Field Notes
Notes on making AI useful.
Practical observations from data, automation, and the work around them.
Written by
Allison Marx, Technical Humanist. Every note comes from work I've done or reviewed, anonymized where it needs to be. Sources are cited where external facts appear.
Published notes
11 notes · newest first
- Field noteAI readinessSix Things No AI Tool Comes WithSix constraints decide whether AI spending improves one workflow: data, process, measurement, ownership, review, and adoption. Each has a test for this week.Allison Marx · 2026 · 8 min readRead the note →
- Field noteAI vendorsBefore You Sign the AI Proposal, Read It for What’s MissingA sound AI proposal describes your work: the problem, the exceptions, the data, the review step, what done means, and who owns it after the builder leaves.Allison Marx · 2026 · 8 min readRead the note →
- Field noteAI readinessYou’re Not AI-Ready. One Workflow Might Be.AI readiness is a property of one workflow: a clear problem, an accountable owner, usable context, appropriate controls, and evidence that the work improved.Allison Marx · 2026 · 8 min readRead the note →
- Field noteAI searchThere’s No Such Thing as an AI Visibility ScoreA single number averages four different problems with four different owners. Here is what you can observe instead, and what nobody can observe at all.Allison Marx · 2026 · 6 min readRead the note →
- Field noteAI measurementYour AI Traffic Is Measurable Now. The Reports Still Miss a Lot.Native AI reporting landed in 2026. It covers the identifiable portion of the traffic, which is not the total, and the gaps are where the decisions live.Allison Marx · 2026 · 7 min readRead the note →
- Field noteData governanceThe Browser Didn’t Force Your Hand. Your AI Roadmap Will.Google kept third-party cookies, so the deadline that justified four years of governance work disappeared. The work didn’t, and AI is what makes the gap expensive.Allison Marx · 2026 · 8 min readRead the note →
- Field noteMartechThe Integration Tax Just Got CheaperMartech stopped growing and started turning over. Integration got cheap, definitions got expensive, and that changes what is worth buying.Allison Marx · 2026 · 8 min readRead the note →
- Field noteData privacyThe Question Legal Asks After the DemoThe model was never the problem. Being unable to answer a provenance question is what costs eight months.Allison Marx · 2026 · 7 min readRead the note →
- Field noteHuman oversightYou Put a Human in the Loop. Can They Say No?A review step without expertise, time, authority, escalation, and incentives that permit refusal is not oversight. It is a name in a document.Allison Marx · 2026 · 9 min readRead the note →
- Field noteSolution designA Great Solution Design Makes the Next One EasierA complete design answers six questions before implementation starts. The best indicator of a great one is that it reduces future effort.Allison Marx · 2026 · 8 min readRead the note →
- Field noteAI and valueAI Makes the First Draft Cheaper. Trust Still Costs Money.How AI changes the allocation of expert work, and why strategic, data, and systems decisions still require accountable judgment.Allison Marx · 2026 · 9 min readRead the note →
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Read "map one workflow"?AI Foundation DiagnosticOne consequential workflow traced end to end: evidence review, four interviews, a named primary blocker, and a 90-day plan.3 weeksFixed feeRead "no visibility score"?AI Search Visibility AssessmentThe fifteen-question baseline run across named platforms, with 60 dated observations and prioritized changes.3 weeksFixed fee
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