About
Why I do this work
Most owners call me about AI
They've seen what it can do and want it working in their business, usually on the work that keeps someone up late. Twenty years ago, owners like them called about fixing their tech. The tool they ask about has changed since then, and what sits underneath the request mostly hasn't.
The work they want AI for is almost always running through one or two people. I call it the third people problem. The first two have people fixes: move the wrong person out, or move the right person to a better job. The third is the right person, in the right seat, simply overloaded, because the work that matters most keeps routing through them. A new hire and an AI agent walk into the same pile. It's a design problem, not a people problem.
When the work runs through the same few people, your business can only grow as fast as they can. Admentus redesigns it into a system they own.
Here's how I learned to put the design ahead of the technology.
How I got here
Twenty years of learning this the hard way
I spent years at Hewlett-Packard leading technical projects. In September 2005 I started Admentus on the side as a one-person technology consulting practice, and in 2006 I walked away from corporate life to run it full time, exhausted and burnt out and looking for something different.
I was doing all of it myself, from the client work to the invoicing, and staying up late to keep it moving. The clients I was helping were living some version of the same thing. Client after client asked me the same question: "Can you help us fix our tech?" The tech was rarely the problem.
Almost every time, the work was funneling through one or two people. The business had grown up around them instead of being designed, and they were holding more than anyone had planned for. Fix that, and the rest of the business had a chance. Bolt technology onto it as it was, and the same mess moved faster.
The turn
Stop speeding up the mess
So I stopped trying to fix symptoms with technology and started designing the system first. Once the system worked, automation made it faster.
I still work in that order. The technology is far more capable now than it was in 2005.
The test
Then I tried the traditional answer
In 2011 I learned the other half of it on my own business. I co-founded Affect4 Technology Solutions, a managed service provider, with a business partner. The standard advice was to hire a team and scale the model. So we did.
Managing that team pulled my time into scheduling and oversight, and away from the client work that created the value in the first place.
We closed Affect4 in 2014.
That stuck with me. When the work runs through a few people because the business grew up around them, adding people moves the constraint somewhere else. Hiring works once the work is designed for more hands. I learned that on my own business before I ever built an AI-operated system for anyone else's.
Where it led
From coaching to building
From there I spent years as a certified EOS Implementer, Scaling Up Coach and Pinnacle Business Guide, helping owners build the operating rhythm their businesses ran on. The rhythm was right. Underneath it, I saw the same pattern again and again: growth piling more work onto the same few people, in day-to-day work nobody had designed for that load.
Admentus today pairs the operational discipline I coached for years with hands-on work: designing and building the system myself.
What I build starts with the few people the work keeps funneling through. I redesign that work into a system they own, so they stop being the ceiling on the business's growth. They stay, and they own what runs it. The work stops having to pass through them to get done.
The belief underneath it
Technology is a magnifier
If the system underneath is weak, technology amplifies the weakness, and when it breaks, it breaks bigger. If the system is strong, technology (AI especially) takes it further and faster than your people could on their own. The order matters more than the tool.
How I work
Operating beliefs
Design first, technology second.
The system has to exist before a new hire or an AI agent can run it.
The business outgrew its design.
Everyone I've worked with was carrying more than anyone had planned for. Their business grew around them faster than anyone designed it.
Hiring works once the work is designed.
Design the work first, and new people have something to step into.
Not everything needs this.
Some problems only need a faster tool or a simpler fix. I'll tell you when that's the case, even if it means a smaller engagement.
"Everyone who competes goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever."1 Corinthians 9:25
Working together
What it's like to work together
You'll know what the constraint is.
You'll see what's holding your growth back and why, named for your business specifically.
Your people own it.
The system gets built into your business, around the people the work used to run through. They own the rules it runs on, and it lives in your accounts.
I'll tell you straight.
If something's tactical, I say so. If it's not a fit, I say that too.
I stay after it's built.
Once the system goes live, I keep it running and report the numbers it's accountable for.
What clients say about working with me
From clients I've worked alongside over the years.Jeff has a unique combination of business insight, communication capabilities and technical skills that have been instrumental in the success of our project.
Timothy Howard
Founder & President, Clarity Connect, Inc.
I have worked with Jeff for several years. He is always available, professional, and equipped with ideas on how to address my concerns or implement my ideas.
Stephanie Francois
Client
After working closely with Jeff for nearly six years on several projects and several fronts, he consistently brings a grounded perspective that can simplify and articulate complex projects.
Jennifer Brown
Client
Next steps
Where to start
If the work in your business keeps piling up behind the same few people, let's look at yours specifically.
Talk to Tarvi
It's free, and there's no form to fill out. Tell it how your business runs and get a first read on where it's stuck.
Start the conversationReady to map your system?
Book a 20-minute call. If there's a fit, we spend ninety minutes mapping how the work runs and where agents could take some of it on. There's no charge for either, and you keep the map.
See the mapping session