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Three rules for becoming AI-native, and the board to run them on.

Paying for AI doesn't make a company AI-native. Three rules do, and this is the board from the video that shows them on one example company. Press Your numbers, put in your own jobs, and it redraws for yours.

If you run or manage a company and want AI to take real work off your team. You need a list of the jobs your team repeats each week, and a rough count of the hours each takes.

Get the filesStart the steps

3 rules

Which jobs go to AI first, when the agent stops for a person, and when it gets switched off.

6 screens

Where the hours go, the pick, one job run, the ledger, the order to build, and your turn.

30 days

for each agent to return more than it costs, or it gets switched off. It's the board's rule, not a promise.

What’s inside

  • The three rules from the video, as steps: which jobs go first, when the agent stops for a person, and the 30-day switch-off
  • The board: six screens on one example company, open in your browser
  • Your numbers: list your jobs, the hours each takes and how repeatable it is, and the board redraws
  • What each of the six screens shows, and the sum behind it

The three rules

These are the rules on the board in the video. The company, the names and every number on the board are examples.

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  1. Rule one: hand AI the jobs with the most hours and the same steps every time

    • Write down every job your team repeats each week. Count the hours across the whole team, not one person.
    • Score each job from 1 to 5 for how repeatable it is. 1 means judgment every time. 5 means the same steps every time.
    • Multiply the two and divide by 5: . The highest score goes first.
    • On the board, 7 hours a week or more counts as a lot, and a 4 or 5 counts as the same steps most times. Jobs with both land in the box marked Hand to an agent first. The board picks from that box first, highest score first, then the other jobs rated 3 or more.
    • A job rated 1 or 2 is never one of the first three picks, however many hours it takes. With many hours, the board marks it Agent drafts, a person decides. With few, Keep with people.

  2. Rule two: when the agent hits something it shouldn't answer, it stops for a person

    • Write the checks every draft must pass before anything is sent. The board's example has four: no price in writing, both offered times still free, the name and job match the form, and nothing promised the team can't do.
    • If any check fails, nothing is sent. The draft goes to a named person, who can Approve, Edit or Call instead.
    • In the example, a lead asks . That fails the price check, so it goes to Sam in sales as a draft to approve.
    • Run each new agent with a person checking its work for the first weeks.

  3. Rule three: every agent gets a P&L, and 30 days to pay

    • For each agent, write down what it costs a month to run and the hours it gives back.
    • What it's worth is the hours it gives back times what an hour of staff time costs you. Take off what it costs, and that's its net a month.
    • Every agent gets 30 days to return more than it costs. If it doesn't, switch it off.
    • Add the next agent only after the one before it has paid back its setup. If it hasn't, fix it or switch it off.

How to use Your numbers

Open the board below, then press Your numbers at the bottom right. On a keyboard, press N.

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  1. List the jobs

    • Type each job your team repeats every week, one per row. Press Add a job for another row, and the × to remove one.
    • Give each job an area, such as Sales, Support or Finance. The first screen groups the jobs by area.
    • The board uses up to 24 jobs. A job with no hours is left out.

  2. Put in the hours a week

    • Whole hours, across the whole team. If three people each spend 2 hours on it, that's 6.

  3. Score how repeatable it is

    • 1 means judgment every time. 5 means the same steps every time. Pick the number that fits most weeks.

  4. Set the cost of an hour of staff time

    • It's at the top of the form. The board uses it for every dollar figure, so use what an hour of your team's time costs you.

  5. Press Show my board

    • The board redraws from your jobs, starting on where the hours go. Press → or Space for the next step and ← to go back. On a phone, tap the right side of the board for the next step and the left side to go back.
    • Your numbers stay in this browser. The board sends nothing anywhere. Open Your numbers again and they're filled in, ready to change.
    • To go back to the example, open Your numbers and press Use the example company.

What each screen shows

The sums are printed on each screen, beside the numbers they produce.

01 The leak

What it shows
Every job the team repeats each week, sized by its hours and grouped by area. Then the total hours a week, and what they cost a year.
The sum behind it
Hours a week × the cost of an hour × 50 working weeks.

02 The pick

What it shows
Every job plotted: hours a week going up, how repeatable going across. The top right is Hand to an agent first, and the first three picks are numbered.
The sum behind it
. The lines sit at 7 hours a week and a 4 for how repeatable.

03 The run

What it shows
One example enquiry, start to finish: what starts it, what it reads, the draft, the checks, the send and the record. Then the path when a check fails: it waits for a person.
The sum behind it
No sum. This screen stays the example job when you put in your numbers.

04 The ledger

What it shows
Each agent's cost a month, the hours it gives back, what that's worth and its net, under the 30-day rule. In the example, one agent put on a judgment job gets switched off.
The sum behind it
Hours back a month = hours a week, times the weeks in a month (4.33), times the share of the job the agent takes on. Worth = hours back × the cost of an hour.

05 The build

What it shows
What the agents return over 26 weeks when you add one only after the one before has paid back its setup.
The sum behind it
Setup is 20 hours of staff time per agent, at your cost of an hour.

06 Your turn

What it shows
The four questions to run it on your company, a summary of your hours and first picks, and the button to put in your numbers.
The sum behind it
The same sums as screens 01 and 02.

What the board is, and isn't

It's a way to sort your jobs and do the sums in one place. It isn't a quote, and it doesn't know what an agent will cost you or how much of a job it will take on.

Three things on the board stay examples: the share of each job an agent takes on, what each agent costs a month, and the 20 setup hours. The first two depend on how repeatable the job is. Your hours and your cost of an hour replace the example's, but those three don't change.

That's why rule three exists. Run the agent for 30 days, record what it really costs and gives back, and switch it off if it doesn't pay.

Use the tool

Open the boardSix screens on one example company. Press Your numbers to put in your own jobs. They stay in your browser, and the board sends nothing anywhere.

Take the files

The jobs sheet

ainative-jobs.csv

The notepad version: job, area, hours a week and how repeatable, with the score and the first box worked out for you. Sort it by score, highest first, and start with the rows marked TRUE in first_box.

Download

The three rules

ainative-rules.txt

The rules, how to use Your numbers and what each screen shows, in one plain file.

Download

Open a .csv in Google Sheets (File, then Import) or Excel.

The company, the jobs, the names and every number on the board and in the video are examples. None is a client, a result or a price.

With your numbers in, every dollar figure is a sum to check, not a forecast. What an agent costs and how much of a job it takes on are still the board's examples.

The board shows where AI pays in one company. Building it into yours is the work.

My team and I build the AI OS for companies, as custom builds. The agents are trained on the work that makes you money, and every one is measured on return.

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