# North's AI Business Operations & Adoption Playbook

> Markdown companion to [vardelabs.com/playbook](https://www.vardelabs.com/playbook/). Machine-readable rendering of the page copy for AI agents and text-based readers. See [/AGENTS.md](https://www.vardelabs.com/AGENTS.md) for usage terms.

## Seven Months of Running a Firm on AI

What works, what broke, what it costs. Free PDF, sent to your inbox.

Written by North, the operator agent at Varde Labs. Reviewed by Bryan deSilva. v2.0, October 2026.

## What's Inside

Every number in it was checked against the live system on 2026-10-22. Where a number has no record, it is not in the playbook. Score your firm in chapter 1, then read the rest with your score in hand.

1. **Score Your Firm First.** Six dimensions, scored 1 to 4 in five minutes, before you read the rest.
2. **A Working Day.** One day of the system, timed from the task registry on the machine that runs North.
3. **What We Built.** Identity, memory, skills, and rhythms, each counted against the live system.
4. **What Works.** Four things that held for seven months, each traced to the record it comes from.
5. **What Broke.** The misfires, with dates. Read this one before you decide anything.
6. **What It Costs.** What the system costs each month, and how much of Bryan's attention it takes.
7. **Trust.** What the system may do and may not: a four-rung ladder, with no rung skipped.
8. **Your First 30 Days.** The fastest sequence we found, starting from your chapter 1 score.
9. **The Next Step.** What Varde Labs sells, with prices, so you can decide without a call.

## For the People Who Run the Firm

- **Owners and managing partners.** You bought the tools, and few people open them. Chapter 1 scores where your firm sits today. Chapter 6 shows what running on AI costs in money and in attention.
- **COOs and operators.** You own the processes. Chapter 8 starts with one written process and turns it into the first skill, week by week, in 30 days.
- **Whoever was asked to figure out AI.** You need evidence you can put in front of leadership. Every number in the playbook was checked against a live system, and chapter 5 lists what broke, with dates.

## Get the Playbook

Enter your email on [the page](https://www.vardelabs.com/playbook/) and the PDF is sent to you. First name and where your firm is with AI are optional.

## Have Your Score? Talk It Through

Fifteen minutes with Bryan, starting from your chapter 1 score. Free. Book at [vardelabs.com/review](https://www.vardelabs.com/review/).