Practitioner notes on AI
for small & medium businesses.
Honest write-ups from the work — ROI math, Microsoft AI stack audits, activation playbooks. No vendor talking points.
AI Tools· 3 posts
Azure OpenAI vs. AWS Bedrock for SMB builds in 2026
The platform decision is rarely about model quality — it’s about identity, residency, the grounding store you’ll need anyway, and which compliance documents already exist. The honest comparison for a first SMB custom-AI build.
ReadMicrosoft 365 Copilot vs. Gemini for Workspace: the SMB head-to-head
For Workspace-first SMBs in 2026: when Gemini is enough, when the M365 + Copilot suite switch pencils, and the decision matrix we walk every dual-suite client through. No vendor loyalty.
ReadMicrosoft Copilot vs. ChatGPT Enterprise for SMBs: the honest head-to-head
The math, the workload fit, and the decision matrix we walk every 30–300 person firm through before they sign either contract. Where Copilot wins, where ChatGPT wins, and the "buy both" case that’s more common than you’d think.
ReadPower Automate· 2 posts
Power Automate vs. self-hosted n8n: when SMBs should pick which
Self-hosted n8n is free to license and expensive to operate. Power Automate is the reverse. The honest 30–300-seat comparison — ops cost, AI reach, audit story — plus the hybrid pattern we ship most often.
ReadPower Automate + AI Builder vs. Zapier: when SMBs should migrate (and when not to)
Most SMBs on Microsoft 365 are paying twice for the same automation capability. A practical migration playbook, the 80/20 rule for what moves and what stays, and 5 AI Builder patterns that pay back inside the first month.
ReadAI governance· 2 posts
What the EU AI Act actually means for SMBs in 2026
Most SMBs assume the EU AI Act is an enterprise problem and doesn’t apply outside the EU. Both assumptions are wrong often enough to be worth a proper 12-minute read — risk tiers, GPAI obligations, the August 2026 bite-date, and the six-document response that covers it.
ReadAI governance for SMBs: the 9-document pack to write before your first Copilot rollout
Nine one-page documents, two weeks, one named owner. The minimum viable AI governance posture that answers 80% of any enterprise vendor-risk questionnaire — and the Microsoft tiles that actually carry the load.
ReadMicrosoft Copilot· 4 posts
Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing in 2026: the real TCO for a 100-person firm
The $30 sticker is half the year-one spend. A line-by-line TCO walkthrough for a 100-seat SMB — licence, base uplift, rollout services, adoption ownership, governance, prompt curation — with the cost traps nobody quotes you for.
ReadThe Copilot Champion job description: copy-paste template for SMBs
The single biggest predictor of Copilot rollout success is whether you have a named, paid, accountable Copilot Champion. Here is the job description we recommend clients post — with comp ranges, interview structure, and the 90-day plan that tells you whether the hire is working.
ReadThe 7 mistakes SMBs make in their first 90 days with Microsoft Copilot
About a third of the Copilot rollouts we’re asked to triage in month 3 are limping for the same seven reasons. None of them are technology bugs. All seven are recoverable in three weeks if you catch them early.
ReadWhat 80% of SMBs get wrong about Microsoft Copilot ROI
Four ROI levers, the trap nobody talks about, and a worked example of how a 120-person firm gets to 3.2× year-one ROI on Microsoft Copilot.
Read