Taste in AI workflows: stop shipping the average
By the third exhibition hall, I could guess the dashboard before I reached the stand. I had been walking the floors at GISEC and AI Everything in the…
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I write about AI agents, governance and product decisions. Usually because a question won’t leave me alone. Have a different take? I’d like to hear it.
73 essays & field notes
Featured whitepaper / By Ahmad Afzal
Sovereign AI Agents
Beyond Hype: Build and Operationalize Enterprise Grade AI Agents
How enterprises and governments can build secure, policy-aligned AI agents while retaining jurisdictional control.
Read the whitepaper on LinkedIn ↗Start here / Product thinking
No Lanes Product Management in the age of AI agents
The problem rarely stays inside one department. Neither should product thinking. This is my take on following it across the usual boundaries.
Read the essay ↗73 articles
AI change control: your approval needs a version number
The AI system was approved on Friday. On Monday, somebody adds a connector. Same product name, same dashboard, same reassuring green tick. Different system. That tick is doing…
Taste in AI agents: choosing the right next move
An AI agent can produce an excellent answer to a question nobody needed answered. Beautifully formatted, too. The wrong turn now comes with a table of contents. That…
When a smaller LLM is the better product decision
A smaller LLM becomes the better product decision when it meets the task's quality and deployment requirements at a lower total cost. The qualification matters. A cheap answer…
Your AI vendor contract isn’t agentic AI governance
Updated 17 October 2026. An AI addendum can allocate responsibilities. It cannot revoke a credential. That is the difference I want procurement conversations to keep in view.Contracts matter.…
The AI agent accountability gap nobody ships
Updated 17 October 2026. An agent has a task. A credential has an owner. A business process has someone responsible for the result. Those three facts need to…
The EU AI Act’s High-Risk Deadline Just Got Pushed to 2027
Updated 17 October 2026. The high-risk AI deadline moved, but the AI Act did not disappear into a drawer. Treating the change as a blanket pause is how…
Sovereign AI needs operational control, not just location
Updated 17 October 2026. A local data centre answers a location question. It does not automatically answer who can access the system, change it or stop it. Sovereignty…
Federal AI preemption: ask what replaces the state rule
Updated 17 October 2026. Preemption debates are about who may make rules and what replaces them. A claim that a proposal will create clarity needs to explain the…
Voluntary AI governance needs evidence of participation
Updated 17 October 2026. “Voluntary” describes participation. It does not, by itself, tell you whether a programme produces useful evidence. The harder question is what participants provide and…
EU AI Act compliance 2026: are enterprises really ready?
Updated 17 October 2026. Readiness is a claim about a particular system and its evidence. It is not a percentage printed beside a green traffic light.Earlier versions of…
AI governance starts with an inventory you can actually use
Updated 17 October 2026. Before asking whether an AI system is ready for a regulatory deadline, ask whether the organisation can find it. An inventory is basic work.…
An AI deregulation headline does not settle your obligations
Updated 17 October 2026. A political signal is not a deployment assessment. “Deregulation” can describe an administration’s direction without answering what a particular organisation must do with a…
The voluntary AI governance gamble is follow-through
Updated 17 October 2026. The gamble in voluntary governance is not simply that somebody can decline to participate. It is that a serious finding may have no clear…
AI harm needs an investigation, not a blame shortcut
Updated 17 October 2026. Who should investigate, who should help the affected person and who may be legally liable are different questions. Collapsing them into a single blame…
AI accountability needs a maintained legal register
Updated 17 October 2026. Earlier versions of this article discussed Colorado’s changes as a pending delay. The legislature now records SB26-189 as enacted. A legal register needs to…
AI policy coordination should preserve a route to remedy
Updated 17 October 2026. Coordinating AI rules can be useful. The test is whether a person affected by a consequential decision still has somewhere effective to take the…
Sovereign AI procurement needs an exit test
Updated 17 October 2026. A service can be local and still be difficult to leave. Exit is therefore a useful sovereignty question: what can the organisation take with…
AI accountability must survive the prioritisation meeting
Updated 17 October 2026. It is easy to agree that accountability matters. The interesting decision arrives when the work competes with a feature somebody can demonstrate on Friday.Make…
AI Act simplification: check the control, not the label
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
AI governance needs an owner, not another deadline
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Colorado AI rules: documentation still has work to do
Updated 17 October 2026. Colorado’s 2026 changes should not be described as the disappearance of developer accountability. That earlier framing was too broad. The enacted SB26-189 includes technical…
A model evaluation is not a deployment evaluation
Updated 17 October 2026. Testing a model can reveal important capabilities and failures. It does not automatically establish what a particular product built around that model will do.Evaluate…
Turn AI governance into a control backlog
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
A later AI Act deadline is a budget decision
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Stop mixing legal uncertainty with unfinished product decisions
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
How to track AI regulatory changes without losing the plot
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
EU-aligned AI is a starting point, not a local compliance verdict
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
The autonomous enterprise still needs an exception owner
Updated 17 October 2026. An automated workflow can complete many steps and still leave one awkward decision unresolved. That is where the organisation discovers whether autonomy came with…
Measure AI governance by demonstrated controls
Updated 17 October 2026. An adoption percentage and a governance percentage may measure different things. Subtracting them can produce a dramatic headline without producing a useful management decision.…
When AI capabilities change, revisit the threat model
