the business.
Use AI to grow capacity.
Decide where the saved hours go before you save them: customers, quality or the work that has been waiting. Not a headcount target.
Working together
Advisory, workshops and speaking
Advisory
For the owner or MD deciding where AI goes first. I help you pick the first job, set the number it has to hit, and plan what comes after it.
Talk to Jay about advisoryWorkshops
A working session with the people who do the jobs. They leave with one job chosen, one measure agreed and a first step they can take next week.
Talk to Jay about a workshopSpeaking
Talks, panels and podcasts for business audiences: what AI does inside an owner-run business, and how to start.
See speaking formatsArticles on choosing the first AI job and making it pay
Setting up AI accounts for your team
Who signs up, who pays, who can see what, and what happens when somebody leaves. The account decisions to make before AI spreads through the business.
When a job fails the AI test, and what to do next
Your first AI idea hit a wall? How to find out why the job failed, whether it can be fixed, and which part a person should keep.
What to tell customers when AI is part of their service
Using AI in work your customers see? When they need telling, and one clear statement to give before someone asks and nobody has an answer.
CONTACT
Talk to Jay
Email me the job you have in mind, the AI question you’re stuck on, or the task that eats most of your team’s week. I’ll tell you plainly whether AI is worth it for that job, and what the sensible next step is.
Start with the job
One short conversation is usually enough to see whether AI can earn its keep on that job.
jay@jayjanes.com