Field notes
Notes from building software that does the work.
Plain-spoken writing on AI, agents, automation and the systems businesses run on — from the team that builds and runs them.
LatestFee Collection Without the Chasing: Automating Reminders, Payments and ReconciliationMost schools don't have a fee problem. They have a fee process problem: reminders sent by hand, payments matched by hand, and defaulters found too late. Here's how to automate the chasing without losing the human judgment.Read the article
- 01School ERP Data Migration: A Checklist for Moving Off Registers and ExcelMost school ERP projects that fail, fail at migration — usually on fee balances. A step-by-step checklist for moving students, guardians and fee history into a new system without a single parent disputing a due.
- 02The DPDP Act for Schools: What Changes Before May 2027Under India's data protection law, almost every student is a child, and the main obligations apply from 14 May 2027. A practical guide for school leaders: what the law asks, what the school exemption does and doesn't cover, and what to fix in your systems now.
- 03A Tuesday on a School ERP: One Ordinary Day, Hour by HourForget the feature list. Here is what a school ERP actually does, told as one ordinary day at a residential academy — from the gate at 7:40 to the trustee's audit log.
- 04AI in School ERP Systems: What Is Actually Useful — and What Is Just Marketing?Every school ERP is becoming ‘AI-powered.’ Here is how to tell the useful capabilities from the feature labels — and what the system must get right before AI touches student data or school operations.
- 05AI for Schools: Where It Saves Time — and Where It Should Never Make the DecisionAI can remove hours of administrative work from schools. It can also make consequential mistakes at a scale no administrator could. A practical guide to what schools should automate, what needs human approval, and what should remain human.
- 06What Does a School ERP Actually Cost in India? (And What the Price Tag Hides)Per-student pricing, one-time licenses, implementation fees, and the costs nobody mentions in the demo. An honest breakdown for school administrators comparing ERP options.
- 07The Real Cost of Running Your Business on SpreadsheetsExcel didn't fail you — you outgrew it. How to recognise the point where spreadsheets start costing more than software, and what to do about it without a risky big-bang migration.
- 08Build vs Buy: When Off-the-Shelf Software Stops Fitting Your BusinessGeneric tools got you this far. Now every workflow needs a workaround. A practical framework for deciding when to keep buying, when to build, and the third option most SMEs overlook.
- 09The No-BS Guide to AI for Indian SMEs — What Actually WorksEveryone's selling AI. Very few are delivering results. Here's an honest breakdown of what actually works for small and mid-sized Indian businesses — and what's just noise.
- 10AI Chatbots vs. AI Workflows — Why Most Businesses Are Investing in the Wrong ThingThe AI conversation is dominated by chatbots. But the real operational gains are in automated workflows. Here's why most businesses are looking in the wrong direction — and where the actual ROI lives.
- 11How to Evaluate If Your Business Process Is Worth AutomatingNot every process should be automated. Here's a practical framework for deciding which workflows to automate first, which to leave alone, and how to avoid the most common automation mistakes.
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What’s working with AI and agents — and what isn’t
Practical writing on agents, automation and the software businesses run on. A new post most weeks, never a sales pitch. Plus the school ERP vendor checklist as a thank-you.