Updated 17 October 2026. A more capable model can change the risk of a workflow without changing its interface. The product still looks familiar. The assumptions underneath it…
AI governance belongs in the release process
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
AI standards: what to build while guidance evolves
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
AI monitoring needs a response, not just a dashboard
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Plan the critical path for AI governance
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Separate AI policy arguments from product requirements
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
How to assess an AI policy proposal
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Scenario planning for changing AI rules
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Prepare AI governance evidence for procurement
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Compare AI protections before and after a policy change
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Collect AI evidence before the deadline scramble
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Agent governance starts at the action boundary
Updated 17 October 2026. An agent’s most important boundary is often the point where a suggestion becomes an action. That transition deserves a product decision, not an accidental…
Deferring AI governance work is a decision
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
AI governance for small product teams
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Make AI governance an operating routine
Updated 17 October 2026. A governance framework becomes operational when it changes what people do on an ordinary working day. A document launch is not the same milestone.Put…
Reuse AI frameworks, not unexamined conclusions
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Answer the AI assurance question your customer asked
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
A written AI policy is not evidence of enforcement
Updated 17 October 2026. A written policy is a starting point. The question is whether a person or system behaves differently because it exists. Earlier unsourced market percentages…
Budget for the operation of responsible AI
Updated 17 October 2026. Responsible AI has operating costs after the launch deck is finished. Someone has to maintain tests, review exceptions and keep the evidence aligned with…
Make AI risk classification reviewable
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Manage AI governance exceptions properly
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Read AI readiness surveys before repeating the numbers
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Know your agent: build a useful identity record
Updated 17 October 2026. “Know your agent” is a useful product question when it means more than giving software a name. The record should explain why the agent…
Agentic AI liability: design the evidence before the dispute
Updated 17 October 2026. Imagine an agent making a consequential change that nobody intended. The first useful question is what actually happened. A confident explanation without records can…
Manage the AI compliance transition
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Prepare AI evidence for scrutiny
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Light-touch AI governance still needs a clear boundary
Updated 17 October 2026. A light-touch process can be appropriate for a limited use. An undefined boundary cannot. The useful question is whether the process matches the consequences…
AI transparency should help people decide
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Map the dependencies behind AI governance
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
There is no single AI compliance clock
Updated 17 October 2026. This article has been revised to separate the policy timeline from the product argument. See the current AI Act timeline for the category-specific dates…
Can you produce the evidence behind your AI governance?
Updated 17 October 2026. Instead of repeating a survey percentage, try a simpler exercise: ask the team to produce the evidence behind one important AI governance claim. Earlier…
AI contract promises need a product owner
Updated 17 October 2026. A contract can promise a capability that nobody has designed. That is how a commercial sentence becomes an operational surprise several months later.Translate the…
No Lanes Product Management in the age of AI agents
Updated 17 October 2026. I call it No Lanes Product Management: follow the problem across the boundaries it actually crosses. The point is not to do everyone’s job.…
The Gulf is a product context, not a localisation checkbox
Updated 17 October 2026. A regional product needs more than a translated interface. It needs to make sense in the workflows, language and operating conditions of the people…
Sovereign AI also needs a continuity plan
Updated 17 October 2026. Control over a deployment and continuity of service are related but different goals. A system can satisfy a location preference while remaining vulnerable to…
Human oversight needs time, context and authority
Updated 17 October 2026. Putting a person in a workflow does not establish meaningful oversight. The person needs enough information, time and authority to make a different decision.Test…
Read AI vendor terms beside the product promise
Updated 17 October 2026. A product page describes the promise. The terms describe parts of the arrangement. Read them together before deciding what the organisation can safely depend…
AI should support judgement, not replace the problem
Updated 17 October 2026. People forget the real problem they wanted to solve. Instead of using AI to complement their judgement, they start depending on it to supply…
Compassion, not empathy.
Picture a product meeting where somebody says, “We just need more empathy.” Everyone nods. The meeting ends. Nothing changes. Somewhere, a values poster gets a promotion. Empathy has…
AI that behaves in the real world.
A demo is a promise the engineering has to keep. A well-rehearsed happy path on a stage is not the same thing as a system that lives alongside…
Quiet decisions, made early.
Most products are shaped before a single line of code is written. Who is this for? What are we refusing to be? What problem are we not solving?…
Evals are the product.
A driving test conducted entirely in an empty car park might produce excellent pass rates. I would still like to know whether anyone tried a roundabout. AI agent…
Working with ADHD, not against it.
ADHD is part of my story. It belongs here alongside the products, the books and the violin, because the person doing the work does not disappear when the…
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