~ AI in Crayon · 2026

I write the recipes for AI in operating companies.

Every week I'm running these recipes with clients in HVAC, insurance, pharmacies, manufacturing, and consulting. Privately held $5M to $50M operating companies. US and international. The frameworks here are what I run in the field. How to think about AI. How to decide what to build. How to make people happier at the water cooler. I publish Tuesday, Thursday, Friday.

Start with the Diagnostic Read the latest
Reuben "Reu" Smith, founder, Local Nerds. Host, AI in Crayon.

Reu ~ founder · Local Nerds
host · AI in Crayon

~ tuesday · thursday · friday

Recent episodes.

Browse the archive →
Stop Asking What AI Can Do

Stop Asking What AI Can Do
The Shift

Stop Asking What AI Can Do

August 14, 2026 · just served

Clarity as Your Competitive Edge
AI in Crayon · ep
Clarity as Your Competitive Edge

You cannot outsource clarity to your website, your team, or your AI system. Everything downstream is capped by how clearly you've named your own lens.
The Room Wanted Diagnosis
AI in Crayon · ep
The Room Wanted Diagnosis

You do not have an AI problem. You have a diagnosis problem. Twelve owners in a room. Twelve AI questions. Zero of them were actually AI questions.
The Room Can Participate, But It Cannot Drive
AI in Crayon · ep
The Room Can Participate, But It Cannot Drive

The AI meeting ran clean. Nine sharp questions. Zero decisions. The habit is confusing inclusive with decisive, and it drops the wheel.
The Engine Got Smarter. Your Setup Didn't.
AI in Crayon · ep
The Engine Got Smarter. Your Setup Didn't.

You have been improving your AI setup for a year. It got worse. Every rule you added fixed something real. None of them ever asked to leave. Here is the ninety-minute audit to prune what is quietly steering the work.
~ what's underneath the episodes Read the framework family →
~ how I think

Five frameworks. One archetype.

Your business is a kitchen. The Chef holds taste at the hub. The Pass routes the orders. Six stations cook the recipes. Pull any role and the service fails. The frameworks below the fold are how an AI-native business actually runs.

THE PASS · ORCHESTRATOR THE HUB Chef (you) Sales STATION Marketing STATION Service STATION Operations STATION Finance STATION Research STATION ~ human lives here

Read the framework family →

~ a recent build

Three stations stood up. The numbers got real.

4.8×
the leads
on the SEO and GEO plan

Fort Collins Insurance has been on the Build for over a year. Marketing, Sales, and Operations stations stood up, all measured. The 4.8x is what the system produces every month. Sixty percent less paid traffic. Twelve hours a week recovered on email triage.

The frameworks on this site aren't theory. They're what I'm running on live operating companies, every week.

Read the case study →

~ ready to draw it for yours?

Want yours next?

Three to six weeks. One Station Plan. One Prep List of the systems worth handing off first. No deck, no pitch.

Start the Diagnostic
~ three doors

Three doors in. Each stands on its own.

Run the audit for free and never come back. Run the Diagnostic and take the roadmap home. Or engage on the Build. Each one is the right answer for a different kind of week.

01
~ free

The AI Audit

10 minutes. 7 questions. 21 points.

Where you stand right now. An honest read on whether you've deployed AI in your business, or just announced it.

Run the audit → 02
~ engagement

The Diagnostic

3 to 6 weeks. One working roadmap. No deck.

A custom Station Plan, a Four D's read on every function, and a ranked Prep List of the systems worth handing off first. Yours to run with.

See the spec → 03
~ retainer

The Build

Twelve months typical. Implementation, with my team.

We build the systems on the roadmap. Your team owns the recipes after. The point is the systems run after I'm gone, not that you need me forever.

Read who I work with →