For tech leaders
From AI Sprawl to an Operating System
A field guide for tech leaders managing teams, workflows and AI agents. The whole book is here, one chapter per page.
About the book
I wrote 8 Things to Know for New Tech Leaders in 2021 to help business and technology teams work from one map. This book rewrites it for the AI-agent era.
The argument is plain. AI does not remove the need for leadership. It raises the cost of unclear leadership. Coding agents open pull requests overnight, agents reach company systems through MCP servers and other connectors, and one agent hands work to the next. If priorities, owners and review are unclear, all of that turns into faster noise.
The book is about the operating system around AI-enabled work: outcomes, workflows, owners, decision rights, evals, scorecards and cadence. It is not about prompts, model rankings or the newest tool stack.
It is written for founders, CTOs, COOs, product and engineering leaders and the people running AI enablement inside existing teams. Each chapter ends with an operating check you can run with your leadership team.
Contents
- Author’s noteWhy I rewrote this book for the AI-agent era
My 2021 book was about business and technology teams working from one map. AI made that problem louder, so I rewrote it.
- Chapter 1The new tech leader’s problem
Most companies are not struggling with AI because the models are weak. They are struggling because the operating system around the work is unclear.
- Chapter 2Technology is now an operating system problem
AI lowers the cost of producing output. It does not lower the cost of being wrong about the outcome.
- Chapter 3Culture still eats tooling
AI adoption follows leadership signals before it follows tooling strategy.
- Chapter 4Great missions still move teams
Output gets cheap. Alignment does not.
- Chapter 5Prioritize life, work, and cognitive load
AI does not automatically reduce cognitive load. It relocates it.
- Chapter 6Outcomes over tasks
A task is a unit of activity. An outcome is a change in reality.
- Chapter 7OKRs, KPIs, and the North Star in an AI-native company
AI does not remove the need for alignment. It increases the cost of being misaligned.
- Chapter 8Workflow before agent
Agents inherit the workflow they are dropped into. Map it, own it and design its handoffs before you add the agent.
- ConclusionFrom AI sprawl to an operating system
Governed leverage beats unmanaged speed. Start with one important workflow and a ninety-day rhythm.
Start with an email.
Want help putting the book to work with your team? Tell me which chapter hit closest to home and what you are trying to change.
Subject: “Book: From AI Sprawl to an Operating System - via datasaa.com/book” (the link above fills it in).
Include
- the chapter that hit closest to home
- the team or workflow you want to change
- what is and is not working with AI today
- any hard date
I reply by email within one business day. Core hours 1–9pm PT (Pacific). There is no form and no booking link.