Ignore AI. Start with the System.

I watched Tim Barker walk through his business OS, went home and built one for BoS.

Giselle had just joined the team. Jann was on maternity leave. I needed to onboard Giselle fast, hand off Jann’s context, and figure out how we’d work together short-term. All in the run up to a conference. Our onboarding docs were out of date, probably had been for years. We needed something that reflected how we actually work, not how we worked three years ago.

Tim’s insight cut through everything I’d been reading about AI:

Ignore AI. Start with the System.

Every company runs on the same basic structure. Strategy. Roles. Active projects. Outputs. Most founders have all of this. It’s mostly undocumented, siloed, or living inside someone’s head.

If you overlay AI on a system you haven’t mapped, you don’t get clarity. You get speed in every direction.

Speed is not Velocity.

Map the system first. Then overlay agents.

What surprised me: the benefit isn’t just AI governance. When you have to articulate how your company actually works, everything else gets sharper too. Onboarding becomes real. Decisions get logged. Context doesn’t evaporate when someone leaves or joins.

We’re still early. But it’s already changed how BoS operates.

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Online workshops

New to AI in your business?

AI in Your Business: Where to Start

Set up your AI company OS. Two sessions, cohort of 12.

“I’ve been talking to it loads about positioning, sales framing, North Star metrics. I came up with a succinct statement that I really like.”

Marv Rance, InTouch

Register now Want to do it with just you? One-on-one option ›

Already set up your OS?

Building Your AI Company
Operating System

Not sure what to do next. Four weeks, cohort of 12, with Tim Barker and Mark Littlewood.

“I think about the business differently than I used to. I would never have come to that conclusion without this process.”

Stephen, cohort participant

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Conference

In-person BoS Conference 2026

Date TBA ⌄

📅 Date TBA 📍 In-person

Two days with software founders and leaders who have actually built profitable businesses. No panels, no keynotes designed to impress. Talks that earned their place because the idea was worth the room’s time.

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